This Bright Blazing Future

Chapters

Chapter 2: The Endless Breakfast Special
Chapter 3: Confronting Regret
Chapter 4: Determination Flavored Tea
Chapter 5: The First Steps
Chapter 6: To Retire An Element of Harmony
Chapter 7: Unchain Mah Heart
Chapter 8: At The Gates Of Valhalla
Chapter 9: Coming To Terms With Loss
Chapter 10: Decisions
Chapter 11: My Name Is Brazen Wind
Chapter 12: Surprises Come In Many Forms
Chapter 13: Crossroads
Chapter 14 Mortality And Adversity
Chapter 15 Remembering My Past (Part 1)
Chapter 16: My Heart's Sacrifice
Chapter 17: Remembering My Past (Part 2)
Chapter 18: What Comes Next
Chapter 19: Kirin Rush, The Beginning
Chapter 20: For My Lover
Chapter 22: The Mountain That Lies Before Me
Chapter 23: The Love, The Birth, And The Death
Chapter 24: A Deal With The Devil
Chapter 25: Temptation***{EXPLICIT}***
Chapter 26: The Lingering Darkness
Chapter 27: A Song That Resonates In The Dark
Chapter 28: The Shifting Winds
Chapter 29: Worry
Chapter 30: The Jacket of Her Childhood
Chapter 31: The Last Rock Show
Chapter 32: Her Moment Of Surrender
Chapter 33: My Sacrifice
Chapter 34: Landslide
Chapter 35: A Light In The Darkness
Chapter 36: A Father's Duty
Chapter 37: Its Been A While
Chapter 38: The Time Between
Chapter 39: My Eyes Open For Your Future
Chapter 1: Good Morning Surprise
Chapter 21: Of The Music, By The Music, And All For The Music

Chapter 2: The Endless Breakfast Special

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Chapter 3: Confronting Regret

After flying home to drop off her delicious leftover based meals, Spitfire flew directly for the head office for the Wonderbolts. The golden mare knew that if she was going to converse with the team, she was going to need his approval first. If the former Captain could get permission, she then would need his information on where each of them were.

The former Wonderbolt had dreaded the thought of interacting with their manager, Nydus. He had to have been the perfect living example of grumpy old stallions. He was uncompromising, rough, easily irritated, hard working, always on time for everything, quite possibly obsessive compulsive, and uncompromising. It was bad enough that Spitfire always listed it twice when describing Nydus.

Yet physically, she would depict him differently. He was a white pegasus with an odd red stripe along his right side. His tail and mane were for some reason mismatched in color, with his mane being silver but his tail a dark black. His eyes were amber like hers, but for some reason there were three black lines that spiraled outward from his iris.

The stallion had always joked about this meaning he would die from sheer insanity at managing the team of super egos, but even after going on medical leave Spitfire hadn't seen age line any part of his body. In fact, the white stallion had been in perfect shape the last time she had seen him. Though without her there to at least help with affairs, the fiery maned mare wondered how he had managed.

As she landed at the doorstep of the building she noticed the atmosphere seemed practically deflated. It wasn't the high energy, high traffic area she remembered. She shrugged the thought off and entered the building to be greeted by an eerie silence. Was it a holiday or had everypony been given the day off because there was no work to be done. She wasn't going to get any answers standing around here, and she made for the stairs. Despite being able to fly she didn't feel it would be welcomed.

As she climbed floor to floor she found each floor as abandoned as the last. This can't be the cause of my actions, can it? Spitfire felt herself worrying. As she reached the last landing to the top floor she could hear something or someone stirring. As she stepped off the landing she hit the same squeaking floor panel she always did when she tried to avoid being noticed by Nydus.

"So." a voice bellowed out in a brooding tone. "Finally come back to us Captain?"

It was Nydus, there wasn't a stallion alive that spoke in the same tone. Yet, something seemed different about it as well. She gulped down and continued down the hall to his office as confidently as she could. It was open but she knocked to be courteous.

"Really a knock? Just get in here Spitfire." Nydus growled.

What she saw of the stallion as she came around the corner, shocked her to the core. His hair was matted and unkempt, his tail now trailing streaks of grey. His entire white coat was dull, and he looked at absolute ends of ability. He simply stood facing the window his hands behind his back, one holding the wrist of the other. The stallion looked far older than he should.

"Surprised to see even me brought low?" Nydus mused before turning to face her. "As you can see, things haven't gone as well as I would have hoped."

His face looked worn from a great deal of stress and lack of rest. His eyes showed this most clearly, but now able to see him from the front the Wonderbolt noticed how disheveled the stallion was.

"Nydus, what happened to you?" Spitfire asked with shock in her voice. "You look terrible!"

"What this?" he said taking his hands from behind his back as he walked to his desk. "The cost of my own lack of foresight. When I promised you I would take care of things, I had no idea the effects your actions would inevitably lead to."

"The effects of my actions?" she replied with a heavy heart.

"Yes." he replied grimly. "Each one of the Wonderbolts suffered their own whiplash from your actions. Soarin and I did what we could to keep things together, but some were more rebellious than we could handle. We had to set up an indefinite vacation for the team about two weeks ago."

"So that's why it seems like the building is abandoned." the golden mare concluded. "Looks like I've got more to do here than I could have ever imagined."

Nydus looked at her seriously with a faint glimmer in his eyes, "What do you mean by that Captain?"

"It's part of my treatment goals that the good doctor set up for me." Spitfire said confidently. "I am to seek redemption by righting all the wrongs I did to others. The team was last on my list. So naturally I came to you first to get permission to do so."

"By all means Captain, start right away!" the white stallion seemed a tad more chipper now. "Although, if you think this is bad...then you are in for quite the surprise."

"How so sir?" was her curious reply.

"The things they've gotten into will definitely give you a run in how good you've gotten at controlling yourself! Well..." he paused a moment. "...except Soarin that is. That softhearted stallion hasn't gone too far from where he was before."

"Regardless of what has changed I must do it sir." she uttered like a recruit. "Now can I ask for locations of the others so I may begin?"

Nydus broke out into a fit of uncontrolled laughter, "If only I...could! I absolutely...would!"

"What? What do you mean Nydus?" she replied baffled by the stallion's answer.

"Well Spitfire." the silver maned stallion said composing himself. "Simply put, I have no idea where any of them are, save for Soarin."

"Only Soarin?" she said with more worry than she intended.

"Suffice to say he is the only one that seems to care enough to let me know." the stallion said ignoring her tone completely. "In fact he is the only one that knows where any of the others are."

"And yet he hasn't told you where to find them?" she replied confused at this thought.

"Pretty much." Nydus said with a defeated shrug. "They wish to remain anonymous while they are vacationing, and Soarin won't violate that right. Though truth be told, he is probably the reason they aren't dead yet."

The fiery maned mare felt her heart race as her anxiety increased. She had never considered the possibility of having to start with Soarin. It couldn't be done, not yet! Spitfire had to fight to keep the tide of fear in her mind from overwhelming her entirely. She had to do this, she absolutely had to!

"Th-Then where can I find him Nydus?" she stuttered pitifully.

He cocked an eyebrow before answering, "Didn't expect to start there I take it? Something tells me you now realize what you put him through, and actually regret it the most."

"I do." was all she said.

"Then by the time you see the rest of the team." he paused and sat down at his desk, placing his hands together almost darkly. "You will hate yourself."

She flinched at his words, "Where can I find Soarin sir?"

He reached into his desk and pulled out a piece of paper and held it out, "Here, I'm sure even you will know where it is."

She stepped forward and took the paper from his hand, and as she read it her eyes grew wide.

Dear Spitfire,

If you are reading this, you have finally come to terms with what you have done. Though there should be no reason for any of us to forgive you, I will always keep my hand out to help you up when you need it. Don't think that means I have forgiven you though.

You will no doubt start at me, seeing as Nydus can't direct you to anyone else. So I will make this as simple as possible on you. Find me in the same place we first met. I'll be there every day from four to five in the evening, as I still have a life to live. We must go about it this way seeing as the team specified I not tell Nydus where they were, but they never mentioned you. I really do hope I haven't written this in vain, and I hope to see you soon.

Sincerely Yours,

Soarin'

"He wrote this specifically for me?" she said blown away by the forethought of her vice captain.

"Of course. He knew you better than any other." Nydus replied solemnly. "Hmm well it's about three o'clock right now, you might make it if you fly fast."

"Wait what?" she said absent mindedly.

"He said he would be there every day from four to five Spitfire!" he replied gruffly. "Get over there and put this team back together!"

The golden mare stood at attention and with a salute replied, "Yes, sir!"

As she turned into the hallway she could have swore she heard Nydus mutter one last thing, "She's back, and that's more hope than I could have ever expected!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

Spitfire flew hard and fast to reach the academy on time, and since it wasn't in operation at current it would make their meeting that much easier. She still wondered how her old friend would act towards her once she got there.

"Oh Soarin I--" she mumbled aloud as her mind cut her off.

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

Spitfire giggled like a little filly, "Come here big boy and let me take care of you tonight!"

"Spitfire what are you doing?" a confused Soarin uttered as she grabbed him and pulled him close to her. "Hey, Spits are you even mmph!"

She had pulled him into a deep kiss, her own mind blurred from the high levels of alcohol in her system had left her feeling frisky that evening. Soarin had been the one to bring her home, and she was going to thank him for his kindness with a little of her own. The stallion managed to regain himself and push away from her though, still looking quite shocked by her behavior.

"Spits this isn't right and you know it!" the dark grey-blue maned stallion roared.

"How is it not right, you did me a kindness now I want to return that kindness." she stepped in closer to whisper in his ear. "Now is that so bad?"

"Stop it!" he yelled turning away from her. "I don't know what's gotten into you tonight but this needs to stop."

She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him and whispered in his ear with a sultry tone, "I can't stop it though Soarin, I need you tonight."

"Why do you keep--" Soarin stopped mid-sentence. "D-Do you really mean that Spits?"

She kissed lightly at his neck, "Of...course...I do. Now come on...lets take this...somewhere more...fitting."

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

As the scene finished playing in her mind Spitfire felt tears falling away from her eyes. It was a good thing she had arrived in the academy landing zone because she didn't think she could fly anymore with her eyes streaming. Upon landing she fell to her knees, and broke down in tears.

"W-Why did I do that to him? What the hell was wrong with me?" She whimpered out in her weakness.

If this was any indication of how ready she was to face Soarin, then she was in major trouble of running away from it. She couldn't let that happen now though, she had come too far to quit. She stubbornly willed herself into standing up again on her own two hooves. She let out a sigh and headed for the academy building to find and face her old friend, even if she wasn't ready for it.

As she pushed open the double doors of the main hall her memory of her own academy days came back to her. Most friendships made at the academy started in the locker rooms or in the gender split dormitories. Soarin and her had been an exception to this rule, and in an amazingly awkward way did they meet for the first time. They had met in the girls shower room.

As she pushed the door open she was greeted by a cloud of steam. It was like being sent back in time, even if she was now the one in Soarin's place.

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

It had been a long day of exercises and the coach had ran the trainees quite hard today, but Spitfire being a bit of an overachiever had stayed for extra training with her coach. Now she stood alone in the shower room bathing her sweat streaked body. All she could think about was how far she could push her limits tomorrow. It was about now she realized she hadn't brought her back washing loofah on a stick.

"Well that's just great!" she fumed aloud.

It was after this she heard the shower room door open almost hesitantly. No other girls had stayed after for extra training but her usually. Maybe it was someone taking more initiative today than normal, but somehow Spitfire doubted that.

"Um, is there anyone in here?" came the shy voice of a stallion.

"Yeah in fact there is!" she shouted. "What's it to ya?"

"I-I'm sorry!" he replied but did not leave. "It's just I stayed after for some extra training with one of the male coaches, and as you may know the boys shower was turned off after class today for repairs."

"Come on, get to your point stallion!" she roared impatiently.

"Would you mind if I came in here to shower?" he asked boldly then added bashful explanation. "I mean there are individual stalls to bathe just like the guys shower room I presume...I can just keep to my stall."

"You really know nothing of the academy's differentiation between genders do you?" she answered with an inward groan. "There isn't nearly as much cover for us girls as you guys, and it often leads to those stupid initiation rights the upper classmen pull. You know, the one where to be accepted you gotta come in here and get a peak without getting caught or murdered brutally!"

"I'm sorry, I had no idea about that." was his genuine reply. "Honestly I just have to bathe before I go to work for my uncle, and I can't be late. I came here out of desperation."

Wow this has gotta be the boldest attempt Spitfire had ever heard out of a stallion's mouth to get into the mare's shower room. Yet this stallion seemed far too genuine in his replies. A job though, how old was he if he actually had work? The fiery maned mare had to get a little more information.

"A job eh, how old are you then?" she asked genuinely curious. "Only upper classmen are allowed to have jobs outside the academy."

"I am an upper classmen." he answered plainly.

The way his voice echoed she could tell he had stayed behind the wall that hid the girls from peeping eyes. He hadn't moved either, otherwise she would have heard his hooves hit the tile. Maybe he was free of his peers influence. Spitfire was shocked there were any among the stallions in her year that hadn't seen how hard she could hit when angry.

"So then, if you are genuine in your words." the golden pegasus started. "Come in here wearing two towels. One covering your privates and the other covering your eyes, deal?"

"I can do that." he said letting out a breath that sounded shaky.

Unlike others who tried to talk their way in he left and took some time in coming back. When he did though, he announced himself to let her know. She stepped out of the shower area into the tiled center section where girls were expected to wash one another. It was the single dumbest bonding exercise they had to do in her opinion.

She stood there entirely naked facing the barrier wall to judge just how sincere this stallion was. She for once in her life was surprised, as he used one hand to feel his way around the wall. He had wrapped the towel around his head in what looked like a giant bee hive. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Hey, don't laugh!" he shouted shyly. "I can't see anything from in here, and it's hard to breathe!"

"So you can't see me standing here then?" she asked sarcastically.

"Standing where?" he said moving his head side to side.

She walked over to the shower area and grabbed her towel, wrapping it around her body. Making sure to tuck in her own chest securely. He had earned her respect and she didn't even know his name.

"So then, what should I call you stallion?" she asked kindly.

"Suffocation in a minute here!" he replied with strain. "But you can call me Soarin!"

"I covered myself, you can take the towel off now." she said with laughter.

He managed to get his mouth free to breathe, but he didn't continue trying to take it off. Spitfire was actually impressed by his conviction. She walked up to him and pryed it off of him. The surprise in his eyes as they realized the mare in front of him, was priceless.

"S-Spitfire?" he finally managed to say almost breathlessly.

"The very same!" she answered him with a bright smile. "Pleasure to meet you Soarin!"

She held her hand out, and he looked at it dumbfounded for a moment before taking it in his to shake.

"The pleasure, is all mine." he said gently.

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

"Seems like ages ago now, doesn't it Spits?" Soarin's voice broke through her memory. "Come in we have a lot to talk about."

Chapter 4: Determination Flavored Tea

Rainbow Dash sat in a plainly decorated waiting room reading one of her Daring Do books. By plainly decorated she meant white walls with two paintings hanging upon them. The walls all lined with plain old chairs of moderate comfort, except for the wall separating visitors from doctors and patients. It had a booth where nurses would file paperwork, and check in visitors that had made appointments. The entry and exit doors were both extremely heavy duty to prevent break outs, or break ins.

Ponyville Psychiatric Hospital of the Sun, somewhere the cyan mare only came to for a friend. After her breakfast with Spitfire, the young flier decided there was quite a few things she absolutely needed to address. This was the exact reason she had requested a second visit of her friend Pinkie Pie this week, as well as to see her doctor.

One did not get that many visitation days a week unless there was a reason, or under more observant eyes at the least. This was after all the main holding grounds for the most mentally unstable citizens of Equestria. So there was bound to be some restrictions.

Dash had been told she would have to meet with the doctor first, and she had no issue with that at all. In fact, it was exactly what she had wanted. So now she sat, reading and waiting for him. Ten minutes quickly became thirty, and she slowly began to lose her patience. Just as she was about to set her book down and go ask the nurse where the doctor was, a cream colored stallion in a white medical coat came out of the exit door. He strode over and sat next to her calmly his black mane short and well kept.

"So miss Dash, what brings you here today?" he started neutral in tone.

"If you think I'm here for therapy, nice try doc!" the rainbow maned mare replied with an impish smile.

"All the same, this is your second visit this week." he stated clearly. "So forgive protocol, but I must be a tad, nosy as to your intentions."

"Sorry doctor." Rainbow apologized. "There has just been a bit of a change in the original plan we agreed upon concerning Pinks."

"Oh?" the cream colored stallion replied turning slightly to face her. "What kind of change would that be?"

"The one I said I would never involve myself in, even though you said it would be better for the both of us." she said sullenly. "And I would rather you observe out of sight for overall effectiveness."

The good doctor looked genuinely shocked now, "But you know how dangerous that can be! She has been in a relatively lucid state, but what you propose could set her back weeks!"

"Or it could give you the look inside you need to treat her more effectively!" Dash said with conviction.

Dash knew what she had to do, and she didn't like it one bit. She had to confront the reality of things, and she had to get Pinkie to open her eyes to the reality of things as well. Maybe, just maybe, she could come back to them again. Things like this though, were entirely left up to chance. So the cyan mare could see why the doctor was worried for her safety, but he didn't know that Rainbow anticipated this danger.

"I-I'm not sure." he stuttered.

"I am, but doc you have to agree to one thing." the pegasus negotiated.

"What, you think you can make terms on this?" he shot back at her incredulously.

"Doc, I need you to put a lil more faith in me." Dash said seriously. "I know what I'm getting myself into."

He looked at her discerningly for a moment before replying, "What do you want?"

"Promise me you won't enter the room at ANY time unless, I say a safe word." Rainbow answered simply.

He swallowed hard before answering, "Alright, then your word will be eventide. Mind you though we can do this with her own room, but I need to make necessary preparations first."

She sighed, "Then go get to it, I can wait. I don't have work today after all."

He stood up from his seat and headed towards the nurse booth, but he stopped and replied over his shoulder, "Let us hope neither of us regrets today's outcome, whatever it may be."

I'll never regret this, because I know it has to be done.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Roughly One Hour Later...

It took the nurses some doing but they finally got her through the clearance check without a hitch. It was mandatory that you be searched entirely, and after all the visits Dash wasn't bothered by it in the least. A guard waited for her after she came out, this was new.

"Doctor Psych required that I escort you to him before your visit to your friend's room." the guard said in a burly voice.

The cyan mare just shrugged her indifference and followed along with the guard. Doc had to save face in some way she figured, and this had been his choice. Yet as always, she watched her surroundings noticing the patients that were doing well and the ones that weren't so well. In this part of the hospital anything could go wrong at any second, and Dash wasn't going to chance getting caught up in that sort of thing.

Mere moments later the guard ushered her into a darker room where Psych was waiting, and watching Pinkie through a window with great interest. Dash looked in as well, her friend looked happy and showed all the signs of it. Yet there was also a dead look in her eyes, which disturbed the rainbow maned mare greatly. The guard shut the door as he exited and it surprised the cyan pegasus.

"Welcome Rainbow Dash." the cream colored stallion said without averting his gaze. "As you can probably already tell, something doesn't match up in Pinkie Pie's behavior right now. That is why I brought you in here first."

"So I know she is already more unstable than usual?" she questioned.

"Precisely!" he answered. "It is almost like she knows you're here!"

"Alright doc, when can we start this?" she inquired with mild impatience.

He turned his gaze to her, "So you are absolutely sure about this then?"

"It can't wait another day." she said with dread. "For either of us."

The doctor stood up and lead her back out into the hallway. Walking over to Pinkie's door he put his hand on the knob before announcing himself to the pink mare.

"Pinkie, it's me doctor Psych!" he shouted. "Is it okay to come in? You have a visitor."

"A guest, a guest? Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" was the high energy response. "Who could it be I wonder, oh I know it has got to be Dashie here again to say hi!"

He turned to Dash and said, "Well I guess that is the best answer we can expect. Remember, eventide is the word."

"Of course doctor." she replied with tranquility.

He opened the door and let Dash enter the room by herself. Closing it behind her after he was sure she was within. Despite Pinkie's cheerful answer of the doctor, as the cyan mare looked upon the pink mare sitting upon her bed, something was definitely off. Her eyes looked dead still, and there was a sadistic smile plastered across her face.

"Come to see me again so soon Dashie?" Pinkie said with a voice that took her back to the night Applejack died.

The memory caused her to twitch slightly, but in her psychotic state her friend caught it.

"Oh, how cute that you still remember this tone of voice." the pink mare said with sick pleasure.

"Pinkamina, give me my friend for a moment would you?" Dash said emboldening herself as well as her posture. "Have your fun later."

"Well now that was quite the switch wasn't it?" she answered with a laugh. "And they call me crazy? By the way the answer is no. The cute little thing is sleeping right now, and I just can't bear to wake her."

"Don't toy with me right now Mina!" Rainbow fumed.

"Also, I just love the name given to me by her!" the cotton candy maned mare cheered.

"And it's about time she took that name from you and left you to die." the cyan mare retorted darkly.

With one swift motion Pinkamina cleared the distance between the two of them and slammed her into a wall. She was quite strong, but physically Dash could easily turn the situation. She waited though, it would be a big opportunity to get under her skin.

"Think before you speak Dashie." the words were spit out like venom. "I'm more than she can handle now. There is nothing you or that dolt of a doctor can do to help her!"

"Oh you really think so, Pinkamina?" Dash said as she was pinned by her shoulders to the wall. "What was the one thing that made Pinkie weak enough that you could swoop in like a vulture and destroy her?"

"Oh what are you blathering on about?" she answered pulling the cyan mare from the wall and slamming her back into it hard. "She came to me! Searched for me in her weakness, and in her need!"

Rainbow looked on confused at Pinkamina, and the narcissism of her psychotic side took the bait.

"Oh didn't know did you?" she said with sick delight. "Even without me there, her body still remembered what it had felt at the claws--oh those claws!" the pink mare stopped for a moment with a full body shiver. "Yes she wanted to feel that again, she wanted to feel that closeness again, and was quite willing to trade her sanity to me for it!"

"Have you even once questioned what drove her into that pitiful state of mind though?" Dash challenged. "Did you even once think about it?"

Pinkamina then punched the cyan mare quite viciously, "Why should I question it? It isn't like anything anypony could say will change the power I hold over her!"

"What if she is listening to the words being spoken right now, simply faking sleep and waiting for her moment to throw you away!" the pegasus continued her verbal assault. "You would never see it com--"

Another forceful punch silenced her and split her lip open as well, "Shut your mouth Rainbow Dash!"

"No, I won't!" she shouted back in defiance blood welling up and out of her lip. "I want my friend back, and I will go to any and every length to get her back!"

Pinkamina's grip loosened as she backed away, but she still threw another punch hitting Dash square in the eye. That one hurt a lot but she couldn't restrain her friend, she had to drive in the final stake. The pink mare was still backing away, looking to be in a state of total unrest.

"Pinks, I know you can hear me in there!" Dash yelled as she stepped toward the retreating pink mare. "I need you and your crazy understanding of the world around us. I need it more than you can ever know."

"Sh-Shut up Rainbow, she can't hear you!" Pinkamina shot back in what seemed like a last defense as she doubled over holding her head. "She will only fail you like she did when she lead Gilda right to Applejack. Like she did when your beloved Jackie was killed!"

"Pinks, I'm sorry."

In that moment Pinkie Pie snapped back into reality, instantly snapping her head up to look Rainbow in the eyes. Her friend's eyes were glazed with tears, confusion etching her expression.

"Wh-What did you say Dash?" Pinkie said weakly.

"I'm sorry for putting that pressure on you." the cyan mare answered with an honest grin. "I forget how serious you can get at times about things, almost to the point of insane worry."

"B-But why would you apologize for that?" the pink mare questioned.

"Because I can, and AJ can't." she started solemnly. "Because you don't deserve to lose yourself to this darkness that Gilda left in your heart. I can't lose my friend to this. Not now, not ever."

Pinkie continued looking on with anxiety lighting her eyes, she was on the edge of control and Dash knew it. It would take more than this, and she had made up her mind on the next words of choice.

"I know I've said this before Pinks, but you need to stop blaming yourself for what happened." the rainbow maned mare said with a friendly smile. "In fact, I may have found another mare of interest to me."

"Y-You what?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed obviously shocked. "You moved on from Jackie?"

"Well yes and no." Dash answered hesitantly. "Yes, because I found someone I feel I can be myself with one hundred and twenty percent; without a second thought. And no, because I still care about Jackie. I feel like she would be ashamed of me for moving on so soon."

Dash felt her feelings of confusion begin to stir inside her chest, and it physically hurt a great deal. She had to try to restrain herself from crying and she held her eyes closed. She knew it would make her vulnerable to attack, but an attack did not come. Only a gentle hand upon her shoulders, reassuring and kind. Opening her eyes as tears broke away she saw only her friend Pinkie Pie looking back at her.

"Dashie, I cannot undo what has been done." the pink mare said with a hint of regret. "But I can work towards the future still. I can still hear her voice in my head, Gilda left it there as you said. One day I may find a way to cope with it, but for now please don't worry about it!"

"But Pinks I--!" the rainbow maned mare argued.

"Don't argue, just be here. Just be my friend." Pinkie said with a smile.

In that moment her friend's attitude changed to lethargy, and she turned and headed back to her bed. She climbed up onto it and sat facing away from Rainbow. The air in the room became quite tense as the silence dragged on. The pegasus began to wonder if she became Pinkamina again, but there came no violent shift.

"All you feel in your heart is confusion." Pinkie suddenly said with a dreary tone. "Dashie, you said you needed my help...and I will give it to you. If you keep worrying about what Applejack thinks of you, soothe your heart with two simple things."

She stared on in confusion at her friend and asked what needed to be asked, "What two things do I need Pinkie?"

"Go to Twilight's and collect both your element of harmony, and Applejack's element." she answered dryly. "Return the element to where true honesty, now rests in peace. You will find your answers there, now Dash if you'll excuse me. I need some rest."

"Of course Pinks!" Dash said with a bright smile and headed for the door.

"By the way Rainbow." Pinkie said suddenly. "Thank you."

Reaching the door she answered, "Every time friend. Eventide."

Pinkie simply laid down to rest as she had said, and a few moments later Doctor Psych opened the door to let the cyan pegasus out. As she exited she could tell the doctor was quite pleased with what he had just watched as it transpired. It wasn't her concern though, she had to get to Twilight's house immediately.

"Doctor you'll forgive me if I feel the need to leave right away." Dash said in a hurry.

He simply smiled and answered, "Of course, every patient has been returned to their rooms for nap time anyways. You will find the hallways quite unobstructed, and don't worry I'll take care of Pinkie Pie with the utmost care as always!"

"Thanks Doc!" the rainbow maned mare answered as she turned and jogged down the hall to leave.

______________________________________________________________________________________

As Rainbow approached Twilight's library she remembered something rather important. Her friend was probably still mad at her from their recent fight. Which made getting the elements of harmony she needed difficult at best. She now stood at the front door of the library, and almost felt sick to her stomach as she forced herself to knock.

"Go away Rainbow Dash, I don't want to talk to you." was the angry reply of Twilight Sparkle.

She continued knocking, "Please Twilight I need your help with this, it's really important!"

"You need my help?" the lavender mare replied with incredulous rage. "You didn't even care to listen to me two weeks ago, so why should I listen to you?"

"Twilight, look I'm sorry for what I did!" she shouted.

"Go away!" Twilight's voice roared back.

Her friend was adamant about holding a grudge, and it was practically infuriating. The cyan mare had to do everything she could to not throw a barbed reply back. Then a scent caught her attention, the scent of apples and hay. Her heart began to ache as she realized just what her feud with Twilight had taken away from her. The chance to find peace within herself over Applejack.

"No, Twilight." Dash muttered in defeat as she planted both her hands upon the door to brace herself from falling. "You don't...understand." tears quickly came to her eyes and ran down her face. "I just...please Twilight."

Her weight became too much for her and she fell to her knees weakly. Her earlier pride had cost her much more dearly than she could have ever imagined. If she couldn't get the elements she needed then how would she find the answers she needed so desperately? Not only that, but now it seemed Twilight hated her for her behavior that day two weeks ago.

There was nothing she could do but break inside, at the sheer loss before her. As she cried she buried her face in her hands pitifully. Why can't I do anything right? was the single abysmal thought in Rainbow's mind.

Then her ears perked at a sound she heard in front of her, and she looked up from her hands to see a blurry purple unicorn standing in front of her. Twilight's caring nature had overruled her anger from the looks of things as she stared down at Rainbow with concern.

"I don't understand why you're having such a major breakdown over this." the lavender mare said with concerned confusion.

"Twi-Twilight?" Dash answered through sniffles. "I-I'm sorry okay, but I had to make my own choice alright? B-But the thing I need your help on has nothing to do with that, and if ah gotta say sorry to get my friend to help me, so be it."

"Wow its got to be something really heart breaking if my refusal to help you did this to you!" the purple unicorn said astonished. "Dash what's the problem?"

"C-Can I come in and settle down first?" she asked through a still sniffly nose.

Twilight's hand reached out to her as she answered, "Of course you can, I'll even brew you some tea if you'd like."

Rainbow Dash smiled, "I would love that Twi."

Chapter 5: The First Steps

Author's Note

Here we are at Chapter 5! Hope you enjoy the story so far.

Chapter 5: The First Steps

Spitfire did not back down from Soarin's request, and she pushed on through the door into the steam filled shower room. She was surprised at how hot the stallion had made it in here, as well as how he kept the vents from sucking out the steam. As she rounded the barrier wall she saw him sitting in a chair directly in front of her.

His dark grey-blue mane slicked back from moisture, his light emerald eyes closed to her as he laid back in the chair in relaxation. He was only wearing a towel around his waist covering his privates, his pale blue body covered in beads of sweat. Spitfire felt herself swallow back the thoughts and memories that spilled forth from the sight of Soarin like this.

"Are you just gonna stand there and stare?" the stallion said breaking her from her mind temporarily.

"S-Sorry Soarin!" she apologized pitifully. "Just didn't expect to walk in to you like this."

"Well I don't usually do this while I wait, but I felt compelled today." he said with a content smile. "I didn't expect it to be so relaxing."

Spitfire looked around for another seat, purely assuming Soarin would have brought another one. She couldn't see one anywhere, even the ones intended for bathing were gone.

"You don't get to sit and relax Captain." Soarin's voice drew her attention back to his face.

"What do you mean Soarin?" the golden mare returned, her focus on his eyes now looking right at her.

"Exactly what I said." the pale blue stallion said sitting more upright in his chair. "I won't make this easy for you in any way, and you can count on that Captain."

She sighed. In her heart she knew this was going to be how things went, but she had not anticipated the reality of how cold he could sound when he was serious. She remembered what his letter had said as well, and she knew he still withheld his apology. Even if he was willing to help her help herself.

"Well fine then, I'll think outside the box." she told him as she knelt down and sat on the floor.

He sighed, "For coming so far, you're still as stubborn as a mule."

"What can I say, its a part of who I am." the fiery maned mare replied with a shrug.

When she shrugged though, she noticed how much steam had clung to her body. Her clothes were slowly dampening, and her hair was losing its windswept flare as it began to fall naturally to her shoulders. Every inch of her body was covered in the heated liquid, and it was beginning to make her uncomfortable in all the worst ways.

"Enjoying the atmosphere I've set up for you Spits?" Soarin broke into her thoughts.

Had he planned all of this?

No, he couldn't have known she would show up this time for sure, unless Nydus tipped him off. Never mind, that made logical sense if Soarin wanted to make this as hard as possible for her. As she looked at him her eyes drifted for a moment, and what she saw surprised her.

"You're wearing swim trunks under there!" she shouted. "You mule faced son of a gryphon!"

"Ah, so you couldn't help but look could you Spitfire?" he replied standing up unphased and removing his towel. "Shame, shame. I thought by now you would have a bit more control."

"Hey don't blame me for catching that, it's kind of hard to miss from this perspective." the golden pegasus said referencing where she sat.

"You still could have avoided doing it, maybe you aren't ready for this yet Captain." the pale grey-blue stallion said sitting back down.

Instantly Spitfire's heart began racing at Soarin's evaluation of her behavior, her eyes wide as a state of panic set in rapidly. This might be her only chance to mend things, and she may not get a chance to return if she failed miserably now. That failure could send her right back into her old spiral and she would lose everything in her life, most notably though would be losing Dash.

"Okay look, I'm sorry about that Soarin." she apologized somberly. "Some old habits still die hard. You know that about me best."

"Yeah, like the way you never remembered your back washing loofah?" the stallion replied with a snicker. "The first day we met, you had forgotten it. And I offered to wash your back for your kindness that day."

"To which I nearly bit your head off for, but inevitably agreed to." Spitfire answered with a smile.

"I nearly fainted from the blood rushing to my face when you said yes." the light blue stallion said with a chuckle. "It was after that I just knew, somehow we would end up close friends."

She could see where this train of thought was heading, and she did not delight in staying the course one bit. She had to do it though, or else nothing would be solved.

"And we did. Every fight, every party, every moment." the golden mare mused. "Even the day we were accepted into the Wonderbolts was the same."

"And then the day you were promoted to title of Captain, I was instantly named co-captain." Soarin recalled the past clearly. "A couple of years later even, when you almost died in that accident."

There it was, the beginning of what Spitfire knew would lead into their one night stand and the spiral that followed. The accident in question was no joking matter in the least. Soarin was serious when he said she had nearly died from it, and the close call with death sent her into her all out free for all behavior.

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

It had been a training accident at the academy that nearly took her. The recruits were acting their usual cocky way, but this time it seemed they had been picking on the newest student. Daring him to push for more and more, breaking boundaries put in place for safety. Spitfire allowed this because they had kept it within reason, and it let her see just what the rookie was capable of. She should have known the moment she turned her back the dares would escalate in danger.

Misty Fly had happened to be with her at the academy that day, and it was because of her that the rookie lived. She called out to Spitfire in a scream of utter terror, and spinning around what she saw horrified her as well. The Wonderbolt Captain wasn't one to wait though and she charged into the air, the rookie was free falling unconscious to the earth below.

The fall would surely kill the young flier, and Spitfire was a lot further from the colt than she first thought. She had to push with all her might to reach him, a stream of flame literally erupting from her tail at her velocity. He was about to hit the ground, but in the last second she grabbed him and spun her body quickly to shield the colt from the impact that was inevitable at this point.

She had held on to that young pegasus with all her might as her body plowed into the ground, leaving a trench in her wake. Her body was broken and battered by the unforgiving earth that had caught her, and she felt a cold sleep creep over her. She just knew that death had come to collect her this day, for robbing him of the young one.

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

"And you were the first one I saw when I came back." Spitfire said softly.

"I always would be." he answered. "But the result of your near death experience was just as bad as losing you. You were never the same again after that."

"Soarin, I know where this is going." the golden mare started. "Please don't bring those memories up."

"I will bring them up weather you like it or not Spits!" the pale blue stallion roared. "It is time that you faced up to what you did to me, because it pales in comparison to the rest of the team!"

She simply stared on in silence at his words. The rest of the team suffered more than him, how could that be?

"We were always like brother and sister the two of us, and I was personally fine with that." the stallion began with a surprisingly even tone. "I may have noticed you as more than that from time to time, but I never let the thought take me. Cause I knew we were just friends, but as close as any family. I never thought you would become so involved in alcohol after you got out of the hospital, but when you did I said nothing trusting that you could handle it. That it would pass."

Spitfire cringed and looked away, "But, it didn't."

"No it didn't stop, and slowly I began losing faith in you." he replied with what seemed a heavy heart. "Night after night I would escort you home, drunk beyond belief, so you could sleep it off. Every night that was exactly what you did, crawled into bed with no fuss and went to sleep. The more you drank though, the higher your tolerance seemed to get. And on a night your limit had not been fully reached, I made the mistake of taking you home early."

Every moment Soarin recounted the past, was a moment she was reliving as if she was there within her mind. She wanted so bad to stop herself in the dream, but no matter what she did it continued to play. How she flirted with him the entire walk home, to the point where she used all that she had to seduce him, even the moment that their bodies connected in bliss, and finally ending the next morning when she left him alone in her bed.

The pale blue stallion had stopped speaking seeming to know she was reliving the memory even without him saying it aloud anymore. Her eyes were glazed over with tears when she looked back at him, she knew what he needed to get out most of all. How he had felt that morning, and the event that came the next evening.

"Please Soarin, no more. I'm far too ashamed of what I know is next." she begged feebly knowing her request would be rejected.

"Spitfire do you know what it felt like?" Soarin ignored her and fumed on. "To wake up and find you gone. You needed me? More like you had a scratch you couldn't wait to itch! I let my guard down and feelings out and you crushed them dead. The sad part was, you weren't done yet were you?"

The golden mare now pulled her knees up close to her chest in what she felt was her last defense against this onslaught of shame. The stallion was right what happened next, was quite possibly the worst thing she could have done to the kindhearted pegasus.

"That evening I received a call from your usual bar, and I figured I would just have to come get drunk old you out as usual." the dark grey-blue maned pegasus raged. "But no, it was something far worse. You and Fleetfoot had gone out together that evening, the both of you got beyond drunk, and you got that itch burning inside again. I was called in to get you to stop acting so lewd openly with Fleetfoot."

It was all true. Spitfire still had to admit though she regretted her actions, she discovered Fleetfoot was an amazing kisser! The Wonderbolt had to scold herself for that thought though as well because this wasn't the time for those thoughts. She couldn't break under the pressure from Soarin now!

"But the worst offense was what I saw when I finally arrived." the pale blue stallion said tears threatening to break free. "The bar's front door was locked, and so I went around back knowing how to get in. As I walked inside, I quickly found out you decided to change the owner's mind about having you removed from the premises. As well as a few of the other patron stallions. Not to mention you pulled Fleetfoot in with you, and had some of those kind stallion patrons give her a good time as well!"

Spitfire couldn't deny any of his words, and it was seared into her memories far too clearly. What she remembered though of that day was that instead of breaking up the situation Soarin left. Not moments later, did the police arrive and arrest them for lewd behavior in a public establishment. He hadn't spared them a moment before acting. It was in the jail that Fleetfoot had asked Spitfire if they could do this more when they finally got out, a request that she eagerly accepted at the time.

"Do you even know the half of what Fleetfoot has become because of you?" Soarin seethed.

"What?" the golden mare replied totally caught off guard.

"Never mind, you don't need to know about that at this point." the pale blue pegasus' tone completely shifting. "This is between us after all, and you seeking my forgiveness."

"Don't you just drop something like that on me and not tell me what is going on Soarin!" Spitfire roared back to life, a fierce worry lighting her eyes.

"Get over it Captain, you will find out eventually." he answered in a stoic tone. "As for why you will learn later, it's because to earn my acceptance of your apology, to even have a chance at gaining my trust again, you must complete my task. My task for you is to rebuild this team, piece by piece. If the others will accept you, then maybe I will. But you have to work on curving their problems first."

"Then tell me where Fleetfoot is and I'll bring her back right now!" the golden mare harped on.

Soarin laughed, "You think I will start you off with the worst of your damage? No, I'm not taking requests Captain. You do this my way or not at all."

She looked back at the stallion with a mock challenge in her eyes, but surrendered it to him just as easily. Soarin would have his way, like it or not it seemed.

"Then where would you have me start?" the golden mare said rather deflated.

"Either at Valkyrie or your brother, Rapidfire." he answered.

Her gaze bolted up to Soarin, "Rapidfire got dragged into this? That isn't possible!"

"You're right, he didn't." the stallion answered crossing his arms. "Fleetfoot tried getting a hook in him but he ignored her and disappeared into the wind the day before we were given vacation time. Not even I have heard from him since."

"So he isn't a big concern in comparison to Valkyrie then?" she answered.

"Pretty much, since you are the only one that knows where he would have gone." Soarin answered closing his light emerald eyes. "Valkyrie will probably be easiest when it comes to accepting. She always knew her problem and usually kept it to herself, until a spider came along and drug it out of her for the spider's own gain."

Spitfire sat in silence, she remembered the medical secret her old friend had harbored. The secret she had sworn to never tell another about, even the way that it was being treated. Yet to manipulate her the blind golden mare had broken that confidence in her.

"Where can I find her now Soarin?" the orange maned mare sighed from her memory.

"She is at her vacation home in Vulcan Hoof Flatts, training for next season. Even if there isn't one." he answered her grimly.

She stood up and turned to walk away from Soarin. This was too much, every memory of how she betrayed her team, her family, was flooding back into her mind. She couldn't handle this much she needed to call the doctor, immediately.

"Spitfire!" Soarin's voice rumbled loudly from behind her. "What you have done is horrible but...it is not beyond repair. No matter what you think, I believe you can find the answer."

She turned to look at him, and saw him blushing. Obviously he was embarrassed to give her words of inspiration. Yet she could not feel happier that he was still on her side, even if he still held a grudge. He was there, as always. She smiled at him and turned once again to exit the shower room. She would be back once she had gotten her brother and Valkyrie back again, and not a moment before that.

As she stepped out of the academy front doors she was blinded by the setting sun. It was getting late, and she was going to need her rest for the long flight out to Vulcan Hoof Flatts. She jumped into the air, spreading her wings, and took flight back to her apartment. After being in that steamy shower, it felt amazing to be soaring through the skies utterly free.

Chapter 6: To Retire An Element of Harmony

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 7: Unchain Mah Heart

Author's Note

Eeyup, this chapter features the perspective of none other than Big Mac!

Chapter 7: Unchain Mah Heart

As a red stallion entered a plain patient holding room at Ponyville Psychiatric Hospital of the Sun, he found himself quite nervous at his situation. He had no idea what he was even doing here the day after Rainbow Dash had pulled him out of his hiding place. Although that had given him the will to come here today, for her.

"M-Macky?" was the first voice to greet the stallion.

The tall farmer turned to see the pink mare he knew so well sitting in her bed looking at him. Surprise lighting her expression had almost broke his conviction, but he managed to keep himself dedicated to what needed to be done. After all she was probably more shocked that he had even visited at all.

"Hey there Pinkie." the stallion said shyly.

"But what are you doing here? You never visit me..." the lucid pink mare trailed off.

"Ah've been a right good mess since that day y'all came ta me." Big Mac answered her with some difficulty. "An' somepony opened mah eyes ta what Ah shoulda been doin' from the start fer ya."

Pinkie Pie simply cringed as if in pain, and the tall farmer hadn't a clue what to do now. He was known for being soft spoken around town, but this silence was something entirely new and different for him.

"It's okay Macky, you didn't fail me that day." the curly maned mare answered with simple neutrality. "I just realized something was wrong and came here for treatment. Little did I know that thing inside me would grow and flourish during this time."

The ginger maned stallion could not believe her tone of voice, it seemed so bland and matter-of-fact. It was almost like that was the persona she forced so that she could maintain control of whatever it was inside of her. Macintosh had never seen whatever this thing was, but if it was forcing her to become like this then it was not good. He had this itching feeling in his gut though that he had seen it before.

Pinkie doubled over, clenching her hands to her head as if in immense pain. As she stayed like this she began to groan loudly and twist about in spasms. The stallion's eyes widened in shock as his mind traveled back in time to the basement of an old cottage belonging to the gryphon, Gilda. As the mare's convulsions ceased, her demeanor changed drastically.

"N-No..." Big Mac uttered breathlessly. "...It can't be."

She looked over at him as a dark smile spread across her face, "Hey there big boy!"

The stallion swallowed hard, for he had not anticipated that this was her split personality that she had developed. Not the overly sexual, sadomasochistic, but broken remnants of his close friend.

"Aw, how sweet of you!" the pink mare said mockingly. "You remembered me!"

As he took a step back she got up from the bed and sauntered over to him casually. She was going to toy with him it seemed, and being in his awkward social state he was practically defenseless. Her hand met his strong muscular left breast, he flinched, and she giggled.

"Even though you're wearing a red shirt and overalls you can still feel my hand clean through all of that can't you big guy?" Pinkie's persona taunted him. "Too bad I know the doctor is watching, otherwise we would paint this room all sorts of shades!"

The stallion acted out defensively by grabbing her wrist and tossing her hand away from him. As soon as he had done it he realized this was not the correct approach at all. She dropped her head menacingly laughing.

"Hoo boy you're tempting me a little too far!" she said lustfully looking up into his eyes.

As he looked into her eyes he saw it. The lustful glimmer in her eyes was hollow and primal, with not a single purpose beyond the action. Yet, looking further into her eyes he felt himself being drawn deeper into her very spirit. The ginger stallion was in no way ready for something so deep to occur, but he allowed it to proceed feeling that this was just right.

Though, as he closed in on what he thought he saw, he felt her grab him by his overalls and pull him closer to her bed. She then threw him onto her bed and jumped up on top of him, pinning the startled stallion down. The pink mare had decided what she wanted and didn't care if the doctor was watching or not. Their eyes met fully when she leaned over him, her's were delighted at her victory. He returned a look for her to take in, and it was one of a pained heart.

She took this look as one of submission as the pink mare's expression lit up even more. Big Mac then closed his eyes with a frown and a single tear showing upon his face. This change confused the crazed mare, and she paused. It was time for the bright red stallion to say something he needed to say.

"Now where's the Pinkie Pie Ah fell in love with now?" he said in a soft southern accent.

"Wh-What?" Pinkie yelped clearly startled.

Macintosh opened his eyes to look at her gently, and saw something he really didn't expect to see. A light was in the pink mare's eye's that wasn't there before, as tears began to stream from her sky blue eyes. He could see the real Pinkie flickering to the surface, his words had driven her persona out instantly. Yet, he knew that it would still linger within her mind. Nothing can be driven out that easily.

"What am I doing? This absolutely positively isn't right!" she said at a speed the stallion could barely catch. "No, no, no, no, nononononono!"

"Pinkie." he said gently.

"Nonononononononononono!" she continued on shaking her head back and forth rapidly.

"Pinkie!" Big Mac said raising his voice and putting his hands on her shoulders.

She focused on his eyes and she replied with a bubbly smile, "Yes Macky?"

He never quite understood how she could shift between her moods like it was nothing before she was put in the mental hospital. The ginger farmer also never thought he would miss it so much in his entire life.

"Could y'all possibly get up offa me?" he asked with a sheepish smile.

"Oh my gosh!" Pinkie shouted in surprise as she realized where she actually was sitting.

As she jumped up and off him, the stallion finally sat back up. He looked at Pinkie, and saw her staring back at him with eager eyes. She had something she really wanted to ask, and Macintosh could just feel it.

"What's on yer mind?" he prompted her.

"Well now I just wonder if what you just said a moment ago was actually one hundred percent true..." she took in a deep gasping breath to continue. "...and if you mean it deep deep down inside, cause I mean with how I've been I can understand if you were just saying it to comfort me and--"

Big Mac had stood up walked over and put a finger to her mouth and it made her cease her train of speech. He smiled gently, as he looked at her fondly for a moment before saying anything.

"Ah meant every word Ah said." the ginger stallion answered solemnly as he took his finger away from her lips. "Y'all should know by now when Ah say sumthin' Ah mean it."

"Big Mac I--" she stopped looking her body over as it glowed a pale green glow. "Hehe that tickles, why is there a magic aura around me?"

It was at that moment the party mare squeaked in surprise as her eyes lit up, and a small dark stream of magic traveled out of her forehead. The ginger farmer followed it as it flowed through the air, and eventually was directed into a crystal vial held in the magic of Doctor Psych. Once it was all in the vial he quickly corked the bottle and dispelled his magic, catching the bottle in hand.

"At long last!" the doctor cheered.

Pinkie lost her balance and Mac leaned in quickly to catch her and turned defensively toward the doctor, "What did y'all do ta her?"

"Finally began the extraction of the dark magic building up in her." the cream colored unicorn replied with a smile.

"Um, s'cuse me?" was all the red stallion could say more confused than ever.

"Well as you can see this vial is now full of a viscous black liquid. This is a dark magic created by the mind in times of severe mental trauma." the doctor said shaking the container lightly. "It cannot be extracted until a person has a moment of total clarity. We mental doctors try to coax this moment out of a pony, but we are not always successful in this struggle. So we sometimes rely upon those that were close to the mare or stallion in question."

"Ew, that black icky stuff was in my head?" Pinkie said regaining her composure.

"Yes miss Pie, this is a portion of what you created in your mind from your encounter with Gilda." he said closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "And you have this stallion to thank for giving me the chance to finally help you."

"Wait now doc, there's more o' that stuff in 'er head?" Big Mac questioned.

"Put simply yes. You can't just pull a fully developed, trauma based, magical entity from a pony in one shot!" he answered with dire seriousness. "That could leave a patient brain dead! We strive to bring ponies back from the darkness they create in their minds, which as you've seen takes the form of an alter ego."

"So I can get better doctor?" Pinkie chimed in happily. "You can get rid of that thing in my head?"

"Now that Macintosh here brought you back to total clarity we can begin treatments right away!" Psych answered with a bright smile. "But don't think it will be an overnight procedure! It will take anywhere from one to three months."

"Aw, I wanted to go out and explore again!" the cotton candy maned mare said in mock defeat.

The doctor laughed and then directed his attention to the red stallion, "I would request that you be present for each of her extractions, and I'm sure she would appreciate it as well."

Big Mac looked at the pink mare still leaning into his arms even though she could stand on her own. She smiled happily at him her sky blue eyes shimmering and full of life. He felt a warmth grow within his chest as he smiled back softly.

"Ah wouldn't want it any other way doc." the stallion said not once taking his eyes from Pinkie's.

Chapter 8: At The Gates Of Valhalla

As Spitfire flew through the sky today her mind was abuzz with thought. Her talk with Rainbow the night before, had given her a lot to think about as she started her work with the Wonderbolts again. She had known Fleetfoot was a major problem, but to find out someone other than her was just as big a problem worried her more than ever.

She flew over the tufty clouds that made up Vulcan Hoof Flatts on her way to finding Valkyrie. She was one of the few fliers that could match the captain's speed in any show. She was a light grey mare with a blonde mane, and her eyes were the most lovely shade of azure blue. Yet, for all these features that she had been blessed with there was a problem that effected her flying ability, over winding.

Over winding tended to be a disability that effected the respiratory system, and overall muscle performance. In short, Valkyrie had serious endurance issues that limited her abilities. Somehow though she had overcome this crippling disability. Spitfire found out by complete accident one day, but had swore she would never tell anyone. A promise she would one day break.

The fiery maned mare let out a sigh. It was a shame she couldn't just sit back and enjoy the beautiful sight that was Vulcan Hoof, but the situation called her attention to trying to anticipate what was to come. As she realized her surroundings she could see a simple cloud house in the distance, found her!

It was at this time she was overtaken by a grey streak bolting through the sky towards the house. She knew that streak all too well, and it seemed Valkyrie had seen her approaching. Spitfire put on some speed to catch up with her but the blonde maned mare seemed intent on leaving her in her wake.

Upon landing she was greeted by her old team mate facing her arms crossed, a stoic look upon her face. She seemed an entirely different mare than she was once upon a time. Almost, stronger in presence even.

"Captain Spitfire." Valkyrie started with her lower toned, but still feminine, voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

She didn't seem happy at all, but at the same time she seemed unphased by the sight of the golden mare. Had Soarin warned her of her coming already?

"Hello, earth to Spitfire?" the light grey mare said with a more friendly tone.

"S-Sorry Valkyrie!" she stuttered in embarrassment. "Guess I forgot how hard it is to read your expressions."

She shrugged with a smile, "Old habits die hard, eh Captain?"

"Yeah they do." she said sheepishly scratching the back of her neck. "So guess I should--"

"Cut it Spitfire, I know why you're here." the blonde maned Wonderbolt interrupted.

As she looked Valkyrie up and down, in the back of her mind she wondered why she had never had a single sexual thought about her. Her mane was long blonde and braided, she was the tallest mare in Wonderbolt history, and the curves of her body only helped to accentuate her aerodynamics further. The fiery maned mare could only guess that that had been the biggest contributing factor to how she got into the academy without endurance.

"Curious how you never came after me sexually, isn't it?" the grey mare had caught her looking.

"Wow, I just can't help that can I?" she replied sheepish still. "But I gotta say you look to be in amazing physical shape Valkyrie!"

"It's in part because of the shame you brought me, ironically enough." she answered simply. "Yet you haven't questioned what I'm wearing yet either so I figure we've got a long evening ahead of us. Come on lets go inside, I need to change into something more comfortable anyhow."

"True what gives with the altered Wonderbolt body suit Val?" Spitfire questioned following the grey mare as she turned and walked to her front door.

"It's my personal training uniform." She answered as she came to the front door and opened it. "I just take the head covering and remove it about halfway down the neck, and I honestly don't see why we don't just do that anyways."

"You know the answer to that one." Spitfire piped up. "Concealing our identities while on the fields allows us to swap out with each other when the other gets tired. That way the fans are none the wiser as to the switches!"

"I know, I know." Valkyrie said walking into her living room. "It just feels better when the wind is in your face blowing through your hair like it's nothing at all." she continued walking and stopped at the doorway on the opposite side of the living room. "Well make yourself comfortable here, my room is this way and I'd like to change in private."

"Not a problem mam!" she said giving a mock salute.

The grey mare just responded with a groan as she walked off. Spitfire strode over to a simple light blue cloud couch and sat down to wait. She had hoped her old friend had not taken her attire to be too offensive in any manner as she looked herself over.

"Nah I doubt this is too provocative!" she said to herself dismissively.

She wore a tighter red t-shirt that covered her completely, and a recently washed pair of black denim jeans that fit comfortably, not loosely. She had tried to wear the most comfortable things she could, but she had to wash them last night before coming here. So she had resolved to do a load of laundry while talking to Dash, and that had been an adventure into the cyan mare's mind she didn't expect.

That aside, she weighed the thought of how the tight shirt showed off the curves of her body, but that wasn't the sort of thing she would use to provoke sexuality with. So at least she was safe there. She heard a faucet come on from beyond the doorway, and the golden mare knew it was Valkyrie washing the drying sweat from her face. She always said she hated that feeling more than actually sweating.

As soon as the sound of water ceased the grey mare came through the doorway, rubbing her face with a towel vigorously. Spitfire was stunned at the sight of her. Wearing loose fitting white dress pants and her own loose blue and gold Wonderbolts jersey. Her prominent braid of hair trying to get around her neck to the front but the towel kept knocking it away. She looked plain, but she made it look good!

"I can feel you staring Spitfire, with that stupid grin on yer face!" Valkyrie said through the towel before removing it from her face. "What are you smiling at anyways?"

"You stupid, man the stallion that nets you is gonna be one lucky son of a gun!" She announced proudly. "I mean you make that simple outfit look good, what have you been doing these past four months?"

"Oh that, well this should be an interesting story so scoot your flank over would ya?" the blonde maned Wonderbolt teased.

"What scoot over?" Spitfire returned. "There is a whole other couch you can sprawl out on!"

"Fine then I won't sit by you!" her friend replied with a playful smile as she went and sat on the second couch to Spitfire's left. "So then, let us start by dredging up your betrayal."

She had finished the second sentence with a tone of anger, and this worried the fiery maned mare greatly. Has she really held a grudge all this time, but why would she be acting friendly then? Spitfire worried.

"So, after you revealed to the team the only reason I needed a stand in the day after you and Fleetfoot got out of jail, was because I didn't have enough faerie dust to alleviate my Over Winding disability..." she paused staring at her with her icy azure eyes letting it sink in. "...It was about a week later I went to Nydus. I had resolved to kick my habit, which was why next time you came for drugs I told you off."

"Well that explains that tidbit of my memory" Spitfire interjected.

"Also that is why you stopped seeing me as often in general. Nydus sent me to see a physical therapist the team occasionally worked with, Doctor Peak Performance." she seemed to reminisce with a fondness. "He helped me to realize I didn't need the dust to get by, but at that point there were no effective treatments for my disability. That stallion took great pride in trying to find a way to solve it though, and by his efforts he helped me change my diet into something that was at least aiding in reducing the symptoms."

Valkyrie seemed to be talking too fondly about her physical therapist. It had Spitfire wearing an expression completed by a cocked eyebrow. Something was too good about this, but she wasn't sure what it was just yet in the grey mare's recounting.

"It was about a week or so after you went into rehab that Nydus suggested bringing Peak on as my personal trainer and physician, and I was shocked to find out he had already agreed to it. Nydus as usual was just there to tell me what he did with no consent!" Valkyrie laughed happily. "The following months were some great levels of training me physically and aiding in my diet. I mean come on you wouldn't believe the results he got on my core alone Spits!"

The grey mare stood up from her place on the couch and lifted her shirt just enough to reveal her stomach. It was sculpted beautifully, with absolutely perfectly toned and tempered muscle. It was the most developed Spitfire had ever seen the grey pegasus. She couldn't believe four months had done this for her friend.

"Not to mention my wings are stronger, my legs as you've noticed yourself, and I've even improved my high velocity flight time endurance from when I was still in the academy four times over!" Valkyrie announced with pride.

Spitfire felt tempted to ask her to show her more of her sculpted body, but she knew this was her own sexual curiosity trying to edge her out again. She had to redirect her friend now, even if it was the blonde maned mare's intent to tease her as a test.

"Oh and what was your old flight high velocity endurance again?" she asked blushing.

"It was roughly two and a half minutes on good days, but now I can hold out for about eight and a quarter!" Valkyrie said lifting the shirt higher still.

That's just horrible, Spitfire thought. The grey pegasus was trying to tempt her and was playing dumb about it with her celebratory tale of change. If she knew anything about her old friend, she knew how to derail her completely. Maybe it was time to get the complete story on this physician of hers.

"Wow that physician sounds like a great guy if he can do this with you; any chance its more than doctor patient though Valk?" the fiery maned mare taunted her.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" the blonde maned pegasus stuttered in shock dropping her shirt suddenly bashful.

Got her, oh blessed safety!

"Oh come now you talk about him like he is your knight in shining armor, spill the details!" the golden pegasus continued her assault.

"But I--that isn't why you're here Captain." she said shyly going and sitting back on the couch.

"Come on he sounds perfect for you, don't tell me you two aren't dating yet!"

She bit her lip, "We aren't, but there is more to it than that..."

"Well okay then, would you care to tell me more Valkyrie?" Spitfire eased up on her old friend.

"He's already married actually, but well he had never said anything about it. I'd had my suspicions but I guess I just ignored them." Valkyrie confessed blushing hard. "One day during my fitness routine, we were both really close and...well...I just acted on impulse. I kissed him."

"Oh wow, you of all pegasi took a leap like that?" the golden mare said genuinely surprised.

"I know it was stupid but I couldn't help but express my feelings. He didn't push away like I thought he would though." the light grey mare said grabbing a cushion and wrapping it in her arms. "He let it pass though, before breaking the truth of him in fact being married and that something like that couldn't happen again. We sat and just talked about it for hours instead of training that day. It was nice to just sit and talk, he was so careful with his words. His wife is the lucky one, even if she doesn't know it."

"Don't tell me, it was one of those political power marriages?" the Wonderbolt Captain said leaning forward to her friend.

"It was, but he found a way to love her. She did too from what I got from him." Valkyrie said with a feeble smile. "They even have a beautiful young daughter."

"Wow, now I'm sorry I brought that up to divert you from your mission." Spitfire said regretfully. "You deserve that kind of stallion in your life, not to live with the fact that when you find one they're already out of reach."

"Yeah that tends to be--wait!" Valkyrie shot an evil look through her azure eyes at her dropping her pillow. "You knew I was doing that on purpose?"

"Duh! After Soarin I assumed you guys would try to tempt me somehow." she replied laying back. "But as I said, hun I am so sorry for bringing that up since it's more sensitive for you than I could have ever imagined."

"Still using my bashful nature against me? Well, at least you did it in a way more befitting you Captain." the light grey pegasus said with a shrug. "Still some of us won't fake the temptations, some of us will actually try to pull you back into your old ways."

"Like Fleetfoot." she answered absentmindedly staring at the ceiling.

"So Soarin told you about her then?" the blonde maned mare seemed confused. "Thought he was gonna keep that till the end from you..."

"He was, but a little rainbow told me a little more than he was willing to divulge." Spitfire said with the warmest smile.

"Well will you look at that? Somepony grew a real heart while she's been in rehab!" Valkyrie teased playfully. "A little rainbow eh?" her expression changed to one of shock. "Wait, you don't mean what I think you do by that. Not Rainbow Dash!"

Spitfire blushed, she was caught in her own trap now, "Well it might very well be, I'm interested in her, but nothing has developed...definitively yet."

"But Captain, if you are successful in putting the team back together you know what that affection will do?" the grey mare shouted in dismayed shock. "It will entirely jeopardize one of you staying on the team, and in one of your cases bar you from joining all together!"

"It may or may not, we will find out should a relationship come to pass in the first place Valk." Spitfire said sitting back up. "We all know that's not the reason I'm here though. We can share girl talk another time, when we have officially made up."

"I don't need much of an apology though Captain." Valkyrie said plainly. "Your betraying my trust actually inadvertently helped me. I'm grateful you did what you did even if you broke your promise to me, it had to be done for my sake." the tall mare concluded. "But, if you're really itching for an achievement or act of some sort to symbolize our renewed friendship...then how about a race across the flatts at dusk?"

"But you suck at night flying!" the fiery maned mare scoffed loudly.

"We shall see, if your pony enough to accept my challenge?" the light grey mare taunted her boldly.

"You're on Valkyrie!" she declared. "But first, can I ask to steal a bed fer a while? The flight from New Trottinghem wasn't an easy one!"

Spitfire couldn't deny the flight from her apartment to here had utterly drained her of energy. She had never been the endurance flier of the family, that had been her brother. She was built for speed, and since she had done an endurance flight a nap would help greatly. She hoped she could steal Valkyrie's bed.

"Hmm, I was just about ready for my mid day nap myself." she said looking rather thoughtful, almost mischievous. "I don't have two beds, but mine is big enough for the two of us. Long as you keep yer hands to yourself you can sleep next to me till tonight."

Goodbye again safety...oh how I'll miss you!

Seemed that one way or another Valkyrie was intent on testing her ability to resist her baser instincts. While Spitfire knew she could lay on one of the couches something mischievous stirred in her mind that could not be passed up. Something the two of them hadn't done since the grey mare joined the team.

"And when I see Soarin again I can mess with his head by saying we slept together..." her smile shown brightly as the thought took form in her head. "...again!"

"Oh my yes!" the light grey mare mimicked the evil smile Spitfire had on. "I'd almost forgotten how fun it was to torment that marshmallow's mind!"

As they both got up they were laughing menacingly, embracing one another arm in arm, and then skipping off to Valkyrie's bedroom together. Upon entering, they parted, and Spitfire stopped dead at the entrance. Her friend's room looked like it was ready at any second to entertain that one special somepony. Almost as if the home was her intended honeymoon suite!

"Wow Valk, I'm surprised your room is this invested in that one special somepony." the golden mare said walking slowly into the room distracted by the decor. "It's almost a tempting invitation to--whoa hello!"

As Spitfire looked back to Valkyrie she was shocked to see her removing her jersey. She stood on the opposite side of the room and bed as her, but her back was towards the fiery maned mare. As she continued to stare at her friend's back, the one thing she never expected was to see scarring along sections of her mid back region nearest her wings.

"What? I sleep in my underwear is that an issue?" the blonde maned mare said turning to face the Wonderbolt Captain. "I mean I usually sleep in less, but seeing as you're here I don't wanna be too mean to you."

She now scanned the black floral lace bra her friend wore as it was in plain view now, and she swallowed hard in worry. It would be a problem to resist the temptation her friend had laid bare in front of her. If her pants came off too, Spitfire was too nervous to even think about it. She had never known Valkyrie slept almost in the nude when friends were over and in the nude when she was home alone. Yet, that wasn't what surprised the Wonderbolt Captain most, those scars were not there when she left for rehab.

"Well it may be an issue if those pants of yours come off." the fiery maned mare replied sheepishly. "But that's not my only reason for being surprised, where did you get those scars Valk?"

"Oh? You mean the ones in the middle of my back where my wings connect, right?" She asked looking from side to side as if she could look around to see them.

Spitfire nodded in reply.

"Well it was the only other thing Peak suggested for me. They did a little restorative surgery on my lungs, but they had to go in from my back oddly enough." Valkyrie said rubbing her arm sheepishly. "It did increase my lung capacity like we expected, but the scars never fully healed. I wear 'em proudly though, to show how strong I'm willing to be to follow my dreams!"

"You know, sometimes, I am glad I convinced Nydus it was the right choice to add you to the roster." Spitfire said with a bold degree of pride.

"Oh yeah? Well for that I'm telling you the pants do come off, but you can't touch anything got it?" Valkyrie taunted her, but added reinforcement. "After all you need to focus on that bright rainbow, am I right?"

As she watched her friend strip her pants off and hop into bed she smiled not even paying attention to the world around her. Even through the worst of this, Valkyrie had stayed her friend and was easily willing to forgive her. Although this could have been in part because what she had done had made the grey mare a stronger person than she was before.

The golden mare was glad that she hadn't become what her best girl friend Fleetfoot had become. Once the light grey mare had settled under the soft, deep blue cloud covers, Spitfire climbed up as well. She laid on top of the covers and faced away from the blonde locks of hair that might tempt her, instead remembering a different braid of rainbow hued hair as she nodded off to sleep.

______________________________________________________________________________________

I can feel no sense of measure,
No illusions as we take,
Refuge in young colt's pleasure,
Breaking down the dreams we maaaake,
Real.

Spitfire awoke to the sound of acapella music that gradually built in with a bass guitar. She opened her eyes, there was a single light filtering into the room from what she assumed was the master bathroom. She turned and looked at the bedside table to see a clock which read 10:47 P.M.

"And I was having such a nice dream." she mumbled to herself. "Hmm, lets go see what Valkyrie is up to then. She couldn't have a weirder taste in music."

The golden mare got out of the bed slowly and quietly. She noticed her hair had lost its windswept look with sleep, now hanging at her shoulders. It didn't matter though, and she continued creeping to the open doorway of Valkyrie's bathroom. As the music seemed to get louder with every step she took toward the room, she was assured her friend was within.

Upon reaching the doorway, Spitfire peaked her head around and nearly dropped at the sight in front of her. The grey mare's back was to her but she was in the nude getting dressed for their flight. Looking closer at the mare's flank though she noticed something, odd. Naturally she had to comment.

"Wow a branding mark Valkyrie?" the orange maned pegasus opened with casually. "What inspired you to get something you swore you'd never get?"

"Oh of course you would walk in when I'm naked." the grey pegasus sighed. "Would you just let me get dressed in peace right now Spitfire?"

The golden mare was confused by her friend's stoic request to be left alone. She had ignored the question from Spitfire all together, and that was unlike her. Maybe it was something better left alone, like a relative passing away that she really cared for or something of the sort. So she just stepped out and went back to sit on the bed while her friend got dressed.

After about five minutes her friend emerged and threw a second training uniform at her.

"Go get it on, I won't have you at a disadvantage Captain." the grey mare said jumping up onto her bed luxuriously.

Spitfire just shrugged it off and went to change into the tight form fitting suit. After getting it on she realized what Valkyrie meant by feeling more free without the head covering. Maybe they could make their outfits more open after all, but this would be something to address later. As she exited the bathroom her friend whistled.

"Well now Captain, still looking good after all this time of not training!" the blonde maned pegasus declared.

"You still haven't answered my question about the branding." Spitfire replied bluntly.

"Oh in time I will, but we have a race to commit to first." Valkyrie answered with a sly smile. "Lets get moving, we gotta fly easy toward the cloud peak of Vulcan Hoof Flatts. You know it's at least a thirty minute fly from here?"

"Why start so far away?" the golden mare retorted in confusion. "Why not start here and head for the peaks?"

"I've got my reasons Spits, just trust me!" her friend answered standing up and heading out of the bedroom. "Come on, lets get moving!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

A thirty minute flight later...

The two pegasi stood atop the tall cloud peak of Vulcan Hoof Flatts in a ready to kick off position. Valkyrie really was serious about this, and it wasn't hard for the golden mare to see in her friend's azure eyes. The two Wonderbolts stood at the ready and after a long silence the grey mare spoke up wings flared at the ready.

"Ready for this Spitfire?" she asked in mock challenge again.

"You know it, have fun with the idea of winning!" the golden mare declared boldly. "I'll make it back to your house first guaranteed!"

"Alright then. Get ready." she announced. "Three. Two. One."

"GO!" they both shouted kicking off the cloudy peak at their full strength.

As they kicked off at full speed Spitfire felt that old familiar rush of adrenaline through her veins that made her feel alive, that made her feel free. It was not long after this she noticed Valkyrie wasn't flying at her side, but had instead opted for a dive down the cliff side which had given her an immense lead. She had used the terrain to her advantage, and was still pumping her wings strenuously.

How long can she last?

If the fiery maned mare was going to win this race she was going to have to put all her strength into it. Which wasn't much when compared to her friend who was at the peak of her physical abilities. Whereas Spitfire was sorely lacking that physical condition, and would have to plan her moves carefully or else she would lose tonight.

As she looked around she realized something else she had not been ready for, the clouds along the flatts were shimmering. This only happened when the moon out was full or close to being full. Another astute advantage Valkyrie had given herself, as seeing in the dark was never her strong suit when flying. The taller pegasus was easily pulling away from Spitfire at this point, and the Captain couldn't be more proud.

Not one to lose face to her subordinates though Spitfire took into a risky nose dive to pick up speed. The difference was that the golden mare was built for this aerodynamic move, but her grey friend was less capable of gaining speed with it. Within mere seconds she had come up directly behind Valkyrie who was still getting great velocity from her wings, but flying in her back draft gave the Wonderbolt Captain a moment to ease up on her flight.

As she started to relax her blonde maned friend began to pick up speed at a tremendous rate, and it startled her to think that her team mate may now be faster than her. The only difference was that she knew this was probably Valkyrie's final burst of strength, and so Spitfire picked up her own pace to match it in case she couldn't keep going. It was then she realized what this race really was to her. It was just a competitive flight with a friend, although if neither won the race it would be fine as well.

Yet the grey mare kept pushing harder and harder for speed. It began to worry the Wonderbolt Captain as they closed in on her friend's vacation home. Suddenly Valkyrie dropped from her path and stopped pumping her wings for speed, she was free falling now. She had siezed from pushing her body too hard and too far past its limits. In a heartbeat the fiery maned mare picked up a great deal of speed catching her friend in her arms.

She had fallen unconscious, but Spitfire was proud of how strong her friend's dream was in her heart. Even if she didn't agree with how far she pushed the envelope at times. The golden mare made sure to land lightly, and got her back inside her home. She was breathing lightly and not hyperventilating which was an interesting change, but when you got close to her mouth you could hear a slight sound as if her body was trying to do so.

She took Valkyrie to her bed and laid her down tucking her in gently. The only way to handle Over Winding was to let the body readjust itself on it's own. So when her friend woke up she would tell her that she won the race, even if it really didn't matter who had won.

Spitfire moved back out to the living room and settled down upon the couch with a spare blanket she had found in her friend's room. It was a comfy place to rest, not perfect, but it would do. Once she found the most comfortable spot she began to nod off quickly, but a few thoughts crossed her mind as she slowly closed her eyes.

I wonder how Dash is doing with things on her end?

She smiled warmly.

What am I worried about? She'll be fine!

Chapter 9: Coming To Terms With Loss

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 10: Decisions

Author's Note

So I was fretting over having this chapter be done in time only to write it up the day before I posted chapter 9! Lol. Good times...my muse is a troll now apparently. Anyways I hope you enjoy chapter 10!

Chapter 10: Decisions

A Few Days Later...

Spitfire sat patiently in the living room as Valkyrie and Peak Performance spoke privately inside her room. The golden mare now understood why her friend had been so drawn to this stallion as his nature would have been a comforting compliment to her own. He wasn't as tall as the grey mare, but his personality stood higher than any physical height ever could. There were a great many things she wanted to discuss with this physician before she set out to find her brother today.

It was quite the wait before the stallion came out of her room, his cherry red coat gleaming as he entered the living room. Hmm, he's a physical therapist I know but that gleam seems odd. She couldn't help but notice his lilac mane seemed tussled and hastily straightened out as well. Being a mare that had once played into these situations, and even would go out looking for them, she had a strong feeling that she knew what was going on.

This had been the second day since her over winding incident with Spitfire, and she felt the stallion was being a bit too attentive to his patient. As he made his way for the front door the fiery maned mare stood up, she had to have an answer out of him after the act.

"Doctor, could you trouble me with a moment of your time?" Spitfire requested with conviction.

"Well, I really should decline with my schedule." he replied with a level of hesitation. "Can it wait for another time?"

"Cut it Peak, you and I both know where I've been in life." the golden pegasus stated flatly. "You can make the time right now. Specially if you wanna avoid repercussions of what I assume just took place."

His worried green eyes widened in shock, "Wh-What are you accusing me of now?"

"Just sit, and we'll talk." Spitfire returned indicating he should sit on the couch opposite her.

The red stallion swallowed hard as he went over to sit on the couch, and Spitfire went to turn on the radio. Once again, the music choice had been odd old Valkyrie but it fit the atmosphere. It started off with acoustic guitar counting the song in, it was peaceful and that was what should have been playing. She went back over and sat facing the nervous Peak Performance.

"So are you going to admit it or do I have to drag it out of you?" the Wonderbolt Captain challenged deftly. "She is my friend and I will do what I have to."

"So I am to be interrogated by the once unstable Captain Spitfire." Peak said with a dreary sigh. "So where shall I start then?"

"When did it begin, your reasons for continuing, stuff along those lines should be a good start."

"Well I assume she told you about her kissing me already, but my reason for allowing her to go through with it to finish...aren't quite the same as what I've told her." the physician admitted to with a weak heart it seemed. "I allowed it because I shared her affections. Even though I am a stallion already spoken for, it is not the best of situations for myself and the wife."

"Wait what do you mean by that exactly?" he had confused her with his statement.

"I lied to Val when I said that my wife truly loved me back." the red stallion said with a deflated tone. "We have always just tried to manage living with what our families put us through. We went through giving our daughter to the world as a way to make the relatives get off our back at first. I fell in love with our daughter, but well she wasn't as enthralled with the child."

What? Spitfire was in utter shock, how could any mare that gives birth to a child be anything but in love with the life she has given? It just didn't make sense to her, but his reaction was anything but one of a liar.

"So your daughter is your only reason for going on with this facade?" the fiery maned mare concluded.

"Just about the only reason we stay together is our daughter followed by how the families would react to our split." the stallion sounded like he was cornered into an utter defeat. "This thing with Val would be bad if I didn't already know my wife felt and was doing the same thing."

"What?" Spitfire couldn't help but shout that out.

"Quiet, don't wake her up!" Peak hushed her with a serious look returning to him.

"Wow, she really does bring out your strength." the mare concluded at his changed demeanor.

"Yeah, she does." he said looking over his shoulder towards her room. "It has been like this since I saw her conviction behind her dreams. It was a week after I became her physical therapist that I began to feel, odd to say the least. My actions became much more affectionate, but I felt like I couldn't stop any of them." the lilac maned stallion chuckled. "And what's more I knew that she had noticed it as well. She took her time making sure she was right before acting herself a week and a half or so later."

"When she kissed you?"

"Yeah when she kissed me." his green eyes lit up with warmth. "I was so shocked to for once feel my feelings be returned with equal strength. It was denial that compelled me to tell her what I did about my life."

"So you couldn't handle the pressure of the situation as it dawned upon you?" Spitfire sighed. "Typical stallion reaction."

"Yes, but at least I recognized it after I did it." he returned with vigor. "Every day after that was hard on me, even if I hid it from her well. I wanted to feel her passion again, but I had a wife and my own morals to keep in check with."

"Even if they make you unhappy?" was her barbed response. "If your daughter is what stops you, maybe you could pose the question of your situation to her. But do it in a hypothetical sense, you won't get a more honest answer than one from a young child."

The stallion blinked rapidly at her as if not able to fully grasp the simple answer that had been there all along. Spitfire smiled warmly, her words were bringing a great change in the stallion's mind. Yes it may be wrong to break a married couple up, but it wasn't her intent to do so at all. She was forcing him to look at everything before him and make the decision for himself.

"That is a good idea, I may try that." he mumbled after a moment of thought. "Anyways, as you said you saw signs of things you know all too well. Would it surprise you to know that it wasn't actually sexual at all?"

The golden mares eyebrows raised in surprise, "Oh really now? Then what was it?"

"As I said a moment ago, I wanted to feel her passion again." the cherry red stallion answered evenly. "The passion in her kiss is unequaled to me. That is what it was, and after we came to a point that it could go farther...we both decided it was best to settle down. We cuddled till she fell asleep, which didn't take her that long actually."

There was a lot to consider when it came to this situation, and Spitfire didn't want to interfere in their lives or choices. Yet, someone apparently had to say something to one of them because a choice had to be made at this point. He and his wife had drifted apart over the years, each finding one that they truly felt love for, not forced love but natural and free. Valkyrie was her friend, and because of that she had to impress upon this stallion what she felt.

"Okay then Peak I've got a mouthful for you now." She began what she knew would be a long speech. "Valkyrie is one of the few friends I've got left in the wake of what I did, and I know better than most that she deserves the best. Not to always find the best already taken out of her reach forever and a day away. You strike me as the character to put an end to her streak of Sorry I'm married types she finds so often. The only problem in the way of that IS your own self."

It was odd but as she paused and observed him she saw him listening attentively. He was taking her words quite seriously. Now she would have to break her momentum to remind him her part in this.

"Now I know this may be taken as me trying to convince you to drop your wife for Valkyrie, but really Peak don't misunderstand me." Spitfire told him with an air of seriousness. "Anyways, your biggest problem is your own, but it has a simple solution that all revolves around a single choice. It is up to you what you choose to do in the end; stay or go. Do what you will to come to that final crossroad, but make a choice to go one way or the other. Even if that grey mare tells you she can take being that other girl, she is lying to you and herself."

"Yeah, I noticed she tends to do that to herself a lot." the red stallion said bemused at the truth in front of him.

"Don't allow her to be strung along, because if you do..." she paused to add emphasis on her next words, "...I will string you up and break you worse than you break her!"

His eyes flashed wide in fear at her words before softening, "You know, she is lucky to have you as a friend. Even at your worst point in life you changed her life for the better, and even now your trying to make sure she is taken care of. That kind of friend is irreplaceable."

The golden mare felt her cheeks heat up from embarrassment of his praise. Valkyrie would be happy for the rest of her life if Peak Performance chose to side with her, and with the praise he just gave her she knew it. He still had to make the choice though, and the radio long gone silent for some reason all of a sudden came back in. He quickly sat straight up as the song started in softly.

"Peak, what is it?" the fiery maned mare asked suspiciously.

"This song." He answered as if his mind was far off. "But how did she--"

"Find a copy of it that still exists?" came Valkyrie's voice from over his shoulder. "It wasn't easy to find let me tell you! Oh, you had such a lovely voice when you were younger."

"Wait that's him singing?" the Wonderbolt answered incredulously.

"Oh Spits." she answered being brought back to reality. "Well yeah, in fact it is. He said there wouldn't be a copy anywhere left in the world, but I found one of his original discs."

"So I turned on the CD player...Oops!" she replied bonking her own head with her fist lightly.

Valkyrie walked over to the table where it sat and changed the song to the next one. Her long Wonderbolts jersey swaying side to side. She wore loose fitting shorts as well which made Spitfire curious but she left it be. It seemed she had a message for the stallion herself.

"Ah here we go track eight." she said with a gentle smile. "Spits had a message for you from what I could hear a second ago-"

"Wait you heard that?" he interrupted her.

"Just that she would string you up if you lead me on, but I could make out that she left you a message from that." she chuckled lightly. "I'll head back to my rest now, but really listen to the song I leave you with okay Peak?"

As she walked off to her room the golden pegasus heard the door close and the music began to play, another acoustic song. Spitfire knew this song though it wasn't the same version that she had heard. She couldn't believe the bold song that the grey mare left the stallion with, it sounded spot on with him. The strongest part of the song sounded out and she began to see a watery haze cover the stallion's green eyes.

Ohhhh,
Just go for it,
Run toward it,
Dive in head first,
Live life with no regrets,

Oh put your heart out there,
Don't be scared you might get hurt,
But it's all worth it in the end,
It'll all work out in the end.

As the song ended the stallion looked down, a thoughtful look painted across his face. His tears had stopped now and he was taking in everything before him now. Curious as to what was going on up there Spitfire wanted to ask him so badly, but she avoided this because of what it involved.

"Well then, it's quite refreshing to know there is a mare out there willing to go to this length to show herself to one stallion alone." he spoke after a long pause. "Looks like I have a question for my daughter, and a conversation to start with my wife. It is time the two of us stopped avoiding the truth life won't let us run from."

He had made his decision from the barrage of messages given to him and with everything he knew in his heart, he had chosen to follow his own path of happiness. Not only that, but to allow his own wife to do the same. Yet the deciding factor was going to be centered on their daughter, and Spitfire could only hope that the families didn't cause great deals of grief over that.

The lilac maned stallion stood up from his place on the couch and straightened his attire out. He had wore black exercise pants and a loose comfortable blue t-shirt. For his and Valkyrie's presumed exercise session, now brought to actual light because of Spitfire's prior knowledge. The red stallion turned to her a smile upon his face, his personality was brimming with strength now.

"Thank you for your concerns Spitfire, without them this decision would have been put off much longer." he reached a hand out to shake hers.

"Nah!" she smacked his hand away. "You still gotta follow through before you deserve that hand shake."

"I guess you're right." Peak said with a laugh. "Anyways I should probably get going now. I wasn't joking when I said I had other patients to see!"

"Go on doctor, I'll be here until she wakes up after all." the golden mare reassured him.

He nodded his appreciation to her before he headed out the front door and off to take care of his other patients. It was shortly after he left Valkyrie walked out and leaned on the doorway between the hallway and living room. Her smile was so warm and gentle Spitfire could not believe it was her friend standing there.

In an instant the Wonderbolt's mind concluded something she never expected, she had just done something more significant for her friend than words could ever convey. Her task here with Valkyrie was officially done, and in the way she really wanted to do it. It was time to leave.

"With that I'm done here." she declared all of a sudden standing up from the couch.

"Wait what?" Valkyrie said baffled.

"I've done something for you that is of great positive value." was the fiery maned mare's response. "It's time I moved onto my next target, my brother. Valk, turn on your contact phone that Nydus gave all of us. When I've gotten the team pieced back together I'll call you on that okay?"

"B-But we don't know that this will turn out for the best!" the grey mare said approaching Spitfire.

"Yes we do. Me more than you though." she told the blonde maned pegasus gently. "Now are you gonna do as ordered and keep that phone on? I don't get mine back till I officially come back to the team, but I'm sure you can relate the message to me if it's important."

She saluted the fiery maned pegasus, "Yes mam! I will await your next contact!"

They both laughed cheerfully before Valkyrie walked Spitfire outside to see her off. They walked out into midday sunlight, and the air outside felt gentle and calm despite the heat. The grey mare quickly wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace, the Wonderbolt Captain could tell her friend was more grateful than words would ever express. Their embrace broke after a few moments and she turned to leave.

Now to find Rapidfire, but where to look? He was the most seclusive of all the Wonderbolts, and thus proved to be the hardest to find when he wanted to be alone--even for his sister. Even though she knew him the best that only narrowed her search down a little bit. Why couldn't he have let somepony know where he was? Spitfire lamented with a sigh.

"Spits, wait!" Valkyrie called out before she could kick off.

The golden mare turned back to answer her friend, "What is it Valk?"

"Your brother..." she paused seeming to think as how best to put it. "...He went to the one place he always feels at home at. It is the only place he feels totally free from the world."

She smiled back at her friend. That was exactly the clue she needed to find him, and he had left it with Valkyrie the only other self proclaimed loner of the Wonderbolts. Spitfire waved farewell to her friend and quickly kicked off into the skies above taking flight. The only place that Rapidfire felt totally free from the world was ironically a part of the land that made up the world, Forelorne Forest.

There were a few plots of land around the giant forest that had homes resting upon them, and her brother actually owned one of the plots. He had bought it himself saying he felt oddly compelled to purchase it for his own. Her brother had never done anything without much reason before in his life, but she let it go because of the conviction in his hazel eyes at the time.

If she flew fast she could make it before the sun set today, and if she was lucky she would catch him flying about outside. That way she could let him know his loving sister was back.

______________________________________________________________________________________

The sun was setting over the forest to the west of the property that Rapidfire owned lighting the tall pine trees warmly. It was actually quite beautiful Spitfire had to admit as she flew overhead. She was trying to spot her brother below but was having trouble with the spotty mist like clouds that hung above his home in the evenings. Finally though she managed to see the darker golden coat of her brother walking out of his front door.

Got him!

Spitfire dove as rapidly as she could toward her unsuspecting brother. This was going to be the sibling tackle of the century! When she got close enough she opened her mouth to give him her traditional warning.

"SUURRPRIIISSEE AAATTAACCKK!!!" she announced.

The stallion looked up at her first with a look of confusion, followed by utter shock as he realized she was aiming for him. As she came within distance of him she could hear him shouting as he turned and ran.

"NO, NO, NO, NO!!!" Rapidfire shouted in vain.

Within a split second she had tackled him into a crater in the ground. He let out an exasperated groan with her hugging him from behind tightly, an evil smile painted upon her face. As his disorientation cleared along with the dust she sat up, still on top of him as he laid face down in the ground.

"Hi there Rapid, my lovely loner of a brother!" the light golden mare chirped happily. "How have you been?"

"Get off!" he roared, though muffled by the ground his face had been plowed into.

"Oh right!" she answered him with feigned innocence.

She got up off of him and helped him back to his hooves just to show she meant well. He wasn't impressed by this kindness though. They both silently climbed out of the small trench they had created and headed back over to Rapidfire's front porch. He had been wearing a white stallion's tank top, and blue denim jeans. Both were ragged, dirty, and tattered, but not just from taking her tackle a moment ago. What has he been doing since he came here?

His mane was a lighter shade of orange than hers, his coat was darker than hers, and his eyes were hazel brown instead of amber. They were the weirdest siblings that ever could be, but they were always going to be family. She could hear music from inside the house that sounded like the blues. No vocals at all, but it was just as powerful. She had never totally taken to his choice in music either, but sometimes even she admitted that it hit the spot for her emotionally.

He sat down on the raised stone porch facing her directly, and a stern look crossed his face. It seemed like it was covering up a dirty joke filled with laughter though, but she would have to wait for him to share it.

"So you finally came?" he snickered but remained serious. "Then that must mean that you took care of what you needed to with Valkyrie."

"Yep, I finally did something of great meaning for her!" she said with great pride. "So Rapidfire..." her tone changed to one of regret. "...Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"Spits, you never did me wrong during all of your spiral." the dark gold stallion said flatly. "The only real wound you left me...was that you never told me why. You never told me you nearly died! In fact, you covertly barred me from seeing you like that even though I was your brother."

It was true, when she suffered her near death fall she had made Misty Fly promise her to keep Rapidfire out of it. She didn't want to burden him with the thought of possibly losing her so shortly after their mother passed away. Dad was still kicking, but that was a story for another time Spitfire realized mentally. Her brother had always been quite attached to their mother after all.

"So the only thing I really want is you to just sit down and talk with me about it, and why you decided I couldn't be there for ya." her loner of a brother said calmly.

It was all of a sudden when his left ear twitched, this usually meant he heard something far off that wasn't normal. She turned to her left to see a rainbow colored arc streaming across the sky, it was from a sonic rainboom! No way! Spitfire couldn't imagine what was going to happen next, but was quite surprised by the action all the same.

Within mere moments she was lifted off her hooves into the air by the arms of Rainbow Dash! She had shot upwards which caused the two of them to spin in the air, and as the momentum of the spin died off they gently glided back down towards the ground.

"Dash, how did you find me here?" the light gold mare questioned. "Better yet, why did you come out here to me?"

She didn't answer her questions just stood there a moment blushing, as if she was trying to find the words to say. This was quite the inopportune moment for the cyan mare to show up. Yet something was definitely not quite right with the mare. She was wearing make up and her hair had been done, although the wind had just undid it, as if she was out for a special occasion.

"Hello Dash, what's going on?" she repeated lightly.

"Well guess I got ahead of myself tonight." the rainbow maned pegasus answered. "Looks like you only just got here a few minutes ago from that fresh trench over there."

"That's all very well and good, but it doesn't answer my question." she came back stoically.

"I've found my answers Spits." the rainbow maned mare said shyly. "I know what my direction is now."

The fiery maned mare just looked back at her confusion etching across her face. Meanwhile her brother just looked on with an interested grin plastered on his face. Suddenly a pop sounded near the front porch, and everypony looked to see a lavender mare now standing there looking dazed.

"Woah, now that has to be the farthest distance I've ever teleported!" the mare said looking like she could lose her balance at any moment.

"Now who do we have here?" Rapidfire questioned. "I mean seriously, I didn't know today was bother Rapidfire day. Why do I never get these memo's?"

"Bro, I'm just as lost as you are right now." Spitfire said equally lost at the situation before her.

"Sorry guys, as I said I've gotten a tad ahead of myself today." the cyan mare said walking over to the bookish looking mare sheepishly. "Everybody this is my friend Twilight Sparkle. She was here to help me with something tonight but--"

"But now I need a few moments to recharge after such a massive teleportation." Twilight said cutting off the young cyan pegasus.

Spitfire was at wits end with things, because things just kept getting more and more chaotic. She grabbed Dash by her wrist and pulled her off towards the forest shouting orders as she went. "Dash come with me, Rapid watch Twilight."

Maybe if she separated the two of them from that situation it would get the younger mare talking. She could only hope it would get her the answers she wanted. After a short walk they reached a fence near the forest that marked Rapid's property line. Dash had been complaining and trying to get the fiery maned mare to talk the whole time she ushered her along, but she had ignored her until this point.

"Okay now that I've separated us from that chaos storm, will you tell me what was so important you had to find me immediately?" Spitfire asked with an exasperated breath.

"Do you like me Spitfire?" she asked with direct honesty.

"That's not an answer to my question Dash." she replied dissatisfied.

"Just answer me, and it will lead you to your answer." Dash returned with a bold smile.

"Of course I like you, and a lot more than just friends." she answered with a sigh then a smile. "But you already know that, and I thought we agreed to--"

She paused as her mind started doing the math behind what Rainbow had asked her. Was the cyan mare here for what she thought she was, possibly? It made her wonder just what had happened to the mare in the past few days.

"Okay then, do you want to get to know me better?" the pegasus continued her questioning.

"Of course I do silly!" Spitfire returned with a shy laugh, her cheeks heating up slightly. "But what are you implying here?"

"Then would you like to go out on a date with me Spitfire?" Dash asked boldly a light blush crossing her cheeks.

Her eyes went wide in surprise at what the cyan flier had just asked. She felt a level of utter bliss pass over her for a moment before thinking about it. Her seeking redemption was important, but on the other hand this chance might not come again. The golden mare wanted to see Dash more than sexually for quite some time now, but faced with the prospect of it worry fell into her mind.

What if you break her heart? Could you live with yourself?

I have to take a chance if I'm ever going to make it anywhere in life, especially at this point in mine. I have my worries, but what pony doesn't? Spitfire had to stick with that answer as each second that passed, left Dash looking more and more nervous.

"I-I would love that Dash." she answered her voice cracking slightly. "Is that why you brought Twilight, so we could teleport somewhere rapidly?"

"Yeah, but I don't think either of us thought it would be this great a distance away!" the cyan pegasus said with a sheepish, but bright smile.

"Well then Dashie." Spitfire started. "Let's go let her and my brother know what's up shall we?"

Chapter 11: My Name Is Brazen Wind

"Hun lets get going!" a feminine stallion's voice called out through the small studio apartment. "We've got a lot planned for tonight after all."

The voice gets closer to me as I lay sprawled across the floor, wondering if this is one of those moments where your life is supposed to flash before your eyes. Alas, no such momentous vision takes me. Yet if that is so, why does it feel so cold? Why does it feel like every bit of the stallion I am is just slipping away, into darkness?

"Brazen, hunnie come o--" the pale yellow stallion was cut off as he walked into my room to my body. "Oh my god Brazen!"

He rushed over immediately taking me in his arms with gentle care, I looked up into his eyes lazily and barely able to focus. I could feel myself hyperventilating even if it felt like everything was in slow motion. I just stared up into the worried lavender eyes of my partner as he pulled out his phone and called the Manehattan General Hospital.

"F-Focal...I-I..." I mustered all of my strength to tell my partner one last thing before darkness swallowed me. "Call my father...and tell him what...what is going on..."

"Brazen, wait no stay with me!" Focal shouted in distress. "Brazen Wind!"

Before I knew what hit me I had drifted away into the deepest recesses of my mind, or maybe fell into the world beyond our own. I couldn't quite tell anymore with the images that ran around inside my head. Was this what it really felt like to be dying?

I knew Focal Shot would lose his gourd over this whole event, but it looked like it couldn't be helped. I had gone into my own spiral of living life to the maximum, but in doing so I kept getting sucked into these strangely vivid daydreams. They had almost felt like visions telling me of my future and of how my time was running short or something to that effect. Only now did I realize it was exactly that.

After what felt like an eternity of wandering through darkness with momentary flashes radiating on occasion, a warm feeling began to overtake me. It felt familiar somehow, like the embrace of a loving mother perhaps? My memories of my mother were few and faint at best, but upon catching a scent wreathing around me now I couldn't mistake it.

"M-Mother?" I asked fearfully.

"Yes my clamped eyed Wind?" came the soft reply from just above.

"It cannot be..." I disparaged ruefully.

I opened my eyes slowly to see her smiling face looking down at me. It was sunny and there was a fully grown elm tree hanging above her, I must have been laying in her lap. I quickly sat up, a blush overcoming my cheeks as I turned to face her. I was stunned at what I saw before me. She was a pristine white pegasus with a light sky blue mane, and her eyes were glimmering like two lovely green peridots.

"Am I, dead?" I questioned with a stoic expression.

"Well you are on the verge of death." she said with a pained expression. "But we cannot just let you leave your father like this, or else he will never recover again."

"Yeah that is true." I sighed running a hand through my dark blue mane. "Yet there is still so much I've left undone mother. Is there no chance I can have a little more time?"

"Oh my son." she replied reaching over and rustling my hair. "We do not get to choose our time to go, we can only choose how gracefully we pass on when the moment arrives."

She smiled so warmly and peacefully. It was so reassuring to be here, maybe dying wouldn't be all that bad if it was my time. If it was though what did mom mean by, "...we cannot just let you leave your father..."?

As I paused for a moment I observed the world around me. There was grass all around, nature flourished, a few scattered buildings here and there throughout the valley, a breeze gently flowing through our manes, and tranquility flowed all around. I looked back to my mother, it was time to learn why she was acting the way she was.

"Mom it isn't my time yet, is it?" I started with a sigh.

"Not quite hunnie." the white pegasus answered with a frown. "You have to take your father one last message, so he doesn't feel the world has abandoned him. This will be something truly painful for your physical body, and for your spirit Brazen."

"What do I tell him though?" I questioned desperately.

"You will find the words I'm sure." her eyes shining as she spoke. "After all, I'll be right there with you Windy!"

I was daunted by the task of knowing I would only have a short amount of time to say goodbyes to my father and Focal Shot. Knowing my lover, he was already over the moon with worry. This would just hurt the pale yellow stallion that much more, and it just breaks my heart to know what I have to do.

"You will find the words for him as well, don't be troubled my son." my mother said breaking into my thoughts. "He has a good heart, he will find his way."

I felt a blush creep over my face again at her words. Of course she knew about Focal being in my life but it still made me feel exceedingly embarrassed for some reason.

"Your father and I always agreed on one thing hunnie." the gentle mare began. "Love is love no matter the circumstance around it. So as long as you were happy, we would never care who you loved."

"Mom do you ever regret what happened to you?" I asked out of the blue.

"I wish it could have waited a little longer personally, but we must make do with what we have as finite beings." her smile looked to have an edge of pain hidden within. "Hmm, it looks like you will be returning to the waking world soon son. I apologize for any pain you feel, just remember it will subside."

"No mom! I'm not ready to go back!" I shouted as my vision began to blur.

"As I said, we don't get to choose our fates." the white mare said a tear running down her cheek. "We only get to choose what to do with the time that is given to us."

I collapsed in the next second, and could quickly feel myself being dragged back to my body in the physical realm. I knew I was back, as pain coursed all throughout my body like fierce lightning. My eyes shot open for just a moment to see a doctor and nurses all around, as well as Focal Shot being dragged from my room as I thrashed back into the world.

The doctor quickly drew a needle and fed it into my IV, and as a feeling of cold water entered my veins my mind slowly dove into a calm sleep. I could only hope that my dad Signature Sandwich would be at my bedside when I awoke.

______________________________________________________________________________________

A Few Days Later...

Signature Sandwich sat beside his son's bed, deep down wishing it wouldn't be his grave as was his wife's fate. He had caught the last train out of Ponyville the evening that Rainbow had confronted him, and had decided he had to be here with his son. Focal Shot was actually a welcome guest for the grieving father, if only for the fact that the stallion seemed to be taking this just as hard as he was.

The forest green stallion had heard that his son came out of his coma yesterday evening, but since they put him back under he hadn't resurfaced. Deep down something felt wrong in his gut but he wouldn't allow it to gain any grounds. The room was homely and well taken care of, littered with get well cards and flowers galore. His son was well loved and respected by those he knew.

It had to be sometime in the evening now, and Signature wondered if his son would ever awaken again. As the thought crossed his mind his son began to stir again, and his eyes fluttered open hesitantly. Once his eyes had adjusted he looked directly at the forest green stallion, and the look sent chills of memory down his spine. No, no, no. It can't be this again! The stallion despaired inwardly.

"So you made it after all dad." Brazen said in a sedated voice. "It's good to see it's peaceful tonight, is Focal here as well?"

"Right over here hun." came the weak voice of the pale yellow stallion.

"Good, then I had best make the most of this time before me." the grass green stallion said plainly.

This is exactly like when I lost you Silent Storm...Even his sentences sound the exact same!

"First you Focal." Wind started. "There is so much to say..."

"What are you talking about Brazen?" Shot's voice cracked. "You're talking like your going to die soon."

"Ain't that the beauty of life my partner?" the matted blue maned stallion chuckled. "We live, we learn, we love, we grow, and then we die. Never on our own terms of course, but the least we can do is walk on without fear."

"Hun stop it you're scaring me!" the pale yellow stallion was trembling at the realization.

"Life will go on Focal, and you will be just fine I'm sure." his son continued on unfettered. "You have a strong loving heart, and there are still many who need you in this world. Alas, I am no longer to be a part of it, but always remember that I love you always my shining star."

They were holding hands the entire time, and now, as tears broke away from Focal's eyes, he buried his head on top of Brazen's hand. His son sat there a moment looking on with nothing but love in his eyes, happiness was what his son had known since he and Shot had been together and it had to have killed the grass green stallion to do this.

Sig just wanted that moment to freeze in time, he knew the words that came next were for him. The forest green stallion also knew that they would probably be his son's last words. He didn't want to face this fate, not again. Losing Silent Storm was horrible enough, but this fate was just too cruel to bear. As his son turned to him time seemed to slow down for the sandwich maker.

No, just stop this from happening!

"Dad, mom says hi." were the first words out of his son's mouth.

It broke Signature instantly, and he could feel tears break away from his eyes.

"Now let's see if I can find the words to say to ease your foreseeable pain." Brazen continued onward carefully picking his words. "There are many paths in life we all must walk on our own, and this one is mine. It is short and bittersweet, but I wouldn't trade a single day of it for a longer life. Every moment was perfect."

"No just stop it son, the doctors are gonna help you!" Signature sobbed feebly.

"We both know that they can't father, but that's okay." the young grass green stallion uttered with a great degree of peacefulness. "You are gonna have to let me go, just as you let mom go. I'm sorry that it has to be this way, but hey, at least it isn't the end for you yet. You've still got things you have yet to achieve!"

"Oh yeah, like what?" the forest green stallion uttered in defensive anger. "The universe has now claimed the two things I cherish most in this world!"

"But that's not completely true now, is it father?" his son returned with a bold smile.

"Wh-What do you mean?" he stammered caught off guard.

"Take refuge in your music, a talent you earned for yourself." Wind started off. "Embrace all the others within your life you would call as close as family. But above all father, you need to go on living...for those..."

Brazen Wind's words seemed to trail off suddenly. Signature was at the height of his fears, but he couldn't miss any of the last words his son had for him. So he kept himself calm in his words.

"Son, are you alright?" he asked shakily.

"Yes." the pale green stallion said shaking his head as if to clear it. "Father you must go on living for those...for those who have already left this world before they could see all of it."

The young stallion blinked rapidly and shook his head again, he was fighting to stay conscious at this point it seemed. He turned away from Signature and leaned down and kissed the top of Focal's head while mumbling something only they could hear. After that he turned to his father again, a bright smile on his face.

His last words would stay with Signature forever, "I love you Dad! Don't worry I'll tell mom you said, Hello! I'll always...be...with...you."

As Brazen said his last sentence he laid back casually and closed his eyes slowly. The machines hooked up to him to monitor his heart rate began slowing their monotonous beeping until they held on a single sound. The solitary sound of a heart ceasing to beat. That quickly became the only sound that the forest green stallion could hear, even though Focal Shot had broken down fully into what would normally be decibel shattering sobs.

He got up slowly and moved closer to his son's now unmoving body. He leaned over him and kissed his forehead whispering his final words.

"Goodbye my son, may your spirit go on...to find the peace it deserves..." he paused a moment before adding, "...I love you Brazen Wind. Goodbye."

Signature turned to leave as the doctor and two nurses rushed in, and they tried to find out what had happened from him to no avail. The simple stallion calmly pushed his way past them and headed for the elevator, he needed to get out of this place for a while. He needed to clear his head now. He called the elevator, stepped inside once it arrived, headed down to the ground floor, and walked out the front doors into the chilly Manehattan air.

As he walked down the skyscraper filled streets he just tried to regain his thoughts, but Sig couldn't manage to come to terms with things. The stallion felt utterly broken and alone as he walked below the rain cloud filled skies. The rain would fit the situation best right now. The world had just removed one of it's best pieces, and sacrificed another in the process.

It was a long time before Signature was pulled out of his numb state by a sound that just begged him to follow it. It almost sounded like organs, or was it a keyboard? It didn't matter he could hear the song and he ran to it as quick as he could. Into Manehattan's Central Park he went, and within no time he came upon a band playing on a makeshift stage for anyone passing by. Once he got closer, he knew exactly what song they were playing. It took him back in time, all the way back to Brazen's birth.

The sandwich making stallion felt his heart once again renewed by the power of music, as he remembered the rainbow maned pegasus he still had to watch over. He smiled wide as the song started to come to a close, he began humming it anew as he started on his way back to the hospital. He sang along with the singer as he strode away.

You do the walk,
You do the walk of life,
Yeah you do the walk of life!
Woo-hoo-hoo!

Chapter 12: Surprises Come In Many Forms

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 13: Crossroads

Spitfire felt oddly uncomfortable with every situation that befell her this evening. First Dash picking the most showy, in her opinion, of the three outfits she had put together. Now the discovery of Signature Sandwich's son passing on. Something just screamed tonight was going to be far from perfect for the two mares.

They arrived at the movie theater as the sun edged its way beneath the horizon. Sadly it was as the golden mare had feared in her gut, things were not going their way. Across the ticket booth's glass window was a sign that read:

Entirely Sold Out!
Sorry!

"What how can they be entirely sold out on a week day?" Dash shouted incredulously.

"It happens hun, let's not worry about it okay?" Spitfire suggested gently.

"But Spits." the cyan mare turned to her with a hurt expression. "This was supposed to be a perfect night for the both of us!"

"And it still can be." the fiery maned mare walked over and put a hand on Rainbow's bare shoulder. "The night is still young, am I right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." the rainbow maned pegasus said looking down with a pouty face. "But what can we do, there admittedly isn't a lot to do in Ponyville."

Spitfire shrugged at the thought. She really didn't know too much about what Ponyville had to offer in the way of entertainment, dining, let alone first date material activities. There were a ton of thoughts that flew through her mind, but one stood out above all for its simplicity.

"Hey Dash?" the orange maned pegasus started.

"Yeah Spitfire?" the cyan mare looked up to her.

"Why don't we just go on an earthly little stroll and let the night take us where it will?" the amber eyed pegasus suggested innocently.

The rainbow maned pegasus seemed to ponder the thought over for a moment, as if considering exactly what Spitfire had said. Her soft smile told the golden mare what her choice would be.

"If it's with you Spits, then I trust your idea." her smile still warm as she hinted at her trust in the Wonderbolt.

Spitfire turned about and held her arm out indicting to the rainbow maned flier to take it. As they interlocked arms they just strolled about the town, casually taking in the sights together. The golden mare had to admit that for being a small rustic terrestrial town, it had its own inexplicable charm to it. So simple and yet so complex at the same time. It was mind boggling to think about, but there it was laying before her.

She noticed Dash tighten her hold upon her arm and she began paying attention to the ponies around them. They were getting varied looks from those around them, but it seemed the cyan mare was only noticing the disapproving ones. The orange maned mare could care less personally, it looked to be a beautiful night no matter what somepony else thought.

"Hey Dash." Spitfire said gently nudging the younger pegasus.

"Y-Yeah Spits?" Rainbow replied shakily.

"Would you stop worrying about other pony's opinions of us?" she answered her amber gaze turning to Dash kindly.

The cyan mare nodded and answered, "I'll try."

It was all the Wonderbolt could ask of the rainbow maned pegasus tonight. As they continued on she began to notice how in sync the city and it's buildings were with nature. It was a lovely sight to behold, and Dash got to experience it every day of her life. A bright half moon began to rise in the sky illuminating the surroundings with a soft gentle light.

Every so often they would pass a dining establishment, or some form of arcade, sports venue, or recreation shop. Rainbow would stop them and try to get them to go in, but Spitfire couldn't see any reason in her heart to do so. Arms now separated, she would make her opinion clear by leaving her arm where it was. The golden mare would start walking onward simply letting her date know what she felt in a few words.

"I'm enjoying this stroll more, but if you want you can go in." Spitfire would say casually.

Every time she did, Dash would silently drop the subject and retake her golden arm. They would talk casually about whatever was on their mind in between stops, but that wasn't all that bad in all truth. In fact, they got so caught up in one of their conversations that they scarcely realized they had wandered out of the town into a small park. Spitfire laughed with Dash over their blind voyage, and directed the two of them over to a small bench where they sat down for a moment.

They sat together on the bench, but they didn't feel together now that their arms weren't interlocked. Spitfire was surprised at how lonesome it made her feel inside. The golden pegasus was then stunned by how Dash slid her arm around her exposed lower back and pulled her closer. She felt her heart race at the sudden action taken by her date, who acted nonchalantly about it. The Wonderbolt Captain was used to being in charge of things, but when the younger mare took control for that moment it felt good.

The two of them sat there leaning into one another looking up at the evening sky admiring its simple beauty. The rainbow maned mare's hand was just warmly resting on her side, Dash had entirely slipped past her jacket she just realized. Deep down though, Spitfire didn't care. She was happy here in this simple quiet moment.

"Hey Spitfire." Dash broke into her whirring mind. "I've got a question for ya. Truth be told, I've been curious about this since we started getting close."

Something told the golden mare this was about the Wonderbolts hiring policies. A question she herself admitted couldn't be tackled right now, but she could tell her what she knew already about it. Once Dash turned 21 she could be hired into the flying core, and it was the most bizarre rule the founders came up with. Though she had to admit, after three years of being legally able to consume alcohol rooted out those who really weren't up to making the cut.

"Let me take a guess." Spitfire said sitting up and pulling away from the cyan mare a little. "It's about Wonderbolt hiring policy?"

"That apparent eh?" the younger pegasus smiled sheepishly. "Anyways, yeah it is. As you should know my birthday is coming up in two months, and with that I'll be old enough to join the team roster."

"Wow your birthday is that close?" the Wonderbolt Captain mused. "So what is your question about if you already know what to do?"

"You." Rainbow pointed her finger at Spitfire.

Me? What does she mean by that?

Seeing her confusion the cyan mare explained herself, "What does your policy say about dating fellow team members, or in your case, dating your subordinates? And to add to that, what will the others say about me in that case? Will it be one of those, she just got hired cause she's bedding the captain of the team! Or will it be something else?"

Spitfire's expression became one of pained understanding as she let the words Dash spoke aloud, sink in to the words she pushed away. It was true that the policy was you could not be romantically involved with your team mates. Even if they got around that, the public and other applicants would blame Dash being chosen on the fact that they were dating or sleeping with one another and got special treatment. The younger flier's pride couldn't tolerate that kind of shame daily, and the golden pegasus wouldn't ever want to put her through it either.

"That we aren't allowed to date one another, especially the Captain." Spitfire answered hesitantly. "I see why you're worried hun. We can't go thinking about that right now though, as it stands we don't even know if the Wonderbolts will get back together again."

"Spits, with your head back in the game." Dash reached over and took her hand firmly. "I have no doubt in my mind the Wonderbolts will fly again!"

It wasn't the hand holding she had wanted in her heart, but this determined hold showed just how much the cyan pegasus believed her words. It was so touching to know that Rainbow thought so highly of her abilities, she could feel her cheeks heat up at the simple praise. Even with the majority of her thought focused on the mare beside her a quiet thought whisked across her mind.

But neither of us know the extent of damage the others have suffered!

It was a small whisper of a thought but she shrugged it off. Tonight was not a night to worry about things, tonight it was just the two of them.

"Thanks Dash." she said genuinely. "But enough of this talk that brings up worries we just do not need right now. Shall we continue our stroll, or stay here?"

"I'm comfy right here..." the younger flier said reaching out for Spitfire again. "...Next to you."

Upon finishing her sentence she pulled the golden mare close to her again, but this time it felt more like Dash was holding her safely in her arms. Spitfire found herself leaning into the body of her date happily, and they just cuddled there on that bench underneath Luna's night sky.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile At The Train Station...

"Take refuge in your music, a talent you earned for yourself."

The words of his son echoed deep in Signature Sandwich's mind as he sat upon a bench at the station. He had told Dash he was off to plan his son's funeral, but that had been a total lie. He had left the entire ceremony planning to Focal Shot, permission was the only reason he would hear from his son's significant other.

Ponies were rushing about trying to catch their train, working on loading the train, or prepping it for its next voyage. No matter what happens generation after generation, life continues marching on against the wind. The forest green stallion was no stranger to these revelations as he had seen many of them through his long life.

"When Dash finally learns the truth, I wonder how she will react?" Sig mused to himself quietly.

In truth, there were many things about his life that many ponies were entirely oblivious to. His role in the world was a long journey over many years, but each time his destiny was different from his real purpose. Each time what he was created for was not what his cutie mark was telling him to do. It was both a blessing and a curse to him, but he always found a way to manage things in the end.

At this point in his life though, he felt it was time to start his last hurrah. It would take some time to put together and some time to complete, but deep down Signature knew it was worth it for the peace awaiting him at the end of that road. He had decided the moment he had heard that band playing in Manehattan's Central Park, that he had to do one last thing for the world.

Music had taken a turn for the worse in the years since he had retired from guitar. It was no longer about the heart and soul being expressed through song, it was about the paycheck it could bring you. The mere concept sickened the forest green stallion, and he had to put it right for an old friend and rival. It was time to bring the rain down once again.

It was late in the evening but he knew that of all the band members he could contact, one stood out as the most reliable at picking up his phone. Signature pulled out his simple silver flip phone, dialed a number he knew by heart, and put the reciever to his ear. It rang twice before an answer came, but that answer was a crashing sound followed by words.

"H-Hello?" came a stallion's voice sleepily.

"Hey there Ace." Signature started calmly. "It's time brother."

"Are you serious Sig?" was the excited reply of Ace.

"Yeah, if you can still do it that is." he taunted his friend.

"Oh yeeaaaahhhh!" Ace let loose a pitched scream. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for the chance to jam again!"

"Good to hear." the forest green stallion answered with a smile. "Get the other guys together, and meet me at my home in Ponyville this next weekend."

"Done, but why next weekend?" the stallion on the other end questioned. "We could make it there by this weekend."

"Ace, this is the last time we are getting together." Signature said grimly. "I have to go get the Rainmaker from where I left it...in the city we all met, Canterlot."

It was at this time a conductor called out from the boarding platform, "Canterlot Express is boarding now! This is the last train heading down the line, get your tickets now!"

"Look Ace, I gotta get going now. I'll talk to you again soon okay?"

There was a pause as if the stallion on the other end was speechless or the call had dropped. Upon checking his phone Sig knew the call hadn't dropped, so his friend and brother was speechless.

"Well, alright then man." Ace's reply finally came. "I'll let the guys know this will be the last storm. Talk to you later!"

"Later Ace." the forest green stallion said before hanging up.

He put his phone away, grabbed his light luggage, pulled out his ticket, and headed over to board the train. He wasn't afraid of what he knew would come of his actions, but he did worry about how Rainbow Dash would take it when it was finally time for him to be freed. She was like a daughter to him, and he hated the thought of breaking the young girl's heart. The cyan mare probably had her own father somewhere to console her once Signature was gone though, so maybe this wouldn't be too big of an issue for them.

It doesn't matter, this has to be done. Signature resolved in his mind. All I've ever had in my life is music, and that is exactly how I'll continue it!

Chapter 14 Mortality And Adversity

Author's Note

After a long hiatus of playing with how to write this chapter, here it is! Chapter 14! Hope you enjoy the lead in to my next arc!

Chapter 14 Mortality And Adversity

The next morning...

Spitfire had found herself in Dash's arms that morning upon the same bench they sat down on, and had nearly had a heart attack at the realization. She now smiled at the memory as she flew towards her apartment in New Trottinghem. The rainbow maned mare had acted bold once she awoke trying to save face for the embarrassment she had experienced at falling asleep on that bench with the Wonderbolt.

They both still had things to do so they parted ways with the promise to call each other as often as they could. Dash had vowed to make sure the sandwich shop would be run even without Signature Sandwich, but Spitfire had her doubts that the cyan mare could manage this feat. Still it would keep her plenty busy while Spitfire continued her own quest of redemption.

As she landed at her front door she quickly noticed it was ajar, and a smell of reheated food wafted through the air. The door wasn't broken through, but opened as if with a key. Who could possibly know her well enough to know where she would hide a second key?

"Man, how can she live like this?" came the exasperated voice of a stallion within.

The golden mare now knew exactly who had come to pay her a visit, her brother Rapidfire. How dare he pillage her only remaining food! She quickly but silently walked into the house and came up behind the stallion in the kitchen grabbing him in a headlock. He instantly yelped out in surprise.

"Who gave you permission to pillage my fridge, hmm brother?" Spitfire said with mock cruelty.

"H-Hey sis, you're back I see." he stuttered his reply.

"You didn't answer me." she taunted as she tightened her hold.

"Ouch, quit it!" he pleaded. "Can't answer if I can't breathe!"

"Fine, but you better not run away!" the orange maned mare conceded releasing him.

As he moved aside she saw that the breakfast she had stored had been reheated and set up entirely. Not a single piece of food had been touched by her brother or any microbes it looked like. Rapid had prepared the food for her return home. Why, and how did he get here before her?

"You look surprised by all of this." the pale yellow flier started with a gesture toward the food. "Well, guess I'll have to start explaining, but first you should eat before it gets too cold."

Spitfire wasn't going to argue with that, as she was quite famished. She walked over to the table and immediately set into her food and coffee. Her brother sat opposite her and took a few portions for himself, leaving the lion's share for her. Despite being focused on eating she realized her brother seemed oddly sage like this morning and after a time it got to her, forcing her to set down her utensils and wipe her mouth clean with a napkin.

"Okay mister contemplation, what's eating at you?" the golden mare asked bluntly.

"Hmm?" her brother said looking over to her as if he had been broken out of a trance. "Sorry I spaced out, what did you ask sis?"

Looking at her brother now she began to notice something she had never seen before, he looked far older than he should at this point in life. What could have changed since they have been apart?

"Rapid, you don't look like yourself." she started with a worried tone. "What's going on with you?"

"Oh this and that, but I think you owe me your story first." the pegasus returned with a chuckle.

"Oh right, the near death experience thing..." her mood shifted down instantly.

"And the aftermath of it, when you barred me from seeing you." a light picked up in the stallion's eyes.

"Look Rapid, it was because I didn't want to bring back the pain you experienced when we lost mom, and not even a year before my crash." was her soft and sad reply.

"Trying to protect me?" her brother answered incredulously. "Again, Spits? I'm a grown pegasus I can take care of myself and my own mind! I would of rather faced it than be shielded from it, at least I know the truth!"

"I can't help it and you know that!" she defended herself. "At least I love you enough to try to do something like that! To at least consider your feelings, some wouldn't even give you that now days!"

He was silent, but she could still see a little bitterness in his eyes.

"I nearly died trying to save a young colt from a free fall that would have killed the little thing!" Spitfire roared passionately. "The same way that mom died! Do you really think your mind would not have drawn the same conclusions, do you really believe that if you knew the wounds you long since buried wouldn't be ripped open again?"

Rapidfire's expression changed to one filled with shock, and it seemed like he began to understand his sister's reasoning. The stallion wasn't often the one to catch things like this quickly, and it frequently irritated the fiery maned mare. Her temper still running hot was not a good way to keep this conversation going, but it wasn't about to give any ground back.

"I mean seriously bro, it was probably the last action that was the normal me!" the Wonderbolt mare fumed. "We both know after that I wasn't the same. I wasn't your teammate, friend, or even your sister anymore! I abandoned you and I abandoned the team to my own, 'Live life before you die' campaign."

"Spits, I-I understand now." her brother stuttered awkwardly. "I guess it was that action that spared me from your spiral in the end as well."

"Wait, what now?" the golden mare responded in confusion being thrown off her anger.

"The last act you gave before you fell, was to protect me." Rapid answered honestly. "Maybe because of that you unconsciously shielded me from yourself when you unraveled?"

As she stopped to think about what he said, Spitfire quickly concluded it made a lot of sense in all reality and nodded her acceptance. By her actions she had protected her brother from her own self, and by unraveling she had helped Valkyrie inadvertently as well. The first two she had to seek forgiveness from, she had already protected somehow.

"So now that I've fulfilled that bit of our deal, I assume we have a decent explanation ahead of us?" the golden pegasus asserted.

"Heh, figures that you wouldn't be distracted by the prior conversation." Rapidfire said with a pitiful chuckle, almost deflated by it. "Where should I begin though?"

"At least start at why you look so pitifully old." the bright golden mare suggested.

"If you put the team back together sis, I'll fly one more season with the Bolts." he declared and her eyes went wide. "After that I'll be retiring to my own pursuits, for my own health."

"Wh-What are you saying?" she shouted raising to her hooves. "Retiring to your own pursuits for your own health? The hay is that supposed to mean?"

He just looked down solemnly, and the golden mare couldn't begin to understand what was going on here. Her brother and her were basically the same age so how was it that he was already thinking of retiring his uniform?

"Do you remember the disablement our father developed sis?" Rapid said darkly.

"No, it can't be!" was the fiery maned mare's horrified response as she sat back down.

"Well it is exactly that, and it looks like he was right about it passing only through the stallions of the family." Rapidfire sighed in defeat. "The illness that causes the body to accelerate aging randomly, and slowly saps a pony of their energy day by day. Dad may still be alive and kicking but he is in a pitiful state holding on for our sake's."

Spitfire knew their father did everything in his power to stay alive against all odds for his two children. It still surprised her every time she heard the doctor say the age he was actually experiencing was in the early hundreds when he was only fifty-two. His willpower was insurmountable to have held on to life this long. Now though, her brother had noticed the symptoms in himself and had been trapped in acceptance of his fate.

"This isn't fair at all." she mumbled feebly.

"It is what it is Spitty." he answered with a shrug. "It can't be changed and I'd rather continue living how I choose till I meet that end. So I'd ask you to spend the next few days with me out at my home, like old times. It would mean a lot to me."

"Of course I can do that for you Rapid." the golden pegasus said with a warm expression. "Lets finish this meal then head out yeah?"

"Definitely." was the lighter yellow stallion's reply.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Beginning of next week...

The two siblings were walking through a bustling marketplace in a town near Rapidfire's home buying supplies and other necessities. He was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt and Spitfire was wearing beige cargo shorts and a blue t-shirt with the Wonderbolt logo on it. They were conversing happily as they walked along carrying their bags, which were slowly filling up. It was such a nice day out today.

"So I haven't asked but how did that evening with Rainbow's friend Twilight go?" Spitfire asked with an impish smile.

"Oh sis, a real stallion doesn't kiss and tell!" he retorted with a smug smile.

"But I'm your sister!" the golden mare pulled her privilage. "I don't count, so you can totally tell me!"

"Oh fine fine you spoiled brat!" the stallion caved to his sister. "Lemme guess you thought she was trying to get something sexual from me?"

"Well with the way she was interacting with you it seemed extremely likely!" the Wonderbolt smiled at her victory.

"You were wrong." the pale yellow pegasus answered plainly.

"WHAT?" she shouted almost tripping over a stone in the road. "How is that possible? Seriously you'd better spill it now!"

"Really, how is it so unbelievable?" Rapid said with a chuckle. "Look she started off like that, but as the night went forward she realized just what she was doing. She was letting her own instincts overtake her, and it upset her to lose her inhibitions so openly. We ended up finding comfort in that similarity."

"I sense a D'aww moment coming!" she said in a sing song voice.

"Oh shut it Spitty!" the stallion said shoving her playfully. "Even if your right. We spent the night cuddled up together in my room while she read one of my books aloud."

"Sweet Celestia, D'aww!" the pegasus mare said in the most adoring voice she had. "Which book was it?"

"Now that one is for only her and I to know." Rapidfire said seriously.

"Oh you're no fun at all...it was prolly one of those cheesy romance novels you're so fond of." the golden mare replied rolling her eyes.

"Oh you'll get over--"

Her brother had been cut off by the sound of a shattering vase, and the followed voice of a pleading mare. Spitfire looked to see a crowd quickly surrounding the scene that was unfolding and she tried to make her way forward to get a better look. Rapid grabbed her by the arm at this moment though.

"Hey what gives bro?" she turned on him with confused amber eyes.

"Spits, don't involve yourself with this." the lighter golden stallion looked stricken with dread. "You aren't ready for what you will see."

"I'll be the one to decide that!" she shouted as she pulled away from him and pushed through the crowd.

As she reached the front of the group a lone pegasus mare wearing bedraggled clothing was begging another stallion about something. It looked as if she had knocked over the vase, but something didn't seem right here. When the mare turned toward Spitfire's direction as the stallion paced around her, the golden mare was instantly shocked at what she saw before her. It was a very pale yellow mare with a sky blue mane that had a pale blue streak in it, her eyes were glimmering violet orbs filled with tears.

"It can't be..." the golden mare uttered breathlessly.

The mare before her was Misty Fly, and she could hear her begging the stallion for something. She wore a tattered yellow tanktop and a knee long green skirt. Spitfire tried to listen in on what was being said over the crowd, and she had to focus with all she had to hear it.

"Please Auburn, don't tell Master Wave Chill what happened!" Misty cried. "I didn't mean for it to happen, I'm sorry!"

"Oh really Misty are you that sorry?" was the redish brown stallion's response.

She nodded her acceptance.

He lifted his leg slightly, "Then get on your knees, kiss my dirty hoof, and beg for it!"

What Spitfire saw next shattered her knowledge of Misty Fly's personality, as the mare willingly did exactly as she was told. She even licked the dirt off his hooves! She was submissive before but this was just pushing it too far!

"I'm sorry Auburn Wings, I am nothing but a clumsy foolish mare." Misty Fly began to beg looking broken, but happy. "Please forgive my foolishness and do not tell Master Wave Chill of my failings."

What the hay is this? A dream?

She felt a hand grab her again, it was Rapidfire.

"We need to leave now." he whispered desperately in her ear. "You aren't ready to tackle this yet. Misty is a packed set with Chill, they will be too much to fix even for you right now!"

The bold Wonderbolt Captain looked on as if she had ignored her brother's advice. Spitfire had done just that as she slipped out of his grip and broke through the crowd to confront Auburn. She would deal with Misty Fly once he was chased off. Her amber eyes blazing, she walked up behind the cocky stallion and tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me, I'm a little--"

"Just shut it buddy!" the golden mare spat the words out like venom as she laid Auburn out with one quick punch.

"No!" the pale yellow mare cried out trying to stop Spitfire. "Stop it! You'll make it worse!"

She just pushed her aside and laid into the stallion until he ran away. As he ran he shouted back directly to Misty, "You can bet your beloved Master is going to hear about this!"

"Yeah you'd better run you coward!" the fiery maned mare roared jubilantly.

Turning to her old friend and team mate, all she saw was nothing short of anger where she felt there should be gratitude. Misty Fly was in no way happy at what the golden mare had done for her, but it made not one lick of sense as to why this was.

"You've ruined everything by sticking your nose where it doesn't belong." the blue maned mare quietly burned.

"But Mist I was just trying to help y--"

"Who said I needed your help?" she questioned with a sinister pause before finishing, "You-You dirty five bit whore!"

Misty Fly bolted off into the skies before Spitfire could say any more to her. The golden mare was left there speechless and heartbroken. What did I do to deserve that? And why did she think that that situation was fine? What's going on here?

As the crowd dispersed Rapidfire came over, took his sister's arm in his and lead her away from the situation she had just walked into. For the crowd to disperse so unaffected like that, this had to be a common occurrence. The shock of what just happened nearly broke her, and Spitfire could feel the pain ache deep within her heart. The only question that repeated itself in her mind was, Why?

Chapter 15 Remembering My Past (Part 1)

Meanwhile...

Signature Sandwich stepped off the train into the bright sunlight his one bag in tow, and a breeze catching his unbuttoned black over-shirt. A change in the train routing had ended up forcing his train to run long into the night, and thus was the reason why he was only just arriving in Canterlot. As he shook his head to clear his sleepiness he looked around the platform to see that all around him life was bustling with activity. It was a refreshing thought in his mind, and yet it was bittersweet as he walked out of the station.

He realized the difference almost instantly, as he walked into a town of gaudy looking and presumably wealthy ponies. They all felt so fake to him, but admittedly he could occasionally see some that didn't fit that social norm. Yet, they were few and far between. This town has changed, and not entirely for the better I'd say. It's all about the newest fad fashion, the money, the utter arrogance.

All the forest green stallion could do was sigh as he began his march towards Canterlot Castle. Even with all of the false ponies around him, his memories of this town from years ago still stirred within him. They were memories here that he would always keep, for better or for worse. As he walked slowly along the main street his mind drifted back in time, to the day when he wandered aimlessly into town, as a simple youth of this lifetime searching for answers.

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

31 Years Ago...

A brash and bedraggled young stallion of twenty-three wandered into town with an electric guitar slung across his back covered in a brownish white cloth. He was a travelling virtuoso, a musician by choice of trade. He wore a black t-shirt and torn up black denim jeans as the heat never bothered him anyway. His thigh covered by his jeans was barren of any cutie mark to tell him what was next for him in life, and he wandered to find his newest purpose taking jobs wherever he could. The forest green stallion with his electric yellow mane moved through the crowd aimlessly, but with a mock purpose written in his body language.

"Got a feeling this town is where I'll find myself." the younger Signature Sandwich declared looking up at the grand castle of Canterlot. "Maybe I'll even earn my right to walk in there at will."

The crowd he moved through seemed so lifeless outwardly, and he felt deep down they needed something to invigorate their souls. Something he could give them, if he only had the means from which to do so. Yet, he had no intentions of doing that and being a young stallion didn't help his lack of aspiration. The masses around him began making him feel uneasy so he rapidly found his way out of the main street and onto a side road that he hoped would take him to some sort of solitary part of the city.

As fate would have it, it did lead to somewhere solitary and rather uninhabited. It was a small, overgrown park that seemed out of place among the tall brickwork buildings of the city, but here it stood proudly among the structures resisting the changing world around it. This fact brought a smile to the stallion's face, just to know that nature still had as much personality as any living pony today was refreshing. As quite as it was here compared to the rest of the city, the stallion felt he could manage a nice little nap.

He then heard something he never expected to hear nearby, it was an angelic voice that almost instantly drew him forward. Through the thick brush he waded to find the source of the voice, practically in a trance. Before he had fully realized what was happening, he came to another clearing where a pristine white pegasus with a light sky blue mane sat upon a stump singing. Signature felt his heart racing at the mere sight of her, and he couldn't help but reach for his guitar to announce his presence.

Removing the covering revealed a tie dye, glossy, multi-shaded blue guitar that had strings and frets that looked relatively worn. It was his guitar that he aptly named, The Rainmaker. He had owned it since the first guitars were made, and he had named it with an inherent trait he had always had when it came to playing guitar like instruments. Her eyes had been closed, but he would open them with his music. Taking his pick in his right hand keeping his eyes upon her, he stepped forward and began playing his melody.

She opened her eyes and stared directly into his as he played. They were a beautiful shade of green that made them look like flawless peridots. At first she seemed shocked by his sudden appearance, but he could see it in her eyes that that feeling quickly faded as he played his melody. His accuracy and effective fretting skills that had taken him many years to develop to perfection, had spoken louder than words to her it seemed. They did not break eye contact the entire length of the song, and as the last note faded off softly she just smiled at him warmly.

"You have quite the lovely voice there miss..?" Signature took a chance at breaking the silence by inquiring her name.

She laughed lightly before replying, "Silent Storm. Thank you for the compliment, but your guitar playing skills sound like they're second to none..?"

The mare had given him her name and now wanted to know his, the forest green stallion didn't know why this exhilarated him so much. This feeling was so new to him, but it mattered little as he naturally gave his name to her.

"Signature Sandwich." the stallion answered with a smile. "It really is a pleasure to meet you Silent Storm."

"Likewise, Signature Sandwich." she said still not breaking eye contact with him. "Though the name is odd for one with a guitar playing talent isn't it?"

"Well I don't have a special talent yet, my guitar playing is more of a hobby." he answered her with a laugh. "What about you, Silent Storm doesn't fit a mare with such a powerful voice."

She laughed, "Well my excuse is almost the same as yours, singing is more of a hobby for me. I'm actually a weather pegasus, in fact my whole family is!"

The two conversed for quite a long time maintaining a distance from one another physically, but it didn't seem like that would last much longer with how well they got along. It seemed like no other pony knew about this park they were in as they went undisturbed for hours. Finally, she stood up and stretched out her body, unfurling her wings for a moment. When she was done she looked directly at Sig.

"Hey, I dunno how you feel about it but..." she paused shyly a slight blush coming to her cheeks before going on, "...would you like to maybe, sit closer together? Of course it would have to be on the ground, but you know if you don't want to I--"

"I would love that more than you know." the forest green stallion cut her off knowing all too well the spiral of rambling she was going into.

He walked over and leaned his guitar against the stump she had been sitting on before settling down on the ground. When they sat together it felt too right to be this close, it was almost scary how strongly he felt about this. Since she had suggested this though, maybe she was feeling the same? The sun began to set in the distance and at this point they were so close they were touching. Her lilac dress draping over his leg innocently. As they watched the sky turn a golden orange he felt her lay her head upon his shoulder, and his heart skipped a beat.

What is going on here, why do I feel like my soul is about to burst in happiness?

"Is this okay?" Storm asked softly looking up at him.

Signature laughed at himself and looked down into her eyes, "Yeah. Yeah it is."

The pure white mare wrapped one of her wings around his back and they just increased how close they were to each other. It seemed like only seconds though before they were interrupted by another stallion barging into the clearing furiously. By now the sun had practically set, but it was still possible to see the new pegasus on the scene.

He was also a pristine white pegasus, but he had a jet black mane. He was wearing a black leather jacket over his yellow lightening wrangler work shirt, and he moved forward so quickly because of his black cloth pants. If he was a lightening wrangler then they were shock reducing. It was hard to see his eye color in this light but he didn't need it to know that the stallion was quite irate. This was going to turn into a fight that Sig had no intention of dealing with.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with my sister?" the white stallion roared loudly.

As the both of them got up to converse with the new pegasus, he straight up pegged Signature with a vicious punch to the eye. The pegasus had asked a question, but he had no intent of hearing the actual response. The earth stallion caught himself before falling and turned back to face the one that assaulted him only to find that Storm had already pounced him and was now beating him up.

"Dammit Tempest how many times have I told you not to just assault the stallions I choose to get close to!" she roared with a burning conviction. "Talk with them first you rock headed lummox of a borther!"

As she finished her sentence she landed a nasty shot to his cheek, and Celestia knows that it would be swollen by morning. Just because she was wearing a dress didn't mean she couldn't kick your flank into next week, Sig made that mental note frequently. Once she was done with him and got off of him she stepped away not even offering her brother a hand up. The forest green stallion took his opportunity to make an impression by offering a helping hand.

"Hey." he said holding out a hand to the battered pegasus. "Name's Signature Sandwich."

The white pegasus looked at him with a cocked eyebrow for a moment before reaching up and taking his offer, "Tempest Wing, but you can call me Ace."

They smiled at one another devilishly, they both for some reason found understanding of each other in that act. It was in that moment they knew that it would be impossible to be rid of one another. Best friends, until the end of their lives.

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

Signature now stood in the very park he met Silent Storm and Ace in. It had still managed to resist the changing city around it, but this was mostly due to his influence within the castle of the sisters. He enjoyed the memories as he continued along, that had only been his first day in Canterlot. The next few months held even more surprises for the sandwich making stallion, none of which would have been anticipated in the least.

He, Ace, and Storm frequently met in this park during that time as their friendship blossomed. It was during this time Sig learned that Ace was actually a talented vocalist in his own right, singing seemed to run in the family at this point. He remembered showing the black maned pegasus that he could play guitars, and shortly after that the idea was posed to him of starting a band.

They had agreed that they needed at least two more members in order for it to work so they began searching. Fate looked like it wanted to intervene as the forest green stallion found both of the other members that would eventually make up their band. Even though Ace always tried to find the members he lost out to the forest green stallion's luck.

Sig looked up to the partially cloudy sky and wondered for a moment as to why he had so easily agreed to the idea of forming a band with Ace? It had only been a week since they had met at that point in time, but it had felt like he had always know them. Especially Silent Storm.

"Maybe it was because I wanted to spend more time with you, Silent Storm." he muttered to himself taking a moment to let the natural sounds around him melt into one melody.

Well that aside, I think it's time to move on.

The stallion decided it was time to leave the park and continue on his trip through the city to retrieve his trusty guitar. Although the journey had turned into a walk through of all of his old memories of the city. He knew where the memories would end up though, a place where his tears would always fall like rain. It was why he left his old guitar here in the city where it would always be raining for him.

It was midday now as he passed an older derelict library, one that he remembered quite vividly. It was an old red brickwork structure with two benches on either side of the doorway. Back when he was younger he had always thought it would fall apart before he turned fifty. Looks like he had been entirely wrong, and in fact it looked like it hadn't changed since the days of his youth. This building had to be synonymous with bizarre occurrences, and the memory it was tied to took form in his mind.

"This is where I met Redd." he mused aloud to the empty street. "Man it was the biggest accident in the world to find him. I mean I just wandered in there cause I was bored at the time."

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

A month after last flashback...

As Signature pushed open the door of the decrepit looking library he never expected to find anyone inside the dusty run down building. He came upon a blood red unicorn stallion with a blue mane that had electric blue streaks striking through his mane. He was moving all about the shelves and drawers digging up documents scanning them over and moving on to the next item as dust flew about the air. The unicorn seemed to be mumbling to himself as he went, and Sig wandered about close to him somewhat interested in the stallion's aura.

"My first big story in the newspaper, I gotta get it right." he muttered dusting off a book he levitated with his magic. "But rock music is still so new to Equestria...I still gotta find the roots of it to be able to elaborate on history."

"Um excuse me, didn't know anyone else was here." Sig piped up to let the red stallion know he was there.

"Oh this will never work!" he shouted in frustration dropping all of the materials he held as he slumped onto the ground. "I'll never be able to write an article on rock music when it's still so new."

"Hello, are you tuning me out?"

"They probably just gave me this article knowing I'd fail to produce anything worth their time..." the red unicorn lamented facing away from Sig still.

The forest green stallion walked up behind him and spoke with an odd conviction, "Then why don't you join a rock band and find out first hand?"

The blue maned stallion jumped in surprise falling over into the sea of papers and books he had created. He managed to pull himself together though getting back to his feet quite quickly. His eyes were candy apple green as he analyzed the earth pony before him. He wore a button up white shirt that had gold yellow linings, and professional black slacks that one would wear for the certain job they had. He also had a pair of reading glasses that hung now from his neck.

"What did you say about joining a rock band?" the unicorn questioned sheepishly.

"Well you won't ever find out about something like music unless you experience it with all your heart and soul first." Signature reasoned. "By the way I'm Signature Sandwich, you are?"

"Redbook, pleasure to meet you." the unicorn answered shaking the other stallion's hand. "So are you an expert on music or something to make a suggestion like that?"

"Something like that, or better yet I'm an experienced guitar player to say the least." he replied.

"Oh wow, can you tell me more about it then?" Redbook's inquisitive nature took hold. "What it feels like, the sound of it, the very essence of it?"

"Nope, go pick up a guitar for yourself and find out." he shrugged as he turned to leave. "You will know the guitar for you when you see it. Find me once you've gotten that far and it may be worth my time to tell you. That is, if you haven't found it already."

"I don't understand, wait don't leave I have more questions!" the red stallion shouted as Sig left the library.

As he walked away that day, he had a gut feeling he would see that unicorn again. The forest green stallion wondered deep in his mind, what guitar would Redbook pick up if he even did at all? Signature had taken a leap when it came to the brief conversation he had just had with the unicorn, and yet something told him it would pay off in the end.

"Redbook huh?" he contemplated. "Redbook...hmm...Redd. Why does it feel so nostalgic to use that name?"

As he left the memory fast forwarded about two weeks later to show him the day Redbook found him again, or the day that Sig found him again. The blood red unicorn was sitting on a bench outside the library bracing a guitar on his leg as he strummed the strings softly. He seemed to be free style practicing on it, but as Signature got closer he saw exactly what guitar he was holding.

"Yo, Redd you've got quite the rare guitar on yer hands there." the forest green stallion announced.

"Oh really Signature, what's so special about it?" he replied looking up nonplussed.

"You have one of the first Steady Flow precision bass guitars ever made there." he answered impressed. "I'm pretty sure of that in fact. Mainly cause they were all starburst nocturne purple, which yours is definately that color. Where did you find it, and better yet how did you afford it?"

"Found it at a thrift shop actually, and I didn't have to pay that much as two weeks ago it was thrashed." Redd answered a light building in his eyes. "Is it really that rare a guitar?"

"There are only fourteen left in existence, so yeah it is." the electric yellow maned stallion said. "So, you really restored the entire thing yourself?"

"Yeah it wasn't easy to do, but I just felt I should do it myself...can't quite explain why." the unicorn sighed pitifully despite his achievement. "I've even picked up how to play a little bit, but it just doesn't sound...you know, right. I need to be able to incorporate the sound of a full band behind it."

"Want to put a band behind it then?" the earth pony suggested slyly.

"What exactly are you sayin'?" Redbook said looking up in surprise.

"Well me and my friend Ace are trying to put together a band, and we need a dedicated bassist." he invited. "What do you say Redd, wanna be a part of something?"

The former bookworm didn't even think two seconds about it before answering Sig.

"I'm in!" Redd answered a fire in his eyes.

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

It had been a leap of faith that Signature took, and he was rewarded for it in kind. The band came together almost as if it had always been meant to be. Within the first month they had a vocalist, guitarist, and bassist. That left a skilled drummer, as a drummer would form the entire backbone of their music. Redd, having the intellect that he did would make the suggestion that would inevitably lead them to their wild drummer, Brimstone Beats.

As Sig looked up into the sky, he decided it would be best to go check into a hotel until tomorrow. He could always resume his search tomorrow, there was still plenty of time left ahead of him. He got up from the bench in front of the library and strode off to find a hotel with vacancy. It would be an interesting trip through his memories getting to Canterlot Castle tomorrow. A visit to the amphitheater would be the best next stop for him, empty or not.

Chapter 16: My Heart's Sacrifice

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 17: Remembering My Past (Part 2)

It was a beautiful day as Signature Sandwich came upon the open air theater named justly, The Canterlot Bowl. The beautiful marble rows surrounding an equally beautiful marble hewn stage. The natural acoustics at the bowl were some of the best ever created a century ago, and not to mention it was the most in tact after said century.

As he proceeded down the stairs toward the stage he marveled at the accomplishment he had achieved here. Of all the band members to join, this one had definitely been the hardest to secure. Brimstone Beats had already been put in his element as a drum/percussion instrument specialist within the Canterlot symphony. In fact, he was the bright new star of the symphony at the time. The next prodigy they said.

"And I ruined him in their eyes." Sig said with a laugh.

The forest green stallion hopped up onto the stage to sit with a smile as his memory took shape.

Those classical stiffs never knew, that hindering their prodigy, was the only mistake they ever made.

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A week after Redd joined the band...

The forest green stallion was walking through the streets with Storm, Ace, and Redd at this point in the day. The conversation was the usual one as they griped about how there were no available drummers in Canterlot. Redd had been silent the entire time, seeming to be analyzing the conversation as it escalated into the evening.

"I'm just saying that at this rate Sig, we are gonna hafta hijack some other bands drummer!" Ace exclaimed venting his frustrations.

"You never know man, stranger things have happened." the guitar player calmly said.

"Yeah you stumbling onto Redd here was a nice stroke of luck, but we haven't had any since." the white pegasus lamented.

"Now that's an interesting idea." the blue maned stallion muttered suddenly.

"What is buddy?" Sig said turning to the bassist.

"Haphazard hijacking." he answered stopping in place. "Now hear me out, this may sound impossible, but I think we have a chance. Sig you think you can tolerate a night at the Canterlot Bowl?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ace interjected.

Signature saw the candy apple green eyes glimmering with purpose, and he knew this meant Redbook was on to something with very likely chances. Yet, he had to agree slightly with Ace as he failed to see the purpose.

"Ace, man, you're uncultured so I can forgive you for not realizing what Sig can do there for us." Redd said neutrally.

"Wait, didn't they just hire a new drum and percussion specialist a week or so ago?" Storm suddenly chirped cutting off her brother's sharp retort.

"Exactly." the unicorn said with a devilish smile pointing to the mare. "Sig has a natural affinity for finding talent and acquiring it. With that and my connections to staff at the bowl I can get us in easily. After that it is entirely up to you man."

"I don't know if I can bag him first try." the green earth pony admitted. "I mean the symphony is a good paying job, and I don't think we can compete with that stable packaged lifestyle."

"Then just trust that this band is fated to happen, and if he is part of that fate it will happen." the blood red unicorn shrugged. "And if not then we tried, no harm no foul right?"

The guitar player hesitantly agreed and parted ways with Ace and Storm to pursue the goal they had at the Canterlot Bowl. The bassist's connections would indeed get them in, and he personally would rather not question why.

As they arrived they were in a row in front of the stage, and they had walked in already halfway through a performance. Quietly they took their place among the others watching in awe, but it was Sig who was quickly blown away by the coming talent he was to behold. He locked on to the drummer of the symphony and began to watch intently.

"That is Brimstone Beats, he is a trained percussion specialist." Redd whispered.

It was apparent that he was trained, but something told the green stallion that he was holding back a wild tide. The light grey unicorn could control more than one instrument effectively, but it looked like he could do so much more for the world of music. It actually began to hurt to see him holding himself back with class.

"Another thing you should know is that he has an affinity for geology as well, but mostly experimental music enhancers that haven't gotten acceptance from the classical community at a large." Redd continued spitting out facts.

As the unicorn's sentence finished the piece came into it's final climax, and it was then that Sig realized exactly why Brimstone had controlled himself this long. He watched in awe as the obsidian maned unicorn went all out, milking the acoustics of the Bowl for all it was worth.

But as quickly as the moment had come, it was gone again as the piece hit its final note. The audience was instantly up and applauding the performance. It was a long time before the crowds finally began clearing out of the Bowl after that. Eventually though, it was down to just a small crowd and Sig took this as his time to sneak back stage. It hadn't been easy to get past the security but he had managed all the same.

After a long while he came to an actual private room that he could hear arguments coming from within. He felt compelled get closer and listen in on the conversation.

"No, I will not dirty the symphony with that magically induced rubbish Brimstone!" the conductor shouted in disgust.

"But Sir, if you'd just give me a chance to prove--" Brimstone tried to explain.

"You can try all you want, but I will never allow it to be used by this band!" the conductor vowed. "Why don't you put your training to more practical uses, like practicing for the next show!

"But Sir, I--" the grey unicorn tried again.

"Good Night Brimstone!" the conductor closed the conversation and flew through the door.

As Signature looked into the room he saw the unicorn stallion looking at the ground dejectedly. His eyes closed with an aura of defeat washing over him, it felt like a dream was slowly dying.

"Shot down again...I'll never get them to see...to hear the beauty of the earth." Brimstone let a tear escape his eyes. "My dream will never come true."

The obsidian maned unicorn levitated the stones he had planned on showing the conductor towards a trash can near the door. Sig stepped in and grabbed the stones before they could make it to the trash can. Holding them in his hands he felt a spark in his mind, something made sense here.

"Wh-Who are you?" the unicorn stuttered in shock.

"A traveling musician of sorts, why are you throwing these away?" the green stallion asked honestly.

"Because they're worthless to a musician in my classification." the stallion became defensive.

"I don't think you really believe that yourself." he answered throwing one of the stones at a wall.

It was caught instantly in a grey aura of magic, "You idiot, they're still delicate stones!"

"See?" he prodded. "You do care about your dreams still. My next question is, why do you let this conductor of yours hold you back from that dream?"

"Do you even know how much I'm paid per performance?" the obsidian maned stallion asked bluntly. "I make five hundred bits per show, and I have to make my living somehow right?"

"Is that how much your soul is worth to you?" Sig questioned darkly.

"What?" Brimstone replied oblivious.

"You heard me, is five hundred bits what your willing to sell your dreams, hopes, aspirations, and your own soul for?" the forest green stallion roared. "You and I both know that that is no way to live."

The grey unicorn was silent a moment observing the guitar player with his pale baby blue eyes. It was as if he was trying to anticipate the intentions of the stallion before him with little success. Even though he couldn't read Signature, the forest green stallion couldn't read the drummer either.

"Then, what do you want from me?" Brimstone finally questioned.

"Only to leave you with a choice." he answered calmly. "Either go on selling yourself for five hundred bits a show, or come join a rock band based purely on following your heart. To feel the rush that only freedom can give you. Now, I can't promise you anything that your current gig can, but who needs all that stuff when you have your music?"

"I can have my music, exactly how I want it?" the grey stallion asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I would love to see this stone infused drum kit in action personally...but that can only be seen after your choice is made."

"Could you give me time to consider it?" the drummer questioned further.

"Of course, and so you know, you can find me at First Requiem Park." Sig said walking over handing Brimstone his magic infused stones before turning to leave. "You can find me and the band there most days. Come when you're ready!"

He left the drummer behind and found Redd before heading out. Signature wasn't sure if he had made any dent in the unicorn drummer's mind nor if he had hooked his spirit either. The bassist was abuzz with questions, which the guitarist ignored lost in his own thoughts.

"Seriously Sig, what happened back there?" Redd finally broke into his mind.

"Man, I don't even know what will come of tonight." the stallion answered his friend exasperated. "Let's just go, I need to get some rest after all that."

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

Signature Sandwich lay upon the stage now staring up into the skies as he reminisced. Brimstone hesitated for quite a long time on his decision, and the forest green stallion never blamed him for that. The skies were spotted with clouds today, and the temperature out was quite mild. It helped him to remember the rest of the next week faintly.

He had sat in on the symphony's performances for a week straight, and after every show he would speak with Brimstone. They quickly became friends and found out that the both of them enjoyed a lot of the same philosophies about music as well as life. The more they saw of each other, the more apparent it became that something was here. Even though neither of them at the time thought anything of it.

As Sig sat up he recalled the very day that things came together.

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It had been a long week of trying to get Brimstone to join the group, and admittedly they were beginning to lose hope in their venture. Ace had been the most outspoken in voicing his fading beliefs, and Redd was silent but you could tell he wasn't happy at being wrong. Yet, Storm was cheerful and optimistic still. The forest green stallion couldn't help but be amazed by her stubborn resolve.

"Seriously guys, just be patient!" she pleaded with the aura of dread we had made. "He has to choose what is best for him and this choice just can't be easy on the guy at all. I mean the Canterlot Symphony is a big thing to walk away fr--"

Storm's mouth fell agape as she turned around falling silent. She put her hand over her mouth before her expression lit up. Since Sig had been the only one really looking at the white pegasus mare, he turned to see what had caught her eye. Nothing could have stunned him more than what he saw at that moment.

"So, I hear this band needs a drummer?" Brimstone Beats announced himself.

"What do you mean by that Brim?" Signature said as he walked over to the drummer.

The others had looked up as well the atmosphere of the park quickly changing because of one light grey unicorn. Ace had the brightest expression written across his face.

"Well seeing as the fancy Canterlot symphony doesn't want what I have to offer to music..." the stallion started. "...Then I guess I'll take my talents somewhere that can respect them!"

"Ahhwwwlllrriigghhttt!!!" Ace exclaimed in his usual vocal tone. "Now we are ready to rock!"

The group embraced and like that the group had been formed. They started to talk about what needed to be done next for the band to work. Brimstone had to build his first prototype drum set, and then tune it. Redd still had more practicing to do, but Sig agreed that would be something he could help with some.

Upon offering his help with that he realized something that needed to be addressed. What instruments could all of them play, did they have multiple ones they could play?

"Hey Ace, Redd, can you guys play any instruments outside of your norms?"

"Well, I can also play some lead guitar and have been known to rock the saxophone." The white stallion answered.

"Not really, although I think I could pick up keyboards if we needed it." Redd told him.

"I know a professional pianist that could help with that actually Redd, if you'd like that?" Brimstone offered.

"Wow, this is more than I could have expected to work with!" Sig answered surprised. "We've got some definite potential here!"

"Guys, you're forgetting one important thing that a band needs still!" Storm interrupted with a dissatisfied expression.

They all turned to her and said, "What's that Storm?"

"You haven't even bothered naming the band." the white mare frowned at them. "How can you be known without a name?"

The sweet pegasus was right, in their haste to start playing they had ignored naming their new group. Little did Storm expect the debate that followed her commentary. They argued for what seemed like hours on a good name that ranged from Cloven Hoof to Redd Ace Signature Beats. It didn't seem like they were going to come up with anything worthy of agreeing on. Then, as the times before with finding Redd and Brimstone, the forest green stallion had a momentary spark.

"Hey guys." Signature started with a tired expression. "What about, Kirin Rush?"

His band mates looked at him for a moment before the name sunk in seeming to cause their eyes to sparkle before they nodded their ascent. All of them felt it had been a name that would inevitably represent how they played their music, not to mention it was catchy as another band that had become popular in the rock music scene in the last five years.

"You think we will ever be as good as Heart and Hoof?" Redd verbalized what everyone was silently thinking at that very moment.

Signature's memories here were some of the most vivid as he had seen the lead man of Heart and Hoof perform twice before. The first time, he had shown extreme potential as a musician that played for the enjoyment of the song alone, but the second time around his soul had been corrupted by fame and greed. The forest green stallion reasoned this as happening because the stallion hadn't had a decent challenge in many years, and secretly it had been his goal to bring back the real soul of this guitar player.

At the formation of Kirin Rush though, he wasn't entirely sure that they would ever play on the same stage as Heart and Hoof. Signature promised himself that no matter what he would play for the music alone, even if they lost out against the biggest rock band out there. A couple years would be roughly what he thought would get them their perfected sound and harmony.

After Redd had uttered the words he did though everyone had taken pause to think about things, and resolved to give their all to the music they would one day create. They dedicated everything they could to it, because it was no longer about them. It was only about perfecting their sound.

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

Later that evening...

Signature Sandwich sighed as he sat in a wooden chair strumming a tie dye, glossy, blue guitar with worn strings. It echoed cleanly off of the cold stone masonry of the Canterlot Castle's Magical Channeling Instruments vault. His Rainmaker had gotten out of tune from all the years of sitting here, and he had started to tune it string by string.

"So you have returned, my little storm maker." came an elegant voice from the doorway of the vault.

As he looked up he saw the glimmering mane of the ruler of Equestria itself, Princess Celestia. Her skin softly glowing in the faint moonlight that shown into the chamber. Her night gown long and sliding along the floor as she came toward the guitar player smoothly. Her smile was gentle, not a trace of acusation for the one who had broken into her home.

"Is it that time already Signature Sandwich?" she continued softly as she stopped in front of the green stallion. "You are only fifty-four, your life renews at age seventy five. If you've come for your trademark guitar so soon, maybe you feel it is time I granted your final rest?"

"Yeah, it is about that time indeed." he answered her strumming the guitar again. "Just reliving my memories right now is all, I've lived such a good lifetime in this fifth go round. Nature doesn't need my assistence anymore, so I feel I've made my peace with things."

"Are you quite sure about that?" Celestia questioned hinting at a mistake. "You may have lost your love, and your only biological child in this world. But do you realize that there is another that still clings to your presence?"

"Do you mean Rainbow Dash?" Sig had learned over the many years how to read the hints of the princess. "She has a mother and father of her own, she will survive without me I'm sure."

"You tell yourself that now Signature Sandwich, but what if I told you that your delusional about that reality?" the white alicorn started with a cocked eyebrow.

She did not continue though and he began to feel cheated, "Why aren't you finishing your sentence 'Tia? That isn't like you at all!"

Her horn began to glow as magic flowed into her body, she projected it onto the guitar player. He felt his mind slipping back into his memories again. Why would she do this if she knew it would just bring him closer to that last domino falling into place in his heart?

"You won't confront the truth of right now, until you have remembered everything from this lifetime's youth." came Celestia's voice even though all he could see was white. "Your guitar is a magic channeling device, but yours relies on your heart's strength of conviction. Remember the fortress your music built you once upon a time."

"I don't understand at all." Sig mumbled drearily.

"We will talk when you find your heartstrings are fully tuned, just as your guitar." were Celestia's final ominous words.

Author's Note

Ah I see you made it to the end of 17...I hope you guys are enjoying the development I'm putting in for Signature Sandwich. It's odd how I've come to enjoy him so much as well!
As always creative credit for Redd and Brimstone Beats goes to Redbook and VoxelTron

Chapter 18: What Comes Next

Spitfire giggled like a little filly, "Come here big boy and let me take care of you tonight!"

Soarin shook his head to clear the memory from flooding his senses again, he had more important things to think about right now. His dark, grey-blue mane rustling in the breeze as he flew for Rapidfire's home with haste. He had been told that Spitfire crossed paths with Misty Fly, and, from what he knew of that situation, could not have ended well for the Wonderbolt Captain.

Yet in his mind, he knew he was going to have to start brainstorming ideas to pass on to the golden mare. If she was ever going to make progress on Misty Fly and Wave Chill she was going to need some form of help. Every time that the stallion began to think of ways to help Spitfire though, it immediately switched over to the memory of their bad past. It was blocking him from being effective, almost like it was trying to keep him away from her. Defending him against her.

He had to land and found a sturdy little cloud that would make a good point to clear his head. Soarin maneuvered his large wings to slow himself enough to land easily upon the surface, but upon landing collapsed into a kneeling position. The pale blue stallion was shocked that his legs gave under him after such a short flight. The memories flooding back again, which he pushed aside one more time as he stood up and looked out at the horizon.

"Maybe it is time I confronted my own feelings..." Soarin said to himself wistfully. "...About the memory and Spitfire. If I don't come to grips with this then she'll suffer for it."

The stallion let out a breath as he exhaled, it was peaceful here on this cloud. Maybe if he just let the memory fully shake him, he could find the way to disabling his defenses against helping her. It was a long shot the pale blue stallion could admit, but he had to try something at this point. Soarin sat down and let himself relax, and as the memory came back to him once again he let it take shape in his mind.

He let it all flow into him, analyzing it with all he could muster. The night he escorted her home, what she had said and done to get him into bed with her, the feeling as their bodies connected in the most pleasurable way the stallion ever knew, waking up the next morning alone, and then the bar scene. The Wonderbolt remembered walking away from the bar phone in hand calling the police anonymously, believing that would get the best results.

Yet, it had done nothing but cement Fleetfoot's place in this entire thing. The mare had become the indisputable heir of Spitfire's disgusting legacy, the new queen who pushed every limit beyond belief. Soarin began to tense up at the thought of what the silver maned mare did with her time, and it wasn't the Wonderbolt Captain's fault Wave Chill became what he did. It was all Fleetfoot's doing.

It was at this moment a realization hit him like a brick, and it made a lot of sense when he considered it.

What if I'm subconsciously blaming Spitfire for everything that happened, even the stuff she didn't actually do?

It was a sobering thought to realize he was secure with the memory of how she hurt him, but what if he blamed her for every person she effected with her actions. Not to mention the actions those ponies took after Spitfire left for rehabilitation. That was a thought that he hadn't concerned himself with in the least, but maybe it was time to do so. After all, Spitfire would need to know just how bad things became after she left, and Soarin was the only one who could give her those details and more.

How can I do that if I haven't even confronted those memories myself?

He began to feel very ashamed of himself for giving Spitfire such a hard time when he wasn't entirely together himself. Maybe it was time to confront what happened so he can give his Captain, no his friend, all the information he could. The pale blue pegasus pondered as to where he should begin, and found himself stumped quickly.

There were many places he could dive in from, but which one would get him the answers he truly needed? It took him some time but Soarin found the place in his memories that he should start from. The week that Fleetfoot began to convert Wave Chill's moderated easy-going personality, into one of sadistic domination and greed.

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It was at a show to be held in Manehatten for charity that things began. The majority of the team had been in the locker room getting ready for practice before the show that evening. All of the team except Fleetfoot and Wave Chill. Misty Fly began to look about in a worried manner not being able to locate the stallion everyone knew she had a crush on.

In the next moment, they came through the doors in a fashion Soarin could not stomach in the least. Fleetfoot had been drug into the locker room wearing a leash and collar in only a black bra and panties by none other than Wave Chill. The stallion had a look in his eyes that the pale blue temporary Captain had never seen before, and it disturbed him greatly to see Fleetfoot kneeling at his hooves.

"See Master didn't I tell you that you would enjoy this power greatly?" the arctic blue mare touted submissively.

"I do." was his answer as a sadistic smile crept across his face. "And I demand that you show me more of this world Fleet!"

"What in the name of Celestia are you two doing?" Soarin roared in anger. "We have a show to practice for still, and we can't afford to lose any more members of the team to a jail sentence!"

Fleetfoot looked at the pale blue stallion with a mocking defiance in her fuchsia eyes before turning to the steel blue stallion. He simply nodded to her.

"Well Soary boy, we both know how that would end." she turned on him in a moment. "You know first hand that I'd use what I've got to get out of it. Not like they could arrest me for public indecency anymore, and I'd do anything to make sure they left Master Wave out of it as well."

"Soary boy? Master Wave? What the hell is this to you Fleetfoot, a game?" the Wonderbolt growled at his teammate. "How long will it be before you realize nothing good can come of what you're do--"

"Cut the crap story, guilt trip Soarin!" the steel blue pegasus spoke up. "Plenty of good is coming of Fleet's actions, maybe you should just mind yer own damn business?"

"There is not a chance that I will do that as interim Captain!" the pale blue pegasus retorted. "Especially when what she is doing is tearing the team further apart!"

"Well, if you would all just let down your barriers to what I'm doing, it wouldn't be tearing the group apart." the arctic blue mare countered suggestively. "In fact, it would make us all a little bit closer to one another. If you know what I mean?"

At this point Misty Fly's eyes went wide and she squeaked as she made the connection in her mind. She had to have been one of the most innocent Wonderbolts out of every bizarre personality on this crazed team. Fleetfoot's gaze quickly shifted to the innocent pale yellow mare, and a smile spread across her face before she turned back to her Master.

Soarin thought they were going to do something more to Misty Fly, but the event never came to pass. Instead they did more of their master/servant or whatever it was play, and when the steel blue stallion would make a mistake she would correct him with physical incentives. It was like she was grooming him for her own uses, whatever they may be.

When it came time for the show that evening it went without a hitch, everyone performed their part perfectly. Fleetfoot and Wave Chill got dressed again and left without a second thought though the instant they were done. Soarin managed to catch Misty before she left, laying a hand softly on her shoulder.

"Hey Misty, can I have a word with you right quick?" the pale blue pegasus started.

"S-Sure Soarin, what's up?" the pale yellow mare stuttered.

"I know you have your affections to tend to, but please promise me you will avoid him for the time being?" the Wonderbolt asked kindly.

"Who might you be talking about Cap'n?" she said with a fake smile.

"Misty, you know exactly who." the stallion answered in exasperation. "Be careful, I don't want to see you get swallowed up by this as well."

"Oh don't you worry about it Soary, I'll be fine!" she said moving away from him and starting to leave. "Well I gotta get home now, see you tomorrow!"

Once he stood there alone his mind broke, she had called him "Soary" the very name Fleetfoot had mocked him with. He also knew that she didn't usually go straight home after a show, she was going to track down Fleetfoot and Wave Chill. Her crush on that stallion was going to be the end of her since Fleet got her hook in him first.

What can I do to stop this from getting any worse?

"Hey Captain, if you are worrying about that scene today." came the deep tone of Rapidfire. "Then have I got a warning for you."

"Oh really Rapid, what could be worse than that?" Soarin said sarcastically as he dramatically flailed his arms.

"I think Fleetfoot is trying to put together a mock harem of sorts." the pale fiery maned pegasus suggested walking over to him.

"What, why would you say that?" answered in shock.

"Well seeing as she made a pass at me not five seconds before her and her Master left the arena, I've learned quite a bit more than I needed to from her." Spitfire's brother answered unphased by what he had said entirely. "If you ask me this team is going to hell in a hamster ball at light speed."

"Wow that was a colorful analogy." Soarin was stunned for a second before looking grim again. "So what did you learn from her?"

"Look buddy, I know you are trying to hold the team together for my sister." Rapid started with a sigh. "Cancel the next show, Fleetfoot is gonna pull something that isn't exactly family friendly."

"What Rapid, do you know what Nydus will do to me if I even suggest something like that without proof?" the pale blue stallion shouted.

"Do you know what he will do to you if she succeeds in showing off the little smut group, she has already assembled, to a packed stadium of mixed crowd opinions?" Spitfire's brother countered stoically.

Never mind it's already gone from bad to worse, I'm gonna have to tell Nydus.

Soarin hung his head pitifully in defeat, he knew he couldn't keep back the tide that Fleetfoot was amassing against him. So he was going to have to cut her stage out from under her entirely. Problem after problem had arisen from what Spitfire had done, and all of those issues were so conveniently dropped onto his shoulders.

"Thank you Rapidfire." the pale blue pegasus said hollowly standing up and walking toward Nydus' temporary office. "I'm putting an end to this."

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

His eyes opened as he confirmed what he feared about himself.

"I did blame you for everything...even the weight of what fell on my shoulders afterward." Soarin muttered weakly. "But if you are determined to put things right again, then so help me, I will be there to help fix it this time!"

The pale blue stallion resolved himself to put things right, he had failed Misty Fly that day and that could not be overlooked anymore. Leaping with all his strength into the sky he took flight once again for Rapidfire's home, he knew he would arrive the morning of the next day.

Though it would take time to arrive he began constructively thinking about methods he could suggest to Spitfire to try out in changing what Misty and Wave Chill were doing. He smiled brightly as he felt he could truly be of use to his Captain again!

Chapter 19: Kirin Rush, The Beginning

Author's Note

Seeing as this is a chapter based on a band, you guys can expect a BUTT TON of music links. You can choose to stop and listen to them before continuing reading or not. I leave the choice to my readers. Well, enjoy the continuing story of Signature Sandwich and Kirin Rush!

Chapter 19: Kirin Rush, The Beginning

Signature Sandwich found himself once again within his memories, but he felt far more alive than was normal for a dream. He wasn't in his body, but an observer in this world Celestia had sent him. Looking around he found himself in a hotel room, and he tried to piece together what day it was from his memories. He found it was quite hard to place the memory until a frantic knocking came to his door.

As that happened his vision switched to his past self's eyes, and into his memories he went entirely. As if they had happened only moments ago, he now had to relive his memories bit by bit. Celestia had to have some purpose for forcing him back into his past, but he wouldn't know why unless he went along with it.

This memory was a year and a half, roughly, from when the band first got together. Sig remembered plainly.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Sig threw the blankets off of himself and got up from his bed quite irritable. He absolutely hated being awakened earlier than his body was ready for, but since it sounded like Ace knocking he made an exception. Rather than kill the white pegasus, he opened the door for him with a look of grouchy disregard.

"What do you want Ace?" the green stallion growled.

"To tell you the most amazing news I could ever have gotten!" the pegasus chirped brightly.

"You realize I'm resisting murdering you extremely well right now, so get in here and tell me while I wake up more." the stallion said leaving the door ajar as he headed back into the room.

The white vocalist practically skipped into the room closing the door behind him, which struck Sig as bizarre at best. Ace never closed the door when he just left it ajar! Yet, he was still far too tired to care about that small detail. As a band they had been playing for over a year now and, with a few gigs under their belts, were beginning to cause a little stir in the rock scene. Still, it hadn't been much of an accomplishment to the guitarist at all, even if the skill of the others had gone up drastically in the last year.

As the forest green stallion headed to the bathroom he heard his friend take a seat at the small dining table in his room. If his friend had said anything, Sig didn't hear it as he turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the water. This was his remedy to a drowsy morning; he splashed his face with the chilly morning waters briskly opening his stubborn eyes. He dried his face off with a beige towel before heading back out into the main room, the towel wrapped around his neck.

"Okay, now that I'm more awake what is it Ace?" Signature started more casually this time.

"Member how you said we would never get to compete for the Autumn Harvest Festival's Battle of the Bands this coming fall?" the white stallion's smile was bright as the sun. "You were wrong!"

"Wh-What?" the forest green stallion's eyes went wide in surprise. "No way! We actually got accepted for the tryouts? Which grouping are we in? Canterlot, Manehattan, Baltimare, Cloudsdale?"

"Oh yeah, we got into tryouts, but the grouping is of some worry this year." Ace said trailing off. "Seeing as there is none, we all play at Canterlot Amphitheater, and we are competing against every band collectively. We have to plan three rounds of songs that showcase our talent and we are next to last band to play each round."

"Oh, well that isn't too bad seeing as we have plenty of talent, and playing nearly last isn't a loss either!" Sig answered looking at his friends' worried face. "Why do you still look so upset Ace, something still bothering you?"

"We are followed by Heart and Hoof, Lectric Screams' band."

Signature's heart sank instantly. They had played a fair in the last month or so where the rival guitarist's band had also played, and it had not been a pleasant encounter in the least for them. It was like Lectric's band was playing in a relaxed but pompous way, as if they thought they couldn't be challenged. It was borderline arrogance, and the green stallion wasn't going to stand for it. They had a conversation band to band shortly after the last performance, and a fight surprisingly broke out when Lectric insulted Ace's singing skills.

Without a moment of hesitation, Ace drove his fist into the blue stallion's face and the brawl got confusing every moment after that. Eventually, it turned into such a big battle that the police showed up, broke the crowd up, and inevitably arrested Ace for starting the entire thing. That was how the "Mosh Pit" was born, but despite this both bands got their fines. We were slated with community service to repair the damages done to the town during our little scuffle. It had been worth it though as Ace had done what all of them had wanted to do; the cocky blue stallion had done nothing but subtly bash all of them the entire time they had spoken.

Lectric likely held a sore spot over being caught off guard by Ace, and he was a very likely suspect to attempting to sabotage Kirin Rush's first big break into the music scene. Not that the blue stallion's band needed to do so, they won the Battle of the Bands every year anyways. If Sig and the guys were going to prosper at this competition though, they were going to have to pull out all of their best songs. Anxiety crept into his mind, how could they be at that level by the qualifier for battle of the bands?

"Okay then we are going to have to perfect our sound before the competition tryouts the week before Fall." Signature declared. "Otherwise we will never get in to that competition."

"Then let's go get the other guys and get this party started!" Ace said with renewed conviction.

As the scene faded to black he recalled the fact that Lectric had insulted his entire band during that conversation, and how Ace had done what all of them had wanted to do. It made him smile, mostly because that act showed how proud the white pegasus was of his own skills and band. The Battle of the Bands audition had made the rest of the band want to maul the blue stallion even more. Because of him, it had been fixed from the get go and they were practically doomed from the start.

It had been spring when they received confirmation of invitation to the auditions, and they practiced their skills up till the week before. They had even worked out three new songs fully to add to the fire of their performance. There were well over forty bands that had been invited, and only the bands that placed in the top five would be chosen to compete in the finals. Playing order was extremely significant among so many other bands, and that was because your band could easily become a footnote in the judges minds if they were followed by a really strong performance.

The songs they put together for that day were intended to counter Heart and Hoofs' repertoire of songs. A song list Signature knew all too well, as he had been paying attention to their band for some time now. Images began flashing in front of him of that day, as their plans to survive the qualifier were torn apart piece by piece.

The first song they had chose to play had been one of Aces' own pieces, and he had written it to thrill the audience. Sig had gone all out on his guitar, Redd held the rhythm steady, Brim easily crushed the beat, and Ace captured a side of his voice that was rough to use. They had done amazingly well, and had impressed the judges with their practically flawless combined sound.

As Lectric Scream's band came on stage though, it was apparent to the forest green stallion something was amiss. As the blue stallion started the guitar line, Signature felt it like a declaration of war among the bands. Lectric wanted blood and he was going to get it. They had come out stronger with their sound and overall shine of performance, making Kirin Rush look like a simple footnote.

"No, this isn't possible!" Sig shouted during the performance. "How can they so easily counter us with a song like that?"

"Maybe it's just a coincidence?" Redd suggested.

"Well, we will see next round won't we?" Ace followed.

Next, was a song written by Redd, and again they went out with all they had. In the last round of scoring they placed in the top ten, but just barely at ninth place. While Lectric's band held the fifth place marker, and deep down Sig felt they weren't going to hand it over. His solo ripped through the building as Ace's scream echoed off the walls, this was the duo's kind of song. One that they couldn't get enough of.

As the last note broke away, Sig and Ace were breathing heavily. The judges seemed to approve greatly of their sound. They had showcased their lead guitar and vocals this round, surely that wasn't going to be easily countered.

"There...that...that should shut those disbelievers up!" the forest green guitarist said breathlessly.

"Especially that pansy...Lectric Scream..." Ace panted heavily. "He can't hope...to match my voice!"

As they crossed Lectric trading places on the stage though, he saw an utterly sadistic smile on his face. He now knew this entire performance was a facade to humiliate Kirin Rush. He was tired after that performance though, and headed back stage to sit down for a moment and drink some water. He found himself spitting the water out the second he heard the blue stallion counting out as he played, Sig knew exactly what song was played next.

He had hoped it wouldn't be the choice to follow, but as he arrived at the side stage Lectric had broken out into his solo. This performance was just as strong if not stronger than the last one. They showcased their guitar players more than anything, but it was a fact that wasn't missed with the blue stallion's solo skills.

"That is impossible!" the guitarist shouted in anger. "It's like they are trying to make sure our score always gets undervalued!"

"You know, I've got to agree with you now Sig." Redd admitted as he watched.

"Okay, even at our best right now, that little turd has fixed this whole event for vengeance." Ace griped. "I'll murder him for this!"

"Guys, that won't solve anything." Brimstone broke in and was instantly rounded on by the white pegasus. "Look, they are just on another level compared to us. The fact that Lectric went to this trouble over us though, shows that he is afraid of our potential. We've gotta accept this for now, we can not win."

Signature answered defiantly, "I won't accept that!"

He had been blinded by the blue stallion's petty games, and was going to burn out everything he had for the next song. Redd had helped him to put the song together so it sounded right, and the result was a mellow song with words that called Heart and Hoof out morally. Brim and Sig brought in the next song together slowly when it was next their turn on stage.

The band placing as of the second round had them in sixth place, and Heart and Hoof still holding fifth even though their performance had been of first place quality. Lectric Scream had them barred from getting in legitimately to the Battle of the Bands. This song had let them add in the voices of the guitarists along with Aces' for the chorus, and Brim had kept the drum beat strong and lively even. They had taken the atmosphere of the hall down a peg towards lively but calm, and yet Sig knew in his heart that this choice of song could come back to bite them.

After their performance he sat waiting on stage right, watching as Heart and Hoof tuned and readied their instruments. All three front stallions stood closer to the microphone than usual, and it hit the guitarist quickly. They were going to counter the vocal unity that his band had just displayed, but how was what he was left to wonder. That was until Lectric and his drummer kicked in quickly with a great degree of power. The guitar playing and drum line was absolutely perfect, and the occasional harmony of vocals was spot on as well.

He felt his heart shatter from pure unadulterated rage, they had been cheated. He hadn't wanted to stay and hear that their band had finished sixth still despite what they had gone through. Signature knew well enough to know that was the verdict coming their way, and he wanted no part of it for face value of his band. He walked out the backstage exit and did not return that evening.

Signature's sight went dark again and resumed in the park they always met at. Silent Storm had seen him leaving and had caught up to him in the Canterlot streets. She had followed him here since he had been reluctant to talk to her in the streets. At this point though, they were fighting.

"This has all just been some pipe dream that I should have never dragged anyone into!" Sig shouted. "In the end, we are just mediocre cause that little prick Lectric deems it so!"

"You didn't drag any one of us into this!" Storm returned. "We joined you of our own free will you stubborn mule! As for Lectric, who cares what he does, or what he likes for that matter!"

"Maybe you should start considering his views, seeing as he is such a better option to take interest in compared to me!" the forest green stallion fumed blindly.

His response was a hard slap to the face from the pristine white mare. As he looked at her in surprise he noticed she was wearing the black band t-shirt they had made, with a light blue denim jacket and black denim pants. Stopping for a moment he looked up into her eyes, shining like gemstones cause of tears.

"Signature Sandwich you IDIOT!" she roared viciously. "Stop your pitiful whining, and think before you speak! You know me better than that you dumb stallion."

Her voice dropped with her last sentence, and now he knew why she had slapped him. To even suggest she should go after Lectric was the worst of insults to her. What was this feeling of warmth spreading through him, he felt he couldn't look away from Storm's peridot colored eyes. Maybe he had noticed it before, but now it felt different. Stronger somehow.

"Wh-What is it Sig?" she questioned him bashfully now.

"Did you know, that you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen?" he replied affectionately as he took a step toward her.

"Oh, so now you're done venting and going off on me?" the white mare replied defensively.

"Yeah, I am." the green stallion said gently, now standing directly in front of her. "Your eyes always seem to bring me back somehow, and I'm glad you've kept them on me. If you know what I mean Storm."

Her face flushed bright red as she turned away in embarrassment. She hadn't known what else to do it seemed. The forest green stallion reached up and turned her back to facing him although she avoided eye contact.

"Well then?" Sig questioned again softly.

"My brother would never allow it and you know it." the mare reasoned pitifully. "You would have to show him your dreams were stronger than anything in this world, and after walking out on the band tonight...I don't think he'll be too forgiving."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Well, start by continuing to play your music with passion." Storm began. "And somehow help the band to humiliate the heck out of Lectric Scream; that would make Ace a bit more open to things."

"Oh, and then what?" Sig questioned with an affectionate tease.

"Then I'm sure he'll let you date his sister." the white mare answered staring at him with conviction in her eyes.

"Are you sure we aren't already dating though?" the earth stallion joked.

She chuckled softly, "Maybe we are."

They embraced in a tight hug after that and they seemed inseparable in that moment. She was his biggest fan, and his biggest critic. Storm was kind of a big deal to him and he was only just realizing it.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Signature's memories broke for a moment as he fully experienced the warmth he had felt that night towards Silent Storm. This event had not been something he expected Celestia to make him relive, and quite frankly left him even more confused. Why had the princess felt this was a necessary memory for him to relive?

"Tuning my heartstrings?" he mumbled to himself.

Was she making him relive the moments that were instrumental in his and Storm's relationship with one another, or was there more to this than he could see? Princess Celestia had often been known for doing things in a riddle like manner, but this seemed to be going a bit far. Then again, considering what he knew of the princess, this wasn't actually as bad as he was making it out to be. Yet she had sent him into his memories on purpose, so was there a goal he had to reach to be released from his past?

How will I know when I've achieved what Celestia wanted though? Don't tell me I'm gonna be trapped in here if I don't figure it out!

Chapter 20: For My Lover

Author's Note

Seriously...it is chapters like this that sort of hint at why the sex tag is needed...and this probably won't even be the worst of it. -_- Anyways, it's chapter 20! What an amazing journey it has been so far, and it still has more fuel to go a while yet! Misty's experiences+mindset inspired by this song:
"For My Lover" By: Tracy Chapman
Look it up if you want to feel Misty is a little more real. Other than that enjoy!

Chapter 20: For My Lover

Spitfire had been amazed at how blessed she had been to have Rainbow Dash in her life, and at how far she felt she would go for her love. They had slept beside each other that night and sleepily cuddled most of the morning. Some gear in her head began to turn as to her situation with Misty Fly, and it had taken Dash's brash but compassionate actions to get her to see it.

A knock came then at their door followed by a voice Spitfire never expected.

"Captain are the both of you decent in there?" came Soarin's deep toned voice. "I'd like permission to enter."

"Granted." the fiery maned mare answered with the diction of a drill sergeant.

He opened the door and walked in with a smile upon his face, the sun filtered into the room just enough so that she could see this. There was no air of hostility like the pale blue stallion had shown before, and it had her just a little suspicious. Dash scooted away from her because of the situation, and Soarin's response was unbelievable.

"No, no." he said waving his hands bashfully. "No need to compose yourself for my sake Rainbow Dash. If anything I've gotta approve of your presence with Spits."

Dash looked to the golden mare for an answer, but all she could do was shrug. Her lieutenant was acting awfully nice now. What warrants this kind of behavior from him when he knows full well what I've done to him?

"My behavior is what has got that baffled expression on your face I'm sure Cap'n." the pale blue pegasus said catching her facial expression. "Well here is a bit of an explanation for you. I've gotten calls from both Valkyrie and your brother now. Considering what challenge you yourself have crossed with, I have come to offer my support."

"Okay, what the hell Soarin?" Spitfire felt her fury boil over rapidly. "First, you treat me like I don't deserve forgiveness or any kind of help, and now you are offering me help and acting all buddy buddy again?"

"I've had to re-evaluate your situation...as well as my own weaknesses." he replied with a sadness in his voice. "I have been unfair with you Captain. Deep down I blamed you for everything that had happened, even the things that were out of your control. It took sitting down and really thinking about it for a good while after your brother called me about your run in with Misty Fly."

"So then what's the verdict on us?" she retorted cutting to the chase.

"For the last three team members, you have my help and a bit of my faith." Soarin started kindly. "But there is still some forgiveness to earn with me, the wounds dealt will take some more time to heal. Till then, I'd say we're cool."

"I'll take what I can get then, what do you have for me on Misty Fly's situation?" Spitfire got serious.

As she sat up, she listened to Soarin retell the story of how Fleetfoot slowly corrupted Wave Chill's personality with domination games. How Misty Fly fell right into line to try to stay close to him, but was continually turned away from him because of the arctic blue temptress. She was interested to know that her pale yellow teammate had adapted this pet/slave like attitude to somehow get near Wave Chill through his underlings. What peaked her curiosity more, was that Fleet purposely kept those two apart; almost as if she knew the innocent mare could ruin everything she had accomplished with the steel blue stallion.

The more details Soarin gave her, the faster the gears in her head spun. Things were all starting to make sense now, and it was sad to know that this was going to probably hurt Misty more than help. Yet, the plan had to be made. Spitfire just wasn't sure where, or who, to start with.

"Now Spitfire, I have a few suggestions as to how you can tackle the situation with Misty Fly and Wave Chill." the lieutenant began.

"Don't need it Soar, I've already got an idea on how to do this." the golden mare answered sliding herself off the bed.

Both Rainbow and Soarin stared at her in disbelief, and the fiery maned pegasus reasoned this was because of how big a wreck she had been yesterday. I hate having to explain myself.

"Since you both look like you're confused, I'll throw you a line." Spitfire said with mock stress. "Yes, I was a wreck yesterday. At that point though, I had no understanding for what Misty was going through at all. Which is why she responded the way she did, but after Dash's actions yesterday after my brother called her...well it got the gears in my head turning."

"Oh really, do tell Captain." Soarin replied sarcastically, the sound of a phone ringing in the background.

"That had better not be sarcasm I hear Lieutenant!" she reprimanded him. "Anyways, with all you have told me I understand why she is doing what she is doing."

"But why would any pony want to do what Misty is doing?" Rainbow chirped in curiously.

"Love." was the golden mares' reply. "She loves Wave Chill so much and so blindly, that she will literally go to any length to get to him. Cause being parted from him is the equivalent of being forced to bear an ailing heart entirely alone, she would almost rather die. It's like there is no purpose at all for her but Wave Chill." she turned to her love now. "You showed me that kind of love Dash."

Rainbow blushed and turned her gaze slightly away.

"If you know the why, then what sort of plan have you cooked up to deal with it?" the pale blue stallion questioned.

"Well, that's actually the hard part." she admitted bashfully. "I don't know how to get it going, but I know that I need to get those two to cross paths with one another. She was always his weakness, and he was always hers. After that it is just a matter of what happens next, but as a precaution I should stay close to her."

"I see, the only problem is that you would need at least one of them cooperating with you." the rainbow maned mare arrived at the conclusion looking back at Spitfire.

"Yeah, that's the issue right now." the golden pegasus affirmed. "I'd rather not have to...coerce Wave Chill. But Misty isn't looking like a diplomatic option either so I don't know--"

"Hey sis you've got a call!" Rapidfire's voice echoed through the house cutting her off.

Spitfire excused herself from the room and quickly headed across the house to where her brothers' phone was located. It gave her some time to think, but not much time, about what she was going to do. She walked up to find her brother still holding the phone, part of the phone covered by his hand. As he held the phone out to her he spoke.

"You're gonna love this call." the pale golden stallion said sarcastically as he walked away.

As she took the phone she spoke up, "Hello, Spitfire here. Can I ask who this is?"

"Hey there Spitty..." came the pitiful voice of Misty Fly. "...I know, after how I acted the other day I don't even deserve to talk to you, but I just--"

"Misty, stop that." the fiery mare said as warmly as she could manage. "I'm actually glad you called, gives us the chance to make up over what happened."

"R-Really?" was the shocked reply.

"Really, now tell me Mist..." Spitfire started with an edge. "...What prompted you to call me back seeing as I ruined your chance at seeing Wave Chill?"

"I'm sorry I called you a five bit whore!" the mare on the other line began pouring out apologetically. "I wasn't thinking, I was just entirely absorbed by my goals and I didn't even take time to consider how I acted would effect you!"

"Misty I know you love him, and I know that Fleetfoot has kept him from you." the Wonderbolt Captain went in for the kill. "But what would you think about working with me if I could get you a chance to cross paths with him?"

"Y-You'd do that for me?" she replied startled. "Even with what I did yesterday?"

"Yes I would, it's better for all of us." worry crept into her voice. "Although, I cannot guarantee the soft spot he had for you before will still be there. I don't want you to proceed if it will break your spirit Misty."

"I don't care, I'll do it!" she replied joyously. "He will still be the same old Chill at the core, you'll see!"

For her sake, I hope she is right.

"So when would you like to meet so we can plan this out?" Spitfire asked politely.

"This evening in the market again, but Spitty...don't interfere tonight." Misty seemed worried. "To some extent...I enjoy the belittlement. I'll speak with you after that alright?"

"Okay then, I don't agree with it but I'll trust you and see you tonight." she replied and she hung up.

Spitfire rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers; she could not believe her friend actually enjoyed being demeaned like she had seen the other day. There was a lot more here that she would have to work on with time, but the first issue to tackle would be bringing them back to a state that they could both be handled safely. She couldn't risk being drawn back into her old lifestyle.

She headed back to Dash's room to inform the two of them of this surprising change in her plans. Needless to say, they were both quite shocked that Misty had cooperated so simply. Though, Soarin and Spitfire both knew that the pale yellow mare was prone to her outbursts when she was hyper focused on her goals. This lead their fellow Wonderbolt to make snap accusations of any who interfered in her objective goals as well, which sometimes made it hard to work with her until she cooled off.

"So Soarin, any chance you could help me with running down Wave's daily routine?" Spitfire asked professionally. "I need to find the perfect time to get Misty to cross his path."

"I can try to, but that stallion had little to no love for me after Fleetfoot whipped him up." Soarin replied unsure of his ability to find the information.

"Do what you can, that's all I ask." she replied with a slight smile.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Later That Evening...

Spitfire had arrived at the location she had seen Misty Fly before, and sure enough a crowd had already gathered around her and a new pair of stallions. They were taunting and diminishing her worth, and the golden mare could now see a sick glimmer of delight in her friend's eyes. Yet she held her place in the crowd, watching the spectacle before her eyes. Something seemed off in the two dominant characters; their behavior was only mildly toying with her.

"What's going on here?" Spitfire quietly asked herself.

"Well there pet, you've been working so hard to see your Master it's almost cute." the unicorn stallion taunted her.

"Despite the little assault to Auburn, which he found funny, you may yet get what you wanted!" the earth bound stallion promised.

"R-Really?" the pale yellow mare asked looking up from her place on the ground kneeling. "Where is he?"

Spitfire's expression instantly exploded with shock, the stallion couldn't mean that Wave Chill was here right now! Misty was in no shape to face that yet! Watching the pale yellow mare's reaction shift around told Spitfire all she needed to know though, an expression of longing desire now blinded her from reality. This couldn't be happening right now, her plans to help them were being stripped away piece by valuable piece.

"So boss man, what do you say?" the unicorn turned around and spoke into the crowd.

"Hmph, isn't she a pitiful sight to see?" came a voice followed by movement. "I don't know what I was worried about all this time."

The crowd began to part as a steel blue pegasus strode forward with a great deal of presence. Confidence, arrogance, boldness, and powerful. All were words that came to mind as Wave Chill easily moved through the crowds, and the sadistic look on his face made Spitfire cringe. There was no acting here, only waiting to see what would happen. She had promised Misty that much, but how much longer she could keep her cool was entirely based on the stallions' actions.

"Fleetfoot seems to be under the impression that I need to stay away from you, and yet..." Chill paused for a moment drawing closer to the pale yellow mare putting a hand to her cheek. "...you chase after me so willingly, and so obediently. It's admirable really Mist..."

Anger and disgust instantly flew into his face as he slapped her, but something seemed defensive about his change to Spitfire. Misty Fly yelped in surprise, tears in her eyes, as he grabbed her by the collar of her blue sweater and held her up in the air. It was taking everything the golden mare had to not stop the stallion's actions. Just then he dropped Misty and she quickly fell to her knees, only to be grabbed again by the back of the neck and forcibly slammed into the ground.

Spitfire quickly noticed Chill's actions were far too vaunted, something in her gut told her he was repressing himself. As if looking into Misty's eyes had almost caused his heart to surface again, and he was afraid of it with his new found status. Has this entire rehabilitation process actually taught me how to read others?

He was whispering into Misty's ear as the golden mare came back to reality, and no pony in the crowd could hear him. Spitfire could see the reaction it elicited from her friend though, and that was enough to make her step up and interfere. Misty looked like she was about to completely break down mentally in the dirt she was being pinned to. Trapped and being forced to hear the steel blue stallion's presumably venomous words. The Wonderbolt Captain felt her heart burn with an intense passion to protect.

"N-No Wave...Stop it. This isn't you." Misty whimpered pitifully.

"Wave Chill! You let her go!" the Wonderbolt Captain roared, instantly parting the crowd.

Chapter 22: The Mountain That Lies Before Me

"Wave Chill! You let her go!" the Wonderbolt Captain roared, instantly parting the crowd.

"Oh look what we have here, the disgraced Wonderbolt Captain!" the steel blue stallion taunted getting up off Misty and striding over to his new prey. "Now Auburn's injuries make sense, but it was a long over due beating."

"So much for the strong willed Master Wave Chill!" the fiery maned mare taunted back. "I saw that loss of control before you hit Misty! Stop trying to fool everyone else, and most of all stop lying to yourself!"

"Oh like you would know half of the joys I take from what I've become?" he smiled sadistically. "Fleetfoot has taught me unbelievable things, some that will even drop you Spitfire."

His gleaming eyes worried her greatly, and suddenly she felt very vulnerable. Something was off but she had to remain strong. She wanted so badly to avoid this stallion until he was safer to handle and not a threat to her demeanor, but this was not an option anymore. It was almost as if Fleetfoot had planned this.

Within a quick second he had closed in on her and took her in his arms, and with the gentlest of hands stroked her cheek. She felt her defenses melt, and inside her mind she began to panic. Her body betrayed her though at this weakness, a weakness only Fleetfoot had known about.

"See Spitfire, you can't break your old habits when your own body can't let them go." Wave said ever so softly, a weakness when paired with soft touch. "Guess Rainbow will have to live with the smutty Wonderbolt Captain, either that or she can leave you to all of Equestria again."

The sick delight in his voice and the use of Rainbow's name instantly broke his hold on her body. She broke away from his hold and in one vicious swing broke his nose. No one was going to take her Rainbow away, and fury had saved her this day.

"You dare bring Rainbow Dash into this you dirty two faced piece of scum?" Spitfire roared at the absolute limit of her temper. "I'll tear you a new one so big, all that training Fleetfoot gave you won't matter one bit!"

"Ow, you tramp!" he shouted holding his nose in pain. "You broke my nose, my bucking nose!"

"And I'm about to break the rest of your face, now hold still!" she said taking a threatening step toward the steel blue stallion.

"Not today, boys give me a hand!" he commanded backing away.

Out of the crowd filed ten to twenty thugs to block Spitfire. She looked to Misty who still just laid pitifully in the dirt below her, and it was surprising that she hadn't blocked Wave Chill from her assault. Even though that had happened, the dirty stallion had brought his goon squad with him.

"You freakin' coward, get out here and take yer beating like a real stallion!" Spitfire shouted.

"I think not Captain, you don't control me any more." he answered his voice sounding odd as his nose had swollen. "Plus, I think you've done enough damage, to me and to Misty Fly. Considering I will never be seeing her again!"

As Spitfire looked at Misty, her heart sank. The pale yellow mare's eyes wide in pain, that one statement may have broken her old friend entirely. That coward pulled anyone he could into a fight to shield himself, and this had to have been Fleetfoot's handiwork. But despite this, the golden mare still had one question: Why?

He retreated and the crowd, for once, stayed to see if Misty Fly had been okay. Spitfire rushed through the crowd to her friend, and the presence the pale yellow mare gave off was disjointed, and broken. As she knelt down beside her Misty spoke.

"Guess things didn't quite go as planned did they Spitty?" she said with a cracked smile.

"Oh Misty, this isn't the time." she cooed softly to her hurt friend. "Let's go back to my brother's house, we can talk there."

"Okay, that sounds nice." she agreed pleasantly.

Spitfire helped Misty back onto her feet, and they proceeded to limp to the outskirts of town before flying off together toward Rapidfire's home. Her friend's demeanor becoming hidden from sight the closer they got, it would be hard prying her open again. Just like an oyster, Spitfire hated oysters.

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Wave Chill got up from his lavish bed, in which an arctic blue mare laid without clothes on silently. He on the other hand got on his pants and walked over to the large scenery viewing window and pulled the curtains aside. In clear view was the setting moon, but it felt cold and lonely somewhere in the stallion's mind.

He had everything money, power, a mansion, all the best foods, servants, friends, mares, and not to mention the most enticing of those mares was his own personal pet. Though she only let him have total control of her, she played dominatrix to every other stallion. They spent hot steamy nights together quite frequently and then slept next to one another till the morning light woke them. So why did he feel like it wasn't enough?

He sighed and those violet eyes filled his vision once again, and he groaned almost punching the window in his anger.

"Why must she constantly follow me, why must she haunt my visions and dreams, why does she care so much, why can't she just leave me alone?" Wave mumbled aloud not noticing the presence approaching him.

She slipped her arms around him from behind wearing one of his bath robes her presence was a welcome sedation to the mare that plagued his mind. He felt her press herself up against him reminding him gently of the body that was his to own, but a part of him screamed out that this was wrong. He wanted to kill it so badly but that part of him was rather illusive.

"What's wrong Chill, you keep relaxing and tensing up." the arctic blue mare said in a sultry tone. "Is something on your mind? Something I can, ease?"

"I ran into Misty Fly and Spitfire today Fleetfoot." he admitted through a sigh.

Fleetfoot tensed behind him but relaxed just as quickly, "Oh did you, and how did that go?"

"Well in the end I smacked Misty around and forced her face into the dirt, telling her to stop pursuing me cause I wasn't interested in a useless mare like her." Wave told her, although it wasn't totally true. "And then I did what you told me to do to Spitfire. It worked like a charm at first but..."

"But what my dearest Master?" the temptress of a mare dug deeper.

"At the first mention of Rainbow Dash, she flipped." he admitted shuddering at her fury. "Taunting her about losing Dash was enough to spark her fury to break my hold on her. Truth be told that's actually why my nose was broken when I came back."

"Oh really now, that's interesting to know about her."

"It doesn't bother you that I lied about how my nose was broken?"

"Not really, you had your reasons I'm sure." she said pressing her body against Wave Chill again. "Now hun, come back to bed. Your mare has some...needs that she would like you to attend to."

She turned him around, grabbed him by his front belt loops, and began pulling him back towards the bed.

"Again?" he questioned in surprise. "That's five times tonight!"

Fleetfoot pulled him close as they got near the bed and whispered to him, "I don't see you complaining about it, or telling me no."

She had pulled open her robe just so slightly, and one look over her bare body was enough as he tackled her into the bed and gave her exactly what she wanted so badly. Unbeknownst to him though, she was planning how to handle this new reformed Spitfire and dispose of Misty Fly before she could break Fleetfoot's hold on Wave Chill. There were so many variables to be removed for her to be victorious, but it was going to be foals play for her to accomplish.

The old Spitfire would be proud of what I've accomplished in such a short time, I'll never be her shadow...I will be greater than her!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"He told me that he still cared for me, but he enjoys his new life far greater." Misty Fly admitted to Spitfire, tears in her eyes. "That he would rather have his pet Fleetfoot's supple body at his beck and call. But what was odd was, that just before you broke in he whispered something almost to himself."

"What was that Mist?" the fiery maned pegasus could barely contain herself.

"He said, I'm sorry."

There it was, the proof that Spitfire needed. Despite his vaunted strength after looking Misty in the face, he was still in there hiding away behind who he had become and the shame that went with it. What seemed odd was that he seemed to have formed a type of affection for Fleetfoot that wouldn't break easily either. He would be torn apart if Spitfire tried to do anything, but did the arctic blue mare even really care about Wave Chill?

The two former Wonderbolts had secluded themselves to Spitfire's room upon arrival, with no quarrel from Soarin' or Rainbow. After the fiery maned mare convinced her friend to calm down they had sat down at a table and got to talking, and even caught up a great deal. They learned too much about what they had seen, and Spitfire even learned that Misty had maintained her virginity. Despite what types of degradation she had gone through before the golden mare came into the picture.

Spitfire was proud her friend had managed to maintain her purity through all of this, unlike herself. She told Misty about Valkyrie and her love interest, about Rapidfire not changing much, and talked her ear off about Rainbow Dash.

"Wow, you're really smitten with her aren't ya?"

"I was willing to destroy Wave Chill earlier over his comment, so I'd say yeah I really am."

"Not like you to ignore consequences like that." Misty commented plainly. "I'm glad you didn't though. I have one question though, was what he did to you...did it really weaken you?"

Spitfire did not want to admit to it but for a moment she felt like she slipped back into her old ways, and if he had said the right words she would have given in to her temptations. The right words though required practiced finesse to pull off, and that was something that worried her about Fleetfoot. That mare had used that method dozens of times after she figured it out on the athletic golden mare.

She shivered at the heated memories that arose in her mind, and she had to end this quickly.

"Rainbow get in here!" she shouted.

Rainbow Dash entered the room a look of shock on her face, "What's going on Spitfi--mmph!"

Spitfire jumped up from her chair and pulled Dash into a quick powerful kiss that lasted several moments before they parted again.

"Ah, much better!" the golden mare sighed. "Thank you hun!"

"I seriously don't know what just happened here." Dash said dazed.

"Just know that you kept me strong." Spitfire said with a radiant smile.

"Well, I'll take that as a yes to my question." Misty said blinking rapidly in surprise. "But Spitfire what if--"

"Misty dear," the fiery maned mare turned to her friend now. "...let's not talk about this anymore tonight. I'm just happy to have you back."

In reality, Spitfire did not want to worry Rainbow about the plausible problem in the future until it was absolutely necessary. She wasn't sure exactly how to tackle the problem with Wave Chill let alone his actual puppet master Fleetfoot. Misty Fly was going to have her own mountains to overcome in her heart. In such a small time the golden pegasus found herself up to her neck in problems she had no idea how to break down.

Now the good doctor's plan...seems like an actual punishment!

Chapter 23: The Love, The Birth, And The Death

Signature Sandwich began to straighten out his memories again, and it was quite clear why his mind had tried to push him out. This was the point in his life that was both the happiest and the saddest for him. He knew all too well what memories would be next through his eyes, and he silently begged Celestia wouldn't do this to him. The stallion's plea was in vain though as his vision began to form.

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

The Love...The Birth...

The months following Kirin Rush's success at the Battle of the Bands competition was more than any of them could have anticipated. Left and right came offer upon offer from record labels, managers, other wanna be musicians, marketing representatives, and venue after venue wanting them to play their events. Over night Sig, Ace, Redd, and Brim had become international stars.

The forest green stallion became tired of it all very rapidly, and events began to threaten an event he had been looking forward to. It was soon to be his 25th birthday. He wanted it to himself and yet calls and letters kept arriving to all the band members in droves. After a great deal of consideration for the band a decision was made to go to Canterlot Castle and appeal to the person who had given them their fame, Princess Celestia.

Sig practically barged in through her guards to negotiate with her. Well, actually more of ask for her advice on what he should do. She had laughed at his entrance into the grand hall, but was very serious in her negotiations.

"From now on I'll manage your band's schedule, finances, fan mail, and other necessary details." the white alicorn declared crossing her legs as she sat upon her throne. "But the price you must pay for this freedom Signature, is your guitar."

The guitar player was shocked as his jaw hung agape. He took the guitar from his back and held it in front of him for a moment. It had to be the one instrument he never let go of that she would want as payment, after all it had the ability to conjure up storms. She knew that though.

"But I can still get another guitar to play with the band right?" Sig asked not looking away from his guitar.

"Of course you can, it wouldn't be much of a band without its lead guitarist!" Celestia replied pleasantly.

The green stallion hesitated over his most prized possession in this world. Yet, he pondered on the thought of why the princess wanted it above all things she could ask for. Maybe she sensed that the power of the instrument, its mana, was running out gradually as he played. Even when he didn't summon a storm it drained a little mana. Nature could take care of her own storms though now days.

"Why do you hesitate so Signature?" Celestia broke into his thoughts. "Many questions plague you it seems, but I may answer one for you if it will ease your worries. Yes, the reason I want your guitar is to prevent it from draining it's mana any further. With only four internal crystals left you may want to save those for a later occasion--not to mention Cereza has gained a good grip on nature's forces. So you don't have to act as a storm bringer anymore."

He had knew it. As he admired the glossy blue tie-dye guitar once more, he stepped forward to Celestia's throne with the neck of the guitar in hand. He had resolved himself to this choice, for himself and the band.

"Then I accept your terms Princess." he said kneeling and directing the instrument her way.

"Please, call me by name or even a nickname will do...something less formal." She suggested strongly.

"Alright 'Tia, please just give me and the guys less to worry about." Sig said with a heavy heart.

"That won't be a problem at all, and your guitar will be given a home in the Magical Channeling Instruments vault so you know." Celestia said with a devilishly knowing smile.

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

At that time he hadn't understood why she smiled like that but now it made perfect sense. She knew he would return just as he had done. By that logic she knew what would befall him in the end, and did nothing about it. Did she really know though? Signature sat and pondered this as his memory shifted to a later date. Which memory was coming to him next, he always had a hard time placing his memories chronologically.

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

His memories began looking out on a valley surrounded by mountains covered in snow. The valley wasn't empty either. It was filled to capacity with Equestria's finest soldiers. It was two years later when the Gryphon conflict arose between Gyre and Equestria. The forest green stallion remembered this scene clearly now, Celestia had drug them out of a hiatus to play for the troops.

She had done it strategically though, with their concert being on the front lines of combat. Ace's hiatus had actually led him to joining the armed forces, which had made this all the more convenient for the princess. Ace's platoon was reconnaissance and information gathering and they recently received intelligence regarding a possible spy in their ranks.

Celestia knew how to send a message to the traitor most effectively. Yet the enemy would also get that message this day as they tried to infiltrate during the festivities. Little did they expect that they were being allowed in on purpose.

Signature had on the replacement guitar at the time. It was an old looking red and orange sunburst guitar and he was tuning it after their long set so far. They were at intermission but the crowd was still utterly crazed. Sitting stage left was where the forest green stallion was as he made sure his guitar was in top condition. Ace approached him, an edgy look in his eyes.

"Yo, dude. Looks like I just got confirmation on our little plan." The white pegasus said in a hushed tone. "The spy as well as some of the higher up gryphons are slinking their way through the crowd. It's as good a time as any to show off."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah man." Sig said waving him off dismissively. "I'll give it my all just gotta make sure this beauty can take it."

In all honesty Sig didn't care about this one way or the other. He believed in the music, not in the wars of nations. Fighting among one another solved nothing. It just created more to mourn over, more sad songs that the world didn't need. If Celestia's plan worked though he wasn't about to complain. They were going to use music to make them realize just what they were getting into, and hopefully that would bring them back together. Hopefully.

Finally the forest green stallion stood upon his legs, guitar fully tuned up, ready to finish this concert and get home as soon as possible. Ace noticed this and moved to center stage once again.

"Weeeellll then soldiers, what do you want so much that you'd be so loud?" he hollered as he held the microphone out to the crowd.

"We want rock!" was the resounding response.

The set list was pretty metal, even Sig couldn't deny that. They started off topic to rile the crowd up. The stallion always enjoyed these types of songs because he would always jerk his body based on the riff he was playing. Dancing around his mane flew about as gravity would take it with every move he made. He always let his passion flow through him as he played. Sick riff after sick riff the song finally echoed away on its last note.

"So then everyone here has shown so much love for our music, and really you guys have been great to us over the years." Ace began once there was a level of quiet. "But when have we done a song that symbolizes our harmony, our unity through all? I'll tell you when!"

Sig and Redd moved up closer to the front of the stage, mic stands in tow. Ace grabbed his guitar and started the song, while Sig echoed him. Once the chorus came in they all sang it so the crowd could hear the words, their harmony vocally was always surprising to hear so crystal clear.

"So give it up!" Ace broke suddenly.

Bass and guitar instantly went silent and only Brim's drums held strong until Ace began vocals again. This was one of his more interesting ideas for a song, a breakdown.

Ace began, "United, United, United we stand. United we never shall fall!"

Then I joined in next, "United, United, United we stand. United we stand one and all."

Then Redd, "United, United, United we stand. United we never shall fall!"

Then Brim, "United, United, United we stand. United we stand one and all."

As we all continued to sing Ace held the mic out to the crowd, who as one began singing along with the song. The united sound was absolutely beautiful, they were an unbreakable family just like the band. As they chanted Sig spotted one of the gryphon's in the crowd looking around in shock, a sense of fear falling over the sore thumb in the crowd. One, two, three, four, five and six. He spotted all the gryphons he could, and saw the most important looking one talking to a young stallion whose attention kept going between the stage and the person speaking to him.

He was torn between two.

I'll end this for him! Sig vowed as the song ended.

"Well what do you know, looks like we have attracted some foreign attention today!" Sig bellowed into his mic as he pointed down to the shocked looking gryphon. "We allowed you lovely guys in here to deliver a message, start it Brim!"

The obsidian maned stallion kicked into his drums and though it was a slow intro, he was going to enjoy himself as Ace started in. The guitar and bass parts weren't exactly easy for them either, but singing the chorus together with Ace made it that much harder.

Run to the hills,
Run for your lives,
Run to the hills,
Run for your lives!

At this point, Brim was rocking out and would surely have a neck ache tomorrow. It also had come time to test his guitar again as the solo erupted forth, followed by bass as leading instrument and Ace's scream hitting its highest pitch. Most of the gryphons had taken their advice and ran from the crowd, all of them except the important looking one who stood there applauding silently as the crowd stared.

"So what do you achieve by staying when we warned you to leave?" Ace started. "Oh mister air of importance gryphon?"

"So this is the great Signature Sandwich, who is said to put gryphon virtuoso's to shame with his guitar skills." The tall male gryphon stated plainly. "I am honored."

"Yo I'm talkin'--" the white pegasus began seething.

"Ace I got this." Sig said holding up a hand to silence his friend.

"How 'bout you prove it to my people?" the winged male challenged.

"Wait, wait. Are you saying you want me to prove I'm anyone's match on guitar?" the forest green stallion was shocked. "Who are you to demand this of me?"

"Earn the right to know, so far as I know it's just a rumor that you are any good on guitar." he scoffed.

He couldn't believe this guy's audacity! He quickly scanned his mind for a plausible song, and the first thing to mind was a song that for some reason or another had massively offended the populace when they played in Zebrand. Normally Zebricans weren't so easily offended by any type of music.

"Fine, you want a show you old feather duster?" Sig taunted in his rage. "Guys, here comes the Voodoo!"

It was a sound not heard since by any guitarist with the heavy distortions, but he had single handedly changed music the second he had played it. This time he was performing for a much larger crowd. Every section of guitar he was moving, bobbing his head, dancing, and feeling the music just like the body of another. As he slammed out the last note the crowd went utterly berserk, and the gryphon stood there nodding his head approvingly.

Ugh, my neck is gonna hate me later for that...

"That is indeed some skill." he praised Sig, whose neck began to throb. "I believe I won't have to go far to find counsel with Celestia."

With that she appeared on stage, arms crossed defensively, "I'm listening Lord Garrond."

The LEADER of the gryphons was who it was?!

"I'd say it is high time we put an end to this conflict." he returned with a smile. "My people are missing out on much needed musical culture. I mean how can our music get better without a target to aim for?"

______________________________________________________________________________________

Months later...

"...And that's how we single handedly ended the war Storm!" Signature said cheerfully.

They had returned home after the peace talks had concluded, and the forest green stallion couldn't be happier to be holding his mare in his arms. He had missed Silent Storm dearly while he was away. They had been together since shortly after the Battle of the Bands competition, and hadn't gotten tired of each other yet.

She had been shocked at first to learn the truth about his past, and past lives as the keeper of the rains of Equestria before he had left for the war front concert. After a moment of contemplation though she found herself at terms with it, and understood why giving up his guitar had been so hard on him. Revealing this to her though hadn't been an easy thing as it brought up pain from another lifetime.

"Are you alright?" the white mare said looking back at him. "You're twitching."

"It-It's nothing." he fidgeted more.

She moved so she sat in front of him now, "No its not, so spill it Sig!"

He admired her conviction and sighed. She gave him time to think of what he would say, she had learned to give him time to decide his starting point.

"My second life was my introduction to plausibility of love, and was quickly reminded of that when I started my third one." he let out another sigh. "I fell in love with a unicorn mare named Gleaming Crest, spent my days with her, and ended up dying first. Upon my reincarnation Celestia entrusted my younger years to the very mare who I had been with my second life. Needless to say it has me feeling a bit awkward toward falling for another."

Storm sat silently for a moment before speaking, "You know, I was gonna wait until tomorrow cause of the forecast...but I can see we need to go now. Pack an overnight bag, we are going on a mini vacation."

She got up from the couch and headed to their room, and left Signature sitting there utterly confused. As he regained himself he headed into their bedroom.

"Wait, where are we going?" he asked as she threw a dufflebag onto the bed.

"It's a secret hun...just be patient and get packed." she answered as she pulled choices of clothing from their closet.

"What types of clothing?" he tried to get her to give it away.

"Nice try sweetie, but you have to guess on that one." she retorted shooting him down.

After they had packed enough they headed outside and she pulled out a handkerchief, turning it into a makeshift blindfold. Where ever they were going they had to fly so the blindfold had Sig a little more than anxious.

"Are you kidding? I know we are flying there but being blindfolded is too much Storm!"

"Sig." she answered softly as she put her forehead to his. "Don't you trust me?"

"I do it's just..." he whined.

"Then put it on, and you'll be fine." She soothed him.

______________________________________________________________________________________

A short flight later...

Incidentally the forecast had been spot on and they were hit by a massive rainstorm mid flight knocking the blindfold loose. Sig hadn't cared though, as the pristine white mare held him tight and flew strongly into the harsh winds. It was hard to see but they arrived at a small cabin at last and they quickly landed and ran inside. As the door closed the darkness swallowed them up, and the next words he heard made him laugh.

"Oh dammit, the lights aren't working!" Storm uttered with a groan.

He reached out for her and found her quite easily pulling her close, "It's fine, lets just find some candles and matches. I'm sure a cabin like this has that at the least."

They split up and searched the place finding a matchbox, three candles, and surprisingly a prepared fireplace. After lighting the three candles and got the fireplace going steadily they changed out of their wet clothes. Sig being the faster to undress, watched in warmth as he studied his love's body in the dim fire light. They were both in their undergarments and she looked up before getting her change of clothes, rosy red blush heating her cheeks.

"Why don't we just get a blanket and cuddle close like this?" She suggested shyly.

He went over and grabbed a heavy blanket off of the bed and met her in front of the fireplace gently sliding his hands along her sides. He stared into her dazzling peridot colored eyes and she stared back as they settled down onto the ground. They cuddled close quietly sharing one another's body heat staring at one another and nothing else. She looked away for a moment from the intensity.

"Hey Storm." Signature said gently as she turned back. "You are so beautiful tonight."

With that he leaned in and kissed her lips like he had many times before, but this time was very different. It almost felt like they were both on fire, the level of passion they both experienced that night was like none they had ever felt before that point. The forest green stallion felt her fall backwards slowly on purpose as they began their journey into the rest of their lives.

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He felt a warmth in his heart that came from that fond memory, but a coldness he feared was coming for his happiness.

"Please let me leave it at this!" he cried out in vain.

Next was marriage, and then the life they would both make. They were both happy memories, but hindsight was what made this unbearably painful.

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

Almost one month later...

Silent Storm and Signature Sandwich decided upon a plain and casual marriage within the Canterlot Castle gardens. It was very casual as Sig wore a black dress shirt and black dress pants, while Storm wore a simple floral print dress. Her parents on the other hand seemed less than pleased about everything to do with the ceremony to come.

"Your father seems rather irritated at all this, does he not approve of me?" Sig asked his fiance sheepishly.

"Oh don't be bothered by him, he just had this whole grand vision of how his daughter should be married." Storm began with disdain. "And when things don't happen the way he wants he tends to be judgmental. Mom is only following suit right now for his ego hun, so don't let it concern you!"

"Alright, but you weren't kidding about having a large family were you?" the forest green stallion commented looking around. "Yer dad is prolly also irritated that I have no relatives showing up..."

"He is actually more irate because you are breaking with tradition by seeing the bride before the ceremony." the pegasus joked lightly. "Plus he doesn't know what I know about--"

"Ah the father of the bride to be today, I am glad to give my Signature to your daughter today!" came the voice of a tall regal figure a short distance away from them.

"Princess? Oh this just figures...I'll be back Storm." He raced over and intervened in the conversation before it got too detailed. "Excuse me, Mother, but could I speak to you for a moment?"

"Oh of course Siggy, whatever you need!" was her curt and playful response as they left Storm's parents.

"What are you doing telling them you're my mother?"

"Oh just a bit of fun, and it isn't quite false either. I did create you after all Signature, and ended you, and recreated you again five times I believe now. So..."

"That's not the point!"

"Oh but isn't it?" she questioned innocently. "He is already in a foul enough mood for his daughter refusing his offer of a full blown wedding, what makes you think he can take any more of his vision for his daughter going wrong before he interrupts your vows?"

He just gritted his teeth in a scowl as he admitted her point, but she was going around mischievously putting ideas into other pony's heads. Why did she always enjoy causing chaos at random times, probably remnants of her relations with a certain draconequis. As they parted he realized Storm had disappeared from the crowd, and at first he was worried till his best man Ace showed up.

"She's going in to get her makeup re-done, and get a few touch ups for her dress man don't freak out." the stallion announced casually. "Let my mother at least have that from her man!"

Sig laughed heartily, "And I bet your sister is none too pleased with it either!"

"Nah, she gives when it comes to mom, but in that case you won't see her until the ceremony." Ace's expression got more sly as he continued. "By the way, are we still up for breaking the traditional vows ceremony? Lectric is already here with Redd and Brim helping him set up."

"Yeah we are still golden for it man, your father will probably flip a gasket over it though!"

The two stallions began laughing energetically, but despite this moment Sig was more nervous than anypony in the world right now. Aside from maybe Storm. He was afraid that he would fail her more than anything in this world, and fail their soon to be child they knew she was now carrying. It was too early for them to know, but she said she knew and that had been enough for the forest green stallion.

______________________________________________________________________________________

A short ceremony later...

They were holding one another's hands as they stared into each other's eyes before princess Celestia the priest of the occasion. She looked beautiful with amber undertones on her eyes drawing him into her peridot gaze, and she had changed into a shorter but more traditional wedding dress. It wasn't too much like traditional wedding dresses though, and Sig could see a new trend in this smaller less floofy dress. It still captured Storm's natural beauty all the same.

"Now for the exchange of the bride and groom's vows." Celestia announced.

Every pony had wondered why Ace, Redd, and Brim had left early. Now was the time for Sig to spring his trap.

"Storm you're so gonna hate me for this." he said with an impish smile.

"Why would I hate you?" she answered with eyes filled with love.

"Notice your brother, Redbook, and Brimstone Beats are gone?" the stallion's smile only grew.

She looked over his shoulder and her eyes squinted as she looked back at him, "What do you have up your sleeve?"

"I would like to give my expression though music, the same way we met years ago now!" Sig announced loudly. "I hope you will forgive my breaking with tradition Storm!"

"It's who you are Signature Sandwich, I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"Take it Ace!"

From the side of the procession a curtain was pulled away from two tall trees as Ace and Brim kicked in with saxophone and drums. Vocal harmony followed in with Lectric Scream and Ace after that and then the actual words came next. Which Sig took to singing main vocals for.

Wooaaah, Do I love you with all my heart?
I do, I do now, yes I do!
Dooo, I want you to stay by my side?
I do, I do now, yes I do!
Dooo, I want you to be all mine?
I do, I do now, yes I do!
And I love you my baby, yes I do!
And I want you my baby,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do now!

Ace belted out on saxophone and then Brim got to try out his new drum modifier before Sig pulled out a small harmonica and belted out a quick bit before going back into the song. Taking Storm's hand he and her began to dance twirling about the altar happily till the final vocal piece slowed it down and he had her in his arms leaning over as he kissed her deeply.

As he came out of the kiss he simply said, "I'll follow and care as long as I walk this earth with you Silent Storm."

"And I will give you all the strength you need to walk this earth with me, Signature Sandwich."

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

Little did Sig know she had meant walking the earth without her as well. His tears were falling at this point as this memory broke away from his mind. He remembered her smile all through out the night following. Her dad was furious and began a full rant aimed at him until finally, his own daughter came up and slapped him for his crimes against her happiness.

She had told him it was her happiness and not anyone else's. She didn't care that Sig broke with traditions because he was true to himself. At least that was what she had always told him, and not a month after marriage they knew what she had always known--she was pregnant with their first child.

"I would have been...almost 28 by the time that little one was born. He had some good first years...although fate can be cruel."

He remembered with fondness that Brazen had clung to his mother a majority of the time, he learned how to read and write very quickly, speaking was easy, walking was nothing. When Storm had suggested the name Brazen Wind, Sig took one look at his son and had agreed. At the age of five he had taken an interest in the piano and his father of course wasted no time in asking if Redd could teach him what he knew.

Sig cringed then as darkness swept over his visions. His son didn't have his mother for the older years of development, and this thought spread into a massive storm cloud that threatened to overtake the stallion's soul.

"No, no, no! I want to stay in the happy memories...don't make me re-live this hell!" Sig cried out again in vain.

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

The Death...

It was after a concert in Raven's Hollow a little town between gryphon lands and Equestria when the fateful call came in from emergency response units. The concert hall they were playing got the call on their land line and summoned him quickly and quietly.

"Hello Signature Sandwich speaking, may I ask who is c--Brazen?"

"Son quiet down I must speak with your father." the person on the other end of the line tried to calm the young colt to no avail. "Well mister Sandwich, I wish we could be talking under better conditions but your wife has had an accident of sorts."

"Wh-what, S-Storm?" Sig felt his mind cracking as Ace came up behind him laughing. "Shut up Ace, something is wrong!"

"As I was saying she has been transported to the hospital after her body began seizing up while she was mid flight earlier this evening. As of yet we have no way of telling what brought about this attack and the hospital should have more information upon your return to Canterlot."

"I'll be there immediately!" with that he hung up.

He knew Brazen would stay with his mother in the hospital and that the staff wouldn't contest an overnight stay from the child. He and Storm knew about there being something wrong with her body in the last few months, but no doctor could give them any definite answers on what was wrong. As he rushed to collect his most needed things Ace grabbed his shoulder.

"Get off man!" Sig yelled at his brother in law knocking his hand away.

"Dude, what's going on that's got you so riled?" the white pegasus asked with concern.

"Storm's in the hospital, she suffered another seizure. This time she was mid flight." he felt tears welling up in his worry.

Ace's eyes went wide with shock, "What? Not Storm!"

"We have to can this tour now, we have to get home to Canterlot!"

They had gathered their things and took the next speed train back to the Equestrian capital city. Ace could have flown but he had known in his heart he couldn't leave Sig alone with his thoughts. Silently the forest green stallion had always thanked him for being there with him that night. The train ride was quiet the entire way home and it took a day and a half without stops to get home. Sig hadn't slept one minute, and the second the train stopped he grabbed his things and bolted straight for the hospital.

None of the hospital staff were able to hinder him once he found out what room Storm was in. Even though they insisted upon him letting her rest.

"To hell with that I'm going to see my wife!" he roared as he broke though many different medical staff members barring his path.

He took the stairs but they locked the level she was on, and he laughed aloud at their foolishness. As if that would stop him! He busted the door right open with one strong, well placed kick.

"You will not be barring me from my wife!" he growled as he passed the receptionist desk.

They finally submitted to his will as he calmly entered her room, his earlier strength melting away as the reality of her being in poor health dawned on him now. They had her on a machine helping her to breathe as well as many different needles going into her, but the cardiograph was beating steadily on. She was alive at the very least.

He fell to his knees at her bedside, tears breaking from his eyes as a heavy stone settled in his gut. This unknown sickness was slowly claiming his beautiful and elegant Silent Storm. He was going to lose everything he had ever wanted in a moment. He instantly tensed up when he felt her hand softly lay upon the top of his head. He looked up but she wasn't conscious, it was as if she just knew at this point when he needed her.

"Why did this have to happen to you of all mares Storm, and me of all stallions to be here to bear my weakness alone?" Signature mused aloud to himself, almost.

The forest green stallion had found out later Ace just leaned upon the doorway to his sister's room watching his friend and brother break down and cry. He only knew Ace was there that day because he could hear him crying as well, at his sister's sad state.

Just as they felt at their lowest, the doctor walked in.

"Well now that was quite the rampage Sig, you two must be a lot closer than most married couples." a light brown unicorn started in. "And you must be the brother, Tempest Wing. If I may borrow Sig for a moment?"

"Go ahead, if you can get him to move from under his wife's hand."

"Wait, what now?" the doctor looked over to Storm in astonishment. "Well I'll be, she has been comatose since she got here. That has gotta be the fist good thing I've seen since her arrival!"

"What do you want doc?" Sig said through sobs turning to look at the doctor.

"To speak with you about her condition."

"I don't think I could take any worse news today doc."

"You have to hear what I have to say Signature Sandwich."

He took her hand and set it at her side gently as he leaned over to kiss her forehead, "I'll be back in a moment my love."

He headed back to the doctors office for the private conversation he dreaded deep in his gut. Somewhere in his mind he knew that this conversation was going to make him feel worse but he had to know what was going on. Even if it killed him inside.

"Sig there is no easy way to put this, so please take a seat and humor me." the doctor said as he sat down in his own chair, the forest green stallion in no mood to humor the doctor stood. "Rebellious as ever, fine have it your way young man. Silent Storm is suffering from a condition that is causing her body to attack itself in an odd way. Her neurological pathways are getting blocked or are sending out signals not from her own mind and as a result her own internal workings are attacking her brain and other vital organs. We don't know quite how to classify this disease as its chemical makeup is like nothing we have ever seen before."

"What are you saying doc?" Sig asked terrified of the answer.

"I'm saying that she is..."

______________________________________________________________________________________

The memory cut and switched at that point to Signature Sandwich mowing down Celestia's guards in utter rage as he made his way to her throne room uninvited. He cared not one bit for those he hurt to see the princess, his heart was beyond consolation. Arriving at the grand double doors he kicked them open with no remorse.

"What is the meaning of this?" Celestia roared setting down multiple documents she was scanning through as she stood up from her throne. "Signature you are supposed to still be on the--"

"Shut up Tia, why would you care when you're about to take everything that ever truly mattered to me away!" Sig fumed not caring about the rulers falsehood. "I only require your guitar as payment, who knew that included what made my soul burn with a fire as well!"

"I certainly do not know what you mean Sig, I only took your guitar that day." she looked taken aback.

"Oh yeah, then tell me why...tell me why..." he could feel the tears breaking away as the anguish hit his voice. "Tell me why she is DYING! Why are you taking Silent Storm away from me after everything I've done for you and Equestria!"

The princess' weight seemed to fall out from below her as she fell to one knee, "Dying, that's impossible! She was to have a life exactly as long as yours!"

Sig now knew it wasn't her fault, her voice had been far too shocked to hear the news. If she didn't do this then there was no hope that there was a cure for the disease that slowly was killing his one and only love. He felt his world shatter as he fell to his knees, his tears overtaking him again. He would spiral out of control before Storm even woke up again, his spirit was broken.

______________________________________________________________________________________

One week later...

Sig had sat at his wife's bedside for days now and he couldn't be parted from her either. It was this fate that had let him be there when her eyes fluttered open again.

"Signature?" she said with a weak dry voice. "Is that you?

"It is my lovely Storm, welcome back!" He replied with the utmost haste.

"Alas, it will be only a short welcome back I fear." she answered dismally.

"N-No don't say that, you will be fine I'm sure of it!" Sig stuttered in denial.

"Can you listen to me for a minute please Sig?" she said with an exasperated tone of voice. "We both know this time I'm still here is limited, and I have only one joy to ask of you before my passing."

"I-I-I..." the stallion said being unable to utter anything else.

"If I am to pass on I want it to be seeing you give it all to your music for me...I want you to, sing me back home as it were." she didn't even let him hold onto a glimmer that she might survive. "Only you can help me to rest in peace my lovely little storm maker!"

"Storm I...I...Can't let you go..." Sig said with a whimper in his voice.

"You don't get a choice." a tear broke from her eyes. "And neither do I. All we get is the time my body will allow me to make my peace."

He could see it in her eyes, this fate was tearing her to pieces inside just as much as it was tearing at him. He had to do something but how could he with little to no heart behind his music.

"Looks like you are going to need this Signature Sandwich, my son." came the voice of princess Celestia from the doorway.

She held out his blue tye-dye guitar the Rainmaker. It was understood that a storm was a fitting thing to summon for this moment of their lives. Celestia wouldn't have allowed this for just any occasion.

"I have already sent Redd and Brim to set up the stage at the Bowl." the princess noted. "And Ace is on his way now, though he aches just as much as you, his brother, do."

"But how can I play without my entire soul backing my guitar, my passion is gone!" He cried out.

"Do you love her?" was all the pristine white alicorn asked simply.

"Of course I do!" the earth stallion answered with great conviction.

"Then focus on that, the love you had and will always have." was the princess' caring reply.

"She is right hun." Storm said turning his attention back to her. "Every time you play that guitar, I want you to play it...the same way you love me. With undying conviction. Never forget who you are my musical man."

"Do not worry I will get Storm to the bowl so she can have a front row seat, and I will make sure everything from there on is taken care of." Celestia promised tenderly a tear in her own eye.

A tear broke through his eyes again as he stood up, took the guitar, and left the hospital for the bowl. This would be the last time he would ever play the guitar for the world. He knew the pain would be too much for him to bear when Silent Storm took her last breath in this world. If he could scarcely bear this pain, how could their eight year old understand that his mother was never coming home again?

______________________________________________________________________________________

When Sig arrived the guys had already begun their sound checks and everything was already set up. The second Ace saw him he jumped off the stage and ran up to the green guitarist, pausing in front of him for a moment.

"So is what Tia says true man?"

"Afraid so Ace, it's her last show with us."

At that moment Ace did something he never did, he lunged forward and hugged his best friend. They were brothers so not a word need be said between them. They both understood they were losing an important mare in their lives. His sister, my true love. Both of their eyes had some trace of redness around them, but they had to keep strong for one more show before it was over.

"Wait, isn't this...your old guitar?" Ace asked as he broke from the hug.

"Yeah, Celestia gave me permission to start a storm with it today." he answered abysmally.

"I wondered why there was a chill about the air when it's so sunny!" the vocalist tried to brighten the mood.

"You know, she has never seen me start a storm with my guitar..." Sig mused almost to himself.

"Let it carry her home brotha." Ace closed.

"I'll sing her back home, in peace." Signature ended.

His sound check took everything to get right exactly, and his fellow band mates offered their own red eyed condolences. Picking which song was what was haunting the forest green stallion though and no matter what Ace suggested he refused.

"Come on man, what are you gonna play as tribute to my sister's last moments on earth?" the white pegasus fumed.

"Ace this isn't exactly easy when you're trying to push me so..." the guitarist broke off, it just dropped into his head. "...I've got it Ace! Open with Wheels of Steel."

"Dude really, why that one?" the white pegasus questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know, it feels like a song that screams me to the world right?" Sig returned.

"Well that's true man, fine." he conceded.

"Then...my vow song." the guitarist proclaimed.

His friend looked at him stunned, "I Do? Interesting choice. Do you think she will make it to that ending though?"

"She will, I have no doubt of that." he said with utter conviction.

The sound of commotion out on the streets drew the bands attention, and they had no instant answer to what was happening. Finally, through the stone arch entrance to the open air amphitheater, came princess Celestia guiding a weak but bright spirited Silent Storm. As they reached the front a few onlookers had peaked their heads into the theater.

"Redd hit the mic real fast." Ace asked quickly, and their friend complied.

Ace walked out to the center of the stage and opened the floor to those who could hear his voice, "Citizens of Canterlot, today Kirin Hoof has gathered together to honor the life of my sister and Signature's wife, Silent Storm with a final farewell. And she would have it no other way than to greet you into the Canterlot bowl for a brief show, but please respect the band's wishes that you avoid the entire front row for Silent Storm and the princess. Thank you."

With that a crowd began to file into the bowl, even some carrying candles arrived later on. The people had known Silent Storm's part in the band, and they came to show their respect as well. They respected the space requirement that Ace had hollered as well, and Sig was quite impressed with this. As everyone settled in the sun began to set that evening sending a perfect light across their stage.

Sig struck his guitar with all he had and held his arm high in the air as he vibrated the note with his finger, holding the sound as long as he could before driving into the rhythmic song. It was a long repetitive song but it allowed Sig to completely focus his mind on the guitar and his passions. Every so often he was able to pull off a windmill style strum through every string on his guitar but he was waiting for the inevitable solo.

His guitar began feeling quite warm to the touch and clouds began forming in the skies above the amphitheater, out of what seemed like thin air and they began darkening rapidly. Then he heard Ace's cue line and it was time as he slid forward on the stage pointing the neck of the guitar towards the sky a light shot forth from his guitar into the clouds. He ripped into his solo and the rain instantly began coming down in waves as he let himself be taken over by the memory of him and Storm's first night in the cabin. All he felt was the passion that drove every inch of his musical being as he broke from the solo back into the rhythm.

The vocals came back in but it was Sig who went up to the mic, using one of his higher tones.

I'm burning aviation fuel, my foot's to the floor,
You know she's cruisin' one forty, she can do even moooorrreee,
I'm burnin' sonic rubber, I don't take no bull...shit!
Cause my wheels of steel are rollin, if your coming come quick!
She's got...wheeeeeels, wheels of steel.

Ace took over at this point and it continued for a few moments more before Sig slammed what normally was the last note. Until, Ace's vocals came back and it went a minute more before finally hitting the last note strong and clean as the rain poured down. The crowd didn't run for shelter, they stayed right where they were for the band and the mare that had been the key morale of the whole thing going so far.

"Amazing, he really can bring rain down from the skies!" he heard Storm proclaim as the last note died away.

He walked to the front of the stage and hopped off to stand in front of his wife. He knew he couldn't do this without a little help either. He looked to Celestia and she simply nodded magic coursing through her for a second.

"Hey there Storm, you're looking lively as ever tonight." he said his voice echoing as though it was being channeled into the speaker system. "Though your breath seems shorter and every moment becomes more precious as your time fails you...I just want to remind you of what I promised you almost nine years ago now."

Brim kicked in on drums and Ace in on sax, as Sig prepared to tell Storm "I do" one last time. He sang it with all his heart standing closer to her and kneeling in front of her he could hear her say something before his harmonica bit.

"Oh I love you, with all my heart Sig." she smiled looking as if tears were going to explode from her eyes.

He smiled as he broke into the harmonica with all his soul, as it cried to the heavens. The rain still falling all around them as if crying for the poor stallion. As the vocals came and faded once more, he took her hands in his. Then looking in her shimmering peridot eyes spoke the words he needed to let out.

"I do always love you, till the very edge of the world, unto the very day of my life, and in my final breath Stormy." He declared.

Her tears broke away as she smiled at him, her breaths slower and fainter by the second. He could feel it coming now and would hold her hands until the end.

"I-I-I will always watch over y-you...I will al-always stand by you even...even in death...m-my little storm making Signature. I...L-Love...you..." her breath left her as she uttered her last words.

Signature Sandwich felt his jaw quiver, his hands shake, his tears break free, and his heart break in two. She was gone and he knew it now for sure. A song began echoing in his head and he had not the faintest idea why but its pure melancholy sound was perfect for the emptiness he now felt.

He rose up and turning away from his wife's now lifeless body drew the neck of his guitar into his hands. Holding his guitar above his head he brought it down to the ground in fury and anguish, destroying it easily Celestia and the crowd were too stunned to speak. Tia held an expression of a silent scream, and that was enough.

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

The Dream... (Bonus Piece)

Sig could feel himself now in a dark room upon his knee's crying his heart out, why did she feel the sick desire to make him re-live these terrible memories. Wasn't it enough that his son's death was still fresh in his mind, no she had to remind him of his wife as well!

"Do not spite me for showing you these things Signature Sandwich." Came the voice and presence of princess Celestia. "It was a necessary evil to open your eyes to another delusion you try to convince yourself of every day at that sandwich shop of yours."

"What do you know, I delude myself of this so I don't break down into a shambling mess of a stallion...for her!" he turned and roared at the princess he could see before him.

"THERE ARE STILL OTHERS WHO REQUIRE YOUR CARE IN THIS WORLD!" Celestia instantly made her presence threatening as she roared at Sig.

"Who gives five damns to the truth of that statement!" he threw back unafraid of the white alicorn. "As far as I'm concerned no one needs me in this world anymore!"

"You thick-headed minotaur! Fine, I will force your eyes open!" she fumed as an immense amount of energy flowed into her horn.

The world around him dissipated and then he heard it, they were the cries of a young filly in utter anguish.

"...Dad! ...Mom! ...Wake up! ...Please wake up, this isn't funny! ...Please Mom! ...Please Dad!"

He felt he was an observer in someone else's memories. It was raining, thunder and lightning all around with heavy winds about. It was very hard to see anything as the storm raged, but among it all he could make out one thing. A grayish blue body and rainbow colored hair.

"What the heck?"

"Its the Giornos tornado catastrophe we had a good fifteen years ago, she would have been about five or six then." Princess Celestia said walking up beside him.

"And who might that be, it can't be who I think it is." Sig questioned in disbelief.

"Find out for yourself Signature Sandwich." the princess answered him sternly.

He began to make his way over to the little thing and she was beyond distraught. Crying out as if the world had cursed the little thing she was becoming. The closer he got the more he realized who the filly was, it was indeed Rainbow Dash. Her parents lay before her beaten and bleeding from the tornado, yet no longer drawing breath. Their gazes stared out into the distance. They were dead.

"I'm sorry Mommy, I'm sorry Daddy! I should have never flown off into the skies! I should have just stayed home and listened to you!" the young mare wailed out in pain.

"She left her home to go on a flight even though her parents warned her about the coming storm and the dangers it posed." Princess Celestia began. "Despite their warnings she took to the skies, and when her parents found her missing they bolted into the sky to save their one and only little filly. Dash had been caught up in the storm, and they both shot into the depths of the wind turbine to try to save her. Untamed tornadoes can be a dangerous thing, but they both worked together to cover the body of their only child."

"And they payed the ultimate price for her." Signature concluded.

"Exactly, and she has been alone ever since."

"Wait what?" he turned to the princess in rage. "Like as in no parents to raise her alone?"

"Her aunt took guardianship but was quickly found to be lacking in her ability to actually care for the young child. So I entrusted her fate to another, Appledusk, the mother of Applejack. I asked her to watch over the young child when she could, and to do what she could to help her grieve for her parents. Yet, that only lasted so long before she was grieving again, at losing another mother, but this time she turned it inward on herself. It is why she doesn't remember being a part of the Apple family temporarily."

"But that doesn't explain some of the stories she told me about Junior Flight Academy."

"She and Gilda made a connection in that inside Rainbow felt alone and abandoned by the world, and Gilda had been alone and horribly abused as a child. They came together out of a need for attention, affection, and love."

"I just can't believe it..."

Signature Sandwich couldn't believe the scene before him, and those deep pained magenta eyes would forever be seared into his mind he knew. He also knew that he never wanted to see those eyes glaze over in sadness or fear ever again.

"So what will you do with yourself now Sig?" the princess challenged.

"I'll watch and wait a little longer, but I'm still going back to performing!" the stallion declared boldly. "She has to want me in her life like that before I go and intrude on it Tia!"

"I am glad to hear your choice." the alicorn smiled brightly.

Just like that they were back in the channeling vault and Sig stood up and put his guitar back on the stand. At that moment it hit him, this guitar should have been destroyed!

"How is this still together Tia?" the guitar player questioned not turning around.

"Temporal magic, I sent its physical state back to before you broke it." she giggled mischievously. "That's why you had to tune it again, as temporal magic isn't a perfect fix after all."

"You devious little fox!" he said turning around with an impish smile plastered to his face.

They both laughed for a good time before Celestia spoke, "Your heartstrings are tuned in again Sig, may your next ten years be fruitful!"

"I'll be getting into all kinds of trouble I guarantee it!"

Despite walking through the pain of his memories he had come out again now knowing he and Dash shared a great pain together. He knew the young mare suffered through feeling like the universe had abandoned her too. Like all the universe wanted to do with them was take everything they held dear away, but together they could both easily rise above and survive!

Chapter 24: A Deal With The Devil

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 25: Temptation{EXPLICIT}

Author's Note

This chapter contains heavy sexual overtones, hence the EXPLICIT warning in the title. There is more story in here so if you aren't offended by the moderately sexual atmosphere read on. Otherwise you will have to work around it. We knew with Spitfire's past that this kind of conflict would arise though.......right?

So last warning, EXPLICIT content follows. Read on at your own discretion.

Chapter 25: Temptation{EXPLICIT}

That Evening...

Fleetfoot lead the way to a lavish and expansive building that was pumping out some high decibel bass beats. There was a bouncer outside the front doors, and Spitfire was very surprised to see such a long wait line filled with stallions and mares alike. The arctic blue mare hadn't been joking when she said her services to the people were in high demand. They walked straight past the line and right up to the bouncer.

"Hey there big boy, hook my two friends here up with all access wristbands." She commanded with practiced finess.

"You got it boss." was the burly bouncer's response.

He attached little paper wristbands to her and Rainbow's wrists, it was a good thing they had been vouched for as Dash may have been a little under the age restrictions for a brothel club like this. Even Spitfire was a little on edge for this agreement. Fleetfoot pressed her way on in through the double doors and grandly introduced them to her towering achievement.

"Welcome to Angelic Bliss, erotica club run by yours truly!" She declared proudly.

The group entered together and the sound system blew them away. It was dimly lit with bright strobe lights flashing all about, fog machines pumping out their steam, and very scantily clad mares and stallions dancing and drinking. It evoked an aching in Spitfire, an ache that she did not want right now. Every so often she would see a couple go off into a back corridor, and she could only assume what was going on there.

"Woah, this is insane..." Rainbow said in a distant voice.

"So Fleet let me guess, back rooms are for more private fun?"

"My mares and stallions are some of the finest physical quality, they earn every bit of their money and enjoyment just by sharing the floor with others as if they weren't employed by me." Fleetfoot declared with pride.

"So what you're their pimp?"

"Oh I wouldn't put it that way now, I'm just an entrepreneur of the flesh." the arctic blue mare shrugged indifference. "They love their jobs, and I am a very generous employer."

"Mistress Fleetfoot!" a mare with quite the tempting curves ran up. "Your presence is required in the main harem. Oh, you have guests tonight?"

"Yeah but it's okay, I'm giving them the grand inside tour." she responded over the pounding bass in the background. "In fact Saiya get these patrons out here a round on the house!"

The masses inside heard that one and shouted their cheer at the arctic blue mare's generosity. Something disgusted Spitfire, and also attracted her to this atmosphere. Dash seemed overwhelmed as well, and something in fact seemed very off in the entire club. Her mind said it had something to do with the smell in the club. Fleetfoot grabbed Spitfire's arm.

"Hey come on Spits, I want to show you my lovely harem!" the arctic blue pegasus said almost pulling Spitfire away from Dash.

"Dash come on!" the golden mare shouted grabbing her marefriend quickly.

Fleetfoot took them through a door and down a hallway that lead away from the main floor near the main bar. Spitfire, in the short time that they had been there, hadn't seen many patrons walk into this doorway. She guessed it was employees only, and as they walked along the corridor she began to understood why. The hallway was lined with one way windows, that allowed only the privileged employees to see the more private affairs of those within the private rooms. The golden pegasus couldn't help but stop and look every so often at the naked bodies in the rooms embracing in heated ecstasy. She felt herself lick her lips in anticipation as she stood at one window in particular.

"Spits, careful..." Dash said wrapping and arm around the golden mare's waist.

Looking at the magenta eyes of her lover she thanked whatever grace was protecting her with the cyan pegasus. Spitfire realized she was exceedingly vulnerable at this point and something in her mind screamed something was wrong in the air but she didn't for the life of her know what. Then she noticed that Dash's face was flushed deep red, almost feverish looking. She could feel that same heat in her own face, and her mind continued it's ride to panic as the gears spun faster. There was no way she could make it through a whole day here, and knowing their hostess they hadn't even gotten to the most sexually tempting part yet.

"Don't lose me tonight Dashie...I'm begging you."

"I'll be there, to catch you when you fall...you know I'll save you Spits." Dash repeated her promise.

They intertwined their hands as they continued to follow Fleetfoot. The feeling of one another allowing them to resist staring into anymore of the one way windows. Finally they arrived at a plain wooden door with a sign on it that read simply:

Angel's Playground

Fleetfoot walked in easily with a commanding aura. The sound of moans and cries of pleasure could be heard among the music exclusive to the back room. Dash hesitated but they both knew the conditions of the agreement, they had to stay with Fleet all night. They proceeded into the room to see many naked mares and stallions all partaking in one another's bodies. Kissing, suckling, biting, licking, and touching every part of one another that they could. It looked like there were at least six ponies before them, but it wasn't at a stage of actual sex. In fact, it looked more like a massive amount of simple foreplay to Spitfire.

"Oh clean yourselves up, I've only been gone an hour and you are all way outta line!" the arctic blue mare said as she took her tight tank top off. "You know you can't have fun without me, come 'ere Shallow Breeze you sexy mare you!"

A peach colored pegasus came forward and immediately slammed her lips into Fleetfoot's. Within seconds the mare began sliding her hands all along the others body, and even began undressing her more. As Breeze went for the arctic mare's underwear though, Fleet grabbed her tail and pulled really hard. Dropping the peach mare to her knees.

"Ah, Ah, Ah!" the dominant pegasus scolded. "Mistress didn't give you permission to do that, boys why don't you punish her just right for me? Fill her up!"

Dash and Spitfire found an employee bar that they quickly went and sat at entirely avoiding what was happening behind them at this point. If they were facing away didn't see what was happening it could help them control their bodies, at least that was what they had hoped. Spitfire felt her wings flutter at the sounds of the stallions entering Shallow Breeze, and every gasp and moan she let out was just as tempting as everything else. The golden mare knew Fleetfoot was just standing there watching with a sick delight even if she didn't see it.

She then looked quickly to Dash and surprisingly saw the same strain to resist temptation in her own face, the same wing fluttering, and the same heat. It came to Spitfire at last as the gears in her mind stopped dead, the fog machines were pumping out more than just dry ice. It had also been pumping out a powerful sexual stimulant into the air, Fleetfoot was really going a great distance if she would stoop that low. Or was that what all her clubs did all the time? Regardless of that thought though, she concluded she and Dash were in one of the worst possible situations for resisting temptations.

"Spits, I think something is wrong with my body." Dash reached the same conclusion as the golden mare.

"So, how are my guests doing tonight hmm?" Fleetfoot said coming up behind them and wrapping her arms around them. "You don't seem to be enjoying yourselves enough."

"You rigged this whole thing you dirty five bit whore!" Spitfire fumed through gritted teeth.

"Oh, did I really?" the arctic blue mare played dumb. "Maybe I did, but I certainly don't need five bits to find or enjoy sex. In fact, either of you tonight would be a lovely treat for me."

She turned and said seductively to the cyan mare, "What do you think Dashie, should you and Spitty join in on our fun?"

The golden mare saw something she never expected out of Dash, she twitched her head to the side violently. Something seemed very dangerous about her shift of composure.

"Why don't chy'all go skrew yerself wit a rusty iron rod!" Dash fumed through gritted teeth and with an odd southern drawl more akin to Applejack's voice than her own.

"Woah there missy, no need to get violent with me!" Fleetfoot backed off instantly. "I was only teasin' after all!"

"Ah think Ah've seen jus' where that teasin' leads..." Dash returned as she turned to face the temptress. "Now why don't cha git yer succubus talons the hell away from my marefriend!"

Spitfire was impressed her rainbow maned companion had such crass, but she had to admit it also looked like she would murder Fleetfoot if she tried anything more direct again. Knowing the arctic flier though, she would keep trying until she could get Spitfire in a weak moment. This moment was shifted by some of her playmates coming over and redirecting her attention to themselves.

"I'll be back ladies, got an itch I need to scratch." She said as she was pulled off by a deep kiss from a tall stallion.

After Fleetfoot had walked far enough off Dash spoke, "We need to leave now Spitfire, I won't be able to muster that kind of strength again. She is after both of us so long as it fulfills her goal of you!"

The fiery maned mare had to admit that this was true, and Fleetfoot would only get more dangerous with her methods the more she failed. They had barely been there two hours and they were already not faring well with the arctic blue mare's under handed methods. She came to the hard conclusion that she was gonna have to muster her own deception in order to counter this and get them out of here.

"Oh Fleet, spare me a moment?" Spitfire hollered over the orgy behind her, and the arctic mare was at her side in a matter of moments.

"What's that Spitty?"

"Can me and Dash head back out and hit that dance floor of yours?" the golden mare put on her old charms, seducing and playing the dominatrix pegasus. "I feel like it will help us loosen up a bit while you have your own delicious fun."

Fleetfoot's wings genuinely fluttered at this remark and she answered, "Oh yes you may, long as you come back here with that silver tongue to give me a proper lashing!"

Spitfire leaned in close to her and answered, "Oh don't you know it!"

Before the snowy maned mare could do anything though, Spitfire pulled away rapidly and grabbed Dash ushering her back towards the hallway. She was looking for a backdoor of some type to get out and get some fresh air into both of them, but Rainbow pulled her arm away suddenly.

"Spits, what was that all about?" she looked at her as if she wasn't herself. "That sounded a lot like how you used to act back there."

"Look I did it to get us out of there." the golden mare answered honestly. "You were right and I totally agreed...it was way to dangerous to stay. So I had to put on that guise again to get us out. None of what I said was serious Dash, please let's just get out of this place!"

The rainbow maned mare looked at her a long moment and it made Spitfire feel like she could cry to be doubted so easily. It was quiet for a long moment between the two, and the Wonderbolt Captain felt a crushing pain in her chest.

"Sorry Spits, I'm being stupid." Dash finally said pinching her brow and bowing her head. "I don't know what it is but I feel like my head is in a fog."

Spitfire felt the burden on her heart ease up instantly, "Well then let's go get some fresh air to clear both of our heads."

As they both worked on finding an exit the only thing railing through Spitfire's head were the images of the countless bodies writhing in sexual bliss. As the stallions slid their long thick lengths into other mares, and she wanted to be that mare deep down. Mare's licking, suckling, and tasting one another, she wanted to be one of them too deep down. The thoughts wouldn't stop and she was worried she might be mid relapse. They still couldn't find a discrete exit after twenty minutes and Spitfire fell to the floor and curled up into a ball her mind wouldn't stop running the images.

"Make it stop, make it stop, make it STOP!!!" She screamed out shutting her eyes forcefully.

Suddenly, she felt soft feathers envelop her body ever so gently and she opened her eyes to see cyan blue wings sliding over her sides. Dash had laid behind her and was wrapping her up in her embrace. At first she panicked thinking Rainbow had given in to the sexual stimulants in the air, but that thought was quickly struck down by how gentle she was being. Spitfire looked back to see an undisguised warmth in Dash's eyes.

"Just let my embrace be all that you see and feel right now Spits." the cyan mare said calmly. "When you feel ready to continue again, we will leave on our own terms."

They just laid there for maybe ten minutes sharing one another's presence. The golden mare tapped on Dash's wing to let her know she was ready, and they both got up and decided they would head out the front door. Spitfire had a feeling even three hours would have been enough time for Wave Chill to pick his side. They entered the main dance floor and bar area and headed directly for the door.

"I don't think so!" came a familiar voice

Just as they were about to head out the door a strong hand grabbed Spitfire and pulled her backward into a powerful kiss. She remembered just how amazing a kisser Fleetfoot was, but that moment was a short lived bliss. The arctic mare crossed the wrong line.

"I warned you Fleetfoot!" Dash roared as she threw an amazingly powerful punch at the arctic mare's jaw knocking her away. "Keep your damn hands off of my Spitfire!"

"Oh I am quite done planting the seeds Dash." Fleet said staggering backwards rubbing her jaw. "I won't need to lift a hoof from here on out. Go on and get out of my club, tell Wave Chill to get back here immediately. As you've broken your end of the agreement."

Spitfire still stood in awkward confusion still feeling a tingling sensation on her lips, something she knew she shouldn't enjoy but did. She felt thoughts of the days she and Fleetfoot ran around wildly begin to surface again. What knocked her from this state of mind was Dash grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her lightly to see if she was okay. Dash was the only shield she still had at this point.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine thanks to you Dashie." She answered with a happy little smile.

They exited the building quite rapidly after that, and as they flew back to her bother's house she knew that what Fleetfoot said was true. The seeds had been planted in her mind, and was quite possibly that they would grow. Spitfire was both scared and exhilarated by this thought, but she had a marefriend now so that sort of thing was reserved to Dash alone.

But the danger always makes something like that much more intense. The release she could get from that would just be--not happening. Her mind continued to go in circles around this desire. As they landed in front of Rapidfire's house Dash turned to the golden mare seriously.

"Are you sure you are okay hun, you've been awful quiet since we left Fleetfoot behind."

"Yeah just trying to keep my head straight, that kiss really messed me uh--mmm,mmph!"

Dash had taken a hint and taken Spitfire passionately in her arms kissing her deeply. Within moments they were beyond normal kiss and had escalated into a full blown make out session. They began to explore one another briefly in the heat of the moment and then broke apart panting. Sometimes the cyan mare made it really hard for Spitfire to resist dragging her inside and throwing her onto their currently shared bed for a night of heated passionate fun. She had to retire that thought every time though, she had to stay in control of herself.

What's the fun in that? she thought to herself, though she scolded herself for it as well.

"That satiate your lustful hunger for now Spits?" Dash said in a teasing voice.

"Oh you don't even know the half of what I want to do to you right now." Spitfire answered pushing her forehead to the cyan mare's.

"Then why don't we get inside and finish this right?" Dash suggested behind an intense blush. "Your brother and Soarin said they were going to follow Misty and Wave tonight, and it doesn't look like anypony is home right now so..."

Spitfire was absolutely shocked at the bold proposal from her marefriend of barely a day. Tonight had been too much of a close call for her mental control. She wanted to say yes to Dash, but if she did she could lose all sexual control after that. The fiery mare would sooner die than do that to one she cared about so deeply.

"I understand the sentiment Dash, but don't you think it is a bit soon?" Spitfire said with a gentle teasing voice. "I mean we haven't even gone on one date as official marefriends yet! So maybe you can arrange that first?"

"Y-Yeah that's a good point, but honestly it feels so hard to pick a good date to take you on." Rainbow answered looking away.

"Oh I'm sure that your boss could give you an idea, he seems pretty wise after all." the golden mare said walking past Dash towards the house. "Come on let's go get some rest."

As the two mares entered the main living room they saw the most adorable sight they could have hoped for. Spitfire had been right about Wave Chill all along. Misty was laying upon the steel blue stallions chest as he held her close on the couch, in the darkness the two had found a true light. There was remnants of delivery food on the floor, and she could tell that they had had a pleasent dinner and conversation. Dash and her crept slowly by the two sleeping ponies to their own room, it was time for their own cuddles.

As she shut the door quietly Dash spoke, "I just can't believe how cute those two look together!"

"I know right, we've been telling those two the same for years!" Spitfire answered turning to face her marefriend.

As she stared she began to wonder why there was such a difference between Dash and Fleet's kisses. Fleet elicited a powerful physical reaction and need from her body, and Dash evoked a powerful sense of warmth and affection from her heart. She began to question her own heart and her own mind. She may want to consider talking to Soarin or calling the doctor tomorrow. A knock came at the door jarring her from her thoughts.

"Ey, Spitfire you there?" came the voice of Wave Chill. "Can I talk with you real quick?"

She turned and opened the door to the stallion, "Yes you may Wave, what is going on?"

"She won't stop pursuing you Captain, she is obsessed." the stallion's bleak warning came. "Yet for all of your stubborn resolve tonight...we thank you."

"Oh and why do you thank me, I broke your nose the other day."

"It will heal." he shrugged her off. "All things heal slowly but surely. Heh, there is even hope for me. You opened the door for Misty to crawl back into my heart and open my eyes again...that is ultimately why."

"Chill you ramble on way too much sometimes, but I am glad you can still get to the point!" Spitfire joked with the stallion.

He laughed for a moment before going on, "Seriously though Captain, get out of here as soon as you can. Take to the winds the Fleetfoot can't follow."

"You saw her at her worst Wave, so why don't you fill us in a little more about how we can bring her low." Rainbow said walking over to the door casually.

"You cannot save her Spitfire." his voice became abysmal.

"Wh-What are you talking about, of course I--"

"No you can't, and if you try you will only be putting yourself and everyone around you in danger again."

She stopped dead, her spirit dropping tremendously. Dash came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist softly.

"Chill what are you talking about?" Rainbow challenged. "She isn't alone, she has all of us behind her...and that counts for something Fleetfoot can't touch!"

Spitfire felt her cheeks heat up at the conviction of her marefriend's belief in her. Dash would always be able to feed her heart's truest needs. And yet, there was still the craving for Fleetfoot's flesh in her. Wave was right, maybe they should get out of here for a while.

"Chill are we good?" Spitfire asked hesitantly.

"Yeah we are, me and Misty are heading out tonight." Wave laid down the plan. "Your brother and Soarin took to warning Valkyrie and Nydus even. We are all going to go off the radar as long as we can manage, and hopefully she'll get bored in that time. So you and Dash need to find somewhere you can blend in for a while."

The two shook hands like professionals before Wave Chill turned to leave. Now they had to figure something out so Fleetfoot couldn't follow them, but where could she go that wouldn't be expected? Dash had already began pulling together Spitfire's few possesions she had in the room.

"What are you doing Dashie?" the golden mare questioned.

"Let's pack this all up, you're coming back to Ponyville with me." Dash answered boldly.

"But Fleet knows where you live." the golden mare reasoned.

"Oh really?" Rainbow challenged. "She knows I have one home, but she doesn't know about my second home!"

"You have two residences on just the pay you get from Sig?" Spitfire continued confused.

The cyan mare laughed, "Yes and no Spits. The other home is free and welcome to me in times of need."

"How is that even possible, nothing in this world is free!" she replied with disbelief.

"Sig makes a lot of things possible that seem impossible, he really does remind me of my dad..." the younger mare trailed off with a quick melancholy.

"Dash are you okay?" the fiery mare asked with worry.

She sniffled back a little pain it seemed as she replied, "It's a conversation for another time Spits!"

Both were ready to go within a very short time and they shared a quick kiss before taking to the skies once again. Who knew, maybe Signature Sandwich could help the two mares out of their current predicament. Spitfire didn't know a lot about the stallion, but she did know there was a great kindness and knowledge in him. They flew at an easy pace and would more than likely arrive at Harmony Breads and Cafe by dusk tomorrow.

But really, how long can I run from the temptations of my past before they catch up with me again?

Chapter 26: The Lingering Darkness

Meanwhile...

Doctor Psych stood before a panel of his most senior peers, his superiors as it were, in a rather office like conference room. He had been called forth today to explain and elaborate on one of his most recent treatment methods concerning one of his patients. The reports he had filed to this point had piqued the psychological community's interests it seemed.

"Doctor Abel Psych, you stand here before us today to elaborate upon your recent findings between yourself and the patient..." The older stallion looked more closely at a piece of parchment in front of him. "...Pinkamina Diane Pie?"

"Correct, Doctor Cortex, at the behest of this council I am here." Psych answered clearly.

"Well then, let us begin this presentation." An older dusty brown mare stated plainly. "Based upon your notations in your reports, she exhibits a new type of symptomology that we have seen a few times before but had little understanding of. Usually, due to the fact that we lose the patient before we can treat them. What is it pray tell that allows you to break the mystery?"

The cream colored stallion could sense their displeasure with him, but he wasn't fearful of them as his findings were possibly about to break open some doors once thought to be inaccessible. His treatment sessions with Pinkie Pie and Big Macintosh had allowed him a great deal of breakthroughs. Yet, the good doctor still had his worries over what his findings could lead to inevitably.

"My patient exhibits symptoms akin to a total break with reality, but there seem to be bits and pieces in her personality that do not belong. As if they belong to another, darker entity." Psych concluded knowing the reaction to this would be bad. "Almost as if the earlier trauma she experienced due to a determined torturer, left an actual energy based imprint on Pinkie's mind."

"You are quite aware of what you're suggesting Abel?" commented a younger grey stallion. "It is thus far a very unproven area of our field, and you should be prepared for the repercussions."

"I am fully aware Doctor Foresight, and you have always known me to back my findings with actual happenings." the stallion returned politely. "I have seen many an odd thing since I earned my title and this one takes the cake. Using a method all unicorns can use to remove and sublimate memories from their mind, I use a similar method to treat Miss Pie. In the very moment that she breaks through into her clarity, I disperse my magic into her mind and draw a magical substance that is foreign to her mind like poison from a wound."

All of the other professionals seemed stunned into silence, hanging onto all of his words. They knew he wouldn't stretch the truth in the least bit when it came to a patient's story of treatment. He was being watched attentively as he blew the lid off what they knew about the mind forever.

"Upon my first extraction, I found the liquid to be black in color and definitively magical in nature." the cream colored stallion could still remember that day. "I then drew it into a crystal vial as I theorized it would be the best way to contain a maigcal substance. Every extraction since has been the same. More black mana, more crystal vials. So far a total of 63 vials to be exact. I have observed the vials daily and have begun to notice that they all seem to move about independently and on their own. The patient has shown extraordinary levels of improvement, as more and more of the black mana is removed. She even shows signs of mentally stabilizing."

"Okay, now even I am having a hard time gripping this hooey." the dusty brown mare interjected. "Going from complete mental break to mental stability in the amount of time listed on your reports...it is absolutely unheard of."

"Yes it is, when its a physiological cause you would be correct mam." Psych agreed peaceably. "But this impairment is not physical or chemical in nature...it is magical in nature. And through research I have found several mentions of it in Zebrican Xiaolan Voodoo texts. As we all know, it has been exhaustively studied over the years to contain many uses of black magic that have been twisted with hatred, malice, and scorn among many other things. It is the darker part of their heritage but it has shed some light on this situation."

The other doctors seemed to become quite uneasy at the implications before them.

"I'd suggest you tread lightly here Abel." Foresight said cautiously.

"There is no way to tread to terribly lightly here I'm afraid." Psych said dropping his head for only a moment. "It seems to be a hate soul manifestation according to the texts. A magical entity created through purely hateful feelings, this entity is usually left as an imprint upon a creature subjected to horrible actions by another creature. Usually, the one that causes the negative actions dies at some point after the negative attack on the other sealing the entity to this realm in the victim. The entity then preys on it's hosts weaknesses exploiting them again and again until it drives the host mind into submission of its will."

Doctor Cortex's eyes were wide and his expression fearful, "By the light of Celestia..."

"This cannot be possible..." the dusty brown mare uttered.

"Good gracious, what have you stumbled onto Abel." Foresight questioned to no on in particular.

"A new mystery has unfolded in this truth though." Doctor Psych continued on. "Nowhere in the texts does it describe what will happen if you extract this entity piece by piece from it's host. It seems even the darker part of Zebrican culture wasn't willing to go that far. Some researchers have theorized that if removed it would have to be magically sealed inside of a Corsican Containment Vessel, otherwise the entity would disperse and attain a new host suffering from some type of mental battle it could exploit. The catch is that each and every single piece of the entity has to be sealed in the container all at once."

"All at once you say, but there are currently 63 jars that you have contained it within separately." Cortex stated aloud, in some doubt.

"That is true, individually they can be sealed in crystal vials as they are not as concentrated." the cream colored doctor explained. "But that doesn't remove the chance that this could break free and effect others, this entity has to be sealed away before it can do more harm! With so many vials there is quite the risk of them falling and breaking easily. As it just so happens I am closing in on my last session with Miss Pinkamina, but as we all know the last part is always the hardest. I have tried five times to get this piece now, and I am certain it is the completing piece of the puzzle."

"How do you propose that we obtain such a rare container, from a foreign country no less, and seal all at once such a massive amount of magic?" Spoke up Jedias from the far side of the panel. "From your accounts we need 64 unicorns who know how to control this substance in unison into one container and to seal it away all at once so it can never break free again. Forgive me for seeing the problem here, but we do not have those kinds of resources easily at our disposal. Nor can we entirely confirm your findings to be strongly tied to your hypothesis. We need data to back it up still!"

"Jedias, I don't think you see that my reports have already tied the correlations together quite soundly." Psych countered.

"No Psych, I see one patient possibly plagued by a magical ailment that is causing a great deal of tension on their psyche." He returned with a cutting finesse. "For all you know, we can contain this black mana in the individual vials just fine, or we could even gather them all together and seal them all next to one another in a simple deep plastic tray. Without data your words are meaningless speculations and you know it."

Jedias had a lot of pull among all of the doctors, and in some senses raised questions that Psych had hoped that he wouldn't. Jedias had cast a great deal of doubt on what the cream colored doctor had just told them to do for finalization of treatment. He had always been the thorn in Doctor Psych's side that halted most progress in the field of treatment.

"Jedias, I can see your point here but I have to side with my former student on this." Foresight challenged. "Unlike me you have no understanding of Abel's personal code. He doesn't stretch truths just to get recognition, it is of the patient by the patient and for the patient to him. Although, I have to give you some grounds as well."

"Oh, for a moment I thought you were entirely against me." Jedias interrupted.

"No, I've always done my best to be fair." Psych's mentor turned to him now. "He does bring up a good point when he questions why can't we just seal all of them at once in their current containers?"

Oh this question of course...

"That's answered simply by the fact that the seal for the hate soul manifestation is too strong and will break the crystal vials releasing the spirit to find its next host." Psych explained.

"Have you ever performed this sealing before Psych?" Jedias challenged again. "How can you know it will break the vials? In fact, how do you know that if they break, this magic will move intelligently to find a new host?"

Sweet Celestia I hate this guy!

"No, I have not performed the sealing, but from textual descriptions it is quite plausible that the spell is rather potent." he returned not missing a beat. "Personally though Jedias, if I was you I wouldn't take the chance that I may be wrong and chance the countless others in Ponyville it could endanger. If I was you, I would do this right the first time so as to avoid other aversive consequences."

"It will be deliberated Psych." Cortex finally spoke up. "You will wait for your final treatment session with Miss Pie until we reach a ruling on how you should proceed from this point on. Dismissed."

Psych closed his eyes, something in his gut told him this was the worst possible outcome for this situation. He turned and walked out of the conference room feeling defeated. His phone buzzed at that moment and he took it out of his pocket to look at it. It was a text message from another patient who was out of the mental ward. It read:

Hey doc, I know it has been a long time but looks like my journey is bringing me close to Ponyville for a while. I was kinda wondering if there was a chance of you meeting up with me sometime for a little impersonal therapy? As we were both aware the last little bits of my treatment involved confronting some of my worst demons...well I'm at that point now! Can't say my first pass was exactly in my favor either! Anyways, hope you are well doc.

-Spitfire

"Huh so Spitfire is back eh?" the stallion doctor mused to himself. "Somewhere inside, I've got a bad feeling about this."

He answered her text with:

Hello Spitfire, good to see you are still on your path. Though from sounds of it you have some reservations in your mind as to your own success. I might be able to help you out actually as I have been given some free time from one of my other patients by the board. Seeing as you are messaging me personally I'll view this as high priority. If you can manage it we can meet this evening at a coffee or sandwich shop.

-Psych

He arrived at his office and headed into it to sit down near the very vials of dark magic that he had pulled from Pinkie so far. Something seemed to resonate from the dark swirling masses, a longing and a need to get out. Psych had to at least try to prevent it from succeeding for the countless citizens of Ponyville. Celestia knew that there were plenty of inhabitants that could be effected by this entity, and if it stayed separated in 64 parts that would be 64 new patients. Sixty four patients that could have been avoided. Spitfire's reply came in at last.

Well I should be back in town by dusk tomorrow, so I'll have to keep you updated on that one doc. If that is alright by you that is?

He laughed aloud. That golden mare had come a long way from the heavy addict she used to be. The mare that didn't care about anyone but herself had definitely changed. Psych smiled warmly and simply replied:

It's completely fine with me Spitfire. Hope to hear from you soon.

Looking at the vials of darkness one more time he thought aloud to himself as he often did, "I really do hope that the council doesn't end up botching this entire thing, as it so often does with other matters. For every single resident of Ponyville's sake...not to mention its promising visitors..."

Shortly after that he began to busy himself with the paperwork upon his desk, he had many patients to attend to despite being such a new doctor. A total of six inside the ward, and five that were out patients. It was often hard to keep all of their papers together, and it was always hard for him to not treat everyone that needed it. His limit was eleven patients though, and if he couldn't help everyone he would be sure that his eleven recovered entirely. Spitfire had once been on his in patient list at her own discretion, but she fought hard to regain the mare she used to be. She had been Psych's first real achievement as a doctor, and Pinkie had to be his ultimate test.

He laughed to himself; to be so young and to be given the ultimate career challenges so soon. Well, at least he was getting some of the more difficult stuff out of the way sooner rather than later. His only real trial as a doctor of psychology, was the sometimes asinine limitations they were forced to adhere to in treatment. Currently, that was his greatest worry as the council often made things worse before making it better. He had lost track of time and noticed it was time to head home. He would head home casually, wash up, and then get some rest. Hopefully seeing Spitfire tomorrow would make him feel a little bit better about the current situation. Hopefully.

Chapter 27: A Song That Resonates In The Dark

The flight from Rapidfire's house had been harder than either of them expected, but that was mostly because of Rainbow. Her body was still sore it seemed from the original flight this way, and the odd chemical that she had inhaled while at Fleetfoot's bizarre club had made her feel even worse after it finally wore off completely. It was odd though that with all the rest she had, not much of a recovery was made.

After a few stops, Spitfire had made the call that the two of them would crash at her apartment. Even though she didn't have much there, the cyan mare could safely assume that her marefriend wanted to pick up a few more of her things before heading to Ponyville. Not that she was going to complain at all, this flight was really burning her out fast. After a nights rest they gathered what Spitfire felt she wanted to bring with her, and headed out for Ponyville again.

Halfway there Dash was panting hard. She felt like no matter how deep a breath she took, that there would never be enough oxygen to feed her hungry muscles. Spitfire looked to her with worry in her eyes and she could feel it burning into her.

"Hey hun, you doing okay over there?" Came the worried voice of the golden mare at last. "If you want we can--"

"Don't say stop!" the rainbow maned pegasus roared. "I can go a little farther still!"

Deep down though she didn't know how true her words really were. It was only a few moments after this that she began coughing and had to land. She came down on her hands and knees hacking furiously. After she managed to get control of her breathing again Spitfire grabbed hold of her and moved her about so that Dash's head laid within the golden mare's lap.

"Just rest for a minute hun, it won't kill you I promise." Spitfire said gently laying her hand on the cyan mares shoulder.

Rainbow let herself calm down and just breathe for a moment. It was a simple moment, a peaceful moment for the two of them. It was times like this that becoming reflective was hard to avoid for the normally bold flier. In her head were so many worries about her life and about her marefriend's life as well. She just needed to muse a little aloud, maybe that would help.

"Hey Spitty, do you ever wonder how things are gonna turn out for us in the end?"

"What's this now?" the golden mare began teasingly. "Getting deep on me all of a sudden isn't like you. You sure you're okay?"

"No seriously, what do you think the future holds for us hun?" the rainbow maned mare continued.

"I-I'm not sure myself." came her reply unsteadily. "I just try to live a day at a time Dashie. Looking forward can be dangerous when things are as unsure as they are right now. I mean I never expected things to come to this."

"Running off with me to be free of Fleetfoot?" Rainbow said in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Yeah, kinda." Spitfire answered with an unsure frown. "I'm a pretty weak mare hun, just remember not to bet everything on me. I don't want to let you down."

"Nah, don't say that!" Dash returned playfully. "You can't let me down when I'm holding you up after all!"

Spitfire just laughed and looked down at her warmly, leaning in for a brief kiss. Rainbow always enjoyed the wholehearted feel that came from her marefriend when they kissed. Yet, there was always something else there that she could feel. Something akin to pain. Looks like the golden mare was still having a hard time, and that meant that the cyan mare had to be her rock a while longer.

After roughly an hour of rest the two gathered their things together and continued their journey. Their immediate goal was Harmony Breads, and hopefully the shop remained unspoiled after Dash had been gone so long. Guess Signature wasn't going to have the level of sales he had probably wanted. Oh well.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

It was practically nightfall when they arrived overhead the shop. Dash was surprised to hear the sound of a full band and looked down at Harmony Breads. Lights were set up in the back of the store and there were four stallions from the looks of it down below. The entire place looked to be opened up, but why? It wasn't sight that told her why, it was sound as a guitar solo reached loudly up into the sky. It was a sound and style of it's very own. That style had a name and it was Signature Sandwich.

The two mares landed in front of the shop and quickly hurried to the back to see the forest green stallion hopping around in time with the rhythm of the song. He stopped hopping for just a moment to execute his final outro solo. Rainbow had never seen someone play the guitar with such freedom of heart before, and it surprised her as she watched the older stallion jam. As the last note faded they both began applauding their unsuspecting performers.

Sig turned around and upon making eye contact with Dash, his face lit up even more so than it was a moment ago. His other band mates seemed happy as well, they gave off quite the family vibe when the cyan mare thought about it actually. He removed his guitar and walked over to them rustling Dash's hair again.

"So what's the story Dash?" Sig started with a smile. "Thought I left you in charge of things here? Guess that mare has some powerful pull with you for you to abandon yer post like that!"

"Well I wouldn't doubt it since she is my marefriend!" Dash bragged.

"Oh really now, finally managed to convince her to tolerate you?" the guitarist jabbed lightly.

"Hey, what are you talking about man?" she returned easily. "She and I mutually agreed on this. Get yer facts straight Sig!"

"Oh my gosh, I-I can't believe it." Spitfire suddenly said. "It-It...It's Kirin Hoof! No way!"

"Oh, heard of us have you?" Sig began beaming at the golden pegasus.

"Wait what?" Dash looked to her boss for a moment. "What are you talking about Spitty?"

"I knew I recognized Sig from the first time I met him, and now I know why!" She sounded astonished. "Sig was the lead guitarist from Kirin Hoof, one of the most influential rock bands of the century."

"Thee most influential band...but I can forgive such a small mistake." Signature said with a knowing pompous grin.

"W-What, no way!" was all Dash could muster.

"Yes way kiddo, and in fact we are getting the band back together." the forest green stallion began with a new composure. "Hmm, now that I think about it Dash, you may have to manage the shop more often now. If you wouldn't mind that is?"

"Woah, woah, wait a minute now!" Dash had to interrupt him there. "I'm glad to hear you trust me to do that but Sig...after everything that has been happening lately."

She looked around the area for a moment before finishing her statement.

"You know what, can we just talk in private for a moment?"

Signature furrowed his brow in concern for a moment, "Yeah, sure Dash. If that's what you--"

The stallion cut off and looked tense for a moment. He walked back over to his band mates, got his guitar on and started into a new song. The song seemed to have been emitting a degree of magic that was almost protective feeling. Sig even graced the song with his own deep toned voice, which was a little scratchy in its full tone. From her memory of the band Sig wasn't often the lead vocals, but when he was it was surely a moment to remember.

What the heck, was he just ignoring me or was there something else to this?

Dash let him blast through the song and when he was done he took off his guitar again. He signaled them to come with him to the back house. After they headed inside they sat down, but before the conversation she had to know why he blew her off.

"Okay, seriously, why did you just suddenly blow me off to play another song?" Dash began irritably.

"It was nothing, I was just taking care of something right quick." He dodged her question. "Don't worry about it Dashie, maybe someday I'll tell you more about what just happened. But for now I sense there is something other than me blowing you off bugging you. Spill it."

So she did. She told Sig everything about what had happened. Why she left to be at her marefriend's side, why she had stayed there so long, and all the things about Fleetfoot that had made them flee here. It was a tough story to tell because a lot of it was still fresh on thier minds. Sig just sat there in silence listening to every bit of what she was saying.

"So you see Sig I was hoping we could help Spitfire out by letting her stay here like you promised me." Dash reminded him. "This is a time of need after all...please?"

He grunted as he continued to ponder things over in his head as he usually did when being confronted with this much information at once. His expression being unreadable just made the tension in the air that much thicker for Dash. Finally he let out a sigh, it was his cue that he had an idea settled upon.

"Oh stop looking so pleased would ya?" the forest green stallion began. "I know you can read my cues, but sometimes it's ridiculous how fast you catch 'em."

"So, what does it matter?" the rainbow maned mare returned. "I just want to know what your answer will be so excuse me for being happy to hear it."

"Fine then I'll give you my piece." Sig said crossing his arms grufly. "With all of what I've heard of this Fleetfoot, I agree with your team mate Wave Chill as to her obsession with you Spitfire. Yet, if she really is this dead set on you...I do not believe you will be able to keep her away too terribly long even if I did help you."

"So is that a no sir?" Spitfire's voice nearly cracking from her inner fear.

"Now don't go jumping the gun on me now, I just need to be sure I understand things right." he answered cocking an eyebrow at the golden pegasus. "There is danger in your past with this mare, and I can tell there is still a weakness for her in you. Even at this very moment. Could it be that you are biding your time until you can remove that weakness from yourself? Is that why you need a place she wouldn't think to look?"

Dash looked to her marefriend to see her reaction to his accusation of her faltering. She felt her heart skip a beat when no rebuttal came from Spitfire. The golden mare just continued on as if it was nothing, as if it was no big deal. Her worries about that night in Fleetfoot's club were starting to seem much worse, but she needed to push it aside this wasn't the time for a fight between them. She had to bear it so she could keep the one she loved strong.

"I guess that would be a way of thinking of it yes." Spitfire admitted solemnly.

"No bold rebuttal to tell me that I'm wrong and you love Dash entirely?" Sig tilted his head sounding shocked.

"Why should I waste our time with it?" she answered plainly. "I already know I'm not ready, being at that club showed me that. I love Dashie with all my heart, but I still have my animalistic drives which are quite the problem. I have to come to terms with a lot of things but I need the time to fully put them into practice."

"But Spits..." Dash whimpered.

The response had hurt her more than she would have liked, and she knew what the golden mare said made sense. Yet it still felt like that one statement tore a little piece off of her heart. She knew Signature was watching her closely, almost gauging how Spitfire's attitude affected her. Dash couldn't fathom why he would do something like that. She began to feel a rage build in her, and she had no understanding as to why.

"Why are you staring at me dammit!" she stood up and shouted at Sig. "This isn't about me, it's about Spitfire! Why does it matter how I feel to you, it's not like you're my father!"

"Rainbow I--"

"No forget it, I'm out of here!" she stormed past them and out the door.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Spitfire just sat there in shock at the sudden explosion from her marefriend. It was beyond out of character for her. Signature Sandwich let out a heavy sigh as he put his hand to his brow in strain. What could be going through that stallion's mind right at this moment, she wondered. Then he looked directly at her through his fingers, and an odd flame burned there.

"When I pointed out the lack of rebuttal, that was me trying to get you to amend what you said quietly." he said in a deep grouchy voice that reminded her of Nydus.

"I just--" Spitfire tried to speak.

"No Spitfire, you don't get to amend things at this point...just listen to me now." Sig said moving his hand away and looking at her directly. "She may not be my daughter but that doesn't matter much to me. You need to go find her and apologize to her! Make her understand why you made it sound like you are unsure about your feelings for her, make her see what you meant by how heartless you just sounded. Simply put Spitfire, don't you go hurting her like that when she is trying to bear a great deal of emotions to keep your faith strong."

"But I didn't mean to--" Again she tried but was cut off.

"No stop it, go find her, now." Sig crossed his arms closing himself off for further discussion.

For not being Rainbow's father, he sure acted the part of the loving father. She couldn't do anything else at this point so she got up and went after her marefriend. The only problem was that she had no idea where Dash would go, especially at this hour of night. She flew all over town, asking the few ponies that were still out if they had seen her. Most hadn't seen or even knew she was back in town.

Four hours had she searched with no success, and she instantly wished she had her own personal cell phone. She had texted her doctor with Rainbow's phone, and it would be that much easier to find her marefriend with her own phone. That is if she would even speak to her right now. Why had Dash even been so hurt by what she said? She should have known how shaken she was after the club scene with Fleetfoot. The cyan mare was the one that smashed Fleetfoot in the face after all, and had asked on occasion since then how she was doing with her inner demons.

Maybe this really is my fault then...

She realized she always tried to act strong and told Dash she was fine, and maybe her marefriend accepted it at her word. It was possible that the cyan mare hadn't had a complete bearing on just how shaken she was.

Finally the golden mare couldn't fly any longer, and she came to land in a small park. She needed to sit for a while before continuing her search, and yet with each step the surroundings looked more and more familiar. She finally came upon a bench that was already inhabited, and the person on the bench was none other than Rainbow Dash. Spitfire then realized something she slowly began to hate herself for, the cyan mare had her legs pulled close to her body as she cried.

Oh geez, what have I done?

She rushed over and Dash looked up to see what the noise was. She instantly turned away noticing it was Spitfire. So she took out how she was feeling on Sig instead of me, but why would she do that? Was it really because she was trying to keep pressure off of the golden mare's shoulders? All Spitfire could do was ponder on this unless she could get her marefriend to talk to her, but it seemed as if that was an impossible accomplishment now. She had to try though.

"Rainbow, please...can we talk about this?" Spitfire said panting.

"What's there to say?" she returned bitterly. "Even with everything so far, you still are confused about your feelings for me the second an old fire shows itself! I mean I know I shouldn't be so upset by what you said but I can't help it...it hurts Spits!"

"I love it when you act like you aren't gonna talk and then you end up spilling your heart out anyway." Spitfire confessed coming close to Rainbow on the bench.

"Don't change the subject!" the cyan mare turned and roared at her.

"I wasn't hun." the golden pegasus returned softly. "I realize it hurt you, and I'm not sure I fully understand why...but I am sorry that my words caused you pain Dashie. Hurting you kills me inside even if I can't understand why or how I hurt you."

"That's the best you've got?" a little of Dash's usual personality showed in her impish reply. "I mean that is a pretty lame apology."

"Sorry it can't be perfect, but at least know I've been trying to find you since you stormed off." Spitfire smiled the crisis seemed to have passed. "By the way, why did you go off on Sig like that when it was me you were mad at?"

"Oh that, well..." Rainbow seemed to take pause to think things over before talking. "I don't really know myself. But if I had to say based on what I believe in my heart, it's because he reminds me a lot of my late dad."

"Late dad?" Spitfire was treading on dangerous grounds and she could feel it.

"Yeah, Late...as in dead." the cyan pegasus dropped a bombshell from her past for Spitfire. "And it was all my fault...both mom and dad died that day because I wouldn't listen to them. Dad was strong willed, passionate, grumpy, intrinsic, sorta quiet too, but you could always tell that he cared more deeply than words could ever say."

"Dash I--"

"Been more or less an orphan since I was five...I mean they cycled me through different caregivers, but it was never enough I guess." Rainbow began to sob again. "And I guess I just find it confusing when I notice Sig and I are so like father and daughter. I don't know what or how to feel when he is being all fatherly and stuff. I just...I don't know...I--"

Spitfire put a strong hand on Dash's shoulder before speaking, "I guess he was right in telling me deep down that there is much you are bearing just for me, but on top of that you are bearing your own inner burdens still too. May I sit with you for a moment?"

"He said--yeah sure Spits." Dash accepted in the middle of two thoughts.

She took a seat on the bench facing her marefriend for a moment and began, "You are an adult, and quite the accomplished one at that. But that doesn't change the fact that you feel the need for at least one parent bond in your life. I think that you should consider asking Signature to become your guardian father, even if it is just a title that gives you both some degree of comfort."

"I-I can't just do something like that, its not normal for an older pony." Dash became flustered.

"It doesn't matter sweetie, you've never followed the norm anyways." Spitfire said with a warm smile. "I'm not saying to go do it right away, I'm just saying you should think on it for a while. It may help ease the pain in your heart from the loss of your parents."

"You know what Spits...I accept your apology now." Rainbow said suddenly.

"Wh-What, where did that come from?" Spitfire answered in surprise.

"Heh, silly...let's go back to my place for now." the cyan mare smiled again. "Better we work out your living arrangements tomorrow, and you still gotta meet up with that doctor of yours. So let's go get some rest."

Spitfire just nodded her acceptance and they both got up and flew off to Rainbow's apartment, together.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sig man what happened there?" Ace questioned. "Seriously things seem wrong in the air tonight, I mean you cut talking with Dash just to play a song, and I know you threw some magic in that too!"

Signature Sandwich walked out of his house after the two young mares had left, only to be greeted with more questions. As always it was his brother-in-law's fault. The whole band knew of his abilities, but the younger mares didn't know--nor did they need to. The forest green stallion had to admit that Ace was right, there was a particularly dark presence about the night air. It seemed like something was searching for a host, but it wasn't free to acquire said host yet. Like it was surveying the town.

"So what if I did man, it was a light of protection for all those who could hear it." Sig stated evenly. "You are right though...something is wrong, but I have no idea what just yet. I fear it is a darkness that will consume the heart of the one it seeps into. As for what happened with the girls storming off, that is their business."

"Wow man you really don't leave much for imagination anymore...you got old!" Ace jabbed at his friend.

"Oh shut up man, let's just get back to work on the music." the forest green stallion said picking up his guitar. "We gotta be ready for the comeback concert."

As the others got back to getting their gear ready for another jam, the stallion looked up to the night sky wistfully. A heavy worry in his heart.

I fear most for Spitfire's doubtful heart in this very moment...more so than Dash's aching heart...

Chapter 28: The Shifting Winds

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 29: Worry

Four days later...

Rainbow Dash awoke and headed into Harmony Breads for her usual all day shift with Sig, worry etching her mind violently as she had not heard anything from her marefriend the past four days. The last her boss had heard from her was when he told her about the rental place he had gotten her. It seemed no one had heard from or seen Spitfire anywhere for the past few days. Has she abandoned me too? Dash quickly pushed the thought from her mind, she had to have faith in her lover.

When the afternoon rush came to a slow lull, Princess Celestia came into the cafe in all her glory to deliver supplies to Signature Sandwich for the coming concert that would kick off the band's eight city tour. Flyers, stickers, even a small stack of the last tickets and backstage passes for those he felt deserved to get in for free. Yes the concert wasn't free, but it was exceedingly cheap too. Prices for the tickets were ten bits entry fee, which considering bands now days was an amazingly low price! It was because of that that the show had already sold out.

Through the past few days she had learned a lot about Sig's musical career, one fact being that the Princess was, in fact, the manager of Kirin Hoof. It was surprising to see how casually her majesty and the sandwich maker interacted. Despite all of this her head was so fogged over with worry something finally happened that snapped her back into reality. As she was cutting a sandwich with a knife, she sliced her own index finger on the side.

"Agh, now that's gonna sting fer a while!" Dash exclaimed withdrawing her hand in pain.

She headed for the sink to wash out the cut, it was a goodly sized nick in her finger. She was going to have a rough time stopping it from bleeding. She couldn't believe she had let her mind get so fogged over, and the forest green stallion would have surely noticed her mistake.

"Dash are you okay, you've been more distracted than normal for you." Sig asked coming up behind her.

"It's nothing boss man, I just looked away for a second more than I shoulda." She didn't look at him.

"Come on lets wrap that finger up now." the forest green stallion started off for the first aid kit.

Dash just followed him and sat on the step ladder near by, she knew what he was up to. She always could figure this out, but the pegasus just let him have his way. In more ways than one, the mare knew it would be for the better. He came over and dabbed her wound with antiseptic, and then began to wrap a small bandage pad with gauze around her finger.

"You aren't fooling anyone Dash, you are worried about why Spitfire disappeared and I get that." Sig said at last, just like the mare knew he would. "I know you want to leave it alone but it might be wise for you to go over to her place. I mean how can you ask her out to the concert if you don't see her?"

At that moment Sig pulled out two tickets for the show and handed them to Rainbow. The sold out show tickets were for them, but why would he do that? He just smiled and looked at her, she could tell he was doing what he could to help ease her worries. She felt a tear escape her eye, horsefeathers!

"You okay sport, you're getting all teary on me all of a sudden." the sandwich maker teased lightly.

"Why do you do this for me Signature?" Dash questioned feeling something begin to click in her heart.

"Hmm, what do you mean Rainbow?" he played dumb and she knew it.

"When I suffer, you are there to help me shoulder my way through the pain." the cyan mare began a stanza she wasn't sure would lead anywhere. "You protect me, care for me, teach me, build me up, support me, you guide me, and you genuinely give me all that you can. Why Sig, why do you watch over me so dutifully?"

"Heh, to be honest, I'm not sure myself why I do." He admitted closing his eyes with a smile warm as the sun. "Guess I just see a lot of myself in who you are today, pain of loss and all. There is no explanation in words though as to exactly why."

"Sometimes I really feel like you could be my father..." Rainbow stumbled into a thought. "...I mean you and my dad are so alike if I compare my most vivid memories. Sometimes I find you two are one in the same. Wish I'd run across you back when I was younger and still being passed around the orphanages like a stray puppy."

"Hah, you act like it's too late to have a legal guardian!" Sig laughed at her wistful rambling.

She was shocked, because he was right in a sense but it seemed to be an odd concept to her. After all she was almost 21, why did she need a father figure in her life? She felt her heart scream out a response, "Because we do need a father figure...we never knew family and this is our best chance to know and have a family. We may not be blood but blood doesn't decide family...unconditional love and understanding does!" She knew in her heart what she had to ask, what she had always wanted to ask since he saved her from wasting away after Jackie.

"S-Sig...can I ask you something then?" He just nodded listening carefully to her, and she shook deep down inside. "W-Would you become m-my...Ugh this is so difficult for me. Would you be my family...W-will you become my f-father?"

She felt her face burn with a red hot blush as she looked down into her lap bashfully. It felt so akward to ask someone to become your parent. To become the only family you may ever truly know. Dash was afraid that she would be turned away even though it seemed Sig only could be kind to her. And who was she to ask this of him so soon after he lost his own flesh and blood son? Oh she was an idiot to do this, why did she do this?

Her hands gripped at her knees hard in her own fear of what was to come, but she was shocked into looking up when she felt Signature Sandwich's hand touch her own gently. She saw an unfettered expression of warmth and pride in his eyes. Like he knew this day would come, like he was utterly ready for it. Almost as if he knew her story as well as she knew his, without even talking about it ever before.

"You worry yourself too much Rainbow Dash, of course I'll accept your wishes for me to become your father." His smile was bringing even more tears to her eyes, joyous ones. "In fact, we can have that taken care of right now. Celestia is still outside waiting on her sandwich I'm sure, and she can put the paperwork in motion for it immediately. How does that sound kiddo?"

She laughed and cried in joy, "Oh my gosh, I wouldn't want it any other way!"

"But after that you gotta promise me you will go find Spitfire, I get the distinct feeling she needs your presence around her." Sig said ominously.

What could he have meant by that? Was Spitfire's heart in danger again like the one night at Fleetfoot's club? Only one way to find out, but first she had a family to be made official!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

After handling the process of granting guardianship to Sig, and then the last small shift at work Dash had been eager to go find Spitfire and tell her the great news. She now had a father, and he had given her tickets to his sold out show. It would be the perfect date for the two of them! She was beyond elation at this point hopping, skipping, jumping, and gliding all about as she headed for the address Sig specified was home for the golden mare.

As she arrived at the house she stopped dead in her tracks, this house is far too familiar. Images of blood, anger, fear, and the breaking of a heart. No Signature wouldn't have done this on purpose, but how and why was this place still here?

"This is where Jackie died." she muttered to herself a weight beginning to form in her stomach.

Something was wrong here and she knew it, but if she was going to see Spitfire she had to rise above the worry in her heart. She walked up to the front door hesitantly and knocked a couple of times. There was an odd scent about the house, and Dash began feeling an odd arousal fluttering into her body. Am I really that eager to see her?

"Who is it?" came Spitfire's voice at last.

"It's Rainbow hun!" she replied happy to hear a familiar voice. "Are you okay in there, we haven't seen you in four days...I was starting to worry about you."

"O-Oh you were?" came a hesitent reply. "Well don't worry hun I'm just trying to get my head together, and I didn't need you distracting me with your luscious...forget I said that."

"Okay then, would you open the door up already?" Rainbow asked politely. "I have something I want to show you, and so much I wanna tell you!"

"I-I don't think that is a wise idea right now Dash..." her marefriend sounded distraught.

"Why not Spits?" the hurt was unmistakeable in the cyan mare's voice. "Are you abandoning me now after everything we have been through? A-After everything I've given you...I..."

"Dash no, it's not that!" Spitfire was panting with her reply. "I--just...I'm not feeling myself right now..."

"It's this house isn't it?" deep down the younger mare knew she was right. "It is poisoning your mind with the leftover pain, anger and heartbreak...this house where Jackie died!"

She heard the sound of a body fall hard to the floor and Dash clung to the door pounding on it a few times scared out of her mind for the safety of the golden mare. It was after a short pause the door cracked open and a part of Spitfire's face was visible now, her amber eye just barely glowing out of the opening.

"She died here?" came the feeble squeak of her marefriends voice.

"Yeah, in my arms." was Rainbow's short reply. "You gonna come out now, did that snap you back into who you are?"

She looked into the door into Spitfire's only visible amber eye, and saw a great longing in it. An unfathomable hunger burned there, and Dash could scarcely understand why. The door opened rapidly outward and she moved to avoid it hitting her, and like a flash Spitfire was in front of her wrapping her arms around the cyan mare as she almost fell off the stairs. She was pulled quickly into a deep and hungry kiss. It lasted several moments, and it seemed like Spitfire was letting her lust get a hold of her as she wouldn't break the kiss for more than a few moments to breathe.

She finally broke away and looked into Dash's eyes, "You can't keep trusting me when I'm like this hun, I might just lose myself in you. I can't hurt you like that, it would just kill me."

She just sat there limply in Spitfire's arms dazed and confused by the kiss she just felt. It was like nothing she had ever felt before and she could feel a tingling in her wings that spread across her body. Her marefriend released her and turned to walk away, and Dash felt compelled to not allow this. Something had definitely come over her now, she knew what she wanted.

"Dashie, please go home for now I--"

Spitfire wasn't able to utter another deterring word as the cyan mare grabbed the golden mare by the shoulder, spun her around and pulled her back into a kiss. Spitfire seemed to hesitate at first but then quickly melted into the moment. Dash didn't know why but she felt so drawn into Spitfire after that first kiss, it was like fireworks had exploded in her heart. As this kiss broke it was her turn to speak.

"I'm not going home till I give you this ticket and ask you if you will go out with me Spits?" Dash pulled out the ticket and handed it to her marefriend as they parted from their embrace.

She literally had to put it in Spitfire's hands as she hadn't opened her eyes yet. After a moment she looked down at the ticket and seemed to notice what it was for. A little of her usual self began to show as she spoke.

"See I told you that stallion would help us find a good date at last!"

"Yeah, and that's not all he has done today!" Dash answered with a proud smile, a slight blush lighting her face now.

"Oh yeah, what else did he do, promote you?" Spitfire teased, while in an instant Dash noticed she licked her lips.

"In a way, I promoted him." her smile was so bright at this point as she told the best news ever. "As of today, he is my father!"

"Oh my gosh, you asked him finally?" Spitfire returned seeming absolutely joyous as well. "And he accepted?"

"Yeah, he did!"

They sat on the porch and just began talking about the past four days. She began to notice Spitfire's body would tremble every so often and her wings were fluttering restlessly, her body spoke of a need for passion. Dash licked her own lips and looked away from her marefriend. Was this really the right time for this? Every bit of her heart said yes but her mind always had to remind her that signs showed from Spitfire's past self. Signs that were dangerous if handled incorrectly.

"Dash you alright?" the golden pegasus inquired innocently.

She turned and leaned over to Spitfire's shoulder and was easily accepted with an arm wrapped around her. She felt safe, and despite the warnings not to trust the golden mare, she couldn't help but do so with her words that came in but a whisper.

"Spitfire I want you."

"Wh-What was that Dash, I don't think I heard you right." her marefriend replied startled.

She looked up into her eyes and said it directly and gently, "I want you Spitfire, why do you seem so shocked and afraid?"

"I-I-I just..." the older mare sighed and looked away in a feeble manner. "I don't want to become the whore you hated again...I don't want to lose you in my lust."

Dash put her hand on the golden mare's cheek and turned her gaze back to hers, "You won't become that as long as I show you the purest passion I have in me. At least, that is what my heart tells me."

She leaned in and kissed Spitfire gently and with utter care. She could tell her marefriend was crying, and when she broke the kiss she had just one thing to tell her.

"Spitfire, I trust you with all my heart." She smiled warmly, as she truely loved the older mare with all of her being. "No matter what you say or do, I will always be there to catch you should you fall."

Tears streaming from her eyes she answered, "I love you Rainbow Dash, and I don't deserve you!"

"Yes you do, now lets head back to my apartment for the night okay?" the cyan mare returned standing up slowly.

"Y-Yeah, that sounds nice." she answered wiping away the tears on her face.

"And don't worry about a thing, I'll take it easy on you tonight!" Dash taunted playfully.

"Oh, what makes you think I'm that out of practice?" Spitfire grinned devilishly at her marefriend as they headed off into the evening sky.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Much later that evening...

Fleetfoot lay in a lavish bed alone now resting her body from today's games with other ponies. She had yet to figure out where Spitfire had run off to, not to mention the entire Wonderbolt team had gone entirely off the radar. It didn't matter she would eventually find her and make that mare hers again. She was honestly quite bored of all the patrons and employees recently, and had not been able to get a satisfying level of release. Even now in her pale purple nightgown she had her hand down under trying to get the release she so desperately wanted.

It was no good though as she couldn't even come close. She needed a specific touch at this point and there was no way to find somepony who could give her that touch right now. She had attended to the kinks of others that she didn't always try. Chains, whips, role playing of many types, submissive pet, dominatrix, insertions of foreign objects, light branding, multiple partners, and all of it failed to get much reaction out of her. She had taken to drinking that evening when she realized she just couldn't get it going, and eventually retired to her room early to try her own hand at it.

Why can't I just find Spitfire, why can't she just see I need her more than anypony in all this world? Fleetfoot despaired at her predicament. She would turn from side to side to try to get a better angle for herself but it changed very little for her stimulation. She had even gone through all the stimulating lubricants she had in her room. She was at the point where she knew she just couldn't keep this up. It was at that moment the phone rang at her bedside, she wiped her hand off on the bed sheets, and she crawled over to answer it.

"Didn't I tell you not to disturb me this evening?" Fleetfoot started irritably.

The voice that answered her with a "sorry" entirely changed her mind about being upset. Her body trembled and her wings fluttered so happily. She felt her own climax was within reach now, Oh the good things that come to those who wait!

"Oh no you don't have to apologize, that was my fault I thought you were one of my employees." the arctic blue mare began with a sugary sweet tone. "So to what do I owe the pleasure Spitfire?"

Author's Note

So you guys know the next piece, the bonus material, takes place before the Fleetfoot scene...if you read the bonus material that is. Just thought I'd let you know. Also, what are your thoughts after this bombshell of a chapter? :rainbowhuh:

Chapter 30: The Jacket of Her Childhood

Author's Note

After a long hiatus from writing, I proudly bring you Chapter 30!

Chapter 30: The Jacket of Her Childhood

About 1 Month later...

It was Dash's 21st birthday at long last, and she was excited beyond belief. It had taken her some time to notice that the tickets her new father gave her were for the show in Canterlot on the exact day of her birthday. He had said he had planned this all along, and she thought it was him talking big but she hadn't really cared. The forest green stallion was family now, and she couldn't be happier. He even had her take over the shop while he was gone on the road, it was hard for her but she always found a way to manage.

With her working hard Spitfire had plenty of time to herself to realign her thoughts, the night they had spent together a month ago had been fiery and passionate to no ends. She could still feel her marefriends touch even now on her body, it gave her chills. Despite her tender care that night, her lover seemed taken by the prospect of conquest and lust. Something she had feared, and something she felt that she managed to quell. At the end of that night they had cuddled together tightly and compassionately. It had been a sweet gesture.

She and Spitfire had been going out on occasion when she felt up for it, but something seemed to haunt her eyes and actions. Something that was not her. Dash had caught the golden mare looking away from her more and more often it seemed, and she began to worry if she relapsed in her treatment. The younger pegasus didn't think this was Spitfire's fault in her heart, but she knew that her heart was foolish in its logic of almost everything some days. Even now sitting beside her lover on the train to Canterlot for the concert, something bothered her to the core about Spitfire.

Was I wrong to go that distance with Spitfire so soon?

Deep down she cursed herself for Spitfire's current attitude, no matter how hard the golden mare tried to cover it up it was still visible. She checked out any mare or stallion that caught her fancy, but what was weird was seeing her facial expression after doing it. It was as if she was scolding herself for it, fighting against some unknown inner demon that had vexed her greatly.

"Am I really so unappealing?" Dash muttered aloud.

"What was that hun?" Spitfire mumbled drearily coming out of a haze at that moment.

"Nothing." She answered in a neutral tone.

"Hmm, no really what's up?" the fiery maned mare insisted.

Dash didn't respond at first, but quickly she felt her heart wrench in anger. Here it comes.

"What's up, I'm surprised you even came when you know damn well how hard it's gonna be to control that wandering eye you've been trying to cover up of late!" Dash growled almost in her words, she was sick of bearing this on her own.

Spitfire's eyes widened in shock and she turned away in shame.

"I can see every little damn bit of how you've been acting, and it is legitimately beginning to worry me." She sounded less angry at this point. "Maybe it's time to consider the thought of you relapsing and going in to see Doctor Psych?"

Her marefriend immediately became defensive, "No, I won't! I've controlled myself this long, I don't need him to take this away."

It wasn't the way she defended herself, it was the words she used that set Dash off again.

"You don't need him to take THIS away?" Dash questioned. "What the hell does that mean, that you'd rather lose yourself to your lust? That you would rather lose me because you can't help but want to get it on with everyone else?"

"N-No that's not what I meant at all Dash!" Spitfire answered seeming stricken and conflicted by what she had said. "I-I just...feel like my mind has been far harder to get grips with since that night at the club. It has been ridiculously difficult to get all of my own thoughts straight, and I'm sorry that it is taking its toll on you hun. The one I love most."

"Sure doesn't seem like it anymore..." Dash scoffed.

"How can you say that hun?" Spitfire sounded truly hurt. "You know what I'm going through, and have stood by my side the whole time helping me fight it. You do this best by enveloping me in your warm, gentle, blue wings when I need safety from my own mind and body. Are you saying you doubt my love for the one mare who has helped me keep myself together?"

"Well I..."

Dash couldn't believe that in her heart she felt conflicted by Spitfire's counter. She felt that it was a facade, but she could barely tell if it was so because of how well the part had been played. Maybe she was telling the truth, maybe not. She decided to keep going along cautiously, but her guard was up at this point.

"Sorry Spit--"

"Canterlot station!" Came the voice of the crier over the speaker system loudly as the whistle on the train screamed out loudly.

Dash couldn't help but laugh at this moment being cut off as a voice trickled into her head.

You worry yourself too much Rainbow Dash.

Signature Sandwich, Dad, Yeah you're right I do worry too much.

She recalled the ominous tone he used that day when referring to Spitfire, was he worried about what was plaguing the golden mare's mind as well? Maybe he sees something I can't. Dash realized that she may need to see her dad, but without a backstage pass that may be difficult with security being so tight. Then again, she realized this was her dad she was talking about. He would be out among the common people before the show and while getting ready for the show. He wasn't afraid of crazed groupies, psychopaths, or just crazy pastry salespeople. Those were his exact words too, which always made her smile.

Dad, the significance had dawned on her that not even a month into him becoming her legal guardian she one hundred percent accepted him as her father in name and in legality. There was so much for her to be happy about she just let go of the problems with her and Spitfire. And hey, if the Wonderbolts never get back together because their beloved Captain fails to be rehabilitated, then she would set out to rebuild the team herself. She was, after all, old enough to do so now!

As the train came to a halt she and Spitfire got up and got their luggage before getting off the train and onto the platform. It was bright outside, a lovely temperate day with clear skies all around. All around them ponies bustled about trying to get to their destinations, and despite this Dash managed to notice the smaller things such as the birds in the sky. The air around her gave her a sense of freedom, but the crowded ground choked her out inside. Oh well, it was just a short trip to the hotel that she had booked for the two of them this evening. Maybe they could reconnect while they were here for the concert, at least that was what she hoped.

The trip through Canterlot's bustling streets had proven too irritating to both pegasi, and they opted for the skies arriving much faster than they had originally anticipated. They were checked in rather smoothly and headed up to their room on the 15th floor, it was a pegasus thing. Immediately they set about unpacking their belongings they had brought with them, though Spitfire seemed to be rather secretive about her outfit for the concert. Not in a bad way Dash felt, more of a I don't want you to see till the concert kind of attitude. Which ended up being more adorable, and more... well like her.

"Hey Spits, wanna go on an adventure around Canterlot with me?" Dash asked eagerly.

Deep down she begged the universe for this moment with Spitfire.

"Well honestly Dash I'm kinda tired." Spitfire rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Was hoping to get in a quick cat nap and then go out adventuring... if that's not too much trouble?"

"No, not at all!" Dash was shaken inside. "Train rides really must do that kinda thing to ya."

"They really do, would've preferred flying for that reason alone."

Dash knew Spitfire shouldn't have been tired with how much sleep she should have gotten the night prior. Unless, she went out again after getting off the phone with her... that just couldn't be true. She knew that the golden pegasus hadn't stayed with her every night because they were trying to make it harder for Fleetfoot to pin her down, but she seemed so distant lately that it warranted some worry. She had to find her father at this point, she needed to know what he did. If only at the very least, he could put her worries to rest.

She approached Spitfire and gave her a quick kiss that quickly got far too deep, far too fast. As she pushed away for breath she saw a wicked grin on Spitfire's face for the briefest second and it stopped her heart cold of who it reminded her of. She put on her own smiling mask and said her goodbyes to her marefriend to find her father.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Spitfire lay upon the bed of the hotel room crying, a radio playing a sad and melancholy song. The past month was such a blur to her and she could scarcely put the pieces together. It was as if something else would just cast her consciousness aside anytime it wanted to have its fun, and she had begun to notice her own normal speech begin to mirror her old self. Something was dreadfully wrong and she needed to do something about it before it hurt someone, but her heart felt hollow like a log. As if, deep down she didn't really care what happened.

Her body began to feel hot suddenly, and an intense desire began to taint her mind as she was drowned in her own animalistic lust. Moans echoing in her mind, tingling feelings sent through all the nerves in her body, scents of two mares in heated ecstasy all began to tear at her mind. She began to twitch and writhe upon the bed in response to these feelings. She didn't want this. So this time whatever it was, she gave one more fight with it whatever it was.

"Just leave me alone, I just want my world to be mine!" The golden mare cried out in pain.

There was no answer and her body continued to ache for stimulation. Then suddenly it stopped and was replaced with a searing pain that left her retched and back arched into the air. She felt a soundless scream form on her lips, and then like that all feeling just stopped as she dropped back to the bed. Utterly numb.

Fine have it your way, but Fleetfoot will purify you for us again soon enough.

Her tears streaked her golden face, a grimace written painfully across her face as she curled herself into a ball and began to cry herself to sleep. A demon was feeding off her pain inside, and it would destroy her as it almost had once upon a time. Although, this one felt more hateful, more filled with spite than she felt once upon a time. What was it talking about when it said Fleetfoot and again? It couldn't have made her...

Her tears streamed more as she thought about what pieces were missing and the few things she gained from her fight with Dash earlier. No it just couldn't be! Maybe, with this time she had she could at least make today memorable for Dash, she hoped she could at least give her that. But right now, she just felt so damn tired... so hollow... so numb. Her tears running silent as she slept.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Later that evening, back at the hotel...

Dash had searched everywhere that she could think of to find her father with not a shred of luck, maybe they hadn't arrived early as he said they would. He always did suck at keeping to a schedule. Instead she sat here wound up as she could possibly get and this was terrible for a show. She just sighed and opened the door to the room.

"Ahh, get in and close the door!" Spitfire said running into the bathroom in her underwear.

"Whoops, sorry Spits!" Dash said coming in quickly closing the door behind her.

Clothes and makeup strewn about haphazardly was already an interesting change of mood in the golden mare. Though for all she knew she was getting pretty to attract a new plaything. I need to stop letting these abysmal thoughts in my head. She thought as she headed over to get her clothes out for tonight. She hadn't picked too many special things, just what she thought was comfortable. Deep down she hoped she would feel more comfortable with it when she finally put on the outfit.

"Hey hun turn around and tell me what you think, do I look like a vision of old school rock or what?"

She turned to look and her jaw almost dropped open. Spitfire stood there wearing a denim short sleeve vest with band patches on both the right and left arms as well as on the back. Black denim pants with rips in the knees and visible fading from age, and chains on either side attaching from front belt loop to back. she slicked her hair down on the sides while flaring it up to a slight fluff on the top having some of it hang off in her face. Her eye shadowing was faded smokey black and very well done while she wore ruby red lipstick. She had a simple chain around her neck, and did I forget to mention she wore under her vest a v-neck Kirin Rush band t-shirt that carefully showed her bust. Yet, it was cautiously showy and this caught her off guard.

"Wow, I don't think I'll look half as good as that when I'm done." Dash admitted breathlessly. "I just went with casual dress."

Spitfire chuckled humbly, "Oh well thank you, and don't worry hun! I've got a gift for you once you're done with your shower that will make you more than any hardcore fan that shows up tonight!"

Dash could feel her worry dissipate and her smile reignite, this was her Spitfire! The one she truly loved! She felt exhilarated at what the gift could be.

"Go on, get in that shower; I'm all ready now." Spitfire commanded with a playful grin.

She bathed with glee as the warm water, along with her worries, seemed to all just wash away and off her pelt. Her mane silky soft as she dried herself off and begin to put on her basic attire tight flex-weave denim blue jeans and a simple blue Kirin Rush band t-shirt. She braided the right side of her hair into a small strand that passed her shoulder then she flared her hair in her own usual way. Her mane really didn't require much styling as it was already quite the righteous statement. And she looked at herself in the mirror.

"I feel so... plain." Was all she said as she ran a hand slowly over the curves of her own body, dissatisfied.

A knock at the bathroom door and a voice then broke in, "Hey, you dressed in there yet? Come on Dashie you are gonna love this gift!"

She felt this gift was something her Spitfire had managed to do to hold onto whatever she was... as if it was her last defense against the old her. This meant a lot to her marefriend, and she wouldn't spoil it for her. She exited the bathroom and walked towards the bedroom to see Spitfire holding a simple black denim jacket, but this felt like so much more with its tarnished buttons and zippers. It looked very old but very well taken care of. Like it was a priceless memory of her lovers.

"Woah, okay what's the story Spits?" Dash questioned with a smile. "I know there has to be one since your smile hasn't faded in the least."

"Come here and try it on, then I'll tell you!" She was bursting with innocent happiness.

Rainbow could only smile and walk over, her braid tickling her cheek as she proceeded. She slipped in one arm and then another and it was just a bit big on her. Then Spitfire embraced her and nuzzled gently into her neck and began the story.

"I was about eight when this jacket came into my possession." Nostalgia etching her voice gently as she continued. "It was my first concert, and the single best concert band I've ever seen in my life. It was in the cold north of Ravenwood and my dad had managed to get tickets, back when he was still in good health, Kirin Rush's Farewell for Now tour. Now mind you, when they saw me at the gates they didn't want to let me in, but my dad went to great lengths to convince them they wouldn't have to worry about me."

Dash couldn't believe it, it felt like they were reconnecting over this simple gift of a jacket. Yet, it was so much more than that to Spitfire... to her it was a truly prized possession.

"The cry of his guitar was what I learned was truly exhilarating at that first solo that your dad broke out into, it was almost as inspiring as it is for you and me to fly." The fiery maned mare began to rock gently back and forth. "Oh, but the show went on for so long. We danced, we screamed in joy, we begged for more, and we literally were freezing our tails off. But not for one minute did we want the show to end, and Kirin Rush knew how that felt just as we did. Oh it was so beautiful, but me being so young my body could barely handle the harsh weather. That was when he saw me on my dad's shoulders shivering."

"Who did?" Rainbow asked curiously.

"Your dad, from up on the stage." she answered warmly. "This is his very jacket from that day, and he gave it to me when I was just a little freezing filly that didn't wanna go home. Just cuz I wanted to hear them play one more song. And when he came down from the stage to give it to me that's what he told me. He said, This last song is for you little one! He wrapped his jacket around me and started in on his guitar as he headed back to the stage. He really shook the foundations of that entire venue! I remember despite the cold, his fingers were really warm."

"If this jacket is so precious to you, why give it to me?" The cyan mare questioned.

"To remind you how precious you are to me deep down inside, no matter what shit boils to the surface." Spitfire vowed. "I don't think life would be worth half a damn without you by my side."

Dash felt herself begin to cry and she was now glad she hadn't put on any make up. This was her marefriend, the one she truly loved, and she was afraid she was about to lose her to something far darker. Just like she lost Jackie. Their embrace ended and they gathered the last of their stuff before heading out.

"You sure you got everything hun?" Spitfire checked one last time.

"Yes, come on lets go! I don't wanna miss this!" Dash shouted as she pushed her marefriend out the door one last time.

This concert could be the beginning or the ending of everything, and Dash had to go into it head first no matter the consequences!

Chapter 31: The Last Rock Show

The Canterlot Bowl had been packed to capacity tonight Dash and Spitfire easily noticed as they looked around from practically the front rows of seats. Dash had continued to wear her dad's jacket, and surprisingly enough her marefriend's attention was locked on her now as she clutched the cyan mare's hand tightly. They had been chatting among themselves as well as the other ponies sitting next to them. The sky above navy blue, dotted with bright stars, and utterly clear of clouds.

The weather team here is doing a great job of not gate crashing, proud of them!

Dash chuckled to herself at this thought but was soon silenced as the lights around the bowl went out and all that could be heard was the cry of a timber wolf echoing loud around the entire venue. The fans were immediately on their feet they knew what was coming even without the sound of a guitar. Suddenly the lights came up on the band, and the action came to life as Sig played in the song and then in came the bass guitar hard and heavy as all could be. In fact, it seemed like this song was mostly bass, and it sure was a deafening sound!

As they came together in harmony Sig let loose a little bit before Ace strutted up to the stage. Spitfire was already roaring out cheers as the white stallion kicked into the lyrics:

I got a silly little girl she on a my mind,
No doubt about it she looks so fine,
She's the best girl that I ever had,
Sometimes she gon' make me feel so bad!

The harmony began again and Dash could feel herself dancing along as Redd rocked back and forth while her father hopped around like a rabbit dishing out the sound of his favorite thing in the world on stage. Each of the band members really gave it one hundred and ten percent. Dash could really respect that kind of drive.

"This is amazing!" Spitfire yelled to Dash. "I haven't been this close to the stage since Ravenwood!"

"Agreed!" Was all Dash could manage as the song broke away at last.

"Heellllooo, Canterlot!" Ace sreeched over the microphone. "How we all doin' tonight?"

The crowd roared back so loud Dash could hardly believe a group of sound could be so loud. I mean she had already gone deaf after the first song, or at least things seemed muffled.

"Well heck, I'm glad to see everyone so psyched up for our return to the sound waves!" Ace rallied loudly.

"We love you Ace!" A fan screamed louder than anyone else.

"Don't tell my wife that, she WILL kill me!" The white stallion joked. "Hey Sig, you loosened up yet?"

Her dad stepped up to his mic, "Oh not just yet, lets remind em we're back in town. After all we started here, it's like our home town."

"Then get this show on the road!" Ace hollered.

Signature blasted hard power chords in timely succession, and by the time Ace ripped into the chorus Dash knew the song and was screaming her approval. Sig and Ace sang off the chorus in fact:

The boys are back in town,
The boys are back in town,
I said the boys are back in toooowwn,
The boys are back in town,
The boooys are back in town,

Every time the guitar parts came up the forest green stallion over played them. As if each and every moment was a solo leading up to an actual long streaming solo. His hands slid back and forth on his fretboard like magic hitting every practiced note with utter skill. As the notes faded Sig stepped up to the front of the stage.

"Now that I'm warmed up, I dedicate this next song to my son...who also wrote it before he passed away earlier this year." Sig readied his guitar. "Take it Brimm!"

As the drums kicked in rapidly, Sig instantly took to hopping about as he ripped across the strings on his guitar like they were made of the softest velvet and it took very little for him to elicit the perfect note. The forest green stallion was all over the place, the stage had become his playground as his smile only grew in radiance.

Wait, Brazen Winds wrote this song? She realized it with a slap, music must have been in Signature Sandwich's blood through and through. Maybe his son wanted to one day play on stage with his father, if only once.

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday,
Saturday, Saturday, Saturday,
Saturday Night's Alright!

The ending lyrics were simple but as Ace stopped singing Sig just kept going, off into his own solo he probably added for his own effect. His own tribute to his late child. As his last note sailed away, the crowd again broke into a unanimous roar.

"Thank you everypony, I'm glad you can still hear me loud and clear through my guitar." Sig thanked everyone in the audience before retiring from near the front of the stage.

The crowd was cheering still, in an unadulterated holler at this point. The band waited for it to die down a bit before continuing. A cold breeze blew through the audience at that point and Dash was glad for the jacket Spitfire had given her. It was then the scarlet bassist Redd came up to his mic.

"Hey Brimm you think it's time for something new?"

Brimm's only reply was the clacking of his drumsticks together starting the timing for the next song. He launched right into it, and Sig was one of the first to catch onto the song. Southern rock, Ace picked up his guitar for the rhythm sections. the stage lit up as Ace, Sig and Redd sang the lines among each other. All Ace had to say was, Talk that talk and Signature lit up into a wickedly beautiful solo. After that Ace started lyrics, then red took a line, and Sig finished it before they all came together again.

She's got designer jeans(Ace),
Sun dyed blue(Redd),
Break out in a sweat when she looks at you(Sig),
She loves lights, cameras, and action(Together),
To the boys on the set she's the star attraction(Together),
Just watch the way she walks(Ace),
She's got a double barrel figure(Redd),
Watch her body talk(Sig),
She's a twentieth century fox(Together),

A few lines later and Sig was back in his own world soloing. This was entirely missed by Dash though as Spitfire had wrapped her up in an embrace and pushed her lips hotly up against hers. Things got a little more sexual than she would've liked but fortunately no one could see it among the throngs of ponies everywhere. She let it go on as she enjoyed the attention, but the surprise came as Spitfire broke away clutching her stomach.

"What's wrong?" Dash asked in worry.

"I dunno, just got a massive cramp in my stomach." Spitfire responded in pain. "Dammit, and I was getting so into the moment. Now I'm just gonna ruin your birthday."

"Aw don't say that hun." Dash pleaded with her pitiful marefriend. "Can you make it one more song at least?"

"Yeah I think I can do that, but you gotta promise me something."

"Sure what is it?" Rainbow answered eagerly.

"That even if I head back to the room, you stay here and see the magic that is your father's guitar playing." Spitfire said with a gleam in her eyes. "If I can't see the show I want you to tell me all about the parts I'll miss okay?"

Rainbow hesitated but gave into this simple request, "Okay you can count on me, now come here!"

She grabbed her marefriend and pulled her in close to her and held her all through the next song. Halfway to Heaven, it was one of their classic songs where Sig shifted the sound of his guitar to where it sounded like it was screaming to the very heavens themselves. It made her realize that even though her and Spitfire were having a rough patch they really were just like the title of this song.

Spitfire was still complaining of increasing pain in her abdomen even after the song was over, so just as she promised she let the golden mare head home in defeat. It was two or three songs later that Sig was back up at the mic again, before speaking he looked down and locked eyes with Dash. Oh shit, he couldn't possibly mean to... But there he went right off the stage and into the audience to abduct her. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along until she was up on stage with him.

"Now everyone, I want to announce something to all of you right now." she couldn't believe he was doing this. "As many of you may know, this is Rainbow Dash. And as of about a month ago she is now my adopted daughter."

The crowds silence and quiet murmuring turned into cheers of approval.

"Thank you, thank you, but that's not why I dragged her up here." Sig began impishly.

Oh my Celestia, I knew he would do this! Dammit Dad!

"No you see, it's her twenty first birthday today!" he laughed, that evil stallion. "But please don't go singing her happy birthday... I think she will die of embarrassment from that. And I would really like her to not be dead a month after the adoption!"

The crowd laughed with him and on occassion just screamed happy birthday to Dash anyways.

"Anyways, I thought I would make that announcement before the intermission!" the forest green stallion said shaking his hand out. "My fingers are killing me, it sucks getting old! Anyways see you all in twenty minutes... Or so!"

With that he quickly whisked Dash off stage, his haste was disturbing her greatly. He stopped them inside a little room in the back and indicated she should sit down. He closed the door and rounded on her worry lighting his face and mirrored in hers.

"Where is Spitfire?" He began interrogating her. "I saw her leave like three songs ago, what's up?"

"She was getting bad cramps in her abdomen she said." Dash answered honestly. "She tried to ride it out one song but they just got worse so I let her head back to the room to rest. Promised her I'd tell her everything that happened when I got back."

"She would never pass up one of our concerts because of pain, she is one of our most dedicated fans!" Sig raised his voice. "I mean hell, your wearing the jacket I gave her when she was a freezing little filly, and she has treasured that thing since. The patches on her vest? They're all from our concerts over the years, and a few of the bands we openly endorsed! She wouldn't have missed this concert for any...thing."

As her father's voice trailed off into silence her heart screamed, "What is it dad, what do you know that I don't!"

"What was she addicted to once upon a time..." he answered bleakly. "So addicted to it that she forgot about the music that once made her heart soar..."

"What! What is it DAD!" She screamed her heart wrenching in pain at the possibility forcing her to her feet.

He approached her and gripped her arms forcefully, "Leave the concert now and go follow her back to your room, but do it at a casual pace. This is something I can't tell you. You have to find it out on your own, and I hate to think what is coming for the two of you."

"Please dad, just tell me what you think is going on!" She begged him.

"I don't know what it could end up being and I don't want to be wrong about this and get you in a foul mood." He looked sullen. "We all know you tend to jump the gun on your emotions. So go on, get outta here and find your girl!"

He pushed her out of the dressing room and she, in her panic, rushed out of the backstage area and shot up into the cold, dark night sky.

______________________________________________________________________________

Sig moved back to the stage in defeat. Spitfire had gone and taken steps backwards, and Dash would suffer for it surely... He knew what was to come so the only thing he could do was play a song, and hope it reached her heart. As he walked out on the stage the guys tried to say stuff to him that he couldn't even hear. He just walked by them right up to the front mic, and swung his guitar off his back.

"This is for my daughter and me." He said in a deep sad voice.

A lone guitar note broke out and instantly his fellow band mates were ready to play alongside their oldest friend and brother. So blue and melancholy were Sig's thoughts, his heart felt like it could explode form the pain. It was in this that he knew his song would be perfect. Even if he was gonna sing it.

Some people like to gamble,
But to you always lose,
Some people like to rock and rooollll,
Yer always singin' the blues,
You got a nasty disposition,
No one really knows the reason why,
You got a bad bad reputation,
Gonna hang on yer head and cry,

You got bad, bad luck,
Bad, bad luck,
You got bad, bad luck,
Bad, bad luck,

Thirteen's my lucky number,
To you it means stay inside,
Black cat's gon' cross my path,
No reason to run an' hide,
You're looking through the cracked mirror,
No one really knows the reason why,
Your enemies are getting nearer,
Gonna hang on yer head and cry,

You got bad, bad luck,
Bad, bad luck,
You got bad, bad luck,
Bad, bad luck,

The bass broke in for a short time before Sig took the solo away. As he played he felt the tears break away from his eyes, his heart burning like fire, his soul shattering for his daughter, his fingers screaming out in pain as he played the notes so fast and hard it was ridiculous, and all of it was bleeding through. Even the pain in Dash's heart, the dread and worry that was driving her mad right now.

Some people go to church on Sundays,
Others they pray at home,
You tell 'em that there ain't no god,
And their better off standing alone,
Yer always scratchin' at the eight ball,
No one really knows the reason why,
You get to the top and then you fall,
Gonna hang on yer head and cry,

You got bad, bad luck,
Bad, bad luck,
You got bad, bad luck,
Bad, bad luck,

You got bad, bad luck,
Bad, bad luck,
C'mon give it to meh,
Bad, bad luck,
Bad, bad luck,
C'mon get it!

As he finished the song with its last power chords he fell to his knees looking into the sky with tears in his eyes.

I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner Rainbow Dash, your father failed to protect you already...

______________________________________________________________________________

As Dash arrived at their room she put her ear gently to the door and heard two voices. TWO VOICES? What the hell was going on here, they sounded far too playful to be Spitfire and the on call doctor. In fact they sounded like they just got done doing something that shouldn't be done.

"Oh Fleet, that was just too amazing as always!" came Spitfire's sultry bedroom voice. "You always know how to hit just the right levels of kinkiness for me. I don't think I've gotten that kind of release since last time we met up a week ago!"

"And you always know just how to get me to scream Spitty." answered the breathless voice of Fleetfoot. "In fact, you're the only mare who can get me that kind of release, why don't we talk about getting back together?"

Dash felt her heart shatter and dissappear into the winds of time itself.

"We are together at this moment, so be happy with that dammit don't be so greedy!" Spitfire commanded as it sounded like she got up from a bed.

"Oh yes mistress, I'll do anything you command me to!" Fleetfoot said in mock obedience. "Aw getting dressed already?"

"Yeah, the concert will be over soon and I'd like to go see the ending at least." The golden mare answered completely heartless. "Dash will be missing me too about now I'm sure, and I have to keep everyone happy after all."

That's it, no more. I am done trying to save her from her bucking self.

Dash turned around dropped down on her hands like Jackie showed her once upon a time, and kicked the door with all of her hatred. She leaped up facing forward looking directly at Spitfire in pure anger. All she had on were her pants and as she saw Dash her jaw dropped and her demeanor did a complete one-eighty.

"Yeah you sure do have to keep everyone happy now you cheating bitch!" she said noting Fleetfoot on the bed, smiling. "And here I was thinking there was hope for you, betting everything on you, giving everything I could to you and then some!"

"Rainbow I--What's happening?" Spitfire seemed shocked and dazed, like she just came back to reality.

It was too late for her though as Dash took off the jacket she'd been given earlier and threw it at the golden pegasus mare she once felt the world for. Now replaced by a hollow numb pain as she hit the mare in the face with the garment.

"Take your damn jacket back and cover yourself up you shameful excuse for a decent mare!" Dash roared and what crossed her lips next sealed the deal. "We are officially through! Go ahead Fleetfoot, gloat you pitiful backstabbing whore!"

"Okay, I will correct you then." She replied with icy venom in her voice. "I'm not a whore as the only mare I want to be with and give myself to is the one you so piously stole from me. Now that I have her back I won't bother you anymore. You poor naive girl!"

The cyan mare stared down Fleetfoot for a second more before turning and leaving, without any of her luggage. The last thing she knew she heard was Spitfire dropping to her knees in shock. It's what she deserves when she chooses to live a double life. Dash leaped with all her might into the night sky flying as high as she could, the tears streaking across her face. Where would she go now, how could she love ever again, why should she care ever again? The pain in her chest was all too real, and the pain became more evident as her muscles began to act strange again. She was forced to land on a hill outside Canterlot, she turned and looked over her shoulder for but a moment before walking away.

I guess that's it then, everything is over and done with. Guess I don't deserve happiness. Jackie...Dad...I'm sorry...

Chapter 32: Her Moment Of Surrender

Spitfire lay motionless in the bed with Fleetfoot spooning her from behind. She had only let the mare stay out of shock and worry for what she might do to herself, but now she knew what she felt inside. She felt nothing, not a shred of emotion. As the first light of day began to seep into the room they were in, the room Dash and her were supposed to be in, she began to pry herself away from the arctic blue mare.

To which, Fleetfoot grunted and readjusted herself. Spitfire on the other hand, physically hurt so damn much she felt like she was going to die as she got up from the bed. She headed into the bathroom and started a shower, she closed herself in and locked the door, then undressed and slowly climbed inside the shower. The warm water eased her pain a little, but did little to combat the gaping hole where her heart once resided.

You should hurt her for causing you such pain! For taking your Dashie away! For leading you astray, KILL HER!

A voice had been replaying over and over in her head since the incident occurred, but it had no sway over her now. It was the real culprit that lead her astray not Fleetfoot, she was just following her own inhibitions that wasn't her fault really. Yet, this voice kept trying to push her over a hateful cliff that she would never come back from. Unfortunately for it, it had pushed her off a cliff of misery and woe.

As the water ran over her face she closed her eyes and faced up towards it, "I ended up checking myself into rehab for a reason whatever you are, and lucky for me those memories are so repressed you can't dig into them."

What was the dark secret you may ask, but she would never remember the truth of what it was. All she knew was she was on that very road once again, and it felt like a very good day for a walk. A good day indeed. She turned off the shower and stepped out to dry herself off. It was probably five in the morning or so, as that was when light began to creep back into the world before Celestia's sun could rise.

She walked back out into the room in the nude knowing all too well Fleetfoot would be asleep still. She hunted down underwear, a bra, pants, and a shirt. Nothing fancy, just basic covering garments would be enough. As she pulled the shirt over her head she saw the clock read: 6:13 a.m. Fleetfoot would be...

"Hey there hun, are you doing okay after last night?" the arctic blue mare asked from behind Spitfire.

...waking up soon. She had had a lot of time in the shower thinking about things, and she knew if anything, she needed to wake her old friend up by breaking her as well. At this point, she was so assured of her mental victory that she was absolutely defenseless for what would come next.

"Yeah I am." she answered without facing the seductive pegasus behind her. "And Fleetfoot, I think it's time we went our separate ways... Permanently."

"That's good to hear I--Wait what?" she answered in dumbfounded shock.

"Exactly what I said." Spitfire was resolute and firm on this choice. "We aren't lovers, we aren't friends, we aren't team mates, and I never want to see you ever again Fleetfoot."

"Wait Spitty, what did I do wrong; I don't understand..." Fleetfoot whimpered.

"Don't ever call me that again either!" the golden mare now rose her voice. "You did everything wrong, you approached everything wrong, nothing you did in the end was right. All you did was buck everything with your short sighted goals of what was most important dammit. You, just like me, lost sight of everything outside of YOU. I don't ever want to be near that again, that way I may one day die with the piece of mind I choose. Now get your clothes, your purse, or whatever you brought and get out!"

"But I--"

"GET OUT!" Spitfire roared.

Fleetfoot scurried to her feet and began to gather her things and get dressed. Twenty minutes later the door was closing behind her, the sound of her crying echoed through the entire hallway. Now Spitfire was all alone, free from her burdens that would impede her march. She walked over to the window and opened it to a cloudy overcast looking day.

"What the heck, it was clear last night... Oh wait, the weather team could've done that!" she realized though it mattered little of the weather.

She clutched her chest, as pain radiated from what she felt was a hole where her heart should be. A hole that was created when she realized that she cheated on Dash, multiple times, and was justly broken up with for being caught doing such. She will never look at me again, never hold me, never wrap me in her soft wings, never love me again, never kiss me again, never will I know love again without her. These thoughts continued to bombard what was left of Spitfire's strength and she fell to one knee breathing hard.

Maybe I should lay down for a little while before taking that walk.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Signature Sandwich had taken the last night train to Ponyville purely on a hunch and managed to arrive early in the morning. He checked his home and the shop first, no sign of anything abnormal. Then he proceeded to check all around town, nothing that he found seemed off. He headed up to Rainbow's home with the magic ward Twilight had made him for levitation, so he could see his daughter when needed, and it was here he found what he feared the most.

Rainbow's door was literally smashed open sitting ajar, and as he peered in the entire home was thrashed. Things were laying broken on the floor, blankets and books tossed around in what looked like fury, her cloud couch torn to bits, chairs and tables flipped upside down, liquids like coffee and water strewn across the walls. He followed the trail of destruction which lessened when he got to the place he knew she kept her CD player. The one solace she had in this world apart from flying was music, but where was she if not here? He looked around and noticed her wonderbolt blanket and pillow missing from the chaos of her room.

"Jackie..." Sig said aloud with a sigh.

If Spitfire relapsed, what about Dash then? Would the younger mare go back to that time of darkness herself. This was something Sig, as her father, could not allow. He had to try to help her up when she fell. He headed out of her home trying his best to close the door behind him although, it wasn't much good with how much damage she had done to it. Down from her cloud home he headed straight for Sweet Apple Acres.

As he arrived he was greeted by an early rising Big Macintosh and... Pinkie Pie?

"Pinkie is that you, you young prankster?" Sig greeted her with amusement.

"Yup, Yup, Yup!" She smiled upon recognising the sandwich maker. "Got out just yesterday morning, I was sad not to see Dashie though. Any chance you might know where she is?"

"Well yeah, and that's why I am glad you're here Big Mac." Sig said turning to the tall blonde farmer. "I need you to take me to her. I know the barrier rules."

"Mmm, so ah take it somethin's wrong?" Mac didn't miss a thing it seemed. "Hon, you stay here while ah escourt Signature 'ere ta mah sister's grave. Make sure that the family know where ah am an' such."

"Okie doki cupcake!" Pinkie replied with cheer.

He managed to get her to comply easily, and Sig had plenty of questions but they would have to wait till the graveyard entrance. They headed to the canyon quickly. All Big Mac had to do was touch the barrier gates and they opened, nothing like what Dash said she had to do. Maybe this was because the red stallion was a blood descendant of the family, Sig couldn't be sure.

"Come on, I have ta go with ya through the canyon." Mac said pacing ahead slowly with a yawn.

"So... You and Pinkie, you're seeing each other now eh?" the forest green stallion pried lightly.

"Well yeah ah suppose we are, and it's nice to have 'er energy around the farm when she can spare it." he said plainly. "Some o' her therapy sessions were held right out here ta see iffin she could come back into society. An' she fit in like a button once that doctor removed that hate spirit thing from 'er."

"There was a hate soul manifestation inside of her?"

"Yeah that's what it t'was, how'd ya know that?"

"Oh, I've been around the world and I'm not the young stallion I used to be Mac" Sig said with a chuckle.

"Indeed ya aren't the youngest fella, but you've still got plenty o' spring in yer step!" the red farmer complemented Sig with a laugh.

Hmm, if the doctor extracted it... And any of it was to get free... It wouldn't go back to the original host. This may explain a few things.

"All the same it is good to see you and Pinkie together." Sig went back to their prior topic. "You really do make a cute couple!"

"Thank ya kindly Signature." the farmer replied humbly and with the slightest semblance of a blush.

Signature Sandwich smiled, he was glad to see love had not forsaken all souls that came from the story that those two had. The long walk came to a quick end as he picked up a very faint sound of a guitar. It was her CD player alright, and as they came out of the canyon he saw Dash splayed out on the ground next to Applejack's grave. Her blanket was tossed aside and she was shivering violently while she slept. Her headphones in her ears on full blast.

She doesn't want to hear the world around her anymore so she is trying to drown it out, but why is she trying to freeze to death as well?

He rushed over to her, quickly wrapped her up in her blanket, laid her back down on her pillow and removed the headphones from her ears. He put in the headphones and rewound the song she had set to repeat to find out what it was. His eyes shot wide open as the piano began loud and melancholic. His heart stopped as his blood flowed over with ice. It was the very song he heard echoing in his own head the night Storm, his wife, died.

"Dash, kiddo..." He felt a tear fall from his face and he saw it land on hers.

He brushed it away gently, and she lightly stirred. That was not what disturbed him though no it was the fact that the thin pelt of her face was matted from tears she had cried herself to sleep with last night. He removed the headphones finding he could take the sad song no more, and turned her CD player off. She kicked her hooves out of the blanket and he looked down at them as he went to tuck them back in and noticed they were heavily worn. No she couldn't have... Did she walk all the way here from Canterlot?

"She did." came a sweet familiar southern drawl.

He looked around to no avail in trying to see her, but he knew he heard Applejack's voice.

"You've been doing what cha can to take care o' her an' that's most respectable Sig, but chu gotta be her father now... Y'all gotta do more ta watch over her. Remember, y'all have been there an' done that once upon a time. Yer advice jus' may save 'er heart yet!"

"Applejack, is that you?" Sig called out to no avail.

"Thank ye kindly for watchin' over Rainbow butt. Get 'er home now... Looks like rain is on the way, an' she'll need some strength yet. Goodbye Sig."

"Dad, what're you doing here?" came Dash's raspy sleep riddled voice.

"Nothing sweetie, you go back to sleep." He cooed her softly. "Don't worry, daddy is gonna make sure you get the most comfortable rest you've ever felt."

She yawned and replied, "Okay, that sounds nice."

Once she had fully dozed off again Sig picked her up and carried her back to their home behind the sandwich shop. He laid her down in the guest bed, tucked her in tight, kissed her forehead, then exited the room closing the door behind himself. He, on the other hand, headed to the couch to investigate her music CD more. He needed to know what kind of music she listened to when she felt this kind of pain inside. He started the CD from track one, put in the headphones, and began to realize just how alike he and his daughter really were.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Dash came to drearily to the smell of food cooking wafting softly into her nostrils. It was then she remembered the pain in her chest that made her feel like she was dying. It hurt so much that she was instantly brought to tears. Why does it hurt so much? She instinctively began to look for her CD player only to realize where she was. How did I get to Dad's house, and is he really cooking?

Songs began playing in her head without the CD player and she tried to understand every song's meaning for a moment. Her situation coupled with the music and the visit to Jackie's grave. She got up sullenly from the bed and headed out of the guest room for the kitchen. She found her father was indeed cooking, and it smelled fabulous to her. Yet, the pain in her heart killed the joy of food for her.

"Heya sport, how ya doing this afternoon?" Sig said turning around happily.

"D-Dad..." Dash said her voice cracking.

"What's wrong?" the stallion's expression immediately becoming concerned.

"I still love her!" She cried grabbing where her heart was. "And it hurts so much, that it's tearing me apart inside!"

"I know it is, and I've known it would." He answered simply.

"But how would you know anything about how I feel?" She shouted not realizing her reason for doing so. "What pain could you have felt that can compare?"

"Because, though the situations are a tad different, me and Storm had our moments of doubt." Sig admitted in shame and Dash caught his mood regretting her own. "I mean it was more my fault for doubting her, and I beat myself up emotionally over it. Then when I confronted her about it, well, I was beaten for it, and let me tell you she could really throw a punch! In the end, she straightened me out and made me for the fool of a stallion I was."

"Not to mention you suffered when she died..." Dash gasped at that moment making an odd parallel. "Just like I lost Jackie far too soon! That's why you wouldn't let me quit living!"

"Well, one of the reasons at least." the stallion laughed and began to pace. "You know there are a lot of parallels in our lives Dash. If you want answers or thoughts on how to deal with something there will always be a good chance I have the answer for ya. Well, at least I've seen enough to have the wisdom to help you. I mean I've lived five lifetimes after all!"

"Wait, what?" Utterly floored with shock.

"I thought we've talked about this already?" Sig said surprised by his lack of forethought. "Maybe you just forgot or I'm remembering wrong, whichever. Yes, this is my fifth lifetime. Though, I think there will be another time for this conversation kiddo."

"Y-Yeah sure dad..." she answered still blunted by the reveal.

"Anyways help yerself to breakfast." Sig offered.

"I don't feel like I can eat anything even though it smells good dad..." Dash said a darkness spreading over her expression.

"Well, I can understand that after all you've been through, but you should still try to eat something." the stallion chuckled as he finished his thought. "Yer brain still needs fuel to work things out so it can stop hurting after all!"

She managed to laugh as she went and picked out some veggie sausage links, some buttered toast, an apple, and a cup of coffee. It may have been past noon, but it was a welcomed meal all the same to her. She went and sat down at the table, and as she began to eat she started to feel her body perk up. We are fighters in this family Dash! She remembered her real father's own words to her when she was just a young filly of four still.

"You're looking a little better already!" Sig said happily, but what came next... "We are after all fighters in this family Dash."

She spit out her coffee and bolted her gaze directly upon him in sheer surprise.

"What, what did I say?"

"My Dad always said that exact phrase to me when I was a little filly!" the young mare replied in astonishment.

"Well it's probably always been in yer family and mine..." Sig smiled as he trailed off

"You know something more than that don't you?" Dash countered instantly.

"Not really, it's just a feeling." the forest green stallion scratched his head. "Look Dash, I don't have the recollections of all of my lives. Most prominently, the life this soul lived before Celestia plucked it out for five lifetimes of service to the nature of conjuring massive rainstorms in areas without weather pegasi."

"Despite saying We will talk about my past later, you sure are informing me of some of it still pretty easily." Rainbow jabbed lightly. "But wait, you can cause downpours? How?"

"What skill do I have that all the world over loves me for?" He countered with a question.

"No way, your guitar playing can conjure storms?"

"Yes way, but my guitar is running out of mana... Look, can we talk about this another time?" Sig seemed so flustered by this moment.

"Aww, but Dad... I'm really interested in this!" She played it up giving him a cute watery puppy dog eyes face.

"I can tell." He groaned outwardly. "When you recover from your aching heart with your own strength, I will tell you okay?"

He walked past her and ruffled her hair playfully then stopped and looked at her seriously, "Would you come watch the sunset with me tomorrow over the plains outside Ponyville? I'm sure we can hijack a cloud fer a moment like that!"

"Sure Dad, maybe you will tell me more then!" the rainbow maned mare answered playfully.

"Yeah, maybe I will." the sandwich maker groaned again. "Oh, by the way your friend Pinkie is out of the hospital at last. You may want to go see her sometime, well, her and Big Mac I should say."

"They finally got together?" Dash laughed. "About dang time! Yeah, actually I'll go visit her once I'm done eating... Thanks Dad."

"No problem sport!"

As she finished her food she began to think that despite all the bad that happened, there was still plenty of good left springing up in her life. There was enough for her to go on living, even if it hurt every dang day she had to be strong. A child of the Valor bloodline had no reason to show a weak heart. She knew her ancestry only because at this moment all the good memories of her old dad were coming back to her, as if her own mind had begun the process of trying to comfort her. It made her feel less pain and more warmth in her heart again.

But I really do still miss her...

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Note from Author:
This Section To Be Read While Enjoying The Song:
Moment of Surrender by U2

Spitfire awoke the next day in a total stupor. She was confused as to how her body had tolerated being unconscious for so long, but as she looked to the window she could see the raindrops streaking across the window pane. It distracted her for a moment. Today there was no pain emotionally or physically, everything was gone for her in reality.

It's a good time for my last little walk and flight.

She made sure she had packed at least some bits for the things she would need along the way. She headed downstairs and was about to head out into the rain when the mare behind the front desk stopped her. She really hoped this wasn't about the bill that had already been paid, but how would this young little thing know about it if she just stopped her on impulse. Oh well, better get ready for an explination.

"Miss it's pouring out there, not even you could fly fast enough to dodge every raindrop." Said the plain milky white mare.

"That's okay, I don't intend to do anything but enjoy the water on my pelt." She replied surprised the subject had been her well being.

"W-Well at least let me give you an umbrella or a coat or something." She offered kindly.

"Alright, I can allow an umbrella." She said it this way only because the mare looked so purely worried for her.

She hurried back to her desk with a smile and pulled out the umbrella from underneath the desk. Making her way back over to Spitfire and handing it to her. She smiled radiantly and said, "Please take care of yourself!"

"Oh I will, thank you miss."

She stepped outside into the pouring rain and unlatched the umbrella allowing it to form a canopy above her head to protect her from the rain. She began to wander the town aimlessly for a while noting every flowerpot that was adorned with beautiful roses, lilies, sunflowers, baby's breaths, and most odd to her were the Forget Me Not's. All of them getting some much needed water to help them grow strong and prosper. She decided to take a small tendril of the flowers with her for the road ahead, they were just so pretty. She went along braiding them into her hair.

The grey brickwork and masonry of the buildings looked so dreary and sad to her in the rainy city. The cobblestone roadways puddled over with water from the rain looked oh so beautiful with every ripple the raindrops would cause. The limestone tiled walkways seemed sadly, to be getting etched with every rainstorm; each having its own unique carved patterns from the rain over the long years they had been there. Looking to the sky the birds still fluttered about with their songs damped by the rain as they scattered for cover, but were no less fettered by the storm that at first may have surprised them.

Hours of wandering lead her to a poor side of Canterlot she could vaguely remember. Rotting woodwork houses, which looked more like shacks, lined the streets. Which was mud at this point, and off down an alleyway she heard a noise that caught her heart for but a moment. It was the crying whine of a dog. There was no shelter for it anywhere to be seen of but it struggled to make due with the trash that laid around. Its pelt was a deep auburn brown and it was... It was limping as it scurried around trying to piece together a shelter with its mouth.

Spitfire approached slowly and it heard her. Turning around it growled at first staring her down with suspicion. She approached her hand up in a gentle gesture to show she meant no harm, and her body language was that of a beaten dog as well so that couldn't hurt her chances. The dog seemed to sense her own pain as it eased up its guard and approached her gently limping. She pet the poor animal, and gave it a little scratch behind its ears.

She gave it what little love she had left in her. Looking at the trash back here an idea struck her. She began to stack certain pieces and dug some into the dirt to create a makeshift stand for the edges of her umbrella. Which she put on top of the pillars and showed the dog what she did for it. The canine ran, at least as fast as it's injured leg would allow, under the new shelter and barked happily at its new friend.

"There ya go lil guy, or girl." Spitfire said gently. "A nice bit of shelter, courtesy of a nice mare at the hotel I was staying at. I paid her kindness forward. Now I'm squared with the universe again."

She began to walk away and the dog followed. She turned on the dog and pointed back at it's shelter.

"Do me this kindness and stay in the shelter I made you!" She growled at the dog. "It's the last standing testament of my touch in this world!"

The dog cowered back into the shelter and Spitfire continued on now hurting that she had to toss aside another creature that could have been a loving companion. I just can't be loved, nor can I ever truly let someone inside of myself can I? Her thoughts just dropped off from there. She knew the shop she needed to visit before she left Canterlot, but she just wasn't used to walking to it at all.

It was hard to tell what time it was when she found the pegasus athletics shop, but she felt soaked to her bones at this point. Mind you, the rain had stopped but Spitfire's body maintained all of the water. She shook a little of it out and headed inside. It was a small warm and cozy establishment run by a wine coated pegasus named Merlot. His destiny was to be a salesperson, and he had always believed it would be in wines. Alas, things had turned out a little differently as his hobby had been studying the physical training attributes of pegasi. Thus, he had become the Wonderbolts most trusted training equipment supplier, and after that all pegasi near and far.

Regardless of his version of the story he still ended up selling something just like destiny planned.

"Hello there--Woah, Spitfire are you okay?" The shopkeeper asked in astonishment.

"Yeah I'm fine Merlot, I got a question for ya." she started not caring what he thought of her appearances. "Do you still have those enchanted wing binders that help you cut down use of wings for better physical training? You know, the ones that you just say a word or phrase and they will affix themselves to your wings?"

"Yeah I should have a couple still in stock, why you looking to do some trainin'?" his eyes seemed to sparkle at this prospect.

"Yeah that is exactly it!" She answered with the most fake smile which he bought in to. "Oh, and also, do you have those serenity pills too? I wanna be able to train to the max this time! I mean I've been out of the circuit for so long!"

"Oh yeah, the vitamins you big shots use to tranquilize yourself from pain." Merlot answered in an unimpressed voice. "Yeah, I've got a couple of those left too. Will that do it for you today?"

He walked off into the aisles to find her shopping requests and she answered him happily, "Yes, it is perfect at just that ol' buddy!"

He came back and laid both items on the counter, "You really have come back from that abyss you were in year back haven't you? Okay, total is gonna be--What the?"

"You have no idea man..."Spitfire said with a hollow voice as she tossed him her money pouch, taking her things, and heading outside.

She had taken off into the sky now hearing Merlot below her shouting about her giving him too much money probably. This flight would most likely be her last flight. The pegasus reveled at the cold air as she shot up into the clouds and then through them to the sunny skies high above the world. She watched the currents of the clouds twist and turn as they moved about getting ready to dump even more rain on the town below. It was just so melancholic to her, a dark and beautiful poetry from up here that she could just sit and watch.

Spitfire had a long flight ahead of her to get to the Dragon's Perch, but she knew it was necessary for what was to be for her. This would be the harshest training of her life. As she streaked along at speeds she could scarcely believe she was capable of, she noticed the world around her change from dark clouds, to white puffy ones scattered about.

A five hour flight later...

She stood atop one of the highest points that a pegasus could land on in all of Equestria, Dragon's Perch. It was an enchanted magical cloud that always stayed at that massive height but still flowed with all of the air currents of the world. It never dissipated either, which was nice because it had a beautiful view of almost every surrounding environment. Being a pegasus she knew roughly where it would be at any given time, and she had many a time perched up here herself to watch the world below. She just snorted in ironic disgust that it currently floated precariously over a valley just outside Ponyville.

The sun was beginning its decent in the west, and Spitfire had unwrapped the wing restraints and even dry swallowed about four of the serenity pills and was already feeling their effects. There was no pain anymore, no feeling of hollowness even. There was simply nothingness. Her life had nothing of note left in it. Her brother and father loved her, but the rapid aging disorder effected them both and they'd both be dead before her if she fought on living. Soarin' would never forgive her for going back on her promise to change and defeat all the odds. For that matter, no one on the team would forgive her for anything in the end.

"I wonder how long she will remember me for, or if she will ever be able to forgive me for being such a foolish mare?" Spitfire mused aloud to herself pointlessly. "I guess it doesn't matter though... There is nothing left for me here anymore."

She spoke in a commanding voice now to the magical bindings, "Restrain my wings so I may train my body alone for myself!"

The bindings levitated from the ground and came up to behind her back, and that was when she felt the familiar tenseness. The bindings began to tightly wrap and confine her wings from any motion what-so-ever. It was done within a minute. This was it. She was suddenly overcome with weakness as she fell to her knees, tears running down her face but her expression was empty and not reflective of the emotion now breaking from her eyes.

I can still remember the first time she called me by that nickname... I can still remember her smile that morning at breakfast... The first time we held one another... The first time that we kissed... The time when she wrapped her wings around me to protect me from the world... The first time we made love, how she took such gentle care of me despite my lust... It all seems like it was so long ago now...

It was at this time she took the flowers out from her hair and set them upon the grounds of the cloud. She patted a few clouds over the base of the stem because it was an enchanted cloud, the flowers could not be blown away if she did this. Now this is the last thing I will leave in this world... So that maybe... Just maybe... The world won't ever forget me. A panicked voice rang out in her head at this time.

What are you doing, this isn't how you are supposed to react! Why won't you listen to me and do unto Fleetfoot what she has done to you?

"Because... I have more suicidal tendencies than hateful or vengeful ones." Spitfire murmured knowing she won this fight at least. "You done goofed up you hateful black magic. You die with me it seems."

Spitfire then got up and ran to the edge of the cloud leaping into the abyss of the sky, the dive that should have killed her long ago... Here was Death's third chance to get her. This time though, she was fully ready to embrace it. Just to take one last memory with her she opened her eyes to look at the sun as it set crimson upon the horizon. It is a truly beautiful farewell.

NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU SELFISH MARE!

Whatever it was inside of her it was very afraid, and like she would've expected it chose to flee rather than die. She felt her mouth forced open as a black mist shot out from her mouth and dissipated into the air around her. It had been black magic that had corrupted her this whole time, it wasn't her fault that she cheated on Dash. Not that it didn't happen, but now she knew she wasn't entirely at fault. She really did love her, and now she would die with that happiness. Now I am truly free... I am going to die with at least that peace inside of my mind.

Spitfire continued to plummet, a calm smile on her face, to what would be her earthen grave. This was it... This was the end.

Chapter 33: My Sacrifice

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 34: Landslide

Author's Note

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL MY READERS NEAR AND FAR!
COMMENCE FEELZ!
Remember that the ~~~~ lines denote memory entrance/exit!

Chapter 34: Landslide

3 Months after the incident...

Spitfire sat at her lovers bedside in the hospital while she lay there comatose. The room was a plain beige color, and had a few false plants to keep the atmosphere up. Despite this though, Dash was still hooked into a myriad of machines keeping track of her life as it steadily beat on. A group of beeping noises that had died out in the golden mares ears a long time ago, the only one she recognized was the cardiograph that monitored her love's heartbeat.

Spitfire had taken the situation hard but when Signature Sandwich found out he burst into the room to find what he was told was true. He had dropped to his knees in loss, and had not spoken for the week after that. It had hurt Spitfire to bear her burden alone but she had done it. Sig came around eventually though and warmed her heart one night back when the long nights at the hospital began. He knew that she was bleeding inside just as he was. They both sat at opposite sides of the cyan mare's bed now an acoustic guitar in Sig's possession. Her memories with the stallion bled into her heart.

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

One week after the incident...

The nurse had come into the room while both Sig and her sat at the bedside, "Mister Sandwich, Miss Spitfire, visiting hours are over."

She had had enough of being parted from Dash, "You would have to bring all of hell itself to pry me from her bedside again! I will not leave her again!"

Sig had looked genuinely shocked at this point, but the nurse on the other hand was quite angry.

"Rules are rules young lady, now gather your things and move on!"

"I will do no such thing!" she refused to back down.

"Don't make me have you removed from the building!" the nurse threatened.

"Try to part me from her and I will make you regret it!" Spitfire got up and assumed a defiant stance.

"Then you leave me no choice, I--"

Sig had quietly come upon the nurse while her attention had been on me, "Lady I will make this clear to you, as I know your superiors very well. They know me from their associates in Manehattan, and I can assure you the damage I caused there to be with my son as he died will be quadrupled if you piss this one off."

"Sir, it doesn't matter rules are rules, and she would likely be fined for damages."

"That's adorable." he said with venomous sarcasm. "Allow for an exception under the table, or I will go to your superiors and make your life hell. If they don't budge, then I can always talk to the princess, but I don't think she will be happy to have to get involved in this. She is, after all, my band manager so getting in contact with her won't take long."

"Well I..." the nurse began to lose ground, knowing full well who Sig was.

"Look, she will be in here quiet as a mouse all night and nopony need know anymore." Sig looked over his shoulder at me. "Right Spitfire?"

"Yes sir." I answered with determination.

The nurse satisfied with the answer allowed her to stay, and proceeded to exit so she could scare off other visitors from the hospital. She couldn't believe the forest green stallion had actually pulled his influence into the argument. He hated acting like he was above others in order to get them to bend. Yet, for Spitfire he had done so.

"Spitfire, I'm proud of you." He said suddenly catching her completely off guard.

"Wh-What me?" She stuttered. "Why?"

"You kept your promise to me." he answered somberly. "Even when things got rough and the world literally fell apart under you... You still stayed by her side, In The End. Yeah sure, it wasn't perfect but things in life seldom are."

"Th-Thank you Sig, that means a lot to me." were the only words she could find after what he said.

"Keep an eye on her okay?"

Spitfire nodded her ascent as the stallion exited the room. The two pony's were about to learn a lot about one another over the next few months as they grieved the absence of Dash in their lives. So much would go through Spitfire's head too. Fear, doubt, pain, love, happiness, loss, but mostly dreaded worry. She wasn't half as strong as Dash, but she had to be right now for her. She just held her hand, and she would every night, as she nodded off looking at the dreamy expression of Rainbow's face.

There were still times when she felt like she didn't deserve to even sit at Rainbow's bedside. As if, for everything she had done to the loyal and compassionate mare was reason enough to not be here. To not be alive. Yet, here she was a memory creeping in from that day to remind her the cyan mare would have wanted her here at this very moment.

I still love you Spitfire, and I don't think I'll ever be able to stop lov-ing y-you.

With a last smile from Spitfire, she fell asleep at Dash's bedside. With the utmost loyalty.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

A month and a half after the incident...

"Sig why'd you bring that old beat up acoustic guitar today?" Spitfire asked in surprise.

"I wanted to share a song with you and Dash today." the stallion paused a moment before finishing his sentence. "A song I heard in my head when I got the news about her being in the hospital in a coma."

He took the old dark wood instrument out and began the process of tuning it to perfection. The stallion had to sit for this process. He was a musician of skill as he did this completely by ear alone. After all, Sig had been doing this most of his life. He then stood up and smiled, as he began to play the song with his fingers. It was a beautiful melody, and in the first set of deep toned lyrics, Spitfire heard Sig's soul.

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone,
Rainbow the plans they made put an end to you,
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song,
I just can't remember who to send it to,

I've seen fire and I've seen rain,
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end,
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend,
But I always thought that I'd see you again,

Won't ya look down upon me Cel-estia,
Ya gotta help me make a stand,
You just got to see me through another day,
My body's aching and my time is at hand,
And I won't make it any other way,

I've seen fire and I've seen rain,
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end,
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend,
But I always thought that I'd see you again,

He stopped at about this point seeming lost for words. The song was incomplete, and he hadn't been able to finish it. Why? It was such a beautiful song!

"That's about all I've been able to flesh out so far, but by the time she wakes up I'll have it ready for her." He said with a tear in his eye.

"Yeah, I don't doubt you will Sig."

The next month lead to her finding out about Signature's family life, and some of the stories of his past lives. Which, at first, surprised the golden pegasus to learn about, but she quickly made sense of it internally. No wonder he was so in tune with the world around him. She always snickered at that thought, him being a musician and all. Yet, as time went by hope began to fade for the mare they were connecting over. Two and a half months with no signs of any change? It began to take it's toll.

One night, Spitfire slipped away from her lover's room and off she went into the streets. She needed a drink for the pain in her heart, she arrived at a simple bar not a mile down the street from the hospital. She entered it to hear rock music playing over the sound system and it was dimly lit with party lights as well as a few old fashioned hanging lights. It was rustic and to her tastes. She sat down at the bar and ordered a drink, what harm was one?

One drink turned into three or four very quickly, as her heart swallowed down its despair. She ended up staying there longer than she intended, as it was Sig who came and found her. It had been four hours and it was now dark outside, he must have closed the shop and come to the hospital. Not finding her there he had to check up on her, but it was sad he started with a bar.

"Of course, you checked here first lemme guess?" She grumbled irritably at him.

"Well, I suppose things have been hard on the both of us don't ya think?" he said gently from behind. "I actually came here first because I wanted to get a drink before looking, but to my luck here you are."

"She risked it all for me and now she is dying." She said miserably through the alcohol haze. "She knows I'm not strong enough to bear losing her...why did she think I jumped from Dragon's Perch that day?"

"She didn't care why you did it." he answered plainly sitting down at the stool beside her and ordering a drink himself. "She only thought about saving you, she always wanted to save you from yourself. Maybe she thought it would help make you the strong mare you were once upon a time?"

"I never was strong, it was just vaunted bravado." She countered honestly. "It was just media hype they did for me as Captain of the Wonderbolts. She loves the image of me that was created by my position not me in that case. Kinda adds to my woes a bit."

"I don't think it's that at all Spitfire." he said taking his drink and drinking down half of it. "No, I know she sees that you have the potential to be the image they make you out to be... In fact, I believe Dash thinks you can be greater than anything anypony makes you out to be. She would give her very life to try to make you see it too."

She took a hard drink of her fifth glass of liquor reflecting upon the stallion's words. Reflecting on all the memories in her mind of Dash, and then a song came on the speakers that drew a strong emotion from deep inside of her. An image of a longer haired Rainbow Dash sitting upon the front stairs of her apartment in New Trottinghem glowed in her mind suddenly. A beautifully woven braid in her hair, her wings softly preened, her eyes always gentle, her heart always warm and welcoming. Tears broke from her eyes as she listened.

"Ah, now this song takes me back." Sig announced before noticing Spitfire crying. "What's wrong Spitfire?"

"I don't want her to die!" She cried as her heart was breaking. "I love her with all my soul, and I need her strength in my life! There has to be something I can do for her... Something that will reach her deep in her unconscious."

"You could always sing to her?" the stallion suggested.

"But I'm not much of a singer, and my voice is... Well..." she answered bashfully.

"Look, I can accompany you on guitar if you think it will help, but I don't think Dash will care as long as you do it with all your heart."

"What can I sing her though?" the golden mare fretted.

"Listen to this song, I'm sure you can find a song by a similar artist." Sig suggested. "Her voice was very particular as well, so it's likely you can find something in that."

As she listened to the acoustic guitar ring out and the voices harmonize in unison. She searched her heart for the answer, for what she wanted to do. Sig had agreed to help her with it, and for the next few weeks they worked on what would be her song to Dash.

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

It was the night of hearth's warming eve, she had worked tirelessly for this and Sig had helped her to bring this song to life in her soul.

"You ready, you know the lyrics?" he said picking up his guitar.

"Like they were my name Sig." She said with a gentle smile. "Let's start."

Sig started in slowly and melodically. This was one of the songs he had suggested and it had found its way into the very depths of Spitfire's soul. At times her own singing voice actually sounded the same as the original artists, which Sig had said was exceptionally rare. It mattered little to her, she was singing only for her Dashie.

I took my love I took it down,
Climbed a mountain and a turned around,
And I saw my reflection,
In the snow covered hills,
Till the landslide brought me down,

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child deep in my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the shifting ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

She hummed warmly between lines believing her words were reaching her lover deep down inside.

Well I've been afraid of changing,
Cause I've built my life around you,
But time makes you bolder,
Even children get older,
And I'm getting older too,

Sig began to play off the rhythm to solo a little bit but it was no less beautiful that he could make his acoustic sound electric for just a brief time. They both put their heart and soul into this one present for Dash.

Well I've been afraid of changing,
Cause I've built my life around you,
But time makes you bolder,
Even children get older,
And I'm getting older too,
Oh yes, I'm getting older too,

Ahh ha, take my love, take it down,
Ahh ha, climb a mountain and turn around,
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills,
Well the landslide brought it down,

She felt her heart on fire as she sang into the next verse.

And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills,
Well the landslide brought it down,
Oh the landslide brought it down.

"Happy Hearth Warming Dash." Spitfire said with a tear in her eye.

Dash smiled for but a moment, and yet it had happened. Spitfire would never forget that moment in all of her life. No matter what was to come for the two of them, she wouldn't forget it as the clock outside in the hall finished striking midnight just moments ago.

"I'll love you for the rest of my life Dashie." Spitfire said at last words she knew she had to say. "And I would die for you without a second thought."

"Is that how you really feel Spitfire?" Sig asked seriously.

"It is, and I know that now." was the golden mares undaunted response.

"Alright then, I have some digging to do." He said in a muted tone. "If you will excuse me."

"Of course Sig, I'll keep an eye on her."

________________________________________________________________________________________

Spitfire hadn't seen the signs that Signature had as the months had gone by. Yet, the pegasus seemed to know in her heart what was coming. Dash was seizing every week at least once, she suffered originally a weak heart attack, a slight stroke, and a total body muscular dysphoric misfiring. Well, that was what the doctors were calling it anyway. They also noted that every day it seemed she fought off a different internal bleeding, most frightening was in her lungs.

Sig knew when he saw death coming as he had stepped out of the room to let Spitfire have her moment with Dash. He knew the most frightful part about Dash's whole situation though. The doctors had said that her muscles were burning through so much that they were literally burning away themselves at this point to feed their great need for energy. Which had caused a great deal of damage to her heart and surrounding body. She was comatose because, if she was awake she would be in an immense amount of pain. They had said she would feel like she was on fire 24/7 and would cough up blood regularly if she was awake.

She would rather die than face that pain, but how long could she last in that coma? The doctors could only do so much to stop her body from fully attacking itself. They used the IV's to give her muscles something to burn other than her own body, but it seemed to do so little in the end. All they could do was slow down the inevitable.

This time Sig was determined to use what time he had left to make sure he was ready when the time came. He would not let death take this one from the world. He pulled out his cellphone and called the one pony he knew could help, or at least the one pony that would try.

"Hey, there manager." Sig said in a dead tone. "Got a favor to ask that only you can help with. Care to meet me at Ponyville general in about five ten minutes?"

He waited for the voice on the other end to respond.

"Well that's no good 'Tia, my daughter is dying and the time I have to find my answer is very, very precious." He answered when she gave him a negative response.

Her answer had changed entirely at that point, but instead of replying on the phone a bright flash covered the hallway he was in. The princess had not wasted a second in arriving. Teleporting herself instantly to the green stallion's side.

"Signature, if I can save her life... So help me I will!"

"Glad to have you on board manager." He responded in a moot tone.

Chapter 35: A Light In The Darkness

"Hast thou found what thou art looking for Signature Sandwich?" Came the royal voice of princess Luna.

The two of them stood in a room, more of a giant library to be precise. They were searching beyond hope for an answer that could help Sig save his daughter from death. And where better to look than the oldest archives in the known world? Well okay, well known to Luna and Celestia. This didn't really matter to Sig in hindsight.

This was the library of the sisters mother, she was the priestess of death and the life after. She had seen more than her children, and by association knew more about life and its fleeting presence than anypony in existence. This library was only accessible to Luna though, with her dream walking abilities she could also go to places between life and death temporarily. They were in purgatory theoretically.

They had been here almost twenty four hours which was Luna's limit, and they had visited several times already. Four days in fact, and it was taking it's toll on the princess of the night. Celestia had to raise the sun and the moon during this time, and that was her end of the favor. Yet still, with all the time the two of them had searched it was looking more and more hopeless for them to find anything that could save the rainbow maned pegasus.

"These tomes just seem to go on forever!" Sig shouted throwing a tome he was looking at away.

Luna peeked her head around the corner of the shelf to check in on him, "Do not lose hope good Signature! There has to be something in my mother's library on this illness!"

"We've looked at everything from colds to plagues!" Sig roared in exasperation. "Nothing in any of these tomes gets anywhere close to what Dash's symptomology is!"

He was losing hope of finding anything of use, and they were almost out of time for today. He just turned and wandered away from Luna into the depths of the library, alone. She had warned him that this could be quite dangerous, but he was beyond grief for his seemingly vain efforts to save his daughter. If he became trapped eternally in here it would be fine, lady death would find him one day and claim him just the same.

After a while of wandering, he found an area that was separate from the countless shelves of the library. An open area with books piled about that looked to be the most recent additions in the archives. All surrounding a large sprawling desk upon which sat just one purple bound book with glimmering lettering sitting upon it. Something felt bizarre about this entire area.

"I'm not supposed to be here am I?" the stallion mused aloud to himself.

It must have been the study of the mother of death, where she recorded all knowledge of those who had passed on in her tomes. Something about this purple tome was different though, almost personal. He walked over and read the lettering on it.

"Diary of Lady Mortalitas, Volume 3,286." Sig said aloud. "Wow, she really does keep track of her own life and feelings. I guess everyone needs to feel they have a place."

He began to wonder if there would be anything in her diary. It was a very personal tome to pick up and read, but at this point he wasn't beyond trying for his daughter.

"I call out for related terms on Rainbow Dash in the Diary of Lady Mortalitas, Volume 3,286!" he called out into the air as the book came to life.

"Would you like the most recent entry?" came a voice from the very air around him. "I'm quite sure you will need to hear this to know your place, trespasser!"

"Huh... So the book is evil... Might have some nasty defenses..."

He jumped at a touch on his shoulder spinning around to find nothing.

"Not evil or enchanted, but I do watch over some things with my ethereal doubles." the voice came again. "Which you can't see, I'll leave it for them to decide if you are kind or be-damned to the ages."

"I just want to save my daughter."

"But she is not your blood, why do you care?" Came a new hollow voice.

"Because she is me and I am her." this was a test and he knew it distastefully.

"Philosophical answer." the voice breathed out. "View the passage of our lady on the condition and state of Rainbow Dash, but be ready for the pain that will come for your heart mortal."

The book opened itself and flipped open to a specific page, and Sig walked over and began to read the words as they appeared to him.

Oh what a painful day this is, to see one so shining an example of loyalty reduced to this. I fear my daughter will not be happy with another fallen element of harmony so soon! It cannot be helped though as we all have our times to go, our times chosen by our own decisions of action and inaction. She is so young though. It breaks my heart to have to retrieve her spirit, but It looks like I'll have to find her in the purgatory way station on the morning of the first of January. Such a bad new year for the one she loves, the friends she loves, and the newly appointed father... Who has already seen so much death in his own life. It is too bad I have never seen an existing medical cure for this one's condition... Lest I play the strings of the world above to get her the cure as if by miracle. We all know what happened last time I interfered in those kinds of affairs. Alas, she will die... And I must ferry her along to the other side... With a heavy heart.

"No... Dammit! NO!" Sig said collapsing to the floor in tears.

"You see, it cannot be avoided." the hollow voice of Mortalitas' double came again. "Your journey has been but a vain quest, destined to fail."

The stallion looked up, defiance in his eyes he began to see the faintest outline of an entity before him. He was looking straight at the ethereal double! He knew, because of where Celestia had pulled his spirit from, he had power... A power to overcome any odd. His instincts were what would take him forward now, and they cried out for music. An idea popped into his head, and it was a faint flicker of hope but that was enough.

"Okay, then I call forth any and all entries the Lady Mortalitas has on the enjoyment and magical theories on music!" He knew that Celestia's doings wouldn't be missed by her mother. "Specifically, on the music bearers of the elements of nature! Rainmaker, Windsinger, and Thunderbringer."

He knew the others were still alive, and he knew that there would be plenty of music chronicled here. It was a gamble, but he had to see if she could hear the magical songs that resonated from the surface.

"You wish to know if we can hear magical tunes from above?" the voice of the double seemed to read his mind. "Then this volume will also serve you well."

The sound of a guitar rang out from the page once the book stopped flipping pages, a sound that hurt all too much. It was the intro to Kirin Rush's song Wheels of Steel. He got up and began to read again.

Oh ho, the sound of that guitar echoes through all of my realm it seems! The sadness, the love, the pain, the romance, the soul! Oh it is too much to believe one of my daughter's creations could resonate sound so clearly across the realm of life and death! Though I am certain her father had a hand in this creations life, at least this time around anyways! The music just tears my heart to pieces! I wish we could hear that music more often here in my realm, but alas we only hear it when they play to summon their magical powers. I fear I haven't heard all of his music, but one day when his spirit should be retired I may just keep him around my person for a while!

"Great, the priestess of death is fanponying over me... Great..." He said aloud before continuing his reading.

It would seem the guitarist and violinist both play with a great deal of heart, and one may yet become a princess! Strange that my daughter has not warned them to avoid the more dangerous melodies. Melodies that existed in a different time. Maybe that guitarist will one day find one of those songs, he seems the likely candidate with all the life he has lost. Though the violin player is just as likely, I certainly hope neither of them stumble onto the tunes.

He felt something strange in his heart begin to blossom as he spoke the words unconsciously, "The melody of the trading winds."

A gasp loudly broke into the study, and he felt the energy that the double gave off disappear. A second later the book appeared before him with the title of the song on the cover and a warning.

Melody of the Trading Winds

By:E.S.
Warning: Do not play this song unless you are full well prepared to lose you're own life.

"Signed simply E.S.?" Sig pondered for a moment. "Guess he wanted his identity shrouded from prying eyes. Although I'll never understand why..."

Signature Sandwich opened the book and it dissolved into light around him, but he could hear the song resonate in his soul. He knew what to do with this knowledge. Should his daughter die, he actually had a final hope... A light in the deadly darkness.

"Now that you have the knowledge you so desperately sought, here is what happens next..." A familiar voice rang out. "...Unless you find my daughter in the next thirty minutes, you won't have a chance to use that knowledge Signature Sandwich."

"Then why let me make it this far Mortalitas?" Sig roared out in fury.

"For my own amusement of course, it's not often that some foolish pony wanders in here out of desperation." she laughed. "I mean you would have to know my daughters to have any hope of making it this far. Now let us see if you can finish this quest!"

Bookshelves began to enclose him on all sides. He began to laugh himself now. What a priceless outcome had played out before him!

"What's so funny you mortal fool?"

"Only that there is no challenge in this for me because of one of your most thoughtful daughters." He continued to laugh a moment more before stopping. "Profos in Nox, Tantibus ero venire ad finis."

Trust in Night, Nightmare will come to end.

He blacked out and awakened in Luna's royal quarters sweating and sitting cross legged directly in front of her. She was panting heavily as she opened her eyes to him with a brief smile. Their safe phrase had indeed been necessary just as Luna had foresaw.

"To my sister, she will get you to the hospital." She said breathlessly. "May what you learned save your daughter!"

With that Sig got up on shaky legs and began to run to Celestia's royal hall. He needed his Rainmaker guitar, and to be at Dash's side the moment her spirit wandered off.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

It was pandemonium when Signature Sandwich and Celestia arrived at the hospital on Dash's floor. He could hear Spitfire hollering with rage and sadness all at once, and the doctors and nurses filed out of the room moments later. He sighed heavily adjusting the guitar upon his back, he knew the costs of what was to come. Dash must have just passed. Walking into the room changed his thoughts on this entirely though.

Spitfire sat in her chair crying, Dash's bed sheets were thrashed about wildly. She was oddly still, rigid, and in place for one who only just passed. Looking at the screens and monitors Sig read: Deceased at 11:03 pm yesterday, now sitting silently in shock as the golden mare sobbed. It was new years eve! He still should have had time to prepare himself, but the scene before him spoke in literal volumes almost. His daughter passed during the night and every attempt hospital staff made at the body since then, Spitfire met and repelled with a protective fury.

"Spitfire..." he announced himself.

She turned on him quickly with pain bright in her waterlogged amber eyes, "She's gone already Sig, you missed her!"

"Stop yer damn crying!" He shouted at her slinging his guitar over his shoulder. "What would you give for another chance to be with her, tell me, now!"

"My life, but what difference does it make?" she wailed. "She is gone, its too late for petty words!"

"What do you think I was doing with my time, nothing?" He roared right back. "Celestia clear the hall, come in, and lock the door behind you."

"Sig what are you doing?" She questioned realizing he wasn't himself.

"Spitfire, I have to ask you to let me take your seat closest to Dash." He requested.

"Sig answer me, what are you doing?" the golden mare didn't relent.

"If you don't get out of my way you will never see, and her spirit will wander away forever!" the stallion shouted now panting. "I can't play what needs to be unless I can sit close to her... I'll only be able to do this sitting down next to my daughter."

She gave in and moved away as Celestia came back in locking the door behind her. The golden mare took a place beside the princess in stark confusion. Signature Sandwich, a stallion of many lives, was truly afraid of what would come next. She was his daughter though, and he was her father. For her, he would give anything to take back an unfair dealing of the cards of fate. He began to tune his guitar, knowing the song had to ring out with all that his instrument could give.

"Princess what's going on?" Spitfire asked the white alicorn innocently.

"Sig is about to give the most precious thing a father can give his child." She said calmly. "A second chance."

"But how is that even possible?"

"By paying a price that is fair and equivilent to the one Dash paid to save you."

"Wait, he's gonna--Sig... No!" Spitfire screamed from fear.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Dash was walking through a tunnel bathed in light, confused as to what was going on. The world around her seemed to be so intangible... So unreal. At this point, it felt like she had been walking for days in darkness and then suddenly into the light she went. She had no idea where this tunnel would lead but she felt compelled to continue onward.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" she said aloud with a heavy heart.

"Fer the most part sugar cube, yeah." came a familiar voice.

The tunnel of light was dispelled as the scene around her transformed into a massive train station's interior. Marble sculpted walls, stairs, and pillars surrounding her all bathed in a warm golden light. Many ponies, zebras, and griffons all sat around the building, communicating with others or lazing about. What is this place?

"It's Purgatory Station Sport!" Another voice that she knew from such a long time ago rang out.

She turned and saw what she could have never dreamed of seeing, her biological parents and Jackie! Her father with his rainbow mane, her mother with her passionate lavender eyes, and her lost lover Applejack with her worn Stetson still atop her head. Many that had died in recent years as well as a few that had passed on long ago were at the platform.

"Mom, Dad, AJ... But how?" Dash began breathlessly. "How are you all here, you've passed on I thought?"

"You can take the train that delivers souls, back to the station to greet your loved ones as they pass on sport." Her father said coming forward to give her a big hug. "It's just a shame that you are still so young!"

He was crying and when she looked to her mother, she saw the very same tears. They bought her sixteen years of life, they shouldn't be sad about that achievement. It was better than her only making it to five! Plus she hadn't lived a poor life, she had gone through and seen a lot in that time. True, she never became a Wonderbolt, but she could live without that because of how she chose to give her last moments to the world. She gave them to Spitfire, and an unconscious tear broke from her eyes.

"In this realm hun, emotions get expressed without yer choice." Applejack added with a smile, her own eyes glimmering from tears not yet shed.

"Despite you being so young, I'm proud of you for making it this far Rainbow, my dearest daughter!" Her mother said coming over and kissing her cheek as her father parted his hug.

But for their closeness, Jackie remained at a distance. Why?

"Ah dunno mahself Dashie why ah can't." the beautiful blonde mare answered bashfully.

"Can everypony read my mind or something?" Dash questioned in frustration.

"Hah, no." Applejack laughed warmly. "Only those who were closest to ya can see yer thoughts, through yer own eyes."

"She's definitely fresh out of the living world alright, but she will get used to it here I'm sure." her father began.

"Oh Blitz leave the child alone!" her mother demanded.

"But Lavender, she needs it!" He joked.

Rainbow Blitz and Lavender Flash, her Dad and Mom. This was typical of them, but something caught her ears at this point. It was faint... But it sounded like something she knew.

"So Dash, how was this adoptive father of yours?" Blitz began. "He seemed like a great stallion, reminded me of my younger years! Guess he hasn't had many younger years for a long time though I suppose. His spirit is Celestia's favorite after all."

"Wait what, do you know something about him I don't... Oh, wait..." Dash asked only to cut off.

She had died before he could detail his past lives to her.

"Well, him being your adoptive father is ironic I'd say." the grey blue stallion began. "I mean, the pony his spirit originates from was Valor Crest. Our family's origin and oldest ancestor."

"What?" Rainbow found herself shouting in surprise as another question crossed her mind. "Actually Sig doesn't know about the details of his orgins, most specifically, how the rainbow mane was passed down when he was the first in history to have it. He doesn't recall a wife or a lover that produced a child, and records don't help any with that."

Dash had no idea how she knew these things, it was as if she was speaking for her adoptive father. Could he be lingering around the outskirts of the station? She looked to Jackie who had a knowing smile on her face. It was odd but, in death, Applejack had seemingly been granted an all knowing foresight.

"Nopony knows that one Dash." Her father's voice broke into her thoughts. "There is no official records of anything more than him courting princess Celestia, but he died before a child could come into the picture. He was killed on their wedding day. Tragic affair really. So nopony knows just where Rainbow Shine came from, his alleged daughter."

"What is that sound ringing out faintly in the air?" Lavender questioned looking around.

In fact, the whole station seemed in an uproar over a sound they couldn't identify. Dash had noticed it long before all of them, but whatever it was it seemed to be getting louder. It was like a warmth she could feel growing in her own heart... Well, in the heart of her spirit. Applejack began to chuckle lightly.

"Is that the sound of... Guitars?" Rainbow Blitz noted aloud.

"Aye it is Mister Rainbow." AJ confirmed solemnly. "Looks like her adoptive father is tryin' ta call her back ta life, or at least someone that cares a whole lot about her."

"Heh, wonder if they are willing to pay a steep price for her soul?" he laughed darkly. "Lady Mortalitas hasn't given up a soul in centuries! Wow, the music is getting louder!"

He was right. It was a full band of instruments playing, it was like a concert in the station at this point. A train arrived at that moment, and all of the spirits began to file into it almost mindlessly. Whoever this Lady Mortalitas was, she was collecting the spirits to ferry them to the afterlife. Dash couldn't hear whatever was making the other spirits mindlessly file away, all she could hear was the sound of a guitar crying out.

"I can hear... His voice... It's Signature Sandwich." Dash knew what he was doing now. "But how is he--"

Applejack cut her off with a tight hug, "He's doin' what any real father would do fer his daughter. Don't you get on this train sugar, y'all run right back ta where that music's comin' from. What ya find there... That's what'll determine where you'll go next in this universe. Ya hear me Dashie?"

"But how do I leave the station Jackie?" She hollered over the music hugging the orange mare tightly.

The farm mare let go of her and said gently, "Yer already out o' the station Dash, now turn round and run. You'll know what ta do next."

The image of the train station faded away in seconds, and she listened to Applejack's parting words. She turned around and began to sprint with all she had. She could see a light ahead of her within moments, but it was being blocked by a figure. As she came upon it she noticed it was a tall white mare with a black shimmering mane her face cloaked in black robes and holding a large medieval scythe. Mortalitas!

"Welcome Rainbow Dash, like you I have been drawn here to this stallion's music." She began in a chilling tone. "You are not permitted to cross here until he crosses over to meet me. He has already become such a thorn in my side, and it only took him a week. But I must say he is truly a beautiful spirit, my daughter must have loved him quite gratuitously to have kept him around so long."

"And why can't I?" Dash challenged, even though she was wrought with fear.

"Because this song, is the only way for the living to even hope to make contract with me." She answered coldly. "Ironically, what we hear is the song he will play. He has not actually started yet... Care to watch?"

She stepped slightly aside so that Rainbow could peak through what seemed to be a looking glass in the endless dark wall before her. She could see her own lifeless body, her father, Spitfire, and princess Celestia. All gathered in her hospital room. Suddenly Sig's guitar lit up with magic and the room disappeared. Her looking glass had dissipated too!

"Ah it begins, he created his own pocket of purgatory!" Lady Mortalitas began in excitement. "We are now as close as we can be to them. But alas, they cannot see us."

She felt tears streaming down her face, and she knew they would be there when she awoke again too. Her father was gifted with the rare ability to channel magic through an instrument of music, and as his guitar hummed with energy the weight of what he was doing hit her like a speeding train. She knew she would never be able to express the level of love and gratitude that she now felt for her father.

I... I love you dad... Please, never forget that...

Chapter 36: A Father's Duty

Spitfire went to stop the forest green stallion, but it was too late as the Rainmaker, his guitar, began to hum with a magic that looked warm to the touch. The room was instantly surrounded in blackness as he began to play. All that you could see was Dash in her bed, Sig in his chair and the two other mares in the room. A room which seemed to have become the empty space of purgatory. Guitar notes rang out in the empty space but that wasn't all, other instruments began resounding through the darkness.

"Wh-What's going on?" Spitfire said afraid of the answer.

"He's taking it back for Dash, now quiet." the princess commanded. "Honor him here."

"But where are the other instrument sounds coming from?"

"His heart, his mind, his soul."

Drums, guitars, and other string instruments of varying tone all seemed to come alive in Sig's mind as his heart began to pour out. Spitfire could only watch in awe at what was happening before her, she felt immobilized by the atmosphere surrounding them now. He began to nod his head and rock back and forth as music, loud as a full concert, began to echo all around them. She turned for a moment to see Celestia looking slightly behind Signature, a devilish scowl on her face.

"Here he is mother, my chosen." She heard Celestia mutter quietly.

She was drawn back to Sig as he began to sing, his voice seemed to be filled with youth as an aura enveloped his body gently. It was faint but it was there.

"With what little life and light there is left in me, please, give it to her." Sig spoke aloud before the lyrics came to. "Let her take this life back!"

Her love reigns down on me,
As easy as the breeze,
I listen to her breathing,
It sounds like waves on the sea,
I was thinking all about her,
Burning with rage and desire,
We were spinning into darkness,
and the earth was on fire,

She could take it back,
She might take it back,
Some day,

So I spied on her,
I've lied to her,
I make promises I cannot keep,
I hear her laughter rising,
Rising from the deep,
I make her prove her love for me,
I take all that I can take,
I push her to the limit to see if she will break,

She might take it back,
She could take it back,
Some day,

It was here that the sounds dropped down and the sounds of angelic female voices gently caressed the atmosphere about them. Sig had not stopped playing, he just dropped tempo for a moment. His aura had changed from a white fog color to green, and the aura had grown in size. Something almost felt lifelike about his magical aura. Wait, was this really magical energies? No, in her heart she knew it was Signature Sandwich's life energy being poured into this one moment.

Tears broke away from her eyes and she didn't wipe them away as Sig brought the neck of his guitar high as it screamed out in a high pitched note. He had kicked back in his chair as the note hit him deep down it seemed. That one part of the song seemed to echo out across the very ages themselves. This was it, this was a father's duty to his child. To give everything they could for them.

Now I have seen the warnings,
Screaming from all sides,
It's easy to ignore them,
Cel-estia knows I've tried,
Now all of this temptation,
You know it turned my faith around,
Till I couldn't see the danger,
Or hear the rising tide,

She can take it back,
She will take it back,
Some day,

She can take it back,
She will take it back,
To-day...

He continued to strum his guitar, his energy seeming to leave him as the song came to a slow and quiet ending. As the last note faded away, he let out one last sigh as every guitar string on his guitar broke, and he faded away. The stallion wasn't breathing anymore and Spitfire rushed over to him at this point. She checked for a pulse to no avail, and she could tell Celestia was trying to tell her something. Trying to calm her down, but it was no use to her now. Dash was dead and now Sig's last gambit had failed too!

"No dammit, not you too Sig, I can't lose both of you!" She shouted tears streaming out of her eyes now.

A loud gasp for breath caught her entirely off guard only about five minutes later. She turned and they were in the hospital again, Dash was sitting bolt upright gasping for breath. Rainbow had returned to life.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

"D-Dash, is that you?" Spitfire asked cautiously.

"Spitfire?" She answered hoarsely. "Am I alive again?"

She didn't answer she just leaped at the cyan mare and wrapped her up in a tight embrace.

"Ouch, easy there!" the younger pegasus replied with a laugh. "Yeah I'm alive again alright, but... How is it possible?"

"Look to the chair that your love is blocking you from now with her hug, and you will surely see how you live Rainbow Dash." Celestia said a tear in her eye and a smile on her face.

She turned and looked over the golden mare's shoulder to see what she knew in her heart would be there. Signature Sandwich, her father, lay motionless in the chair still gripping his now broken guitar. She knew she had seen him before she awoke in her body again. The moment he had crossed over he threw her off towards her body and had said, "This one's on the house kiddo, till we meet again!"

She began to cry very lightly at this. He gave his life to give his daughter the second chance that was in many ways unobtainable. He had broken a law of existence, for her. Mortalitas wouldn't be happy in the slightest at his victory... Or would she?

"Now Dash, what will you do with this life given to you?" Celestia inquired.

"I don't know, but I can't let his sacrifice for me be in vain." She answered softly her voice not fully recovered. "Maybe I should pick up something to do that isn't based on my talent for once? Maybe I can still mend the relationship with a mare I still love as well?"

"Dash I..." Spitfire said moving away and suddenly realizing her position in all of this from before the coma.

"Heh, you're hesitating?" Rainbow chuckled lightly. "That's cute, but as I tried to tell you when I was falling with you in my arms. I'm sure we can work things out, but I swear... Don't you ever do that to me again Spits! It killed me to have to bear it. Literally."

She began to sniffle and cry again. Her emotions were much less restrained since Purgatory Station. She felt the pain from the loss of her adoptive father, the love broken by Spitfires cheating, the joy of seeing her parents and Applejack again, and the utter exhilaration at being alive again.

"Dash I must ask before I act, but may I move your father's body to a more quiet place for the time being?" Celestia suggested properly. "You and Spitfire have some talking to do I'm sure, and I would like to prepare things for the stallions funeral... If you wouldn't mind that is?"

The newly revived cyan pegasus could easily tell that the princess was grieving for the loss of Signature Sandwich as much as she would. Almost like a mother that lost their child, or more accurately someone who just lost the one they loved most in the world. She seemed more delicate than any moment the rainbow maned mare had known the princess.

"Of course Celestia, after all his spirit once almost became one with yours." Dash revealed what she knew.

The princess went wide eyed in shock, "You know that much, the memories from Purgatory followed you home somehow. Didn't they?"

"They did." She answered in a level tone. "Now go and grieve the soul you love the most."

"It was your birth father's loud mouth wasn't it?" Celestia answered narrowing her eyes.

"The one and only loud mouth Princess, now I think you have more important matters to attend to." Dash said nodding her head toward her father.

The princess seemed to come back to and nodded her head moving to take the stallion into her arms. The brilliant mare seemed to also pay close attention to sitting his guitar at the foot of Dash's bed. The cyan mare knew this was in no way an accident either, as the princess exited the room in silence. Me, a guitarist? That's a rather tempting thought actually...

"Uhm... So Dash, what are we gonna do next?" Spitfire broke into her thoughts.

"Oh, well I guess we should start over from the beginning." She answered with a smile. "Hmm my body feels a bit heavier. Less muscular too. Ah well, this is healthy for me and I'm sure Twilight would agree. Still Spits, it's much too early for me to think of getting a simple discharge from the hospital. So you may have to wait a while for the relationship restart hun."

"I-I think I can do that for you Dash." the golden pegasus answered solemnly. "Your father showed his true strength today, and I'll never be more grateful than I am now... To have you back. He showed me what it means to really change something..."

"He just did his duty, and he did it with no regrets in his heart." the mare said a tear in her eye. "So I'll pay it back by living every day to the best of my ability."

A sigh of death that brought on a gasp of life... This was Sig's legacy.

Chapter 37: Its Been A While

4 Years Later...

It had been a long time since Dash had been in the hospital, and her entire world had revolved around the selfless sacrifice of her adoptive father Signature Sandwich. So much had happened in the four years since that day. Within the first year she was physically rehabilitated, and started over with Spitfire. In fact, they were walking around dusty roads outside of Ponyville hand in hand at that very moment.

The relationship had not been an easy thing to remedy for either of them, but all the work they put into repair paid off in the long run. They grew as mares together. Every fight, every time they loved, when they would cry, would hurt, would fear... They stood by one another. Dash had even gone so far as to propose to Spitfire a few days earlier. A request which the golden mare gladly accepted, knowing full well what they had been through. Then she remembered year two after the day she was reborn.

The Wonderbolts finally all got back together, but they were short one flier... Fleetfoot. She never returned to the team when Nydus sent out the summons to return. Dash had recently applied to the team again and Nydus had replied to her with a call, an actual degree of happiness in his voice. Spitfire said that was a dirty trap to think he'd be happy, but it had been a good intent of a joke. Well, at least that was what the golden mare thought, but Nydus had been serious and Dash now had a job beside her love. Imagine that, the cyan mare had achieved what she had always dreamed!

What of the other fliers though? Soarin' and Spitfire are as close as siblings again, Valkyrie finally got married to the stallion she loved most after simple divorce hearings, Misty Fly and Wave Chill are also engaged, and then there was Rapidfire... He actually announced his retirement from the team at the last performance. He said, "I've only got enough left in me to finish out the season, after that... Time for a little R&R."

So they'd have to start searching for a replacement soon. Dash was basically third in command of the team. The order was Spitfire at captain, Soarin' at lieutenant, and Dash was next though without title it meant very little. Though, there was another thing that she could be proud of in the mean time... The Rainmaker mk2. Her father's guitar, restored and modified for her personally. It had taken her three long years since she came back to life to master the guitar. It had been oddly simple to restore and modify the instrument. Guess it was meant to stay in the family? She chuckled at the thought.

Although, this reminded her of the princess and her inaction on funeral services for her father. She scowled at the simple thought. There was no grave site, and there was in fact no body that she knew of. He had simply disappeared that day, and not a soul knows where he is. Not even Ace, the closest stallion to the guitarist, had the faintest idea what had happened. He was of course none too happy at any of Celestia's explanations. He was arrested at his outburst in fact, mostly because he had lost his temper to a degree even Sig could match. He spent a week in the jails at Canterlot castle, just to have Celestia give nothing away.

"Dash are you doing alright?" came the sweet voice of Spitfire. "You're spacing out again."

"Stop picking on me Spits... I'm just reminiscing about the last four years." she answered wistfully.

Pinkie and Big Macintosh had also been enjoying a very fruitful relationship, but sometimes Pinkie was too much for Mac and Dash had to lend a hand. A bright memory finally worked it's way into her mind. The day that her and Spits burned down the house that somehow caused only tragedy to her. After that, the princess had banned the production of any standing structure upon that soil forevermore. Oddly enough, the event that followed this was the death of the remaining hate soul manifestation that doctor Psych had so dutifully protected. After the fiasco his colleague had caused, it was undisputed that he knew best how to handle the thing. Though no one expected it to die off so suddenly, not even the doctor could explain it. To be safe, they magically sealed the vials into a stone vault under the guidance of Celestia.

Dash came back to her senses suddenly seeing a flash of arctic blue. She looked in front of her to see what looked to be a stallion cloaked in a ratty, tattered, brown cloth. He stood at a fork in the path, and Dash didn't know why but she felt her heart flutter. She didn't know this drifter, so she and Spitfire would just simply pass by unhindered. Yet, she felt as if she knew this drifter... Like they had once met. As they came before the stallion he spoke, and Dash instantly knew how she knew the stallion... But this was utterly impossible.

"So, I see my daughter is to be married." he said taking off the hood of his cloak. "Guess I was right about the both of you making it through hell and back!"

It was a forest green stallion with a bright electric yellow mane... It was Signature Sandwich!

"How?" Dash exclaimed breathlessly. "You died!"

"Hah, you underestimate my ability to negotiate!" Sig replied with a smile and an oddly vacant stare. "Although, the price of these negotiations was quite steep as well."

"Sig why are the pupils of your eyes foggy..." Spitfire began. "...Oh my... You're, blind."

"Well, yeah... That would be correct dear." Sig answered with a sheepish grin. "One of the few prices I had to pay to be allowed to return... Couldn't miss my daughter's wedding after all!"

Dash noticed a second slower than Spitfire when Sig went to scratch his head that somepony stood behind him.

"What is she doing here?" the golden mare roared in fury.

Dash barely grabbed her fiance in time, "What's gotten into you hun?"

"That's Fleetfoot standing behind your father!"

"What?" she said in shock looking again as the mare came around from behind Sig.

"See Sig, I told you this was a terrible idea..." the arctic blue mare said hopelessly.

"Fleet, you can never mend a relationship without trying." he answered in a sagely tone. "I alone know the why behind what you became, and I alone reminded you who you were once upon a time. Every single pony has their chance for opportune change, you just had to hit absolute bottom first."

"I told you to never show your face to me again!" Spitfire shouted venomously.

"Silence your tongue!" Sig roared over the angry mare. "You had your moment of weakness and made your reparations for them. Now give somepony else the chance, you fiery fool!"

The golden pegasus immediately went limp in Dash's arms, "Fine then Sig, both of you tell me your stories. I'm sure Dash wants to hear why you are still with us after all."

"That is a wise choice, but come and sit with us atop the hill behind us." the green stallion suggested. "It will be more relaxing for all of us."

Dash could not help but feel a deep tension in the air as they headed over to the hill. She felt questions bombard her mind, but most prominent of these was the one about how her father lived and breathed. She saw him pass over to the realm of spirits. A short walk later they came to the top of the hill and Sig sat down with a grunt, Fleetfoot standing beside him. Spitfire and Dash just stood across from them.

"Oh come now, don't be so confrontational about this." Sig said in a kind tone but it was unconvincing.

"It's still a bit hard to wrap my head around the fact that you are here dad." the cyan mare piped up first.

"Okay then, I'll start at the moment I made a deal with death." Sig stated plainly. "I told you I'd see you again kiddo. I knew what I was doing that day, and after you rejoined your body. I struck a deal with Mortalitas that she wouldn't refuse..."

He paused noticeably so Dash questioned, "And, what was the deal?"

"I'm not allowed to give you the details of that." the stallion answered heavily. "Just know, that she accepted it and returned me to this world... And just as you returned with a gasp, so did I..."

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

Signature Sandwich recoiled into life with a loud gasp in a mostly vacant hospital room. He opened his eyes to darkness, and his fears had kicked into full gear. Lady Mortalitas hadn't told him what side effects would befall him regaining his body. His hearing was sharp though as he heard the surprise in a familiar mares voice.

"S-Signature?" came the shocked voice of princess Celestia. "You're alive again, but how is this possible?"

"Tia where are you?" He said turning his head side to side, darkness at all points. "I can't see you, or where I am..."

"Sig your eyes are wide open though, how can you not..." the princess stopped dead in her sentence. "...Your eyes, they are fogged over. You're blind!"

"Well, there is one payment to your mom." he mumbled putting his hands to his eyes.

"We must tell your daughter at once, she will be--"

"No, we will not tell her a single thing." he demanded in a fierce tone cutting her off.

"But Sig!" she pleaded.

"No, these next few years are for her and Spitfire to grow into the adults they need to be." the green stallion said turning his head to the right. "We must keep my death a mystery to the entire world 'Tia. In the meantime, we need to rehabilitate me for my blindness. We also need to figure out what other costs I've had to pay the lady Mortalitas."

"As you wish SIg, but I can't imagine this going over well when she finds out..."

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

The princess had been right, Dash was not too happy about this deception. She had to hear the whole story though, so many questions were just gnawing away at her inside. Sig sighed loudly and she came back to reality.

"The costs were I am blind during my return, although, the princess theorizes that I will regain my vision for one day in particular." Sig said after reliving his rebirth. "The second is all healing magic cannot effect me, and in fact, all magic cannot effect me. I can also no longer channel magic ever again. Even after I die... This part seems bound to my spirit. There is probably more but we couldn't unveil them."

"Wait, so you can't play guitar anymore?" Spitfire blurted out.

"No, he still totally can!" Fleetfoot said dreamily.

"I didn't ask y--"

"She is right though Spitfire." He answered silencing the golden mare. "I can still play, but it was the hardest thing to learn now being blind. Heck, walking around without smashing my face into walls was a hard thing to figure out."

Dash only had one question tearing away at her, "What day do you get your vision back?"

"Most likely, it will be the day of your wedding since that was my primary reason for coming back." He said with a warm smile. "She pitied me enough to give me one joy... She is apparently an avid follower of the drama that is my life. Fanmare extraordinaire."

"Continue your story and explain Fleetfoot's place in all of this." Spitfire demanded.

The golden mare had cut Dash off before she could ask all the questions she needed to ask. It hurt to see her lover be so insensitive to her, but she knew that deep down Spitfire was burning with anger and confusion at the same time. Which she never handled very well. It had taken these past four years for her to learn this about the golden mare, and the knowledge served her well. I really have grown up like dad wanted, haven't I?

"Fine but if you keep acting rude like that, I will take offense to it in the most excessive ways."

"Alright, I'm sorry Sig." Spitfire conceded. "You just know how bad the blood is between me and her."

"I do know, but let's keep it civil till you understand the whole story." He said as he began again. "It was about two years back as I was wandering around the countryside I came upon a forest..."

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

A serene and peaceful atmosphere surrounded the forest green stallion as he strode through a forest. It felt different from the countryside he had just wandered through. Something also felt purposeful here. He wandered deeper and deeper into the forest, he was unaffected by the magic here but could feel it around him all the same. His demons were at peace so the forest treated him solemnly.

"The Vox Na'run forest... The forest of the dark." Sig said aloud. "Any who wander in here are confronted by vivid visions of their darkest memories, and if they cannot overcome them... They perish. Being consumed by the forest spiritually and physically."

He was immune to all magic now also so this forest could not enter his mind either way around. It was nice to have such protection sometimes, but it was a hindrance as well. A voice reached him at this point, a whimpering cry on the winds. It sounded like a young weak mare, who had already suffered greatly at the hands of the forest.

"One so young, I cannot abide by this." he said aloud heavily.

To steal prey from the forest may incur some penalty though, and of course the stallion just could not let a young one be absorbed if he could do something about it. He headed in the direction of the whimpering and came to a deep crater that he stood atop looking down. A young arctic blue mare curled up in the fetal position lay there crying.

"No, sisters... Don't punish me like this anymore..."

Sig worked his way down into the crater to find the mare was injured and looked mostly starved. She was on the very verge of death. He sat on a boulder on the far side of the cave that was slowly encroaching the mare. What was her story?

"Little sister why, big sis no..." the pitiful mare cried. "I couldn't save you from yourselves... I was too absorbed in myself... My selfishness just takes everything good from me... It just blinds me to everything. Even to hurting the golden one I cared about most..."

"Oh, and what happened to your sister's young one?" Sig asked in a loud deep tone.

"One overdosed on Siraka Nol, that terrible drug from the badlands... Poor big sis tried to come to me for help but I was too absorbed in myself to pay any mind. She was indirect about it but she did come to me." she said crying. "Little sis hung herself in a state of utter depression, I should have seen that too but was too absorbed in me. In my life... In my success."

"Your big sister had a drug problem, but I sense something caused the depression in your sister."

"She was raped." the mare answered with a hollow tone. "She battled with her feelings constantly over it. It bothered her that she had taken some enjoyment in it, when she didn't want her first time to be like that. But she was so young, and she turned to me for answers because big sis would be too high to be of much help. Heck, big sis would have molested her if the notion hit her when she was high... And yet, that never happened. But I never was of help either having little time for her trying to keep us together...Selfishly."

"Your name is Fleetfoot if I'm not mistaken?"

"How do you know--"

"You developed the same addictions as your sisters and wrapped them around your original sin hoping it would hide the bad things... That it would hide the truth... Why?"

"Because I... I..." She broke at this point it seemed. "Why did they both attack me that day, why did they try to kill me?"

Sig was so shocked he couldn't answer. That didn't add up, she said one overdosed and the other hung herself. There was a problem way deeper that she was still leaving out. Something beyond this trauma for her. All of this was wrapped around the main problem. This all could just be a delusion hiding her from the real pain. A shield from the truth, and she didn't realize it was being used against her by this forest to destroy her.

"I defended myself and ran away." she continued her tale. "But I never returned to that place, and since mom and dad had abandoned us when they felt we could take care of each other...they had nothing left to save them. They hated me for being so obsessed with my own success, but is that really such a bad thing? To want better for yourself, so that you might be able to help your siblings? Why couldn't they understand I was trying to do it all for them..."

"So they died after you left?"

"Big sis two months later, and little sis a week after that..."

"Are you sure that is how it happened, Fleetfoot of the Northern Skies?"

"How do you..?"

"You are reliving something just as bad as what did happen to you." Sig replied in a sagely tone. "Somehow, I feel the truth is still buried from the surface. I feel you are being tormented by delusions that are not truly your own... At least, not anymore they aren't. This forest took your shielding delusion, warped it, and turned it against you. All because you are weakened by your last loss... Spitfire."

Fleetfoot began to twitch violently at the mention of this name. This was a dangerous route to get her to snap back to reality, but Sig knew it would be impossible to get the truth otherwise. She looked like she had been here for a week, maybe two weeks, and you could easily see her rib cage defined before her body so malnourished. If he didn't hurry she would die here, and no matter what she had done... He couldn't just let this happen to her. Not like this.

"You never had any real sisters did you Fleetfoot." he paused before bringing the harshest part. "Your sisters were all your female team mates on the Wonderbolts. Their betrayals of your trust are symbolized in your story of how they attacked you and died. Albeit, I'm not sure who or how... I know that is what you are feeling. Specially big sis Spitfire."

"Shut up!" She screamed. "Your just another vision sent to torment me! I should have never ventured into this forest, but I just wanted to die so badly! I didn't expect this to be how I'd die, tormented by all my faults and failures! All the things that hurt me deep inside..."

Tears began to well up and stream down her face. She was opened up, that was her greatest weakness in this forest. An open heart meant death to most ponies. He had to bring her closure somehow, so that she may walk away from this alive. If she could unravel the truth and find closure rather than get stuck in the memories, she could get out alive. Only about five pony's had done that since this forest came into existence though. What is fate's decision on this mare going to be?

"Spitfire isn't the biggest issue is she?" Sig ventured a wild guess. "It's something that happened farther back than that... Isn't it?"

"N-No, it has nothing to do with that... Not my past no." Fleetfoot fumbled away from him in almost visible terror. "There is nothing there before I became a successful accomplished mare of the Wonderbolts of Equestria!"

"But the Wonderbolts recently reformed their team, it was all over the news..." Sig stated innocently. "...Did you not see the notifications from Nydus? Why wouldn't you respond to the team you hold so dear in your heart? The world was shocked when they reported that you never showed. Rainbow Dash has been the media's favorite to replace you in the coming months. It's practically a done deal."

"I guess success really is short lived, isn't it?" Fleetfoot whined softly, in pain. "She is the best replacement though. Really, she is a good mare... Sometimes I wish I never did her or Spitfire wrong the way I did. I was just being selfish... You know... I wasn't always like this..."

"Then where was your heart once upon a time Fleetfoot?"

"Don't make me go there... If I open this wound in this forest, it will destroy what little will I have left." She replied in a feeble cracking voice etched with tears. "You know this as you are a part of the forest too spirit."

"Hah!" he stood up and walked over to the mare and put a firm hand on her shoulder. "I have never been a part of this magical anomaly of a forest. I've always been right here with you. And I will be here with you through your greatest pain if you will share it with me."

"Yellow mane, green pelt... You seem so familiar..."

"I'm just a wandering musician who has lost his guitar, and his eyes." He said calmly. "But my heart has never been more open than at this moment. Now young one, will you share your pain with me?"

Her jaw quivered at the realization of his presence being real, "I can't believe it, there is someone who isn't affected by this horrid forest!"

"I have no regrets in my life, and I know that I can always try to fix my mistakes." Sig said with utter assurity. "If something happens that is irreparable... Well I've just gotta let it go. Because I gotta keep moving, keep growing."

"Alright then... I'll share my past with you." Fleetfoot said a little stronger than before. "A year before I came to join the Wonderbolts I lived in the north lands of Equestria with my mother and my... Father."

Sig had a feeling his wild guess, was actually a lot closer to home than he thought. He also remembered a story Dash had told him about Gilda once upon a time. This was the opposite side of the road. The road not taken by Gilda in the years long since gone. Two sides to every coin I suppose. Sig thought with a smile. He would get to be a part of this side of the coin's story.

"My mother was a very timid mare, but very kind and loving." She started. "Mom was amazing, I got my wings and speed from her. She could have done something great with her life, the sky was the limit for her... Instead she met dad and committed to marriage. I can't complain cause I'm alive because of her but..."

This was indeed the opposite side of the road from Gilda. Fleetfoot had her mother to protect her heart for a time, whereas Gilda never really knew her mother. The mare in front of him had hope to be saved from herself time and time again. The stallion continued to listen to her story, a gentle expression lighting his face.

"From the age of nineteen to twenty-one, my life was miserable." Fleetfoot hit the breaks on her recollection at this point. "I had trained my body every day to be at peak physical condition. Dad had always been a bit of a sexual deviant... Him and mom had a fight once every like, three months over whether or not he was cheating on her. More times than most during my teen years... I knew he was. But around my 19th birthday I was in the best condition physically I could ever be to join the Wonderbolts. I just had to keep it together for two years. I always told mom if I could do one thing for her, I would live both of our dreams... To be a great Wonderbolt Stunt Flier!"

"You mentioned your dad was a sexual deviant?" Sig questioned. "That whole memory centered on you and your mothers dream to become Wonderbolts though. Why did you do that?"

"To make the point of what kept me together most of my teen years." She said in pain. "Dad always acknowledged me as a mare... From the age of fifteen onward. He got into some real bizarre drugs around the time I was eighteen though. Mom was out on assignment in Cloudsdale a month before I turned nineteen, and I woke up tied to a bed after one of my naps around midday. I tolerated dad's sexual advances up to that point, and stopped anything involving actually doing the act with him as well. I was his little sexual muse if you will... The one that he blamed for his need to go sleep with mares other than my mother. To help him satisfy his lust for his own daughter."

Oh, this story was already taking quite a volatile direction and Sig knew it. She hadn't mentioned the drug problem of her father idly. How could a father do this to his own daughter?! Sig was furious deep down inside to know that so many seemed to take their own daughters as just another mare they can sleep with one day. It disgusted him to the core.

"When I turned eighteen though he started to experiment with drugs I know." Fleetfoot admitted. "But I never knew what they did, I should have tried to figure out what he was doing. He was trying to find drugs that, when used together, would make me a subservient sexual slave. I would be enslaved by my own body's pleasure, by my own heat if you will. He never wanted any of the mares he cheated on mom with, he never even wanted mom... Once he had me that is. He wanted me and only me, and now that I was eighteen and was in almost peak physical condition... He could lust for nopony else. I suppose my looks really were a curse... My athletic body with curves in all the right places... I mean, I look more tempting in my older years than I did when I was younger mind you. My overall body hasn't changed that much though, other than it looks a little older. I mean I look young but you can tell that I'm older than that, and I honestly prefer that sort of thing."

"Wait, so you look the same as when you were eighteen?" Sig questioned a bit shocked.

"Yeah, for the most part. Mom always said that was her side of the family's curse... The mares looked eighteen until about the age of twenty eight." She told him with a slight laugh that died quickly. "My body is catching up now days though... Anyways, back to me tied up on the bed. Dad came into the room holding a syringe full of some weird red liquid."

"The Sorcerer's Heat, or as it is more commonly known... Jungle Fever Juice." Sig interrupted.

"Yeah, but I didn't know it at the time." she replied sullenly. "He actually was the one who created the common version. Sorcerer's Heat is actually less prone to burning out pleasure receptors in the body. It was more natural, but was too difficult to produce cheaply and efficiently. Therefore, it was too expensive for my father... It took him eleven months to make a version he could be satisfied with. I bet he used a concoction every month on a different mare to see what it would do till he got a finished product for me."

Sig felt that she was not far off the mark, as there were a string of deaths that showed up in the papers for 11 months around that time. Most all were reported to have died from drug complications. Everypony knew it was a delayed reaction to side effects, but not a soul spoke about it or knew where it originated. It was a very hushed up situation when it occurred. The story was becoming difficult to listen to, even though he knew where it was going. It was hard to take as Fleetfoot left few details out as she rambled on forward.

"I fought back and struggled the best that I could that evening." She began to cry again as she fell back in time. "He restrained my arm at last and injected me with the drug, and it felt so warm. I could feel the warmth quickly flowing through my veins, and it felt so good... But I was getting so hot. It became very hazy for me at that point, but one thing I knew was... That was the night I lost my innocence. The night I lost myself and he conquered me. Drugging me into being his personal little pet."

"What happened after that?" Sig dared to ask.

"For the next two years he kept me addicted to that drug and others, all while having me scratch an itch he created in me." She scowled in anger. "Mom began to notice the changes in me and dad, she saved me in the end. She caught me and dad the night of my twenty-first birthday. I still felt amazing after two years of being drugged... Something we know, now days, is impossible with that drug. Mom walked into my room to wish me a happy birthday as father was upon me, he didn't even have to restrain me at that point. Mom had come home early and was shocked to find what I think she always suspected to be happening was true. She ripped him from me and actually dragged him from the room in a tangle of swinging and flailing arms. I could hear sounds of thrashing angry voices as I lay there in a haze. Wondering simply, why my pleasure had stopped."

At long last something that could end this vicious cycle, but knowing what he knew of the mare's life after leaving home he couldn't help but wonder how she triggered back into a relapse. Shouldn't the trauma be over and done with after mom saved her? The stallion knew there was more to this story that he had to hear. It was tearing at his heart.

"I of course, not knowing anything but a need for release from what I felt, finished myself off." She admitted shame written across her face. "It was after that reality seemed to come back to me, as the Jungle Fever Juice ran its course. I slowly came down from the high, and the tone of my fighting parents became more and more violent. I heard breaking glass, fury the likes of which I had never heard in their voices. A side effect of the drug I came off of was paranoia, but this effect brought me back to myself temporarily. I was suddenly hit with the need to shower myself, but I realized that the storm brewing in the other room frightened me so much more terribly..."

She began to sob uncontrollably and was becoming unhinged by the images that no doubt had began to play in her head as if she was there again. As if she never left it behind her. The forest was never kind to those who feared the fear they themselves created. The forest green stallion had to do what he could to calm her down again, before bringing her back to her tale.

"Can you finish the story Fleetfoot?" He asked with a tone of worry, a hand resting gently on her shoulder.

"I have to, nopony knows this part of my life... Not even her." She said sitting herself up straight again. "I got up got dressed and packed a bag full of only the most basic things that I would need. I took my small allowance of money and realized my father had left his wallet in my room, so I helped myself to his cash bits. It wasn't a lot but it would help me survive a little longer. I threw my window open and jumped out into the evening sky. I ran away from what my home had become. A perverse and twisted hell with one angel trying to save something that couldn't be saved. Two weeks later, I found myself in a town not far from Canterlot. I came upon a newspaper article with headlines that caught my eye while wandering the streets during my time there."

"I can only imagine what was written in that article..." he knew what story was next.

"Yeah, Husband and Wife dead after a domestic dispute turns violent, Daughter reported missing." Fleetfoot said mournfully. "According to the details, mom cut dad up pretty bad when he got violent but he got in the last shot and he knocked her head into a pointed granite counter top. She bled out, dad lost it when the police arrived and attacked them. Suicide by cop it seems."

"Big sister and little sister could have been mom and dad too." Sig reasoned.

"No my sisters were my team mates, you were right about that." She shot down his hypothesis. "Mom sacrificed herself over this, and in my heart I feel the fight was to buy me time to come down from my high and make my own decision on what was next... And I think, she knew I would run."

"Who is big sis and little sis then?" He questioned.

"Well big sis is Spitfire, and little sis was Misty Fly... At least that is what I think, but I could be wrong." the mare admitted solemnly. "Anyways, I wandered the town doing what I could to make money and save it up, but it wasn't easy seeing as I was homeless. Then one day I saw it, a poster advertising open Wonderbolt tryouts. They needed a speed flier to replace Spark Flare, who was retiring from a fifteen year career. I felt confident enough in my abilities, but I didn't know if I was good enough to make it. None-the-less, I showed up for the open application day. I looked bedraggled and absolutely less than the other ponies with homes."

"What was the next big thing..?"

"She was there, big sis and I first met here." the arctic blue mare said warmly. "I looked the most out of place, but I did my best to show my confidence. We applied and tried out the same day. I was surprised to find out I wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Most were faster than me, with far greater agility and lithe athletic skill. At the end of the day though, Spitfire walked up to me and announced that I was their primary candidate to be recruited. There is a fire in her eyes that I can't see in any other pony's here. She told every pony in earshot. At the end of it all she noticed something I didn't think I had left in me. A Bright Blazing Spirit."

"But all that changed about a year later, didn't it Fleetfoot?" he knew what happened here.

"Yeah...little over a year later she nearly died, and became someone I could barely recognize." a single tear broke away from her eyes. "She became addicted to drugs, alcohol, and sex... Something she eventually pulled me into. I was bright eyed and respected her too much to turn her away, and deep down... I wanted to give in to her advances. But what did I know with what I experienced with love and sexuality?"

"You were still weaning the effects of the drug your father created." Sig told her. "Withdrawals can still hit you three years after you stop using it. You were getting pseudo stimulus from your body."

"I know that now days." she answered with heavy sorrow. "Because of it though, I relapsed. I still became what I tried to run away from, what my mom sacrificed herself to save me from. Now I feel nothing stimulating about physical touch, my nerves are shot. Because I just couldn't stop myself from using again... I noticed it before things went bad with Spitfire. I thought with her it would be different... It wasn't. How far I fell after that you can scarcely believe..."

She held out her arms, wrists up to him. He reached out to feel her arms only to find deep scars in both of them. She had been trying to kill herself.

"I've been trying for two years now, since I feel nothing." she answered him plainly. "Every time I fail, end up in a hospital, then check out quietly to try again. They can never manage to keep me, I knew their tricks by that point. I came here seeking that same death since nopony dares to adventure here, but I never knew the forest would try to kill me with my own demons. I just can't find it in my heart to die like this! Slowly decaying and fading away into nothing. I can even still feel the pain as raw as it ever was... In here I can feel my physical pain again!"

"Then it is time for you to heal yourself, and change your path." Sig said easily. "Do you think you can cast off the image you've given to the world? The harlot, the temptress, the princess of sexuality? Go back to the simpler times when a flight at top speeds was all you lived for, the rush that drove you to train your body to its perfection in all aspects of flight alone... Can you do that? Do you have the will to go on still after all you have done?"

She paused for a very long moment, truly thinking about the stallion's words... Then she answered with fire, "Yes, I want to at least try to go back to what really makes me who I am."

"Then it will be a long and hard road, but I will help you overcome your past Fleetfoot." Sig pledged.

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

"Sweet Celestia Fleetfoot..." Spitfire said her jaw falling agape.

"And for two years I have helped her fight to shed her old ways... To free her from her past." Sig said with conviction. "Just as you freed yourself Spitfire, with my daughters help. Though I nearly died again trying to get out of... Dash?"

Dash had heard a lot about Fleetfoot, but she wasn't happy with her father in the least at this moment. During the story her rage had slowly come to a boil. And it was written blatantly across her face.

"You've been gone for four years, and you didn't even think to tell your daughter?" Dash shouted, she was furious now. "I've grieved for years with no closure to your death only to find out you never actually died?! And better yet, you made the princess swear to not tell a soul where you were or that you were alive? How can you even justify that? So I could grow on my own? Don't spout such pony puffed nonsense, you know better than anypony how I would feel and what I've been through!"

Everyone turned to face her shock written across their faces... Except for Signature Sandwich. He seemed to understand her anger easily... Which, only served to piss her off that much more.

"Hun stop, please." Spitfire begged her softly.

"No, he has no idea what I had to suffer through not knowing what to feel!" Dash roared. "Was he dead... Alive? If so if not what should I really feel... Sadness? Happiness? Certainly not confusion! I just don't know how to feel about any of this!"

She shouted and stormed off in a rage, she didn't know where she was going but she needed to be alone. She needed to think about everything that sat in front of her. Including Spitfire and Fleetfoot being like spiritual sisters. She wasn't sure how to even start on that considering their sexual relations. Her head was spinning from all of the emotions overloading her logical calmness.

Dammit dad, why did you do this to me?

She heard hoofsteps behind her after a brief moment it felt like, "Go away!"

She found herself wrapped up in the embrace of her father, "You overemotional twit, why do you never let me get to finish my explanations! Of course I missed you, but I had to stay away for you and for me. I had to get used to what lady Mortalitas made me into before I came back to you. I just happened to find Fleetfoot in the process, and she needed help too Dash. Our family has always been suckers for those in need, always feeling loyalty to helping others is not a bad thing!"

"I-I don't want to hear it!" She began crying into his shoulders.

She couldn't help but melt away into her father's embrace, she was just so confused by all of this. For all this good there were only a few answers, but wasn't that life for you? Not every answer can be given. Maybe she just had to accept that she wouldn't always be one hundred percent informed about things, and just let it go... She was still very much childish in her heart, but it was a part of what made her the rambunctious mare that she was.

I need to stop flying off the handle with my temper like this when things bother me.

"The winds carry this story that you learned how to play guitar while I was gone?" Sig said with pride and hugged her more tightly. "I'm proud of you, I had to relearn it myself! You have to tell me all about what I've missed kiddo!"

"I'm still mad at you dad!" She shouted with more of a smile etching her face.

"But you won't stay mad, because we're family." the stallion let her go and smiled brightly. "And family are never truly apart for very long, we are always in each others heart!"

"You are insufferable dad, but I love you." Dash said wiping away her tears and smiling brightly.

It had been a long day for all of them it seemed but it was about time that they all retired home for a rest. Eventually they would talk more on the subjects, but not today. Dash needed to regain her composure, and everypony was fine with that. The story that would come though, that would be the truest form of understanding for all of her confusion. She was 25 and engaged to be married in the next eleven months. They had decided the wait would be a wise idea for both of them.

Time was precious for one stallion in particular though... Something Dash still had to learn the hard way.

Chapter 38: The Time Between

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 39: My Eyes Open For Your Future

Dash awoke in the embrace of her love the night before her wedding. Her mind had been whirling with ideas to make the day so special Spitfire would never forget it. Yet she couldn't think what to do about any of the ideas. She had to work on gently prying herself free of Spitfire's grasp so she wouldn't awaken. The cyan mare needed to go for a fly and clear her head, an action she did more frequently than she'd like to admit now days.

She managed to free herself and get dressed in more appropriate clothes for the flight. It was around midnight when she took off from her cloud home. She circled the town for a time taking in all of the beautiful scenery that seemed to glow in Luna's evening moon. After a time she began to wonder to herself, Is this really the direction of my life? It felt odd to think this considering all the good in her life, but knowing her she was just being paranoid.

During her little daydream she hadn't realized that she was now circling Sig's home. She noticed the lights were still on so she decided to ask her father for his opinion on tomorrow, and maybe weasel more out of him about how he was still alive. Which she knew she wouldn't get, but it was worth a try. She came to land gently on the yard between the shop and his home and approaching the door she could hear music. A soft playback of piano with an acoustic guitar. It was rare for Sig to pick up that old thing. She crept closer to listen in on his song as he started again...

What have I become,
My sweetest friend?
Everyone I know,
Goes away,
In the end,

And you could have it all,
My empire of dirt,
I will let you down,
I will make you hurt...

If I could start again,
A million miles away,
I would keep myself,
Cause I would find a way...

Dash could only feel tears streaming down her face but she didn't know why, the song sounded so sad yet so utterly real. It was like he was saying goodbye again... She couldn't bear that thought easily. She was about to go knock when her father opened the door and simply said, "Come in, you lil' lurker you."

"I am not lurking!" She replied indignantly.

"I could hear you crying after the first chorus, blind person hearing member?" he said mockingly.

"That's not fair dad!" Rainbow cried out.

"And neither is you lurking on my blind person musical brooding, the night before your wedding." Sig returned flatly. "Which reminds me, why are you up with that tomorrow?"

She entered his house and went straight to his messy couch and sat on his piles of papers. Making herself quite comfortable, she knew he was too quick for his own good. He would notice her odd behavior. He would notice that she was spitefully taking revenge on the stallion for making a show of her like that.

"Hey now, do you even care if those are important?"

"Blind person writing now dad?" she retorted with sarcasm.

"Maybe?" He answered scratching his head in vain. "So what's on your mind then, big day tomorrow after all?"

She knew he wouldn't miss a beat, he was after all a gifted musician. For what that was worth.

"I don't know, just distracted with all my thoughts as usual." she vaguely dodged.

"Oh, got some creative plans to make it the best day ever huh?" the stallion answered simply finding a chair and pulling it over in front of her. "But... I'd guess too many to decide on just one am I right?"

"I swear, you know me too well sometimes dad."

"What can I say, it's a gift." He said puffing out his chest proudly.

"You're right though, but I really don't know which ideas to pick."

They sat in silence for a time before he spoke plainly, "I'd suggest music to pull on her heartstrings personally."

"Well yeah, that's one of my ideas since I can play now but..." Dash hesitated for a moment before going on. "...I don't know if I can play and sweep her off her feet. Ya know dad?"

"Oh yeah, I know that one." He answered remembering his own wedding to Silent Storm. "Maybe have someone you know play for you? After all, I have to give you to Spitfire still so..."

"What, you wanna help?"

"Are you serious Dash, after all we've been through you think I'd say 'No'?"

She shrugged in submission. She wasn't even sure what she was thinking or feeling right now about tomorrow. Some would be excited, some scared of their coming nuptials, but Dash felt an oddly awkward calm about it. It almost made her feel hollow. Something inside her was trying to warn her of something, but what was it? She looked to her dad and saw a look of perplexed confusion there.

"Wh-What are you looking at me like that dad?"

He reached up and brushed a tear out of her eye, "You're crying, your hair is all tussled, and you look like shit honestly."

She was shocked, wasn't he blind?

"Now that my vision is returned I can see just how messed up your body language is."

"Wait, you can see again?" She shouted.

"You're getting married today so... Yeah, that was my deal with death." Sig answered calmly. "If that isn't proof enough that this will be true, I dunno what else I can do for you kiddo."

"Well I'd say you could get the band together for my wedding, Spits is a huge fan after all." she retorted with a cocky smile.

"That's already done actually." He answered with a smile. "Kinda figured you'd want a band for entertainment so I booked the best... ME!"

"You are shameless dad... No wonder you adopted me!" She laughed so hard in that moment.

She realized her stony calm attitude was her way of expressing her anxiety at the marriage that was coming. As per usual though, Signature Sandwich had helped her to laugh again. It was a great thing to have her father back in her life, it was a dream that most ponies never got to experience. She silently thanked Celestia for putting him in this world and giving him back. She may not be here without the elder stallion.

"Hey kid I can tell you what song will hold a lot of memory for and melt the heart of Spits till she is mush in your hands!" Sig broke in with excitement. "In fact, if you want we can work it into how your I do's go. Can I do it? I bet you even know the words to it!"

"More than likely dad, but what else can we do?" She got enthusiastic herself now. "I mean this has to be the best day ever for Spitfire. I don't want her to ever forget it!"

The father daughter duo began their plotting together happily for another hour or so until Dash passed out on the couch. Sig knew he had another place to get to, though if he tried to explain how he knew... Not a soul would believe him.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Spitfire awoke moments after Dash had left, and she knew the younger mare had a lot on her mind. Maybe she was even trying to organize her thoughts of how to surprise her tomorrow as, no doubt, she wanted to make it the best day ever. The golden mare would gain nothing by worrying at this point though as she couldn't stop her betrothed's actions. She was herself, also a bit on edge the more she thought about tomorrow.

"Heh, now I get why Dash went on a flight." She mused sullenly. "Miracles surround her though, so she will be fine. Maybe a flight wouldn't hurt any for me either, I get this feeling she will crash at her dad's. So I don't have to wait."

She laughed at this thought as she knew she would be right. Dash had clung to any moment she could spend with her father since he came back into her life. Though knowing her love, she went for advice on whatever she had been feeling that woke her from her restless sleep. She got dressed as well and headed to the window for a flight as well. Something was sitting in the pit of her stomach as well, but she could keep it quiet more easily than Dash. Life experiences and all.

She looked at the clock as she turned and leaped from the window. One in the morning, looks like neither of them were getting the best sleep, but these sorts of things happened. She was two months from turning 30 so it was expected that it would be harder to come by sleep with her age. At least, that was how she felt. With all she had experienced in the past five years it was expected that she was tired, and it is a wonder she never actually picked up smoking. Out of everything she had done in her life oddly enough.

Her journey took her all over Ponyville until eventually she came to a park on the outskirts of town that she and Dash had once walked to on their casual date night long ago. The moon lit up the atmosphere around her with clouds occasionally taking the light for a brief moment before returning it. Crickets chirped and owls hooted in the distance, it was utterly peaceful. As she walked along the dirt paths thinking to herself how beautiful it was here she heard a voice suddenly break into her revelry.

"What is it with you two and interrupting my evening?" came Sig's exhausted voice.

She turned and saw the green stallion sitting on a bench... Smoking.

"I didn't know you smoked Sig." she answered moving closer.

He coughed a bit before replying, "I don't, but you two are driving me to take a little chance this evening."

"Can you spare a smoke fer me?" she asked sweetly.

"Didn't know you smoked." he answered tilting his head curiously.

"I don't, but considering events its a miracle I never did until now."

"Yeah no, you just did worse things to yourself with drugs and alcohol." he gently reminded her giving her a small cigarette and then lighting it for her as she sat beside him. "So I guess it won't hurt you none."

She took a long satisfying drag on the death stick and at once felt her tense muscles loosen up. She exhaled a massive cloud of smoky vapors with such satisfaction. She wondered what the stallion could be doing out here at this late hour, but she didn't pry in the least. leaving conversation to him may have been the best option for her.

"Worried about the future?" Sig said suddenly.

"A little bit honestly." Spitfire shifted uncomfortably.

"Diligence and patience is what she needs most from you, and no normal level of understanding as well." the stallion said cryptically to her as he shifted himself to face her. "Otherwise your temper will betray you Spitfire. Yet there is always hope for you to be the happy ending she ultimately needs, and that's why I trust giving her to you. Hope."

The stallion took a drag of his own from the cigarette in his own hand, and let it out softly. He was warning her of the future, and his eyes were crystal clear in that darkness that surrounded them as a cloud passed over the moon. He was looking right through her, and she would not deny that it felt extremely scary. Spitfire had no idea how to reply other than nod her ascent.

"So, Dash was bugging you too tonight eh?" the golden mare started casually. "What was she up to? More plans about the best day ever?"

"Pretty much, and I think my insight helped her to find an idea for you." he returned with a smile, but that smiled darkened quickly. "Though it will be for the last time that I can help."

"Heading home to the ether for the last rest?" she said calmly.

Spitfire wasn't shocked at his revelation in the least bit. Somewhere in her heart she knew that this, would be the stallion's last gift to his beautiful young daughter. To give her to another, and help entertain that after event before slowly being escorted from the stage. Probably to a hospital or hospice to live out his last bits of life on his own. She knew he was fading back to black. He was, after all, tethered to this realm by his love for Rainbow Dash.

"Heh you can tell that much, but you have no idea of the details." Sig answered with a sly smile flicking away his cigarette, now burned out. "You always seem to be quicker than Dash at realizing the darker truth... Even if you don't entirely know you have a slight grip. Remember, I'm leaving her in your hands Spitfire. Don't you let her go, and don't you stop taking care of her."

"Maybe somewhere in my heart I'm worried about where the road will take us I guess..." She admitted with the weight in her gut shifting.

"Me and Storm were too, but we faced it... Together." the stallion put his hand on her shoulder. "You just gotta have faith, even in the face of your own darkness."

"Yeah I suppose so... Will the mare to be, be spending the night at your place?" the mare asked taking the last drag of her cigarette and putting it out.

"She will be... Oh and before I forget..." Sig started to dig through his jacket pockets. "...Give her this, but only when you know the time is right. Oh wait, not in my pockets!"

He reached down under the bench and pulled up a small brown paper wrapped package. And envelope attached to it said: To my beloved daughter, Rainbow Dash. Her only question as she reached out to take the package was instantly answered.

"Don't worry... You will know when." Sig smiled warmly. "Now you had best get home otherwise you are both gonna look like zombies for your wedding day!"

He was right. She sat the package down and reached forward and pulled him into a tight hug that he returned. This stallion was truly great and wouldn't ever be again someday. It made her sad to know that one day he would be gone, but she knew that when that day came she would have to be Dash's strength.

"Thanks for caring Signature."

"Get ready to call me dad soon!"

"I'll try not to!"

They both laughed with all their heart as they parted ways for the night. Tomorrow was the day that her and Dash had worked toward for years, and she wouldn't ruin it for anything.

Chapter 1: Good Morning Surprise

A mare with ruffled flame streaked hair strode across an apartment that she had been renting for the past month or so, her wings gently swaying side to side. It had been a hard journey seeking her redemption, but in the end it would all be worth it she knew. She finally came to a simple wooden radio and promptly turned it on, tuning it to try to find something to listen to. Her lithe athletic figure covered only by a large blue Wonderbolt's sports jersey as she shuffled through the music.

"Come on!" she growled. "Where is the good music?"

She finally stopped on a station as a song started in with a strong piano line and the singer coming across just as powerfully. She smiled a light in her amber eyes as she headed for the small kitchen, it was about time she started her morning. First a stop at the coffee pot to get it churning, and then to get some form of food prepared for herself. The fridge offered her no sustenance though as she had been running short of funds to stock it with.

Since she had started rehabilitation, she had taken temporary leave from the Wonderbolts. Based on her contract this left her with a lump sum payment till she could work again. This part of her contract would be one of the biggest hurdles of her healing.

"Nothing in here again." the golden mare sighed. "What will I do for food today I wonder?"

Looking over to see the coffee pot churning out its liquid gold she shrugged. At least she could have her morning coffee, she would die without at least that much. As she turned to head back for the coffee pot a different sound caught her ears over the radio, the ringing of a phone. She changed her route and headed back towards her bedroom where the phone was located, a warm smile across her face.

The phone calls she had been receiving the past month had been her light as she fought the demons in her head. Those demons being her worst vices, which had almost cost her everything of true value in her life. Before, she had been living a partying lifestyle that lead her down a road of alcoholism, drug use, and sexual addiction.

Checking into rehabilitation had helped her to find out some of the reasons why she did this to herself, and lead to the most difficult treatment pattern to get back to her old self. Her apologies to every pony she had wronged would take dedication of the highest degree. She had to start with the last pony she wronged and work her way back from there. Little did she expect that within the first three she would find a new reason to fight, the one mare's words that impacted her most.

She picked up the phone and said, "Hello, Spitfire speaking."

"Hey there Spitfire." came a voice that was sweet music to the pegasus' ears. "It's Dash in case you've forgotten!"

She chuckled, "How could I forget you, rainbow butt!"

The fiery maned mare heard Rainbow Dash laugh on the other end before speaking, "So mornin' to you too! Anyways, how are you doing today?"

Spitfire sat on the bed softly, "Well I guess since I have my coffee I'm immortal, but without food or the bits for food." she paused. "I will have to find some temporary work soon!"

"Yeah you had better do that soon, wouldn't want you coming back a skeleton!" the cyan mare stated with a laugh. "Oh yeah! So Spitfire, who is next in your long list of apologies?"

She didn't even have to check the list her and her therapist had worked to make together to know who was next. The next entry was the one she knew would be hardest to redeem.

"Well Dash." she started laying back on the bed her legs hanging off. "It's the team actually. My final task before I can return to the doc's."

"What, and you're going into that on an empty stomach?" Dash shouted in surprise.

The golden mare sighed and sat back up, "Yeah, not much I can do about that sadly. But if it's the price I have to pay, then I'll gladly pay it."

"Wow." was the only reply she heard.

"What?" Spitfire stuttered in surprise.

Rainbow just laughed, "I never would have thought, that my words that day would have you going so far to change!"

The golden mare felt her cheeks heat at the veiled praise from the cyan mare. She knew she was attracted to the mare more than sexually that day she gave Dash her phone number. Yet, she had still resolved to not act until her own vices were put to rest. It killed her to resist the urge, but inside she knew that the moment would come for both of them. They both had their own pains to be one hundred percent at terms with first, after all, Applejack wouldn't be forgotten easily. Spitfire didn't want to tread on that pain in the least.

The quirky voice of Dash brought her back to reality, "Hey Spitfire, you still there?"

"Hmm, yeah. Sorry 'bout that Rainbow got lost in thought." she replied sheepishly rubbing her head.

"Well then, you must have missed my offer to treat you to breakfast then, didn't you?" Rainbow inquired.

The fiery maned mare's eyes shot open at this, and if she had had coffee in her mouth she would have just spit it out. The powers that be had thrown her one massive curve, and she was ill ready to receive it.

"D-Dash are you serious?" Spitfire stammered still trying to compose herself.

"Yeah of course I'm serious!" the rainbow maned mare declared. "I can't let ya go into your biggest hurdle yet at any less than one hundred percent!"

"I. Ah. Um." she fumbled through speech.

Dash laughed, "What is it that surprising." she paused before adding with humor, "Captain."

With the humorous tint to the mare on the other end of the call's voice Spitfire felt unsure of what to feel. Exhilarated or crestfallen. The Captain bit sounded sarcastic, but she couldn't be certain that was the meaning. In the end the Wonderbolt decided to leave it alone for now and just roll with the punches, for better or for worse.

"Well yeah miss full time waitress of a rock and roll sandwich shop!" she playfully jibed at Dash. "All matters aside though, where did you have in mind? You of course remember the distance between our homes right?"

Rainbow had noticeably stopped for a moment that Spitfire took as her blushing before she replied, "Of course I remember that, and in fact I will demonstrate that right now."

It was at the cyan mare's last sentence that a strong knock came at her front door. Was Dash serious, she hadn't even gotten dressed yet! She couldn't let her see her like this!

"So now you know I'm here, but I'll give ya a minute Spitfire." the rainbow mare sounded sheepish now. "I know I probably got here before you could fully get dressed."

"But how did you know? I mean how could you have planned for all of this?" the golden mare replied stunned.

"Well I just paid attention to how hard things kept getting for you as the days have gone by while we spoke. But really, I guessed at today possibly being one of your worst uphill battles yet." she said modestly. "Now come on Spits and get your flank movin'!"

With that Dash hung up her phone, and the firey maned mare did the same. She stood and jumped into the air raising a fist in triumph, feeling as happy as the day she was promoted to the position of Captain of the Wonderbolts. Now the thought came into her mind, But what should I wear?

Spitfire had to wear something that wasn't dirty, and something that was in no way too provocative for her meeting with the team afterwards. For a moment she felt like just going the provocative route for her breakfast with Dash, but she scolded herself for even having the thought. She strode over to her dresser to try to get some semblance of an outfit together.

It was a short lived experience though, her only clean clothes were very simple at first glance. A simple comfortable fit blue button up t-shirt, and a pair of denim jeans that if you looked closely you would notice were a little tight on her rear. She also combed her hair over for any knots, and flared it back quickly. As she began to head toward the front door she grabbed her official Wonderbolt captain's jacket. She had to anticipate it being cold on her return journey.

As she opened the door she was quickly blinded by the morning sun reflecting brightly off the rainbow mane in front of her. She hadn't seen Rainbow Dash for about a month now, and it was surprising to see the flyer had let her hair grow a little longer. She was sitting on the stairs to her apartment her back to the Wonderbolt. In fact looking at her friend, her overall physique looked almost entirely different. She looked to be entirely made of lithe toned muscle now, barely any trace of fat was visible on her.

The flame maned mare was so fixated on the mare in front of her that she wasn't paying attention to the door as she shut it on her own tail. With a yelp of pain she turned to remove her tail and try again, succeeding this time around. Turning back around she saw the cyan mare had gotten up and now faced her, a smile glowing on her face.

"Careful Spitfire, wouldn't wanna lose yer tail just yet!" Dash joked lightly.

The golden mare looked Dash up and down in one quick assessment. She wore a deep red tank top that accentuated her figure, and a pair of white washed denim jeans as tight as her own. She then saw something as the pegasus adjusted her hair that she could not believe.

"Dash, are my eyes playing tricks on me or do I see you have braids in your hair?" the golden mare said shocked. "I thought it was odd you let your hair grow, but wow! Color me impressed!"

The rainbow maned mare blushed ever so slightly, "Oh, so you noticed that already did ja?" The mare shrugged trying to regain her composure, "Yeah, well, guess I just felt like a change of pace is all."

"Well." the Wonderbolt started stepping closer to Dash a warm smile on her face. "I gotta say I like the change!"

The blue mare practically fell off the top step she stood on, but Spitfire caught her easily.

"Really Dash? Don't let me knock you off your hooves that easily!" the golden mare said with a silly grin upon her face.

The younger flier kicked up and away in a moment of flustered confusion landing at the base of the stairs. A look of bewildered anxiety smeared across her face, but most noticeable within her magenta eyes. Maybe she shouldn't have said what she did, but she had been honest with herself in her words. Was that really so bad?

"Hey Dash." Spitfire fretted as she came down the stairs. "Was that too forward of me?"

The young flier looked up at her for a moment before answering, "Maybe a little bit, but it was more that I wasn't ready for it at all. I mean I know you were just kidding but still."

The golden mare reached out a hand and sat it on Rainbow's shoulder, "Don't worry I got cha Dash. I'll do what I can to keep myself in line! After all, I'm gonna have to do that with the team today anyways!" As the cyan mare looked up and into her eyes she smiled, "So how about that breakfast then Dash?"

"Yeah sure, lets go!" the blue mare declared turning around to fly off. "By the way Spitfire, we are going to Ethereal Soul. That new cafe in the center of town, think you can keep up with me?"

"Is that a challenge I hear Rainbow Dash?" the older mare asked a spark in her amber eyes. "I know the place, but if you think you can outpace me just cause I haven't been practicing, you are in for a surprise!"

Dash bolted into the sky with a fierce speed, but Spitfire wouldn't be outdone as she broke into a sprint spreading her wings and catching the breeze. She soared into the skies high above the terrestrial city of New Trottinghem, the air felt crisp and sweet under her wings. Birds called out as they flew near her, but she couldn't stop to admire the scenery as she had a challenge to win.

She began flapping her wings with vigor quickly gaining speed, and her smaller overall build and frame allowed her great maneuverability. Yet Rainbow Dash was still able to keep just ahead of her no matter how hard she tried to gain speed; she couldn't believe she was going to lose to the younger flier. If Soarin' saw this he would never let her live it down, and it hit her in that moment. Her best friend Soarin', how had he coped with everything that had happened? The thought at the forefront of her mind though was, Will he ever find it in his heart to forgive me?

The Wonderbolt had fallen behind in her reflective state of mind, and before she knew it she had landed in front of the rainbow maned mare cheering in her victory. The look of concern and contemplation did not leave Spitfire's face however, and Dash quickly noticed this.

"Hey what's wrong with you Spits?" Rainbow said with a hint of concern in her own voice.

"Huh?" the firey orange maned mare replied. "Oh sorry, guess I just got distracted is all! I'll get you next time rainbow butt!"

"Can I ask you what the thought was?" the cyan mare inquired gently.

Spitfire's stomach roared loudly in its emptiness, "Yes but let's get some breakfast first please? I'd rather not have my stomach throwing a full on rebellion today!"

The two mares laughed wholeheartedly as they both walked into the Ethereal Soul Cafe. It was nice today with such a small crowd of people out and about, things might not go so bad today. Spitfire was hopeful, but deep down she wondered what was on Rainbow's mind over today. Even though she had been a bundle of smiles and energy this morning the golden mare couldn't help but feel like the younger pegasus was hiding something just under the surface.

Chapter 21: Of The Music, By The Music, And All For The Music

As Signature's memories took shape again they were at a travelling fair that had stopped in Canterlot, and had been asked if they would mind playing it. They had been hesitant at first because of their recently disgraceful loss at the Battle of the Bands qualifier. The forest green stallion ended up being the one to agree to join in the festivities.

Everyone seemed shocked by his choice to just play the event.

"Yo, what's up with you man?" Ace asked as the fair manager walked off happily.

"I lost my way in my haste to beat Lectric." Sig sighed weakly. "I forgot that my meaning, my purpose, is the music."

"Well obviously!" a sturdy hand clapped onto his shoulder from Brim. "But we are in this together now aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are as good as brothers now!" Redd commented cheerfully. "No matter what we stand together."

The forest green guitarist was touched by his friends resolve and loyalty. Ace had remained silent though, and Sig took this as his moment to speak.

"Hey Ace sorry about last--"

"Don't bother man, I know you were riled up!" the white pegasus said waving Sig off. "Can't totally blame you, but don't walk out on yer brothers again or I'll lay you flat!"

He smiled and chuckled before answering, "Okay then, I'll make sure to keep my end of the bargain then!"

They all headed out to find the stage they would play upon, and perused the fair while they were at it. It looked like a typical carnival complete with petting zoo's, Ferris wheel, mirror mazes, and games that you could win prizes at. Storm hadn't been there today, but Sig felt inclined to win her something.

Not now, I've got things to do. Maybe after some music playing!

Young children were running amok, young adults were trying out all the games and rides, and the older crowd was merely observing and enjoying what was. It was an interesting sight to watch, and maybe they could play a song that symbolized this crowd. Sig wasn't sure about that but it still sounded nice.

They finally arrived at an old looking wooden stage that was rather simple in design. This was not going to be easy to set up, and one look at the surrounding area told him the acoustics would be terrible. They had all their instruments as well, but set up was looking less than appealing.

Why should we even play?

The thought had probably crossed all of their minds but it was plaguing Signature the most. As they hooked in the equipment bit by bit, tested it for working order, and began warming up the answer became quite clear to him. It was why he always carried his guitar with him, and why he played it as well.

I am just an instrument of the music, and I bring its beauty to those who have not yet seen it. We should play simply because of the music, for the sheer enjoyment brought forth.

"Are we all ready guys?" Ace inquired.

Everyone nodded as the fair manager came up on stage to introduce us to the crowd all across the fairgrounds.

"Stallions and mares near and far, I have quite the musical treat for you now!" his voice echoed all across the grounds. "A band that's achievements are all too well known in the rock scene, a band with a name that is quickly becoming a rising tide, the only band that can say they are the true embodiment of soul in music today. Give a warm welcome to Kirin Rush!"

Sig watched in astonishment as heads turned in stunned awe. Ponies began gathering around the stage curious to see if it was the real deal. The crowd knew who they were, and seemed genuinely stoked to see a show. The guitar player was dumbfounded at this turn of events as voices reached him on stage.

"Is that the real Kirin Rush?"

"Kirin Rush is seriously playing the fair?"

"No way, these guys are amazing! Can't believe they would make time for us!"

"No cover charge for watching either, now this is a band all about the music."

"A band for the masses to appreciate!"

The band members all looked at one another, confused at how popular they had actually become. Ace smiled brightly and strode up to the microphone in his traditionally cocky manner.

"Heeeyyy there Canterlot!" the white pegasus let off his high pitched scream. "How are we doin' this evenin'?"

Realizing that they were the real deal the crowd screamed its resounding approval. More and more fans came pouring into the small courtyard that was reserved for this act. They had overflown the courtyard in fact, and Sig was now grateful for the setup they had. He signaled Redd to push volume up on the sound system, and he quickly complied as Ace held the crowd in his hands.

"Now this is what I call a Whole, Lotta, Love!" Ace laughed lightly.

That was the cue for the song that they had started with a long time ago as opening act in a bar called The Shining Brew. Upon hearing Sig's guitar begin to play the audience before them went wild with cheers. This song effectively showed off all their talents, and even let Ace play around with some more provocative sounds. It was actually hilarious how he got away with it every time.

The music had become purified again as Sig rocked his body based on the music he was playing, Redd and Brim were doing the same. It was like the first time they played together all over again, and yet Signature noticed something going on among the crowd. One particular mare was making her way to the front of the stage and it looked like Storm, but something told him it wasn't her.

When the guitar break down happened he lost sight of the mare and went back to playing. In mere moments the last note faded away as the white pegasus vocalist regained his grip on the crowd.

"Good to know a classic song of ours is still appreciated!" he roared into the mic. "Now Sig, what do you say to another classic?"

The green stallion stepped forward to his own microphone and answered, "Nah, I got a song I'd like to dedicate to you guys if you wouldn't mind?"

"We haven't practiced it though, in fact this is the first I'm hearing of it!" Ace answered moving off to stage right cautiously.

"Don't worry, if we really are all brothers." Sig paused moving more towards center stage. "You guys will know what to do!"

Ace picked up his guitar, and plugged it in. Sig immediately broke into the guitar line, the white pegasus followed along quickly, and then the green stallion broke into lead guitar. Bit by bit they caught the sound of the song, and at this point they would always be brothers of music. He remembered well singing the words in a deeper tone than Ace usually did. This included the final outro chorus.

Through the years and miles between us,
Its been a long and lonely ride,
Though if I got that call, in the dead of night,
I'd be right by your side,

Blood on Blood!
Just like blood on blood,
Just like brothers,
Blood on Blood!

Every word sang was meant, every note played heartfelt, and every moment remembered. They were family, and Sig couldn't be happier with how this song turned out. He trusted Ace, Redd, and Brim and they all came through for him flawlessly. At the end of the song the crowd was roaring with their enjoyment. Sadly though, they were only allowed time for the two songs.

"Sadly folks, we were only asked to perform two songs this evening." Ace broke it to the crowd, who were crestfallen. "You know, so as to not take away from too much carnival goodies! Some of the games actually look pretty fun, and so in respect to the fair proprietor we will step down from the stage."

The crowd got quiet for a moment before a chant began to rise up.

"Encore, Encore, Encore!"

Ace went to try to calm the crowd down, but was quickly interrupted by a brilliant white light. The shine was enough to blind the ponies all around. It had eminated from the mare that looked like Silent Storm, Signature noticed before being blinded himself. As he regained his vision he couldn't believe who now stood before him.

"Well now, am I interrupting?" came the gentle voice of Equestria's ruler, Princess Celestia.

"Oh my..." was all Signature managed to say.

"Signature Sandwich, Tempest Wing, Redbook, Brimstone Beats...I saw what happened at the Battle of the Bands qualifier." she announced, and Sig felt his heart drop. "Yet today, I have also seen your resolve and dedication to the music deep within your souls. In fact, I think this entire audience has."

The crowd around the princess taking this as a cue, began to cheer for the band again shouting for an encore. The alicorn princess' horn lit up with her magic and she teleported herself up on stage in front of Signature. She motioned for the microphone, to which he bowed to her indicating it was all hers. Picking it up she turned to the crowd and announced something that would change the future of Kirin Rush permanently.

"Who here wants to see Kirin Rush perform at the Battle of the Bands during this years Autumn Harvest Festival?" the princess waited as the crowd broke into a unanimous roar of approval. "Then they will compete this year because of all of you here today, as the People's Choice!"

As if the crowd couldn't get any louder somehow it did, and the band members themselves were coming to terms with what was happening here. Celestia turned around and said to Signature in particular, "Plus I don't too much care for where Lectric has gone with his music either, he has tainted the gift he was given and I won't stand for it!"

"Are you really serious about this Celestia?" the guitarist questioned once.

"Yes I am." she smiled genuinely. "Now you boys give Heart and Hoof hell at the competition!"

With that the princess vanished presumably, and the band began celebrating its victory. They played one more song for the audience and then got to packing up. While doing so the sun had set and Sig found himself with a crazy idea in his mind. He went over to Brimstone to ask quite the important question.

"Hey Brim I gotta ask something, you can enchant things correct?" Signature asked casually.

"Well yeah I can, but my specialty is with geological materials...why?" the obsidian maned unicorn wondered, interests peaked.

"I've got a request of sorts that may give us an edge in the competition." the guitar player said with a sly smile. "You game for a challenge?"

Brim smiled back, "Oh you know I enjoy a good challenge, gimme your best!"

"Well I was wondering if..." Sig's voice faded as the scene dissipated and changed.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Some Days Later...

The Canterlot Bowl was utterly packed to capacity and then some this evening, and at all costs the princess had kept Kirin Rush's performance a total secret. Signature couldn't wait to see the look on Lectric's face, but that would come after the show. For now they waited on a rising platform for their turn to rock the bowl. Sparks were coming from back by the drums as Brim made the final adjustments to their little project, and it was the only ace up Sig's sleeve.

"Dude, I can't believe this is happening!" Ace whispered with astonishment to the green guitarist.

Sig's mane was long, ragged, and tousled tonight and he wore a thick black denim over shirt tonight to give a real sense of rock in his appearance. The stallion felt somber at their achievements thus far, and he only hoped that the crowd above would enjoy the songs prepared this evening for them. Something told him that things wouldn't go according to plan though, which was why he had prepared.

"Yeah I know Ace, it really hasn't been your run of the mill journey." the forest green stallion replied looking absently around him.

"Yo Sig!" Brim shouted from by the drums. "Our lil project is as perfectly tuned as it will get by just my hands."

Signature strode over and picked up two light weight gauntlets from on top of the obsidian stallion's drums. Metal bindings around the wrists and a greenish cloth leading out from there into mock gloves. The objects appeared simple, but they were enchanted to do something amazing.

"So you think the enchantment will sync up well with my nervous system?"

"Oh yeah, that part of the enchantment should be tuned." the unicorn answered proudly. "I'm just not sure if it can handle the output that yer lookin' for. Too much strain and you will short the thing out."

"Ah, not a problem man!" Sig said as he latched them onto the backside of his belt, on his back. "Let's just get this show on the road!"

He could hear the music above coming to an ending, and he knew it was Heart and Hoof by Lectric's voice. This was going to be the single biggest humiliation to that self absorbed stallion. Then he remembered Silent Storm's words last night, Maybe we are. He felt his heart soaring in his chest at the thought of her love. This was going to be the best music he would ever play in his life.

He heard the curtains above close and the previous band leave the stage and after five minutes or so the platform began to rise as the stage opened up above them. As the stage locked into place the next voice they heard was from beyond the curtains, it was Celestia herself delivering the news before showtime. Everyone took one last look at one another and with a nod it was agreed, Sig was going to lead them into this one himself.

"So everypony near and far without further ado, your choice band..." Celestia paused for dramatic effect. "...A band of the music, by the music, and for the music. Let's hear it for Kirin Rush!"

"WHAT?!" a loud voice rang out from back stage as Sig burst through the curtains sliding on his knees to the front of the stage, guitar belting out into his favorite instrumental piece.

He stayed there for a good while dishing out the intro before standing up as the curtains opened to show Redd and Brim following in now. Ace was waiting for the more vocal act to come. Sig instantly fell into the mood, bobbing his head and dancing around as he played.

There was a lot of commotion from the wings of the stage but not a single member of the band paid it any mind. Within moments the commotion went silent, and Sig knew that Lectric was watching the end of his empire.

As the song ended Ace railed right into the next song as he came out on an acoustic guitar opening the next song. This was going to be a rough one for Redd as the song included keyboards, but Sig had faith in the bassist to pull off both somehow. His solo would be the envy of the song this time for sure. As the guitar solo began there was no crowd before him, no bands competing with one another, there was nothing but the sound of their unity flowing free.

Redd's bass line came in as the last song ended and led them into their next song, which Sig had wrote the lyrics for in reference to Storm's advice to him nights prior. Redd, Ace, and Sig sang the chorus as one unified voice. It was amazing how well they tied together. Sig felt uneasy all of a sudden as they closed out the song, there was an aura of fury floating about the stage.

Looking to the left wing of the stage he saw Lectric fuming silently. Don't tell me he is gonna pull something. Suddenly the sounds of the next song came in with a heavy pulsating bass tone.

In the eeevveening! Ace belted out.

This song had their heaviest bass sound and truly showed Redd's potential for what it was. It was an endurance song and no one in the band doubted that in the least. The solo in and of itself was powerful, but that was where the song ended as the entire audio system was cut. Save for one microphone.

Lectric stormed out onto the stage with that mic, and he came directly for Sig.

"Who do you think you are, crashing this entire event with such disrespect?" he roared. "Your band lost fair and square at the qualifiers! You have no right to stand on this stage!"

"And your tainted guitar skills do?" Sig roared loud enough to be heard by the crowd without a mic. "We were invited by her majesty Princess Celestia to play, you bought your way in through your fame...or should I say infamy!"

Lectric's eyes went wide with rage and the next words, played right into Sig's hands.

"Fine, you want proof of my skills being the real deal?" the blue stallion started. "Right here right now, guitar solo battle. Whoever can hold the solo with more strength wins!"

"Okay then what song?" the green stallion shrugged looking to the neck of his guitar dismissively.

"I'll be charitable and let you pick." Grunted and looked away.

"Come by Fleethoof Mac." Signature turned his gaze back on Lectric in a mere second.

Lectric twitched in surprise, "Fine yer on!"

_________________________________________________________________________________________

As the moment came they stood on opposite sides of the stage as Ace and the other band members filled in the pieces of the song that weren't dedicated to guitar. Sig was hopping up and down loosening up as Brim kicked in hard on drums signaling the first guitar bit. Normally a bassist played this part, but Lectric had equipment that could alter the sounds of their guitars.

Shortly the next part came in and Lectric rose up with his guitar. He held his sound easily, but as they came together before the solo there was a clear difference. The solo would settle this. Sig quickly dropped the last bit before the solo to reach back and slide his hands into the gauntlets. He felt a tingling sensation spread through his hands rapidly, and magic began to form what looked like claws around the glove. One tug dislodged them from their holders and with Ace's cue, Sig let all of his passion flow into his mind.

"Take it, take it, take it!" Ace screamed.

The two guitarists went neck and neck, but it was apparent who was having more fun with it. Even with then enchanted claws on he could feel the velvety strings under his fingers, the bumps along each fret on the guitar neck, and the vibrations of each note as they were struck. As the solo went on Lectric couldn't keep up at all and his fingers just couldn't hit the frets he needed to. Strain became apparent on his face, and then it happened. In the last stretch of the solo every single one of Lectric Scream's guitar strings broke.

As Sig finished out the solo, the other stallion fell to his knees defeated. All Sig could hear him mumble was, "H-He beat me? I-Impossible..."

"Those claws of yours helped you win this! So much for pure skills!" Lectric gawked. "You cheated!"

Sig shook his head and stepped over to the fallen guitarist, "These claws can only play within the limits of my passion. I won because I was more passionate about the music than you, even if you had a pair it would do you no good."

"Th-That's not true!" the blue stallion contested.

"Lectric I didn't come here to argue over this, or even to beat you in a stupid contest." Sig answered somberly.

"Then what are you doing here?" he shouted like a child with tears in his eyes.

"I came to remind you what it feels like to let the music guide YOU." he held out a hand to his fellow musician. "So what do you say, care to find your roots again?"

Lectric seemed hesitant to take the hand of his greatest enemy, and in fact he seemed like he had lost his self assured disposition. He was lost in the darkness of his own road. Signature shook his hand to emphasize its presence, and the blue stallion before him rattled his own head before looking back at the green stallion with a smile.

"Okay then," he started as he locked his arm to Sig's. "...we will do this your way."

He pulled him back onto his feet, and helped dust him off.

"Hey Ace bring me your electric guitar would ya?"

"Sure man."

Sig handed it to Lectric who looked at it with confusion.

"Well your guitar is kind of thrashed, and it is customary that both guitarists win or lose, join in on a song together." Signature explained. "So care to join me in a song?"

Lectric reached out and grabbed the guitar, nodded to the forest green stallion, and took the instrument. Both stallions moved to the front of the stage once again.

Let's just hope this can change the road he is...what the?

Even though he had paused Lectric took initiative and pushed into a song that was very familiar. Sig knew how long this song would end up being and hoped that everyone would be able to follow along with them, and deep down he hoped as the song went on Lectric Scream would find himself in the darkness once again.

He had started out so mechanically, and that wouldn't do so Sig quickly joined in as the drums and then the bass came in. He shouted to Lectric over the sound, "Hey man, look around you at the band! That is what you need to remember!"

The blue stallion stopped playing for a moment, letting the green stallion take over, as he looked around at the other members of the band. Redd was shifting his weight back and forth in perfect rhythm with his bass playing, and even Brim was bobbing his head in time with the beat he was laying down. Lectric only turned back to Sig when his guitar screamed out in joyful song. Getting lost in this moment was what he felt best, like a pure adrenaline rush that wouldn't stop he closed his eyes and let himself be carried away.

The blue stallion started in more hesitantly after this but less like a machine and more like a musician should. It wasn't right yet but maybe the second half of the song could correct this flaw. The last note faded only to be replaced with the start up of the next song as Ace strutted his way back on stage.

Lectric hung back and waited for the intro to shift and he started to pick up the sound. The first chorus Sig sang with Ace to add a harmony, but they were still waiting for the other guitarist to wake up. Then came the solo and the forest green stallion stopped playing as Lectric let the music take hold of him again. It was sheer beauty to see this virtuoso be reborn, and as soon as it came they charged into the chorus together:

Gimme just a little more time,
Gotta make a good thing last,
You're gonna drive me outta my mind,
So gimme just a little more time,
Gotta make a good thing last,
You're gonna drive me outta my mind,
Don't let it go so fast,

Ace took over as Lectric and Sig broke back into their guitar playing, and finished the song with class. The flame pots that had been put at the edge of the stage erupting with the final chord struck.

The next memory to strike him was the crowd rushing up onto the stage overwhelming security, but it didn't matter as Kirin Rush was used to this sort of group. They were off the stage and out of the Canterlot Bowl in a matter of moments; thanks in part to the moving stage dropping them below before the crowd overwhelmed security. Lectric's words still stuck with him:

"From now on we aren't rivals, we're friends. You were right, I need to go back to basics and rediscover my hearts song. Take care Signature."

As he reveled in the moment he was shaken from it by a voice he knew coming at him. As the lovely white mare jumped up at him he caught her easily.

"That was an amazing show!" Storm cried out like an excited fan girl.

"I know right, can't believe I finally opened that fools eyes!" Sig answered confidently.

"I knew you could do it hun." she said affectionately nuzzling into his shoulder.

And with that they were busted.

"HUN?! Excuse me?" Ace roared.

"Oops, sorry." she whispered.

"Don't worry about it." he told her softly as Storm's brother trudged up to them. "Look Ace I had meant to--"

He was cut short by Ace punching him in the back extremely hard, "Why the heck wouldn't you tell me sooner you liked my sister you twit?"

Sig lost his grip on Storm at the punch, but she was able to land on her hooves. Though she seemed like she was waiting her turn to murder her brother now. That wasn't the biggest thought in the green stallion's head though.

"Wait, you're okay with this?" he said pointing at he and Storm.

"Duh, kinda figured it would happen somehow since we met a year ago." Ace replied with a laugh and a smile. "You two weren't always the most secretive with how you'd act!"

Storm didn't look like she wanted to kill her brother now, instead she was blushing fiercely. He felt this memory intermingle with a much later one blurring the current memory. It had been a moment of passion blazing through a cold winter's night, the rain softly silhouetting the background. A fireplace and three candles burned silently,and that was their only light that evening.

The memories became much harder to keep clear as they all rushed back to him at once. Signature Sandwich had to really focus to straighten them out again. A pristine white dress, a young light green colt being born, the image of a broken guitar haunting him mercilessly.