My, Daughter, Maree

Chapters

The Strange Foal
A Second Chance
Mommy
The Pegalympic Games
Paragon
Time Goes On
Just a Cough
Beautiful Night for a Flight
Descent into Darkness
Real Mother
Eye of the Storm
Darkness
Full Circle (Finale)

The Strange Foal

As soon as the whistle blew, Rainbow Dash took off, her movements a blur to the other competitors. There was

hardly a race to be had at all. Just a 200 yard dash, and well they don't call here Rainbow Dash for nothing.

She blew the race away, leading the 2nd place pegasus by almost a third of the track. Even by her standards,

she had done pretty well that race. In the distance, she could see her friends, Apple Jack, Twilight Sparkle,

Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, being carried in a hot air balloon, watching the race. All except for Fluttershy, of course, who watched from a nearby cloud. They all expressed excitement over her victory, but no genuine surprise. They'd seen an unusually steady stream of victories in Dash's favor in the last little while. She was starting to make a pretty good living off of it. Of course, the prize money was pretty inconsequential to her, she just liked taking a chance to show off. Dash accepted yet another medal, and was told another 200 yard dash would be held in 3 weeks, of which she was already aware. She'd scope out all of the major races and flight competitions months in advance. She made her way back down to Ponyville, where she and her friends could celebrate together.

"That was some fancy flyin', suguarcube!" said Apple Jack.

Pinkie Pie followed up, "Yeah, no kidding, I mean like, wow, I've seen you go before, but that was amazing! You took off, like, 'woosh!' and then the guy next to you was all, 'oh no' and you were like, 'weeee', and.."

She continued on like this for several seconds, describing every one of the 4 and a half seconds seconds of the race in detail.

"yeah yeah, I'm awesome I know, thank you, thank you." Dash bowed slightly to her friends.

"You cleared that course in under 5 seconds, you must have been moving at a remarkable speed!" Rarity chimed in now, just fascinated by it all. She typically had no taste for sports, but like to come out and watch Dash in her little events.

"Yeah, I guess so... let's see, that was a 200 yard track, I cleared it in 4.5 seconds, so that means..."

Dash's face appeared to think, but her mind came up blank. She subtly looked over at Twilight, looking for a clue, and she responded on cue.

"You averaged about 93 miles per hour." She said, very matter-of-factually. "Faster than most ponies can move,

through the land or sky."

"Dang, girl, I can't even get up to that! you been workin' out!" Apple Jack exclaimed.

"Well you gotta, to be a pro like me!" Dash struck a pose, to show off her strong, limber body, from her muzzle to her hoof. She was very proud of her achievements, and in-hesitantly expressed this pride with anyone who cared enough to listen. Sure, she was a bit of a braggart at times, but she could back up anything she said, and wasn't in any danger of losing if the last race, or the last half a dozen races for that matter, were of any indication.

"So whatever will you do with this match's prize?" Rarity asked, starting off a new subject fresh.

"Eh, I dunno, a nice meal or something." Dash replied lamely. "The real prize here is that as long as I keep this streak up, I'll qualify for the Equestrian Pegalympic Games in Cloudsdale!" She smiled gleefully, thinking about her chance. "They say that only those who perform well in all 3 events- agility, precision, and speed flying- can get picked to try out for the Wonderbolts, the greatest fliers in Equestria!" No longer able to contain her excitement, she hopped up and down a few times.

"Oh boy, here we go.." Apple Jack rolled her eyes knowingly, preparing herself for another session of gushing and fawning over the 'Wonderful Wonderbolts.'

"This'll be my big shot! My chance to fulfill my life long dream of joining the Wonderbolts! I just can't wait!" Dash took off and flew a few quick, very excited circles around her friends a few feet over their

heads.

"Hey I don't mean to burst your bubble, but what if they ain't hirin' right now?" Apple Jack interjected.

"Yeah, what if they're happy with the group they've got now?" Twilight added on.

"Hey when they see my skills, will they have any choice?" Dash paused in the air, a look of confidence on her

face. Perhaps even a little overconfidence. She decided to make a spectacle of herself, like she always did, and flew up a little higher, doing a series of impressive flips, twirls and spirals before eventually settling back on the ground. Her friends cheered her on, and Dash bowed again, playing up the moment as much as possible.

"Well, I think I outta get movin'. Got some work to do back on the ranch, and it ain't gonna get itself done in any decent time, I tell ya!" Apple Jack turned from the crowd, waving a goodbye to her friends.

"I've got letters to write, and some books to catch up on." Twilight announced, preping her horn for a quick teleportation spell.

"And I've a shop to upkeep!" Rarity too, was leaving, and at just that time Twilight poofed back into her home. Only Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy remained, and the inexplicable silence that fell on the three became too awkward for Dash to bear, so she broke it.

"Um, don't you have something to do, Pinkie?" She asked.

"Mmm, not really!" Pinkie shrugged. "Ooh! wait, now I remember! there was a pony in town having a birthday- I forget his name- I need to get ready!" And with that she hopped off. Dash, just assuming that Fluttershy would continue to not talk, started off in her own direction.

"Um, g-good race... Dash..." Fluttershy suddenly said, prompting Rainbow Dash to turn back around.

"Hm? didn't quite hear that." Dash took a step closer, and turned one ear directly toward Fluttershy.

"I said, 'good race,' Dash." She repeated, with marginally more clarity.

"Oh, thanks!" Dash smiled again. "What took you so long to notice?" She mused, poking Fluttershy on the shoulder.

"I.. I just didn't want to, you know.. interrupt anyone... you were all so excited.." She was hanging her

head, but she often did this. She had a history of bad eye contact in conversation.

"Well, thanks anyway. I'll see ya later!" Dash turned again to head home.

"Yeah, um, you too, I guess.."

Rainbow Dash was about halfway home, walking down the same old neighborhood she always did after a race. She didn't like talking about it, but she often took time by herself like this to reflect. She had a lot of fun racing, and of course she was ecstatic about her upcoming chance to join the Wonderbolts, but she couldn't help shake the feeling that something wasn't right. There was something she needed, that she didn't

have, and no matter what she couldn't feel completely satisfied without it. parents, maybe. She thought to herself quietly. She stopped walking briefly. That thought always came into her head right on cue, whenever she felt this way. She hated thinking about it. It was so unlike her to think such things. What she did know for certain though, is that she wanted something; someone close to her who she could show off her accomplishments to. Someone who could take pride in being related to her.

She shook the thought, and kept walking. She tried to turn her mind back over to the Wonderbolts, and how cool they were. How cool she'd look in one of their uniforms. How cool people would think she was seeing her flying with them. Thinking about people thinking she was cool made her think again about her parents. She hesitated once more, realizing her train of thought was just going around in a big circle. She needed to get her mind off of the subject altogether. She needed a physical thing to look at to distract her. She looked around for such a distraction. House. No. Tree. Nope. Box. Box? Sure, box. That'll do. Boxes are... nice. Simple, but smart. 6 sides of mystery that can contain anything imaginable; or at least, anything imaginable that could fit inside the box. You can fix lots of things in this box. Medals, trophies, ribbons, books, goggles, weights, maybe a foal... a foal? Dash stopped in mid-step, and realized she could see into the box. Within this box, she could indeed see what was unmistakably a newborn foal, laying sprawled in the box, its blank, oblivious stare scanning the area around it, trying to comprehend what was incomprehensible to it so early in its life. Dash considered this to be an outrageously strange thing to put in a box, especially to just leave it laying around. Something could have happened to it, and then they'd certainly feel terrible! She looked around to see if anyone was tending to the infant, but there wasn't anyone who was clearly taking charge of this foal. One or two people passed by idly, supposedly assuming Dash was the parent, but none claimed the kid in the time Dash bothered to wait. Rainbow Dash noticed after a few minutes that the foal had begun to stare at her constantly. It was cute at first, but it bugged her how the foal's gaze never let up. It seemed only mildly concerned with blinking.

"Stop staring at me." She requested, but it fell on deaf ears. The foal's coat was bright yellow, the color of gold, with a red-orange mane only visible from the very top of its head. Through it's mane poked out a little, dull horn just 2 inches long, making it a unicorn pony. It's eyes were granny-smith green, and continued to stare at Dash, who was now visibly put off by this child's persistence eye contact. She decided to get away from it before it started creeping her out, and continued walking.

"I dunno much about parenting, but I think this kid's parents are doing it wrong..." She observed, taking a final glance back at the box over her shoulder. The foal was still watching her. For a moment, Dash thought she saw something on the foal; something that didn't make sense, but she couldn't figure out what, and didn't stick around long enough to figure it out. Finally, the foal was out of her sight, and she felt relieved. She figured, somehow, that whatever problem it was a part of would somehow resolve itself while she wasn't around.

She finally got home, and started to unwind, but throughout the evening she couldn't stop thinking about that unicorn. It bothered her that no one was there, and how it kept watching her, as if it was expecting something from her. What was she going to do? It was silly to think about it really. It wasn't her problem. She tried her best to keep it out of her mind, but one thing still bothered her: what was it she saw on that pony that was so weird? She remembered something odd about it; something other than its attention span; but couldn't put her hoof on it. When Dash finally got to sleep that evening, it didn't last. Her night was riddled with images of terrible things happening to that lonely foal; kidnapping, injury, starvation... She couldn't stand it. She awoke at 4:30am, and decided that she could only forget about it if she went back to the same spot and found out the foal was gone, safe, or, preferably, both. What is wrong with me? she thought to herself, as she flew herself back over to where she found the foal. When she had finally returned, it was a worst case scenario. It was still there. So many hours after first meeting it, the foal hadn't so much as moved. After laying there for nearly 12 hours, that foal wasn't likely to go anywhere anytime soon. In other words, it was alone. Abandoned. The weight of this realization sunk into Dash slowly, as she began to comprehend that she was the only one who could do something about this. If she didn't help it, who would? she couldn't leave it; there was no way of telling for certain how long it had been since the foal was fed, she might need help right away. Maybe that's why it was staring at her. She'd never be able to get anyone to take her at this hour, and so it fell on her, at least for now, to find out how to help this baby. She sighed a little, and hovered over to the box. The foal squirmed a little when she approached it. Dash didn't know if it did so out of excitement or fear, but she figured it really didn't matter. As she reached out to pick up the box, she froze. She suddenly realized what was different about this foal, and what she had seen that wasn't quite right. This unicorn had wings. Dash thought, for a moment, she might have still been dreaming. The very thing she was about to pick up, the creature not one whole foot from her arms, was an Alicorn Foal. She was face to face with a living legend. The only Alicorns she'd ever met before were Luna and Celestia, and both were royalty in Equestria, and each of them was a semi-godly being capable of such marvelous feats as creating night and day, and living for thousands of years. Was this foal also capable of such things? Could she somehow be a scion of the royal family tree? Now it was definitely worth finding out what was going on with this foal. She had to take it to a doctor to find out what she could. Maybe then this day would start to make sense.

And so the story starts to unfold. Dash has stumbled upon something of great interest, but what can she do about it? Who is this foal? Find out in following chapters!

End of Chapter 1

A Second Chance

Dash waited outside Dr. Leon's office, waiting for his examination of the foal he had found to be completed. Dash was very uneasy as she waited; on top of the fact that she was tired from not getting a full-night's sleep and that she was concerned for the well being of the foal, she just plain didn't like hospitals. They always seemed so cramped and depressing, whereas Dash was usually a carefree kind of person. She was lucky, she had to figure, that she even got service at this hour. Almost no one was on duty during night shifts, and anyone who was on duty was usually irritable over not being asleep at that time. Ponyville didn't have much of a "Night Shift," just people who's jobs were needed 24/7 who took turns staying up extra late doing them. Luckily, she had found Dr. Leon, who was a mild mannered stallion who enjoyed his line of work, and was the sort of pony who'd take on an extra shift if there was no one else willing. He had a white coat (not the clothing, mind you) and an iron-gray mane. He had a slight build not much larger than Rainbow Dash, who wasn't very large at all. He wore round glasses, as many traditional doctors did, and was very soft spoken, with a calm, level voice. He didn't sleep much; he simply didn't need to. He often slept less than 40 hours a week, and was not bothered by it at all. He was the type of pony who was never tired, but never completely alert either.

After what seemed like days, Dr. Leon stepped out of his office, and invited Dash in to see the foal. Dash nearly leaped out of her seat at the opportunity to finally go somewhere after sitting forever. She immediately regretted her enthusiasm when she realized she had left behind a cramped, quiet hallway, for an even more cramped and quiet room. She wondered if maybe she was claustrophobic, and if it was worth her time to have that tested, just to be sure. She'd never considered herself to be claustrophobic, but the evidence seemed more and more compelling as she considered it. Dr. Leon finally interrupted Dash's train of thought.

"Well, Ms. Dash this is certainly a curious case you've brought here." He began. "I've never treated an Alicorn before; in fact, admittedly, I've never even personally met with one before." He studied the foal, who was laying down, watching them both uncomprehendingly.

"So what can you tell me about it?" Dash asked.

"Well, let's see..." Dr. Leon had made several notes during his tests, and began to review them. "Assuming Alicorns have the same or similar growth and development cycles to other ponies, I can say that this one is definitely female, aged about 6 weeks, weighing about 19 pounds." He paused and looked at Dash, to make sure she was paying attention, and continued. "That last measurement in particular worries me.."

"Why is that?" Dash asked "Is that bad?"

"Well, it might mean nothing, but it could support a very troubling theory I have about this one." He walked over to the and gently lifted up one of it's legs. It seemed confused, but didn't fuss. "I took some x-rays of her general bone structure and can see that particularly in the legs, her bones are not very thick, which makes them easily susceptible to harm. Just as well, she also has poorly developed muscle tissue, which coupled with her thin bones makes her appear unusually small. Her weight, at only 19 pounds, is also troubling, as an average sized pony, at birth, is typically between 25-32 pounds. All of these are tell-take signs of a gestation period that did not quite run its full course." Dash could tell that was Dr. Leon was saying was bad, but she had zoned out slightly, and was missing some of this. She snapped back, and proceeded with questioning.

"So, what exactly does that mean, for my sake?"

"What I'm saying is that this foal was born prematurely." Dr. Leon seemed sort of upset by this, so obviously there was problem. Again, Dash, not really knowing much about babies, had to have everything explained to her.

"So, what's wrong? What's gonna happen? what does it mean?"

Dr. Leon paused for a moment, and appeared increasingly distraught as he explained the situation. "More often than not, nothing much. A typical gestation period for a mare is between 320-370 days, averaging about 11 months. Every so often, something will cause a foal to be born early, in the range of 290-320 days. A difference of this amount isn't typically worrisome, however it has been linked to some birth defects, such as delayed or impaired muscle growth and a higher susceptibility to illness. This one is a special exception however, and by my estimates maybe have been born between 265 and 270 days after conception, a full 50-55 days early."

"That's bad, isn't it?"

Dr.Leon shrugged, and shook his head. "I honestly don't know. I've never had one this early in my office, so I don't know the extent of the damages this could have on her life." He admitted. "We'd have to wait and see." He stroked the foal comfortingly. a truly odd one, he thought to himself. I guess all I can do is hope for the best. "Well, the future doesn't matter too badly right now, what's important is the immediate needs of this foal. She needs food, which I don't think she's had for at least a day, and from what you've told me, she doesn't have any family to go home to."

"Yeah, I can't believe someone would just abandon a helpless little foal like this! Didn't even bother putting it up for adoption... just tossed it into the streets, like they wanted it to die!" Dash was feeling unusually flustered. Sure what this foal's parents had done was terrible, but it almost seemed like she took it a little personally.

"Sometimes financial difficulties and so on can make the burden of an extra child too much to bear.." Dr. Leon offered.

"That's no excuse!" Dash snapped. "If you can't take care of your kid, give 'em to someone who can! Imagine what it woulda been like if I didn't come back! Something terrible could've happened to her.." Dash's mind raced through all of the worst things she could think of. All at once she came to a decision. "Fine, if no one else will take her, I will!" She declared.

"Are you sure?" Dr. Leon was dubious, and a little concerned. "Raising a child; particularly one with special needs such as this one; is an enormous responsibility, an undertaking that's decades in the making, and a life changing event. Wouldn't you rather think about it first?"

Dash shook her head. She was holding the foal now, comforting it in her arms. "What's there to think about? I take her, and give her a good life, or send her away, and risk something awful happening. I might not be the brightest pony in Equestria, but even that seems like a no-brainer to me."

Dr. Leon was impressed by Rainbow Dash's resolve, but remained concerned. He never pictured a professional racing pegasus to be a fitting parent, particularly a single parent. Nevertheless, he could see there was no changing her mind. He looked through some of his cupboards, and retrieved several packages containing a white, powdery substance along with a bottle, and offered them to Dash.

"What's this stuff?" She asked.

"Powdered Infant Formula. Mix it with water, and it acts as a milk substitute. You're not the real mother, so you won't be producing any of your own, therefore you'll need these for feeding the foal. Instructions are on the package." Dash hadn't even thought about milk. "After a few more weeks, she can start to take on other food items, but I'd keep her off solids until her teeth a fully grown in. Normally I'd say she could have solids after about 3 months after birth, but in her case, it might be a while longer." Dr. Leon explained. "Come back whenever you run out of formula, and we can resupply you. They aren't expensive, and this first batch is on me, just because I'm concerned for the child's well being. Good luck, Ms. Dash."

Dash took the packages and smiled. "Thanks a lot, doc. I'll be seeing you around!" With that, she left the hospital and went back home.

In the time Rainbow Dash had become a professional racing pegasus, she had decided on a change of location; there was something awfully dull, she had found, about living in a house made out of clouds. Everything looked the same, and there wasn't much room for customization. She had bought an earthbound house in Ponyville, a fairly small place with one smaller guest room and a master bedroom, as well as a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and dining area on the main floor. The basement had a few spare rooms Dash hadn't found a use for yet, but was considering having an exercise room placed in one of them. The backyard was, she had to admit, very impressive, and was much larger than the house itself, with an impressive view of the hilly countryside. Dash walked in, her arms full and tired from carrying the foal and the powdered formula stuff Dr. Leon had given her, and set them all down on a couch in the living room. After relaxing for a second, she looked at the little foal. It had began to fix its unending, green-eyed stare at her again, waiting for something to happen. Now that she knew what it wanted, Dash responded immediately.

"I know why you're staring at me. You want some food, dontcha?" She smiled at the foal, who seemed to respond positively. Dash took one of the packages and read it over. Doing her best to follow its instructions, she produced something that did look quite a bit like milk, and poured in into the bottle she had been given. Before feeding the kid, her curiosity got the best of her, and she decided to sample it to see how it compared to real milk. She wrinkled her face, unimpressed, and hoped that the baby wouldn't fuss over it. It didn't, thankfully, and downed the white fluid rather swiftly, as Dash held her in one arm, feeding her with the other.

"Boy, you really were hungry!" Dash mused, smiling at the foal. She looked up at Rainbow Dash, her expectant look having changed to one of what Dash interpreted as appreciation, as a slight smile appeared on her face. Dash noticed that she looked tired, and that her eyes were starting to flutter. This reminded her that she, too, was tired, and decided that after that feeding, it was probably about time to go to sleep. She looked over at a clock on the oven she never used, and it read quarter to 6 in the morning. If she went to sleep now, she'd definitely sleep in through half of tomorrow. She didn't have any plans though, so that was alright. She walked down the hallway, the half-asleep foal in her arms, when she was struck with a realization: she didn't how the sleeping arrangements would work. The guest room had never been used; she never had over-night guests, and there weren't even sheets on the bed. Besides, she didn't like the idea of a child this young sleeping alone. As for her bed, well, there were no railings, and she was typically a bit of a fidgety sleeper. She didn't see how she could fix this, unfortunately, and she'd have to risk it. better than sleeping in a box, for sure.

She made the bed quick and tucked herself and the foal into it. Dash put an arm over the foal, in an effort to keep it from rolling around, and to maybe act as a kick-stand for herself.

"Night, kiddo." She whispered in the foal, who had just about drifted off by now. "Tomorrow we'll get you a crib, so you'll have your own sleeping spot, okay? So we won't have to put up with this anymore." She was starting to understand that she really didn't know much about parenting. Twilight. She had to talk to Twilight. She'd help her. But for now, she just had to hope that she'd stay fairly still in the night, so she wouldn't roll over foal in the night and hurt her. Both of them slept perfectly still that night.

And so, Dash has taken on the responsibility of being this little foal's parent. Can she manage this monumental task? Is she fit to be a parent? Find out later!

Mommy

Dash forgot most of her dreams. Many ponies did, but she did so more than most. When she did remember them, she attached a lot of meaning to them; why remember this dream, and not others? Among these few, vivid dreams she can recall, she remembers a few distinct, obscure, images; when she was about 13, she had a dream about falling through the sky; she didn't know why, but for whatever reason, she couldn't flap her wings, and she made no effort to call for help. She simply accepted the inevitably fatal fate of falling at terminal velocity, rushing towards the ground as fast an gravity would permit her. The dream happened only once, but it had been so vivid, she swore she could feel soreness in her face from when she landed and awoke. Another dream which she found upset her quite a bit, was that of a recurring image of a white-maned mare she had never met before turning from her, a solemn smile on her face. It irritated her that she didn't know this pony, and that she could invade her dreams so haphazardly regardless, causing her unprecedented emotional fragility.

Today, Dash dreamed about the foal. They were together, years ahead of now, and the little filly frolicked cheerfully, Dash trailing behind; a game of tag, maybe. Throughout the dream, Dash had known her name, and used it often, almost as if to teach her soon-to-be-conscious brain what name she had decided upon. She received a final grade of 0/1, flunking her own test, which consisted of only one question: what is the name of your child? She had forgotten the name by the time she awoke, and if she hadn't been so tired, she'd have been furious with herself.

She found, to her delight, that the little filly was still there, peacefully snuggled up close to Dash under her right arm, right where Dash had left her the night previous. She had expected sharing a bed to be uncomfortable, but it actually wasn't too bad at all; for safety reasons and so on, she planned to get her a crib right away, but at least they had lasted the night. She tried to get out of bed without disrupting the foal, but she got about half way out before it woke up and noticed Dash. It's bright green eyes became even brighter when they locked onto Dash's, and she smiled up at her.

"Mornin' kid," Dash whispered, "how'd you sleep?" The question was, of course, rhetorical; she didn't expect a foal, only 6 weeks old, to respond in anything more than incoherent babbling. She figured she may as well bring her along, since she had no means of getting around herself, and picked her up. They went out to the living room area, where Dash noticed it was just about 10:00am. She hadn't slept as much as she expected to.

As cooking was not a strong point of Dash's, her breakfast consisted entirely of cereal and milk. While she was a it, she whipped up another batch of the foul tasting formula she had been given to her by the Doctor, now down to 4 in reserve, which the foal downed inexplicably, and in-hesitantly.

"You'd think you'd never eaten before by the way you handle this stuff!" Dash exclaimed as she fed the baby. She briefly wondered if that was actually a possibility, but quickly ruled it out, since she must have gotten something to have lived this long. After breakfast, Dash suddenly came up blank as to what she was to do. She had a full day ahead of her, and no idea what to do. She remembered what she had thought of last night: Twilight. She needed to talk to Twilight. She needed some parenting tips, and she'd never be able to pull it off by herself. She remembered how she hadn't even considered food or sleeping arrangements on her own, and decided that help was definitely the best way to progress.

"Alright, then it's settled! We're going over to Auntie Twilight's!" Dash announced to the foal, who had a minimal response.

Twilight Sparkle was amidst a particularly fascinating book. While typically preferring non-fictional texts from which she drew knowledge and information, she had recently engaged herself in a series of fantasy novels called "Extraordinary Maree". She often gave little regard to the fantasy genre, and was initially uninterested, but she had been hooked after she read about one third of the first book, and hadn't stopped ever since. The novel centered around an Earth Pony named Maree, who found that under the light of the full moon, she transformed inexplicably into an Alicorn, and fought against dark entities who sought to sink Equestria into an eternal, moonless night. Based on their goal, it was Maree's original belief that they were followers of Nightmare Moon, but it had later been proven this was not the case. She was now on the third of seven books, and had already pre-ordered the upcoming eighth. She was just getting to a really good part when she heard the knock on her door. She answered the knock, and had a double take at the sight before her. She saw her friend, Rainbow Dash, with a gold-colored foal in her arm, and she could only assume it belonged to her in some way. A half second later, she noticed it was an Alicorn, and did another double-take.

She stood in the doorway for a second, taking this in. She was very interested in what the explanation would turn out to be. "Alright, what did I miss?" She finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, it's a bit of a story, but the short version is that this kid got dumped into a box all by itself, so I adopted it." Dash replied with a shrug, as a nervous smile broke out across her face.

"of... course you did.." Twilight was, understandably, dubious. "Erm, Dash, I don't know if you looked at that foal carefully, but in case you didn't, I just thought it necessary to point out the fact that it has a horn... and wings... like, at the same time..."

"Yeah, and?"

"You didn't find that just a little odd?"

"Well yeah, I guess, but in the end what difference does that make really? She needed my help, I couldn't just turn her away!"

"Well, Dash, the difference it makes is that foal is most likely part of of royal family, she can't be raised here! She ought to be returned to Canterlot at once!" Twilight insisted.

"Twilight, I already said she was abandoned! just left there in a box on some street corner! The doctor had even said she hadn't fed in over a day until then. Whoever did this did it deliberately and wanted nothing to do with her. She ain't going anywhere but with me!" Dash went on to explain as much of the story as she could, and Twilight started to understand.

"..And so now, you need my help in raising her, because you don't know how?" Twilight was summing everything up.

"That's basically it, yeah. So, can I come in?" Dash was getting a little tired of standing up by now, and was leaning on the door frame.

"Yeah, alright, come on in, I'll see what I can do to help.." Twilight motioned them in, and Dash sat herself down on the carpet, setting the foal down in front of her. Twilight took a seat a few feet away.

"Well, I suppose we should start with a few basics," Twilight started. "First off, as you are only an adopted mother, you don't naturally produce milk for the child. Infant formula, although not ideal, should work as an adequate substitute."

"Yeah, I've already taken care of that part." Dash replied.

"Good! The formula acts as both an beverage an a supply of nutrients, so actual food is not necessary. You should be sure to include straight water as well. It won't be a life threatening loss immediately as long as she is fed regularly, but additional water will be necessary. They begin to depend on milk/milk substitutes less and less with time, so ease in normal food items gradually over the next few months.

"Next, sleeping arrangements are important. Developing foals sleep a lot, and will spend much more time in their beds than you or me. I don't suppose you have a crib yet, do you?" Twilight asked, almost rhetorically.

"Not yet, I'm getting one today. I'll be shopping for a few other things while I'm out too." dash nodded proudly. So far, she'd been a step ahead of her.

"Alright, good start. Next item of importance is that you'll need.." She was interrupted by a trickling sound. They both knew where the sound was coming from, and could only hope it wasn't what they both knew it was. A fresh urine stain emerged from under the infant, it's distinctive smell penetrating the air like an arrow. Dash was mortified, and plucked the foal off the warm, drenched splotch she had created.

Twilight sighed heavily with irritation. "..Diapers. You'll need lots of them. Sooner than later."

Dash put the infant down, her face flushed with embarrassment. "C'mon kid! you can't just go and do that anywhere! Twilight, I'm so, so, SO sorry, I can't believe I'm such an airhead!!" She apologized profusely for her own lack of competence.

"Never mind Dash, I'll clean it up in a minute.." Twilight rolled her eyes and continued. She explained the importance of teaching her such things as walking, talking, and learning. and how the sooner she can start to talk, the sooner she can learn through communication, just as she can more easily learn through experience when she could walk. As if noticing only for the first time, Twilight finally inquired about why the foal laid down the entire time.

"Well, she just can't walk yet, is all." Dash replied, shrugging. Then she got worried. "Is that bad?"

"It's odd, I think. Most ponies, as is the case with most quadrupedal creatures, can walk not very long after they are born. Each pony varies, of course, but.... how old did you say she was?"

"The doctor said her birth date was roughly around March 19th of this year, making her about 6 weeks old."

"6 weeks? Really?" Twilight was genuinely surprised.

"Well, she is slightly handicapped. Doctor said something about ingrown muscles and bones or or something, that she might be a little bit behind other ponies at first." Dash explained.

Twilight just sort of nodded, watching the foal carefully. She decided to change the subject. "So, have you picked out a name?" She asked.

Dash remembered the dream she had of them playing together, and how she had called out her name numerous times, but each call was a little black hole of sound in her memory. For the life of her, she couldn't remember the name. (I bet it's really irritating to you knowing what the name is when she doesn't, huh?) Twilight told her about the problem she was having, and she sort of nodded again slowly and understandingly.

"Yeah, I've heard of that happening before, it's actually more common than you think" Twilight started. "Lots of ponies have trouble remembering particular aspects of dreams, sometimes they'll find a face or object conveniently missing from the dream, or sometime in your case, a name. Of course, I don't have that problem. I remember all my dreams." she telekinetically drew the book she had been reading earlier to herself, and began re-finding her page. "Well whatever it was, if it was so significant that it permeated your dreams, then surely, with just the right trigger, it'll come back to you, I'm sure of it." She started reading again, and let out a sad sigh. "Oh, Maree, I wish you'd just ask him out, he totally likes you, He's just to shy to say it..."

The realization struck Dash like a lightning bolt. "Maree!" She exclaimed.

Twilight thought, for a second, Dash was talking about the character in the book. "Maree?"

"That was the name! I remember now!" Dash couldn't help but beam with excitement.

"You named her after a character in a book?" Twilight scrunched her face.

"Dash had honestly no idea what Twilight was talking about. "What? No, it's got nothing to do with your book!" She frowned. "...Actually, now that I think of it, I'm not sure where it came from. It just came to me last night, and I loved it so much.."

Twilight was understanding, but a bit curious. "Maree, huh? (pronounced Mare-E, by the way) I do like the name... interesting."

"What's interesting about it?" Dash asked.

"Well, it's just that, from you, I... well... no, never mind, forget it." Twilight tried to return to her book, but Dash pressed on.

"What, you don't like the name?" Dash seemed a little offended, so Twilight chose her words as carefully as she could.

"No no, don't get me wrong, the name is really nice, I just... well, you seem like the kinda Mare who'd try to... I dunno, name your kid after yourself in some way, like 'Dashie' or 'Dashster', something along those lines." Twilight still held up the book, but had given up on trying to read it while she talked.

"I'm not so egotistical that I'd give my kid some lame name just so people would automatically think of me when they hear it!" Dash was getting more than a little upset, and Twilight didn't know why. She was a little ahead of herself, making such an assumption. This parenting thing was already starting to change her, she could tell.

"I didn't say you were!" Twilight exclaimed, closing her book and setting it down. She put a hoof on Dash's shoulder and looked her in the eye. "Maree is a wonderful name, really. It's a great choice that only you could've picked." She said wholeheartedly.

Dash pulled away, snickering a little. "Gosh you're so lame sometimes, Twilight!" She giggled.

"What did I say?!"

"Oh come on, admit it! That is like the corniest thing you've ever said!" Dash prodded teasingly. "Thanks, anyway though, means a lot."

Twilight smiled. "No problem Dash. If you ever need any help or advice, just let me know, alright?"

"Thanks, Twilight, I'll see you around!" Dash turned to leave, collecting Maree, and narrowly dodged the urine puddle. "Erm, maybe you outta get on that pretty soon?"

"Oh right! I guess I should get on that before it starts to dry, or it'll never come out. Let's see, do I have a spell for this? hmmm.." Dash left her to think, said a final goodbye, and was out the door.

While Rainbow Dash was out, she bought a crib, a baby carrier, more formula diapers, and a few groceries as well. When she realized she couldn't simply carry all of this stuff home, she bought a wagon to haul it all in. Luckily, Maree's bladder didn't loose itself all other at any point during the shopping spree, but she didn't hold out for long after the first diaper went on. She finally arrived back home after a full day, and flopped down on a couch. She knew she couldn't rest too long; she had to have the crib up as soon as possible, and that would take forever, she was sure. After that, it would be feeding time, and not long after that, it would be time to go to sleep again! What a hassle, she thought to herself. Before Dash knew it, the day was already over. The crib was up after several re-tries, Maree and her were fed, and it was already after 10. Where had the time gone?

Dash finally set Maree down in her crib, proud of her work. It was very plain looking, and maybe in the future she'd spice it up a bit, but for now it was a sturdy, functional crib all for Maree. She tried to go over to her own bed, but heard a distressed squeaking noise. Maree was reaching out, not wanting to be separate from Dash.

"hey now, come on, I'll be right here okay? I'm in the same room, I can still reach you, there's no need to be worried, alright?" Dash tried to console her but it was no use. Maree's helpless squeaks and moans showed so sign of letting up, so Dash pushed the two beds as close together as she could. She finally crawled into her own bed, holding out one hoof to her adopted child, who had settled down, but still yearned for her touch.

"Little Maree... my daughter, Maree.... we're going to go far, you and me... just you wait..." And just like that, she was asleep.

The next few weeks seemed to go by in a single, swift motion. Dash had no idea how fast time seemed to go by when measured by parenting time. Before she knew it, Maree was already just over 3 months old. Her teeth were just starting to grow in a bit, little white nubs poked through her gums. Dr. Leon advised her to add soft things like apple sauce to her diet, now that she was getting a bit older. Of course, she knew exactly where to go for that. Applejack was always good for it, and gave her free batches whenever Dash needed it, and Dash helped herself to some of it as well. She was surprised at just how much sleeping that kid did during the day, sometimes almost twice as much as Dash. Dr. Leon had told her that this was because she was still developing, more so than most ponies, and so she needed lots of down time so her muscles and bones would grow nice and strong. This gave Dash lots of time to train for her races, which she had finally bought the equipment for, and had it all set up downstairs. whenever a race rolled around, Dash brought Maree along, getting one of her friends to watch over her while she did her job. Maree didn't grasp much of what was going on, but she seemed thoroughly amused by the spectacle, and squealed with excitement almost the whole time she was there. Time was whizzing by, and it was good.

One Evening, Dash was giving the evening meal to Maree, having already given her some formula and now giving her some of the Apple sauce Applejack had made. Dash noticed that Maree was trying awfully hard to say something, the syllables distinct but mostly incoherent. Dr. Leon said that typically, ponies don't learn to speak their first words until at least 8 months of age, and don't assign much meaning to them until 10-11, where they start to grasp language more clearly. But, he also said that speaking often to the child can help speed up the process, and she did talk quite a bit. It was too early for her, she knew, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was different. DO Alicorns learn differently? Could they speak sooner, later, or at the same time?

"Ab-ah, la la, mo mo..." Maree continued in her strange, baby language. None of it meant anything, but the pronunciation of each letter was surprisingly clear for her age. Dash had to at least try. She Decided she'd walk her through a few words, and see if she'd catch on.

"mmmmmmmmmmmm...." She hummed.

"mmmmmmmmmmmm...." Maree hummed back, a big grin on her face. She was very amused by the sound they were making together.

"aaaaaaaaaarrrrr....." Dash continued.

"aaaaahhhhhhhhhh....." Maree sang back. Close enough, Dash thought.

And the last sound, "eeeeeee!"

"eeeeeeeeeeeee!" Maree squealed with delight, beaming at her mother. Dash's heart was starting to race. She might be onto something. She repeated the whole thing very slowly.

"mmmaaaarrrreeee!" She said, pointing to Maree's chest, trying to indicate what the word belonged to.

"maaaahhhrrrreee!" Maree repeated. she had trouble with the 'air' sound her name made, but she was getting it. Dash said it one last time, at full speed

"Maree!"

"Mahree!" This time, Maree's hoof met with Dash's, and she pointed to herself. Dash's heart just about exploded with joy.

"YAAAAAY, you got it, you got it!" She exclaimed, only barely able to keep herself grounded in place. Maree joined in her merriement, and giggled gleefully. Dash had to press on, she had to know why she was capable of. What she was doing right now shouldn't be possible, and yet it was. She had to keep going.

"mmmmmmmmmm..." she had returned to the first humming noise she had made.

"mmmmmmmmmm..." Maree hummed, again grinning uncontrollably.

"ooooooooooo..." Dash's jaw hung long to pronounce the strange sound.

"ooooooooooo..." Maree followed along each step, listening intently.

"mmmmmmmmmmm...." Dash realized suddenly that she probably sounded very goofy, but paid it no mind.

"mmmmmmmmmmm...." Maree hummed again.

Almost, Dash though, almost...

"eeeeeeee!"

"EEEEEEEE!!" Maree squealed again, beaming with simplistic joy. Dash was now trembling with sheer anticipation. She pointed to herself, just as she had pointed to Maree when teaching her her own name, and repeated the new world again slowly.

"mmmoooommmyyy" She said, nodding each syllable.

"mmmmooommmmyyy!" Maree repeated proudly. Dash was so overjoyed, she thought maybe she had misheard. She said it one more time, to be sure.

"Mommy!" She instructed.

"Mommy!" Maree repeated, touching her hoof to Dash's.

Dash could no longer contain her joy. She leaped up from the table and into the air, flying rapid circles around the room. She stopped for a moment to look at her child, Who was giggling merrily, and tried so hard to join her up there; oh how she tried! Her tiny wings fluttered pointlessly, and she bounced up and down in her chair. Dash didn't want to her to miss out on the celebration. She picked Maree up and they flew together all over the house and back again, until the only place they could go was the backyard, where they flew and flew, until Dash's wings just couldn't fly anymore.

The power over language and the skill required for speech was something Dash had always taken for granted. She never knew such a simple accomplishment as speaking 2 words could become the most monumental, exciting day of her life until that point. And at only 3 months old! That was a phenomenal time, possibly a record. A genius, that's what she was! Her daughter, Maree, was a little genius! Almost unable to imagine being able to sleep after such a tremendous occasion, Dash nevertheless started tucking her little girl into her crib and crawled into her own bed. She looked over at her with overwhelming pride. She was going to be something incredible one day, she knew it. She couldn't wait to see what incredible fate was in store for her. Somehow her mind finally got passed this, and she managed, for just a moment before going to sleep, remember what was coming: Soon, she'd be able to take on her dream, and face off against the finest athletes in Equestria. She'd be a spectacle within one of the greatest spectacles in the world. She could show the Wonderbolts what she was made of, along with everyone else. Yes, in just one month, the Pegalympic Games would begin. Her life long dream will finally be realized.

The Pegalympic Games

Rainbow Dash slept well and long that night; a solid 10 hours. Her thoughts remained on the upcoming

Pegalympic Games, the gathering place for Equestria's finest flyers. On this day, thousands and thousands of

ponies from all over the country would be watching her, and she would get a chance to showcase the culmination

of her years of training. This was truly her time. She dreamed of herself shooting through the precision

course and racing across the sprint track, virtually unopposed. She showed a mastery of the art in the agility

course, practically making a joke out of her competition. As she prepared to claim ultimate victory, she

scanned the crowd, marveling in her fanatical audience. Among the ecstatic faces of her fans, one face stood

out more than any other: the White Maned Mare. This strange apparition sat quietly and collectively, smiling

pleasantly as though she were at a school play rather than a sporting event, watching Dash expectantly as she

navigated her way through the course. This vision took Dash's focus away from the course for just a moment or

two, long enough for her to lose herself. She refocused just in time to see- *WHACK*. She collided head first

into a pillar used as an obstacle. The sudden jolt woke Dash up, and she sat straight up in her bed, any

glimmer of morning drowsiness kept at bay by the spurt of adrenaline coursing through her, brought on by the

shock.

Rainbow Dash was becoming increasingly frustrated with these visions of the White Maned Mare who she

saw on an increasingly frequent basis. In the last 2 months, she'd seen more of her than she saw of her the

entire year previous. Who IS she? Dash wondered to herself. She heard a little squeak from her left, and saw

that little Maree was up to. She smiled and got herself out of bed, standing over Maree and forgetting about

the White Maned Mare.

"Morning, kiddo!" Dash reached in and picked up the little filly, who greeted her with gleeful little giggles.

"Boy, you and I must share the same alarm clock, seems like you always know when I'm gettin' up!" She noted.

"I guess it's about time we fed you, huh? *sniff* ooh, and you need a change, you stink!"

Dash gave Maree a change and some breakfast, and refreshed Maree on the two words she had learned.

When Dash heard the words repeated once again, she knew she hadn't just dreamt it; her daughter was really

learning. It baffled her how she could speak so early; she'd never heard of anyone who had picked it up so

quickly. Even Twilight, the brainiest Pony she knew, didn't say her first word until she was 6 months. When

that comparison crossed Dash's mind, she was suddenly met with an irresistible urge to show off to Twilight.

She set Maree in the Little carrier she had bought and set out. Dash knew it was never too early to see

Twilight. Whether she was up early that morning or up extra late from the night previous, Twilight was often

one of the first ponies to see the sun over Equestria.

Rainbow Dash stopped by Twilight's around 9:00 that morning, anxious to show off her genius of a baby.

Twilight had been reading "Extraordinary Maree" all night, and bags had formed under her eyes, but she refused

to put it down. She had finished the sixth book some time last night, and was now well into the seventh. She

was just about to settle into bed for the "night" when she heard a knock on her door. She wanted, for a

moment, to pretend she hadn't, but she heard it again only a few moments later, indicating this person was

persistent, whoever they were. Might as well go see who it is, she told herself, and forced herself downstairs

to the front door. When she answered the knock and saw Rainbow Dash standing outside her door, she sighed

slightly. Dash wasn't really the pony she wanted to see right now, what with her trying to sleep and

everything. Could be worse, she thought wryly, it could be Pinkie Pie.

"What do you want, Dash?" She asked half consciously.

"Just thought I'd show you the coolest thing EVER!" Dash announced proudly, setting the baby carrier down. She

turn to her little girl, and began her demonstration. "say, 'Maree!'" she instructed, pointing to Maree.

"Maahree!" Maree echoed, pointing to herself.

"Good! now say, 'Mommy!'" Dash pointed to herself.

"Mommy!" Maree repeated again, extending her front leg out, vaguely pointing on Dash's direction.

"Awesome! you're so cool Maree! You're the best!" Dash reached out and picked Maree up, snuggling up to her.

Twilight was only barely conscious watching this, and the realization what had just happened didn't quite hit

her yet.

"So, what do you think about that?" Dash asked challengingly, having set Maree back in her carrier.

"Great... good for you... Just.. 'woo' you know? Hey, can we pick this up later, I'm... barely conscious right

now. Too much reading... I'll talk to you later." Without waiting for a response, she immediately closed the

door and turned around. She hadn't finished a full step when her brain finally caught up to her. She spun

around on a dime, reopening the door, where Dash was still standing, apparently anticipating her return.

"Run that by me again?" Twilight said disbelievingly.

Dash cleared her throat unnecessarily, and repeated her demonstration. Twilight was wide awake now, and

utterly speechless.

"Ah... bu... ho-?" She was astonished. This child had barely developed a brain at all, surely, yet she

already formed words with her mouth. More than that, they had MEANING to her, and she knew what the words

referred to. "That shouldn't be possible at her age!" She exclaimed. "She's only 3 months old! I didn't say my

first word until I was-"

"6 months, I know, you've told me already." Dash was sort of leaning against the door frame, a bit of a smug

grin on her face. "And I understand that even that was quite early for a pony."

Twilight was vaguely wondering if maybe this were a dream. No normal pony could have-

And then she remembered. This wasn't a normal pony, she was an Alicorn!

"She's an Alicorn though, maybe they learn different. Sooner." Twilight said, feeling a little reassured.

"OR, maybe my little girl here is just a genius." Dash cocked an eyebrow.

"Well whatever the reason, neither of us have no way of knowing for sure. Besides, it's not like it's a

competition. She's a filly, not a trophy." Twilight reminded Dash.

"Yeah I know, you're right." Dash admitted, though she maintained a slightly smug air. Then again, that's just

her way of being.

"Speaking of competition, you must be awfully anxious about the Pegalympics, aren't you Dash?" Twilight asked,

decidedly changing the subject.

"You bet! I've been training everyday! I'm not just gonna do well, Twilight. Nope, I ain't just gonna win, I'm

gonna cream the competition!" Dash proclaimed smugly, again flaunting her more than slightly overblown ego.

Twilight had hoped being a parent might have dulled that aspect of her just a bit, but she was just as bold as

ever. Give it a few more years, she thought. That might just do the trick. She wondered if Dash really

understood the enormity of the responsibility she had undertaken. She was keeping up well, admittedly, but this

was no Summer job; this was a lifelong journey. It's a family matter, and she was taking it much too lightly.

"You all better be there when I win!" Dash said. "It's gonna kinda suck if the only people who see it are

total strangers." The Statement made her think again, for a half a moment, about the White Maned Mare. She

quickly shook it off and returned to her conversation.

"Well, I know I'll be there, I've already bought my ticket! Same goes for Apple Jack and Fluttershy. Rarity

says she's not going to be there, though." Twilight explained.

"What?! Why not?" Dash said, seeming disappointed and a little hurt.

"She told me she'll be away that day. In a couple weeks, she'll be leaving on a business trip to Canterlot on

a fashion expose, to show off her new line. She says if all goes well, it could be her first big step towards

breaking out on a national level, turning her boutique into a chain, and putting herself on the map."

"Well, good for her I guess, sounds like she's doing well." Dash sighed a little. "At least you guys will be

there right?"

"No doubt!" Twilight assured her friend.

"Well then at least we've got that!" Dash smiled again, restocking her confidence. "I guess I might as well go

home and do something. Get some more training in, maybe." Dash turned to leave. "See ya later, Twilight!"

"Bye, Dash!"

The final days before the Pegalympic games crept by with agonizing slowness. Dash had never been so

impatient in her life. Just get it over with already! She kept saying to herself. Finally, it was just a

weekend away, and her lifelong wait was just about over. Suddenly something occurred to her, and she just about

punched herself when she realized she had looked over such a huge flaw in her planning: What was she going to

do with Maree? The other events had been different; she could bring Maree along, and give her to one of her

friends to take care of for the time they were there. The event would be over in an hour or two, and they'd go

home. But the Pegalympics was an all-day event. 36 racers would each take turns participating in the

preliminary precision, agility, and speed events, and then the ponies with the 6 highest overall scores moved

onto the 4th and final event which combined all 3. The top 3 from that receive medals of bronze, silver and

gold. And her races weren't the only thing happening at the event too; it was also a major gathering places

for various up and coming multi-talents to showcase assorted musical and stunt focused performances, not to

mention Princess Celestia would probably give some huge speech, as she often did, which usually took FOREVER.

And so, she would need someone to watch Maree. She would need supervision, food, sleep, and to be changed

regularly. Now the question was, who would watch her?

Twilight, Fluttershy and Apple Jack had all already purchased tickets to the Games, and Rarity had

left about a week ago on her 'expose', which only left... Pinkie Pie. Dash groaned to herself just thinking

about leaving her in charge of this little girl. Dash knew of her past attempts at foalsitting, which were

often riddled with difficulty. She'd prefer any of her friends watching Maree over Pinkie. She briefly

considered actually traveling all the way to Canterlot to ask Rarity to do it, but of course that was silly;

she'd end up leaving Maree behind. Reluctantly, she traveled to Sugarcube Corner. She knocked on the front

door, and it was none other than Pinkie Pie who answered.

"Heya Dash! Whats up!" She greeted, beaming ear to ear.

"Hi, Pinkie, I just wanted to stop by and ask you something real quick, and then I'll get going." Dash

explained.

"Well, I'm listening! Go ahead!" Pinkie was her usual energetic self, though Dash had reason to believe she

might be a little extra hyped from a sugar rush.

"I just need to ask a favor of you.."

"Whatever it is I can do it! Anything for one of my bestest friends ever!"

Here we go, Dash thought. "Well, you know the Pegalympics are coming up, and I'm going to be in it.." Dash

started, but was interrupted by Pinkie.

"Oh yeah! I keep forgetting to get my ticket! I forget things like that all the time. Like this one time I

made a bunch of cupcakes and I forget where I left them and I looked throughout the whole house. I couldn't

just sniff them out like I sometimes do because they were so fresh the whole house still smelled like cupcakes

and I couldn't find them anywhere, and finally I found them under my bed! my BED, how did they get there? To

this day I swear I have no idea! Add there was this other time where I-"

"Pinkie, I'm not done." Dash interrupted.

"Oops, sorry! Go ahead, Dash, I'm listening now, 100%, you have my full and undivided attention. An explosion

couldn't draw my attention away from you, no siree, you are the one and only thing on my mind right now, no

more interruptions, I-"

"Pinkie."

Pinkie apologized again, and made a motion cross her lips, as though to 'zip' her mouth shut, allowing Dash to

finally talk.

"ANYWAY, because I'll be at the Games, I need someone to stay home and watch Maree, and you're the only one of

us who hasn't got a ticket, or an excuse." Dash finally finished explaining.

"Oh, I see.." There was a momentary sense of hesitation in Pinkie's voice, and Dash sprung on the chance.

"You don't have to of course, I wouldn't want you to miss out all because of me, especially since I'm probably

the reason you would have gone anyway. I can always ask someone else don't worry." Dash started to turn

around, but Pinkie called after her. Damn.

"Dash don't be silly, I'd love to watch little Maree!" Pinkie was beaming again.

"Oh, really?" Dash smiled insincerely.

"Yeah, it's fine really! After all, we all know you're going to win, it's not like I'll miss much, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I mean, I know you're not really to fond of foalsitting, and I know you've had... trouble, in

the past..." Pinkie just shook her head.

"Nope, not anymore! I've gotten really good at it! Mr. and Mrs. Cake have even recommended me to a few

people!" She chirped proudly.

I guess there's no way around it then, Dash thought to herself. "Well alright, if you're COMPLETELY sure this

is okay, I'll trust you with the job." Dash finally said with a sigh.

"Arlighty cool! I can't wait to hang out!" Pinkie giggled. Dash said goodbye and started on her way home. What

had she just let herself do?

Finally, the day arrived. The morning of the Pegalympics was like no other. The air was fresher,

sounds were clearer, and all of Rainbow Dash's senses were at their peek. She had never felt more ready for

something in her life. She had told Pinkie to meet her at her house at 8:30 for foalsitting duties, but she

hadn't given her an address, apparently assuming that Pinkie would remember where she had been just from the

dozens of times she had been over. Dash was mistaken. Pinkie didn't arrive until after 9:00, rambling on about

how she "had the right neighborhood, but couldn't remember which house Dash lived in" so she had to knock on

every door until she got it right. This did not bode well.

"Alright Pinkie, you've got to understand what I'm asking you to do." Dash began. "You have to realize that

Maree is not an ordinary filly. She's partially crippled, and can't walk yet. She's very frail, and you can

hurt her very easily. She needs to be fed and changed regularly, and a lot of what she'll do is just sleep, so

not much will be going on. Don't ever wake her, and don't try to get her to do something she can't do. Don't

ignore her either. She needs to be watched at all times. In terms of magic, I don't know. I've never seen her

use magic before, but as an Alicorn, she is inherently capable of it, and at her age I don't know what to

expect." Pinkie was surprisingly quiet and patient about hearing all this, which fascinated Dash so much that

she paused merely to admire the sight of Pinkie actually sitting still and listening before continuing. "In

short, be careful, and try not to be all hyper and spazzy."

"Roger! I'll be the best foalsitter in Ponyville! In Equestria!" Pinkie declared.

"I don't need the best, I just need one who'll listen to instructions carefully." Dash asserted.

"We'll be fine, Dash! Really, trust me!" And with no other choice but to do just that, and with time quickly

starting to run out, Dash finally set off on her way. She had a long flight ahead of her, and she had to make

up up some time if she was going to make it.

The Pegalympic Games were held every 2 years in Equestria. The whole spectacle took place in enormous

arena just outside Canterlot, and was unique amongst flying contests in that it was not hosted in Cloudsdale,

and therefore took place very near to the ground. The difference in altitude was often underestimated by some;

the difference in air pressure threw off some people's game. That was part of what gave Rainbow an advantage

in this particular match, since she typically trained at low altitude. Most ponies were always told to

practice for low altitude contests at low altitudes, and to train for high altitude contests at high altitude,

but Rainbow Dash was so well versed now that her body adjusted rapidly enough prepare herself for any race she

was pitted against. And now, it was time for the ultimate test of her abilities.

Dash finally arrived at 11:37am, just 23 minutes before the opening ceremony. She didn't have much

time for warm ups, but at least she was there. Dash, along with the other athletes, were all called into the

stadium at 11:55, and lined up for the whole crowd to see. The arena was enormous, and it seemed like it

could fit half the population of Equestria. From where Dash stood, she couldn't possibly make out any faces in

the crowd. Still, she searched it carefully, to see if anyone stood out to her. She spotted Twilight and the

gang, who were cheering energetically for her, except Fluttershy, who just clapped politely. There was no sign

of The White Maned Mare.

Dash sized up her competition. Out of the 36 ponies present, she was among the smallest; that gave her

a physiological edge, because she used less energy moving her body, and would have an edge in the agility and

precision flying courses. The sprint would be the real challenge. She saw that some ponies were actually quite

large and very lean for their size; they'd be her biggest threat in the sprint. One pony wore a blue mask that

covered his whole head, except for his mane, which Dash found very strange. She thought he looked a little

goofy, because the mask was shaped on top to have a sort of "battle-axe" shaped mane design, but Dash doubted

that's what his mane really looked like. She realized that Celestia had been talking for a little while now,

and focused her mind back on the speech.

"And so, noble pegasi, I wish you all good luck, and may only the finest in Equestria win in this clash of the

titans!" She was already finished, apparently. That was good; she usually took longer than that. The sooner

the better, she figured.

The event now officially under way, the first 6 pony racing cell lined up on the course. The masked

pony, was in this cell; Paragon was his name, according to the announcer; and Dash decided to pay attention to

this round. She wanted to see what kind of racer he was, he had to be either really good or really bad to want

to wear such ridiculous headgear to an event like this. They were starting with the sprint races.

Celestia was on the scene, who was in charge of starting up the race. She raised her horn, which began to

glow. "Racers, on your mark..." Each pony ducked down, getting on position. "Get set...." She paused slightly

for suspense. "BEGIN!" She discharged a beam of light, signaling the start. The first thing that Dash realized

about this mysterious Paragon character was his wings; average as they seemed as his size, each one was nearly

the size of his entire body when full extended, and he was not a small pony by any means. With their aid, he

was able to achieve enormous speeds, and plowed his was through the competition, taking first place by an

unsettling margin. Dash was, admittedly, very impressed.

Her racing cell was up next, and as Paragon passed, Dash wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what

to say, and inevitably said nothing as he passed by. She silently walked out onto the track and took her

position. She was assigned to lane 4. Alright, this is the hard part. Get passed this and you're in the clear.

As Celestia started the count-down, she could hear per pulse going up. For a moment, she came to a dreamlike

realization that she was really here; she was really doing this. Then the beam went off, signaling her start.

She took off at top speed, expecting to tear open an enormous gap between her and her competition. She

discovered instead, much to her surprise, that the other pegasi kept up pretty closely for over half the track,

and she only took a clear lead near the end. She figured she must of had a better set of flyers than Paragon.

The remaining cells went, each with their own respective winner. Dash couldn't help but look at

Paragon, who seemed to observe the races with an unimpressed, uninterested, and slightly disdainful look on

his face, like he was too good for this and wished to be elsewhere. When the finals inevitably rolled around,

they were assigned positions next to each other; Paragon in lane 3, and Dash in lane 2. Dash looked him over

hard, sizing him up. He was a remarkably tall and muscular pegasus, at least as tall as Celestia. He was twice

Dash's size and more than twice her weight. His wings ran the length of his body, and, as she had seen,

matched him sheer size. She'd never seen wings quite like that before. He smirked occasionally, showing off a

flawless white set of teeth. His eyes were bronze; his coat was gold. Some ponies might have found him quite

handsome. From the moment he first spoke, Rainbow Dash knew she hated him.

"Tell me how my dust tastes when you eat it." He said to Dash, his sheer arrogance nearly strangling Dash with

each syllable. "I ask all my opponent's to do so, but they're often so far behind I can't hear them." He

chuckled to himself, not looking at Dash once the whole time he spoke.

"Break a leg." Dash replied flatly, returning his lack of eye contact. "While you're at it, break the other

ones too." Paragon chuckled again, but made no reply.

The racers took their positions. Dash wanted to win more than ever now, just to rub Paragon's face in

it. He needed to be put in his place. When Celestia started the race, she lost herself for a moment in the

monumental effort she put into going as fast as she possibly could. Paragon, immediately to her right, took

off, and with a single mighty wing beat of his gargantuan wings, he overtook Dash. This only spurred Dash on

more, who flapped her wings as fast as she could, but it was no use. Each of Paragon's flaps was as good as 5

of Dash's, and she just couldn't flap 6 times for each of his. It just wasn't possible. Hr ended up winning

the race, leaving Dash in a close but definitive second place. discouraged and dejected, Dash looks up at an

electronic score board that displayed the racers' finish times. She completed the track in 4.1 seconds, a new

personal best for her. Not even her very best was enough to beat him.

Can Dash pull a victory from behind/ Will she accomplish what has set out to do? And just who is this mysterious pony, Paragon?

Also, apologies for taking so long. I spent literally days, and hours each day writing this. It was originally going to be much longer, but I decided that the chapter had become too long, and I decided to split it just to get SOMETHING up. Chapter 5, as a result of being half done now anyway, will go up on the weekend in just a couple days.

Paragon

When they faced each other in the precision flying race, things were very different between them.

Quieter, but also much more aggressive. He shoved her as he walked by, and Dash wanted to knock him flat on

his back right there. She bit down the urge, and got into position. In this race, at least, they did not have

to stand next to each other.

The goal of precision flying was to successfully pass through several specifically shaped obstacles

and still make the best time possible. Anyone who touches the obstacle in any way would get disqualified. Dash

felt better about this than the previous race, since her small frame made it much easier to fit in small

areas, whereas Paragon would have much more difficulty. Celestia conjured up a track suspended on clouds about

60 feet over the ground, and all the racers took up a new position on the levitating course. At another

discharge of light, they were all off again. Dash easily made her way through each obstacle, and to her

surprise, Paragon kept up pretty well. She could tell though that it wasn't nearly as easy for him. The race

stayed close together until the very last obstacle, when Paragon's right wing just slightly nudged the frame,

giving the first place finish to Dash.

When they returned to the ground, Dash couldn't help but smirk at Paragon, who's cocky grin had given way to an agitated glare. It brought her much joy to see his confidence fading.

"Not bad, eh Paragon?" She taunted.

"Don't fool yourself. There's still two more events, that's plenty of time to humiliate you." Paragon replied, trying (and failing) to hide his contempt.

Finally moving onto the agility race, Celestia dismissed the precision course set up, conjuring up an

new course that was earthbound, consisting of numerous sharp, narrows turns and random obstacles to move

around. The goal was to move through this course without going above the maximum height of below the minimum

height. The penalty for touching an obstacle was only as severe as the time it takes to come to your senses and

move around it, but at the speeds they were intended to move at, that collision could be devastating. Each

racing cell did it's own respective race, and before long the finals came around. Paragon and Dash were again

beside each other initially, but in this race it didn't much matter; it was more freestyle than the other

courses, and racers were free to move their own way, unrestrained by tracks or lanes. Each racer had now

witnessed their own imperfections, and more importantly they saw their opponents' weaknesses; they knew that

they could win, and that their opponent wasn't unbeatable, and they knew they had to give it their all to win

Gold.

Not even hearing the countdown, they were both focused intensely on the course ahead of them, and

took off almost automatically when they saw Celestia's start signal. Paragon took an early lead, his powerful

flaps propelling him forward through the course. Dash knew that a large stallion like himself couldn't handle

turns as well as she could, and so she wasn't worried initially. Just as she had predicted, Paragon slowed

down considerably at the numerous sharp turns throughout the course, allowing Dash to take the lead. As she

distanced herself from Paragon, her mind began to wander, searching again for the White Maned Mare from her

dreams, since this was basically where it happened in her dreams, but didn't see her. She noticed her friends,

who she glanced from the corner of her eye; the course's turns took her right near the edge of the arena, and

they had front row seats. They were so close in fact, she could make out their voices clearly among the crowd,

and it encouraged her more. She then thought about Pinkie, who couldn't be there because of her; because of

Maree; and how things must be going at home. She worried for Maree's sake; she had no idea what to expect from

Pinkie. What if Pinkie tried to feed her a cupcake? She couldn't eat solids yet, and she might choke! And what

if Pinkie tried to play with her too rough? She might hurt her, or-

"DASH LOOK OUT!" Twilight's voice came from the crowd. Dash realized she wasn't paying attention, and

refocused just in time to narrowly dodge a short pillar which had been place in the way of the course as an

obstacle. Obviously with no time for thanks, Dash continued on her way. She was close to the end now, and to

her disappointment, found that Paragon was gradually catching up, as he began to adjust to the sharp turns and

now handled them with almost as much ease as herself. The last 100 feet or so was a straight away, with no

turns or obstacles in her way. This was Paragon's chance. He seemed to come from no where, his thunderous

wing beats almost twice as loud as the wind rushing passed Dash's ears. She knew she couldn't just let him have

the win. She had led him the entire course until now. This race was HERS! She closed her eyes and pushed

herself to the max. When she opened her eyes again, she and Paragon were both over the finish line.

The judges had to re-watch the final moment of the race several times over. It had been close; to the

naked, untrained eye, they appeared to have crossed at the same time. They slowed the image down until they

could clearly make it out, and eventually ruled in favor of a tie. Paragon was outraged.

"A TIE?!" He exclaimed when he heard the news. "I am no equal to this-!" A thousand filthy curse words came to

his mind before he finally settled on, "-child!" He spat the last words out through a locked jaw and tight lips.

"Look who's calling who a child! Who's the one throwing an tantrum over a little tie when there's still one event left!" Dash threw back at Paragon, obviously reveling in his increasing frustration.

"Official Pegalympic rulings state that if two racers cross the finish line within 20 milliseconds of each other, it is to be ruled as a tie. There was a difference of only 13.6 milliseconds between your finish times, so it's a tie." The judge explained.

"Well, just for argument's sake, who had the faster time at the end of the day?" Dash asked out of curiosity.

"We're not allowed to disclose that. Besides, since you're getting an equal number of points for your finish times, it's irrelevant." The judge replied.

"I'll bet I won, and they just seek to restrain me from my inevitable success!" Paragon said accusingly, before stomping away.

Now crunch time was really upon Rainbow Dash. This final event, which combined elements from all 3

previous courses, would decide the real winner was. Despite 4 other ponies being in the finals, it was clear

that this battle was truly between Paragon and Rainbow Dash now. Even the crowd was divided; some rooted for

Paragon, others for Dash. It was, for all intents and purposes, a one on one face off between the two finest

flyers in Equestria. Celestia formed the large, final course before them. Rainbow Dash and Paragon glared at

each other fiercely. They were both capable flyers, and they both knew that neither was unbeatable. Neither of

them could accept anything less than first place. It was all or nothing.

When Celestia counted down to take off, it seemed to take forever, yet when she finally allowed the

competitors to go, it seemed to catch her off guard. She felt herself moving with greater speed and intensity

than she ever had before, as she was essentially sprinting throughout the course. She was perhaps the only

flyer in the whole stadium who could maintain those speeds for the length of the course, and she intended to

make use of that advantage. The first section of the course returned to the precision flying course, which

took them in a generally upward direction, ending at the highest point of the stadium. Dash navigated through

this very well, taking an early lead. Paragon was careful not to hit any of the obstacles, and also made it

through without a hitch, taking a strong second. Already, the remaining 4 pegasi were fading into the

background, and it was just Dash and Paragon.

The middle section was focused on the agility section, which took them back down again to a point

where it would inevitably loop back around to the sprint track. Dash kept up her lead all throughout the

course, only widening her lead as she completed the agility section and moved onto the final section. Now only

seconds from winning, her victory was assured.

Paragon saw this impending defeat, and it made him flash with frustration, but he knew he was not

ultimately in danger. I've got no choice now, he said to himself. I'll have to use that. Damn... and on a mere

child like her.

Dash was halfway through the sprint section. She was just seconds from her ultimate dream being

realized. The crowd was going wild, cheering, screaming her name, and she was finally and the epicenter of

one of Equestria's most coveted events. This was her moment at last, the culmination of years of dreaming just

a couple hundred feet away from her...

What she saw next she wasn't sure of at first. It was a great big blur, moving at such blistering

speeds that it generated enough wind to actually knock Dash off balanced, stopping her in her tracks as she stumbled

in the air trying to right herself. When she was steady again, Paragon was already passed the finish line. For

a moment, the crowd went dead silent. They were stunned, but not nearly as much as Dash. A moment later, most

of them started cheering again, only this time a new name formed their chant.

"Paragon! Paragon! Paragon!" They cheered. Dash Was overwhelmed by what had just happened. For the first time

in many years, she felt like she might just collapse to the ground and start crying. Everything she'd been

building up to, everything she had trained for. Everything she aspired to was swept away in a swift, almost

undetectable movement. She had failed.

Rainbow Dash managed to compose herself, not wanting anyone, ESPECIALLY Paragon, to see her shed

tears. The two of them, along with another pegasus that Dash didn't know who had come in third, stepped up to

the podium to be given their medals. The unknown pegasus was given the bronze, and Dash received a silver

medal. Silver. They might as well have just kicked her in the cannon and sent her on her way. Paragon proudly

received the gold medal, and he immediately began showing off, displaying in very flashy, arrogant ways.

Dash's urge to punch him was skyrocketing, and considered it a miracle she managed to hold herself back.

After congratulations were completed and the pegasi were dismissed, Dash decided to simply walk away,

trying not to talk to or look at anyone. She found that her urge to cry grew exponentially as she walked

away.It meant that if was official. The event was over, and it wouldn't be back for another few years. Would

she even be there? What if he came back? She'd never be able to live down losing to him a second time.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash looked at the source of the voice, and rolled her eyes angrily. It was Paragon, here to gloat. "You look so sullen, little girl. Cheer up! Silver isn't so bad. I've known lots of silver medals before. I've never BEEN one of course, but I've met plenty of them!" He laughed at his own stupid sense of humor, and Dash just ignored him, walking faster now, her rage very nearly out of control. If she stayed much longer, somepony was going to get beat.

As Dash tried to storm out of the stadium, she saw the Wonderbolts walking in her direction. She

briefly felt very excited, but they continued to walk by, hardly even noticing her. Dash watched as the

representatives of the Wonderbolts, Captain Spitfire and Soarin' amongst them, all crowded around Paragon,

aghast with excitement. Dash couldn't bear to watch, but she forced herself anyway.

"Whoa, that was crazy! I've never seen anyone move like that!" An unknown Wonderbolt gushed.

"Stupendous! You completely blew that last round away!" Soarin' added.

"And those wings! I've never seen anything like it before, so... big, and... powerful.." Spitfire eyed

Paragon's wings for prolonged periods of time, hardly even looking him in the eye.

Did that just happen?! Is she HITTING on him? Spitfire, of all ponies, is falling for this jerk?!

"So... Paragon, was it? As captain of the Wonderbolts, I speak for my whole team when I say we'd LOVE to have you with us, it would be be an honor, really!" Spitfire was completely entranced by this pegasus before her.

Paragon seemed to think for a second, and didn't reply for a few seconds. Then suddenly, he burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Is that supposed to make you look good, or is it supposed to make me look bad?" He asked rhetorically.

Spitfire abruptly snapped out of her trance. "W-what?!"

"Do you really think I'd fly for your team? Really, what am I, some sort of jester? To join a 'team' I would

be taking orders, and that would simply be impossible. I'm the type who gives out orders, rather than taking

them. I'm not out to be an icon, I'm out to be a SYMBOL. A symbol of power. Do you think flying is some sport?

Some sort of amusing trick? The power of flight is no mere source of entertainment, dear kiddies. It

represents power. PRESTIGE. It's a means of establishing a pecking order, on which I am on top. To join YOUR

team is to willingly put myself below you, which is simply unacceptable. My destiny lies on a far greater level

than amusing a crowd like some sort of buffoonish aerial mascot." Dash was incredulous. The Wonderbolts weren't

just taking him on for an audition, they were giving him the position. Just handing it away for free. And HE

was turning THEM down! More than that, he was making FUN of them!

Spitfire was seething mad now. Any interest she had shown in him initially was long gone. "AERIAL MASCOTS?!" She screamed. "I'll have you know there's more to our job that just parading around, you pompous jerk! We represent what it means to be cool! We represent the sky itself, as masters of the aerial arts!"

"Get one thing straight, little girl, and that is that I am the only true master of the sky!" Paragon shot back. "I could beat any of you- in fact I could beat ALL of you- in one swift stroke if I so chose. You don't have idea who you're comparing yourself to!" Paragon paced around the Wonderbolts, giving them all dirty looks.

"We'll take that challenge!" Soarin' spoke up now, just as angry as Spitfire. "What do you say, captain? Let's take him up on his offer and take him out of the sky!"

"With pleasure! Paragon, we accept your challenge!" Spitfire declared. "Tomorrow, at 12:00pm over Cloudsdale, you'll face each and every one of the Wonderbolts in a contest, loser doesn't show his face over Equestria's skies again!" Spitfire motioned for the Wonderbolts to follow as she too stormed out of the stadium. "If I were you, after making a statement like that, I'd BE there!" She said over her shoulders, not looking back.

"I wouldn't worry about that, if I were you. In fact, if I were you, I'd start looking for a new home!" Paragon called after them, but they didn't reply. He noticed Dash was watching them, and scoffed. "What are YOU looking at? Does this concern you somehow?" He took off with a loud *fwoom!* as his massive wings launched him into the air.

Dash was dumbfounded. Surely, what she had just witnessed was the most unbelievably grand display of

arrogance she had ever seen. The Great And Powerful Trixie looked like some sort of monk compared to him. She

did, inevitably, draw some satisfaction from the fact that she knew that the Wonderbolts would wipe him out.

She herself had, after all, ALMOST beaten him. Surely, 11 pegasi, just as good as her or better, would knock

him out of Equestria's skies for good. She wished she could do it, but at least he'll be gone. Dash finally

left the stadium, and was greeted by Applejack, Twilight and Fluttershy, who all had sympathetic looks on

their faces. Dash sighed. She was about to get pitied. She hated to be pitied.

"Hey Dash, don't get so down!" Applejack started. Dash knew this old song so well, she could almost sing along, but that would be just a little bit too depressing.

"Second place in a big tournament like this is nothin' to spit at, girl! It's a major honor to get even half as far as you did!" Applejack put a hoof around Dash's shoulder to try to comfort her, but Dash just shook it off, not replying.

"Dash, don't be like that, it's not very nice..." Fluttershy was now contributing to the pity party, which

made things even worse. Applejack was a tough girl who could take a bit of rudeness, but treating Fluttershy

like that.. who knows how she'd take it. "If you act like that, everypony's going to think you're a sore

loser. N-not that I think that, I'm just saying, you ought to be careful about how you... project yourself." She shied away, having said her piece.

"It's not so much that I lost first place really, it's just..HIM.." Dash tipped her head back to the stadium, obviously talking about Paragon. "Just.. the way he acted.. the way he spoke.... it just makes me so MAD, I just wanna..." She didn't finish her sentence, but a frustrated grunt indicated that it wouldn't have ended well.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about him... something doesn't quite add up..." Twilight, with a hoof on her chin, seemed to be in thought. "Just who is he, for starters? I've never heard of anypony named 'Paragon', and with the level of talent he has; not to mention his intimidating physical appearance; you'd think he'd be a little more famous than not at all." Twilight now looked at the ring of friends. "I mean, have any of you ever even HEARD if this guy before?" Everyone shook their heads immediately. "Me neither! And that last challenge.. he was way far behind, and then all of a sudden he gets this tremendous boost of speed from nowhere, just in time to take first place. Why didn't he move like that the whole time? Is he hiding something? I suspect some sort of foul play."

Dash's eyes lit up at the sound of that. "You think he cheated?" She was thrilled at the possibility that she might be able to take this away from him. Proving this would be just as good as any medal.

"I can't prove anything now, but I'll look into it. For now, we'll just have to sit back and wait, until we know more about him." Twilight sighed slightly, apparently just as impatient to solve this as Dash.

"I guess so." Dash sighed, submissively. She felt a little better, but not much.

"I guess you'll probably be taking off, then?" Twilight said to Dash.

"Actually, I don't really feel like flying. I'm...tired. I'll just walk." So the 4 friends all walked home together.

The 4 ponies, after their long trek home, all went separate ways. The sun was just about set by the

time Dash finally got home. Dash had been bummed out and quiet the whole trip back, but now she was alert, and

worried. She she had left Pinkie alone with Maree all day, and she wondered just what she'd come home to. She

wasn't sure if Pinkie had ever foalsat for so long at a time before, and was worried maybe she'd crack under

the boredom. She was the kind of pony who could do that. Dash moved with increasing speed as she neared her

house, almost running up the first few steps and to her door. She opened the door, which had been left

unlocked, and walked inside. In the living room, she found Pinkie, reclining on a sofa on the far wall, half-asleep. She was alone.

"Pinkie? Where's Maree?" Dash hadn't meant to sound to frantic.

"Relax, Dashie, Maree's sound asleep in her crib. She has been for over an hour now. I check on her every 25 minutes, and the last time I checked was just 8 minutes ago. She's still just fine. Everything is just peachie!" Pinkie grinned proudly.

"And there was no trouble at all? No injuries, no random magic, no choking, or anything?"

"Not at all. Not one ounce of trouble to be seen. If fact, I had her out earlier, and she was crawling around, exploring the house. It was so exciting to watch her! I made certain she never got too far, or got into something that could hurt her, of course!"

Dash was surprised. "Crawling? Really?' She was disappointed she'd missed it.

"Yup! She was at it for hours! He little legs are stronger than you give her credit for! You outta let her out and about everyday from now on, give her a little exercise. You've got no idea how much she wants to be able to get up and at it!" Pinkie giggled a little and hopped up from her seat. "Well, I gotta get going. I'll see you around Dash!" Pinkie headed for the door.

"Wait, you don't wanna hear about what happened today or anything?" Dash called after her.

"Like it's any secret, Ms. Gold Medal! We can talk more about how to creamed them all in the morning!" Pinkie continued out of the house.

"Well that's just it.. I ... I didn't really..." Pinkie didn't hear her, and the door closed behind her

without a reply. Dash sighed again. She really didn't feel like going after her. She might as well just let

her go own her own merry way for now, and correct her tomorrow. She yawned suddenly. It wasn't really very

late, but Dash was very tired. She decided she'd go join Maree and pack it in early today.

As soon as Dash entered the bedroom, Maree's eyes opened, as if she had detected her presence.

"Mommy!" The tiny infant chirped.

"Yeah, it's mommy, she's home from her long day at work!" Dash said back to Maree. Maree tried to hold herself

up on he front legs, but her shaky legs and her getting caught up in the blankets all led her to falling over

clumsily in her crib. Dash chuckled at her little girls' shenanigans, and remarked at how close she had

gotten to pulling herself up that time. Dash had never realized that Maree was strong enough to do that.

"Well, kid I think we both ought to get to bed for now." Dash crawled in bed, just an arm's reach away from

Maree in her crib. Maree held out both her arms, reaching, for Dash's. It had become her new thing at night,

to want to hold onto Dash throughout the night. Dash didn't mind, as long as she was still, and she always

was. She gave her an arm, and Maree snuggled right on top of it, using it as a pillow. Dash found it

surprisingly easy to let today's troubles melt away as she felt Maree's warm cheek on her hoof. She quickly

began to drift off, and was asleep in just a few minutes. Maybe today wasn't all bad after all.

Pinkie had just left Dash's house, and was on her way back to Sugarcube Corner. She was proud of her

work that day, though she had to admit it wasn't hard. Maree was just so sweet and well behaved, the job

practically had done itself.! Just as she turned off Dash's street, something caught her eye. In a garbage

can, something very shiny caught her attention, and she walked up to it. She picked it out, and found that it

was in fact a brand new Pegalympic silver medal, that had been just discarded by some careless pony! Who who

throw away something like this? Surely, it must have been an accident, or some sick prank somepony was pulling

on somepony else. She decided to take it with her, and find it's true owner. She couldn't wait to see their

face when they saw their precious medal returned to them!

The next day seemed just like any other, strangely enough. Dash was more or less over herself and

Paragon. She puttered about her day, with a sort of self-satisfied attitude about her, comforted by the fact

that she knew somewhere, right now, Paragon was struggling to hold onto his own dignity. Around 3:00pm,

Fluttershy stopped by her house, which surprised her. She wasn't expecting anyone.

"Fluttershy? Hey, what's up?" Dash fixed her with a quizzical smile.

"Hello, Dash, um, may I come in?" Fluttershy asked ever so politely.

"Yeah, uh, sure come on in, I guess." Dash let her in, and they both went to sit on a couch. "What're you up to?"

"Oh, you know, just ordinary stuff... spending lots of time around the forest animals... just thinking... but actually, today I stopped by Cloudsdale to watch the Wonderbolts, going against Paragon." Fluttershy explained.

"Yeah, I bet that was fun! Poor guy got what he deserved." Dash took a long sip from a drink she had gotten herself just as Fluttershy had arrived.

"Well, actually Dash he..... well... he....won..."

Dash choked on her drink, coughing and spitting it everywhere. "WHAT?!"

Fluttershy flinched as Dash suddenly raised her voice. "Ah!.. Well, it's true I don't know how, but he did. He beat them all, one at a time."

Dash was completely bewildered. How could they have lost? They were the Wonderbolts! They were the best flyers

in the world! And there were 11 of them against Paragon, who stood alone. How could he beat all of them at

once?

"What was it like?"

Fluttershy's eyes wandered as she recalled the event. "Like nothing I'd ever seen before. He accepted every specific challenge they proposed to him; standard or otherwise; and one by one, he bested them all, with this unreal endurance and skill that didn't even seem possible. He was hardly even sweating at the end of it all. Sometimes he moved so quickly, he was hardly more than a blur. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him."

"He beat all of them? Even Spitfire?" Fluttershy nodded slowly. Dash was quiet for a long time. Many pegasi

looked up to and respected Dash as an inspiring, talented flyer. She was often seen as being on the top by her

peers. But if there was one pegasus that even Dash looked up to, it was Spitfire. And even she had been

defeated by the enigma that was Paragon.

"He's gotten awfully popular up there." Fluttershy continued, breaking the silence, which was quite unusual

for her. "He's got a small little fan club that flock around him, chanting his name, backing him up. They must have at least doubled in numbers after Paragon won that match up."

Dash sighed, and rolled her eyes a bit. "That's just what I need. To know that Cloudsdale thinks of that scumbag as some kind of hero."

"It's not so much that he's a 'hero', really. More like....a king." Fluttershy corrected.

Dash scoffed irritably. "What's the bucking difference?" She hadn't meant to sound so harsh, and regretted it

when Fluttershy shrank away at her raised voice again.

"Well, they would respect a hero. In his case, they WORSHIP him. They call him the 'Ruler Of The Skies', a title he himself picked out."

"Oh my gosh, that guy just cannot get enough of himself, Can he?!"

"I guess not.." Fluttershy became quiet again and there was another pause. After a moment or two, Fluttershy

stood up from the couch and started to leave. "Well, I should be going, I just wanted to tell you that..." She

didn't wait for any response, which was good since she didn't get one.

Dash was overwhelmed by this news. She had no idea what to do or say, and did nothing of either for a

long time. Dash's only redeeming light was that the Wonderbolts would take down Paragon, but now that he was

reining champion of Cloudsdale and an up and coming celebrity, what could she do now? Reluctantly,

unfortunately, all she really could do was accept the fact that she had lost. That hurt her, almost

physically, when she finally realized that. She had been beaten irrefutably. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. And

that was that. Then the memory hit her, light a great beam of light. She was wrong; there WAS a shadow of

doubt. Twilight said he might have been cheating, and that she might be able to prove it somehow. She still

had that hope to hold onto. For now she just had to wait. Dash finally snapped out of her thoughts when she

heard Maree's cries from the bedroom, having woken up from her nap. She probably needed food and/or a change.

For now, Dash thought, she had a life to get on with, and a child to raise.

The week progressed boringly average, nothing of much consequence happening the whole time. Dash had

taught Maree a few more words, and a couple small sentences like "Love you" and "Thank you". Dash's amazement

at Maree's vocabulary at such a young age never ceased to surprise her, and definitely never ceased to

surprise Twilight, who was taking an increasing amount of interest in her as time progressed. They were over

at her house one day, demonstrating Maree's newly expanded vocabulary.

"I just can't believe she can talk this well so young." Twilight said, shaking her head in disbelief. "It's definitely got to be an Alicorn thing, I've never heard of a pony that caught on this quickly."

"Yeah I'm real proud of her, she's a bright little girl." Dash chuckled, and ruffled Maree's mane a little, playfully.

"You know, when she's a little older, I could give her some tutoring. I'm just as good as any teacher, with all the books and resources in the library, and I'd do it for free, which I guarantee won't be the case for school." Twilight offered.

"Really? That'd actually be pretty cool, Twilight!"

"I'd love to, she seems just so ready to learn, even now, and I think we'd have a blast together, say when she's about 2 or 3."

Twilight looked over at Maree, who was busily crawling about on Twilight's carpet. She'd

gotten stronger in the last week or so actually quite suddenly. She couldn't walk proper yet, but she was

getting there. Twilight was perplexed that Maree could not use her magic at all. She could owe her lack of

flying to her disability, but she should have had at least one spurt of magic by now.

"Sounds great!' Dash picked Maree up, holding her up to her face. "Did ya hear that, Maree? Auntie Twilight's

gonna teach you how to be a smart little filly! Smarter, anyway, you're already a little genius, after all!"

Twilight smiled at the sweet scene. It reminded her of something she had wanted to talk to Dash about. "So, Dash, just thought I'd let you know, a little while ago I sent a message to Princess Celestia asking about Maree, and it turns out she doesn't know a thing about her."

"You what?" Dash put Maree down.

"Yeah, I sent her a message almost a whole week ago, but she just got back to me now. She's been rather sluggish lately with the mail, I often don't get responses from her for days at a time, it's really weird. Anyway, I just I'd let you know."

Dash wasn't sure what to think. What did she need to talk to Celestia about? What business of her's

was it anyway? Then She remembered; the very first day together, Twilight said she had a theory that Maree was

somehow related to the royal family, because of her status as an Alicorn. Then she got very scared. What if

Celestia had known Maree? What if she knew her real parents? Oh God, she thought, what if it really HAD been a

terribly accident afterall? She realized in one sudden, frightening epiphany that in that single stroke of

uncontrollable action which she had been totally ignorant to until just now, she could very easily have lost

custody of Maree altogether.

"Don't talk about that anymore." Dash said very firmly. "Not to Celestia or anyone."

"Relax Dash, I was just curious, you know, in case there'd been a mix up-"

"Twilight, I said stop! There was no mix up. I told you already: she was left there deliberately, and that was that. No one was going to help her. She's my responsibility now." Dash was very tense now, and speaking very strongly.

"Dash, I didn't mean to upset you, I just wanted to make sure that-"

"Look, Twilight, I'm just not comfortable with you talking about Maree with Celestia anymore, alright?!" Dash was almost hysterical now, and Twilight was visibly upset. She stood on 2 legs, holding her front hoofs on her hips, glaring at Dash condescendingly.

"Rainbow Dash! You have NO right to tell me what I can and cannot talk about with my own Mentor, and I'm SHOCKED that you would think otherwise! She taught me almost everything I know, I share everything with her. She and I are practically of one mind, and what harm have I done anyway? I was only trying to do what is inevitably the right thing, and you cannot and WILL not tell me that you are not okay with me doing that!"

Rainbow Dash finally realized how crazy she sounded and calmed down. "Twilight, I'm... .I'm sorry, I'm just a little..."

Twilight interrupted her. "Never mind, Dash, it's okay. I know how you feel. I was pretty harsh just now, and I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." The two of them became quiet for a little while. Twilight decided it was probably best that she change the subject to one less sensitive.

"Hey Dash, have you seen Fluttershy around lately?" She asked out of the blue.

Dash thought for a moment. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Fluttershy in almost a week. She never really noted her absence in the past, but there was very rarely pauses of this size in their meetings. "No, now that I think of it, I haven't seen her around at all. Have you?"

"No, and that's what worries me. I don't necessarily talk to her every day, but I do usually see her just about everyday, just casually strolling this way or that."

"Well when was the last time you heard from her?" Dash asked.

"Let's see.... I'd say about 4 days ago, she said you had an errand of some sort to run in Cloudsdale, and then she just seemed to disappear."

Cloudsdale. Paragon had been prancing around Cloudsdale like some arrogant little prince- sorry, KING- and

causing quite a ruckus. She'd heard that lots of people were getting harassed and bullied up there, and not

even necessarily by Paragon; in a lot of cases, the harassers were people taking orders from Paragon. They all

seemed to flock beneath him to support him, and Dash couldn't possibly think why. All she knew is that if

Fluttershy was one of the victims, and she had been hurt somehow.... there was going to be trouble.

"I need to go, Twilight. I'm going to go check on her." Without another word, Dash collected little Maree and

headed straight for Sugarcube corner. She knocked on the door, and shortly after, Pinkie Pie answered.

"Hey Dash! What's up?"

"Pinkie, I need you to take Maree back to my place and watch her for a while. I'm going to go look for Fluttershy."

Dash arrived in Cloudsdale after a relatively brief flight. Dash suddenly remembered she hadn't been

up here in a long time. It was... nice, to be up in the clouds again, with the clouds beneath her hoofs soft

and cushiony. But she couldn't focus on that now. She went looking throughout all of Cloudsdale, and luckily

she did not encounter Paragon or his fanatics, which saved her some hassle for now. When she eventually did

find Fluttershy, she was concerned from from the first glance. She was simply sitting alone, her head hung

low, being very quiet.

"Fluttershy! There you are! We're worried about you down below! you haven't been around for days." Fluttershy didn't say anything. "Hey come on, you could at least say 'hi'!" Dash said, walking right up beside Fluttershy.

"Oh.. I didn't mean to seem rude, Rainbow Dash, I just... hi." Was her meek response.

Well if that's all then, why don't you come on down, show everyone you're okay? They were all worried about you. What've you been doing anyway? You hardly ever come up here."

"Oh well, you know, i just had a little errand to run and... it took a little longer than I expected, so that's that." Fluttershy didn't make eye contact.

"Well then, come on! Let's get moving!" Dash put an arm around Fluttershy to hurry her along, but Fluttershy

yelped like a frightened dog, and pulled back. The shock of the unusual sound made Dash pull back immediately,

almost giving her a heart attack. She finally noticed for the first time that Fluttershy's left wing, which

she was previous unable to see from her vantage point, was bandaged all the way up and down right to the point

where the wing met the back. Dash's fears were becoming a terrible reality very fast. Not even really needing

to ask, she asked anyway.

"Dash... your wing... it was Paragon, wasn't it?"

"well I... I don't know.. I mean it was dark.. I.. didn't necessarily see-"

"Fluttershy." Dash got right to Fluttershy's face now, and spoke very slowly. "Did. He. Hurt. you?!" She asked sternly.

Fluttershy paused for a long time, and she hung her head very slowly. Tears were forming in her eyes, which

broke Dash's heart, but she didn't show it. Slowly, Fluttershy nodded in response to Dash's question. Dash

knew that was hard for her. Fluttershy hated confrontation, and hated blaming her misfortunes on others, even

when it was wholly their fault. "I-it was late at night..." She began. "I was flying along, minding my own business, and then he... well he sort of... bumped into me, and I flew into a pillar, breaking my wing, and I haven't been able to get around since." She explained. "B-but, I'm sure he didn't mean to, there's no reason to- I mean, I'm sure it was just an accident-"

"The hell it was!" Dash snapped, grabbing one of Fluttershy's hooves. "Come on." She pulled her along, despite Fluttershy's resistance.

"Dash please, don't he's bigger and better than you, and he could do terrible things-"

"I'm not going to back away now! This time he's gone too far! I'm settling this once and for all!"

Paragon, when one was looking for him, was not difficult to find. He was spotted with several unknown

cronies bullying some other pegasi, and he was at the center of it all, overseeing the assaults with

contemptful pleasure. Dash breezed by all of his followers and went straight for Paragon, still dragging

Fluttershy, who had ceased to resist at last. Paragon noticed her approaching, and chuckled mockingly.

"Ah! If it isn't the words most colorful silver medal, how has life been treating you since you lost to me?" He asked casually.

Dash ignored the question entirely. "Alright, listen here you little BASTARD, I can put up with just about anything. I don't like what you've been up to lately; in fact, I hate it. But I WON'T let you go around hurting my friends. Now I want to say what you have to say about yourself to my friend."

Paragon remained as calm and smooth as ever. "And who might that be?" He asked, not even looking at Dash.

Rainbow Dash was furious at his reckless indifference. "HER!!" She seethed, pointing at Fluttershy. Their

entrance hadn't exactly been subtle, he had to have noticed who was with her, and surely he recognized her as a

victim.

"Ah, right I recall her! From a few nights ago if I recall. A weak flyer. Hardly flies at all. She's slow, and she's frail. She gave up without any fight at all. How boring." He chuckled slightly to himself, but then became very serious, almost angry. "I hate weak flyers. They make me feel shame for the mere fact that we are one and the same race. They are beneath me, and if you think I'll take even a moment's time to look that far down just to apologize to someone I don't know or care about, then you're sorely mistaken." He continue to regard Dash with virtual indifference, even walking away slightly. Dash had official lost her col, and marched right up to Paragon's face, looking him dead in the eye so that he had to look back at him.

"That's it! we're settling this right now! You and me, let's do it!" She demanded.

"What are you proposing, little girl?"

"One last race. You and me. If I win, you leave Cloudsdale alone from now one, AND you apologize not only to Fluttershy over there, but to everyone you've beaten, hurt, or antagonized at all since you got here."

"And if I win?" Paragon cocked a particularly curious eyebrow.

Dash paused for a long time. She knew her answer, but resisted having to say it for as long as she could. "If you win... you can do whatever you want. I won't be able to stop you, and I'll give up trying." She said finally.

Paragon was amused by this proposition. "Very well Rainbow Dash, I accept your foolish challenge."

Paragon and Rainbow Dash flew to the edge of Cloudsdale, with Fluttershy and a crowd in tow. Lots of

murmurs of anticipation, as well as several muffled insults could be heard coming from the audience that had

gathered. Dash had officially made a scene, yet again, and there was no turning back now. The two contestants

stood right on the rim of Cloudsdale's clouds, and Dash looked over the edge, Ponyville visible on the ground

below.

"Alright this'll be the biggest test you've ever been put up to!" Dash announced, turning to Paragon. "None of that sissy stuff we did in the Pegalympics, this is a super-sprint race!" Paragon was unaffected by the prominence of this challenge's title.

"You and me will race in a straight sprint from here-" She pointed at Ponyville, "-To the roof of town hall in Ponyville!" Fluttershy, standing next to Dash, looked very concerned. "Are you sure you can even do that?" She asked.

"Yes, can you? After all, that's an awful lot of top-speed flying for a little filly like you to be doing all at once!" Paragon chuckled mockingly.

"As a matter of fact, Paragon, I HAVE done it, and I can do it again!" Dash shot back.

"Well if that's how it is, then I suppose we've nothing left to do but begin!" Paragon now stood right next to Dash, observing the distance for himself. "Let's see... Ponyville is about 1.9 miles down, and about 1.6 out that way, which leaves a total linear distance from here to there of about..."

"2.48 miles." Dash interjected. Both Paragon and Fluttershy fixed here with a look. Dash simply shrugged.

"Believe it or not, Trigonometry was the one part of math I was really good at."

"Whatever. Let's just get this silliness over with." He motioned for one of his groupies to come over and

count them in. This was it. This was Rainbow Dash's last chance to redeem herself. And this time, she raced

not only for herself, but for Fluttershy as well.

"Racers, on your marks!" The pegasus started. Paragon and Rainbow Dash crouched down in their place,

preparing to take off. "Get set..." The pause lasted centuries. It still seemed to end too abruptly. "GO!"

They both took of with awesome force. Dash angled her flight immediately, aiming for the straightest

route from Cloudsdale to Ponyville. She knew that this race was different. In a level race, Paragon had the

edge with his superior thrust gained by his supreme wings, but in a race against gravity and wind resistance,

she had the advantage. This race was set up in such a way that you couldn't flap the whole way there; that

would be impossibly exhausting. At the same time, you couldn't just fall there either, you would need your

wings in order to guide yourself to the target accurately. This is a theoretical worst case scenario for

Paragon, as he would need to have his wings extended, without actually using them very much, other than the

occasionally flap. His supreme wings did indeed have a single major flaw; they created vastly more drag than

Dash's average wings. This prohibited him from moving as fast as Dash, thus lending the advantage to her. All

Dash had to do was keep an eye out for Paragon, in case he would try to sprint off the last length of the

course to pull off a come-from-behind. As long as she stayed ahead of him and didn't lose focus, this was a

guaranteed win. Oddly enough, however, she found that Paragon was no where to be found. He wasn't ahead,

beside, or behind her. Had he even gone at all? Then she spotted him. He was only barely visible. He had been

flying straight overhead. He was going the long way around! Fine by me, Dash though, that just makes this even

easier.

Paragon had begun to formulate a plan. He couldn't beat Dash in the challenge she had proposed; even

he knew that. And so, he had decided on an alternate course of action. He continued to fly straight outwards

until he was directly over Ponyville, and then he simply dropped like a stone. He tucked himself in tight,

making his massive frame very small, and his speed began to skyrocket. Dash looked up again, now a little over

the halfway point, to see Paragon's spec of a body starting to catch up. Fast. And then it hit her. It was

actually FASTER for Paragon to take the long route! He may not be able to fly the full length of the course,

but he CAN fly the horizontal distance from Coudsdale to Ponyville. From, there, he can sheer dive right on

top of the town, moving at tremendous speeds, more than enough to compensate for the extra distance he

traveled. He was currently moving more than twice as fast as Dash was. Dash began to realize that if she

didn't hurry up and win now, not only was her chance of losing still very real, it was almost certain.

Rainbow Dash started flapping as quickly as she could to give herself all the speed she could muster.

Could she keep it up? She wasn't sure. She had bluffed earlier. She was already starting to feel the burn from

the effort. It wasn't going to be easy, one way or the other. She looked ahead of herself. There was only half

a mile to go. She couldn't look back at Paragon. She knew no matter how close or far he was, it didn't matter.

She was putting everything behind this effort, and she needed total focus. The gap continued to close between

the two. it looked like it was going to be awful close. The burn was intense now, and Dash thought she might

let up for just a minute. She closed her eyes to push herself through the pain. When she reopened them, she

saw she was just a few hundred feet from the ground now. Mere moments from victory. As she approached, numerous

ponies from Ponyville looked up at them to watch. Dash was so close now she could almost taste it. The closer

she got, the more hopeful she was. Town Hall was RIGHT THERE!

And then it was over. In a moment of dead silence and heart-shattering disappointment, Paragon flew by

at a blurry speed, extending his wings at the last possible moment like a grand parachute, and his speed

plummeted. A moment ago, he was falling with the might of a meteorite, and now he landed atop Town Hall with

the grace and gentleness of a feather.

Dash almost stopped dead when she saw Paragon pass. She lost all energy. It was a colossal blow to her

ego once again, and for the second time in less than 2 weeks, she felt like she might cry again. She forced

herself to stop, though. She could never let him see that. She couldn't let anyone see that. She had failed

again. And this time, she didn't just fail herself. She failed Fluttershy too. She had never felt so useless

in her life. When she finally arrived on the scene, Paragon was hovering casual in front of the Town Hall

building, an unbelievably smug look on his face.

"Well, it seems you've embarrassed yourself once again, Rainbow Dash." He chuckled to himself. "Maybe now

you'll acknowledge my clear superiority." Dash said nothing. What could she say? "You're all the same. You and

your little mouse friend. Compared to me, you're just peasants. Underlings. Why should I have to apologize to

a lesser being? You've no right to tell me how to play with my own toys."

That was it. That was the trigger. Dash's misery snapped into a flying rage. Her pride had been mortally

wounded, and it may never recover, but she still owed it to Fluttershy. If it was the last thing she did,

she'd give him a good, solid crack in the face. She charged at him all at once, hoofs extended, with the

intent to tackle him right out of the sky and pummel him good. Paragon was unimpressed and unsurprised. He

ducked out of the way last second, leaving only the face of Town Hall in Dash's way. She could never have

stopped in time. Dash collided with the wall face first with a loud crack and fell the the ground without

another word. It was lucky for her that the impact knocked her out, otherwise it might have been quite

painful.

Dash awoke several minutes later. She was dizzy and sore in several places, most notably the front and

back of her head. She tentatively raised herself to a sitting position. A small crowd had gathered around

since she hit herself, and most of it had dissipated by now. There was no sign of Paragon anywhere. Fluttershy

came into the picture now, limping on another unknown pegasus's side to get down from Cloudsdale. She thanked

the pegasus, and he was off. Fluttershy walked over to Dash, with a face of sympathy and concern on her face.

Dash hated that face. She knew it meant she was about to be pitied. She hated being pitied.

"Oh dear, Dash, your nose.." Dash raised a hoof to her nose, and immediately regretted touching it. It stung badly, and her hoof had a bit of blood on it. She hadn't even noticed she was bleeding.

"How bad does it look?" Dash asked.

"Well, it's not... it looks like it might be a little.... crooked? You might want to get that looked at, you know, just in case.."

A broken nose. That's just what today was missing in order to be complete. Dash sighed heavily. "Alright, come

on, let's just go already." She didn't feel the need to explain what had happened. By the look on Fluttershy's

face, she knew Fluttershy was aware that Dash had lost, and was thankful that she chose not to pursue it as a

conversational direction.

"Are you sue you can get there on your own? Do you want to maybe lean on my good side for a little extra support?" Fluttershy offered.

"It's just a busted nose. No biggie. I can walk by myself." Almost perfectly on cue, Dash's dizziness almost

caused her to fall over. Fluttershy jumped forward t catch her, but Dash caught her footing in time and

brushed Fluttershy aside. She was going to make it to that office without assistance, no matter how slow or

unsteady it would be.

"Yup, that nose is definitely broken. Pretty badly too, I might add." Dr. Leon was examining Dash, once again taking over someone else's shift, and was just finishing up. "I don't think it'll need any procedures, but I'll need to bandage it at least to keep it aligned."

Dash was quiet most of the way to the office, and had said only the bare minimum for the duration of her stay.

She was completely drained of her usual energy. She had lost to Paragon twice now. It would be forever before

she could work up the nerve to face him again. He hopes had been dashed not just once, but twice. How could

she ever recover from that?

"Are you feeling alright, Ms. Dash?" Dr. Leon asked. "You're not yourself. You're so quiet."

Dash didn't reply immediately. "...Well... I guess I just had a rough day. I don't really feel like talking about it." Dash didn't look at Dr. Leon as she spoke.

"Well you know what they say, tomorrow's a new day. Hopefully tomorrow'll turn things around!" He said, trying to cheer Dash up.

"They also say tomorrow never comes. It's always today." Dash replied.

"Ah, that's true as well.." Dr. Leon coughed. "Well, everything else checks out. Other than your nose, you've got some bruising, but that'll heal up in a matter of days. I just need to apply your bandage and we'll be done."

"Thanks Dr. Leon."

Dr. Leon starts to apply the bandage, but he can't seem to stand silence, so he continues to talk. "So, How's little Maree?" He inquired.

"She's doing fantastic, actually. She's started speaking recently, and she can crawl." Dash reported, her mood changing to that of a much brighter one now.

"Wonderful! She's coming along so much faster than I ever expected!" Dr. Leon exclaimed. "And how's the racing career?" He continued to ask.

Dash hesitated for a moment. "Not bad, I guess. Although, I've been thinking of quitting."

Dr. Leon was surprised by this. "Quitting? Why you're the finest racer in Equestria, surely the career could be no more satisfying!"

"It's great and all, I know, but it just leaves with a sort of... empty feeling." She lied.

"Well, if you think that's best.... Ah, there, all done!" Dr. Leon said, stepping away from Dash. Dash looked

at herself in a mirror, a white rectangle stretched across her face. She could see there was a faint red mark

where she had been bleeding earlier. She wasn't pretty, but she was at least functional.

"Thanks again, Dr. Leon. I outta get going to check on Maree and all. I'm sure I'll see you again soon!" Dash

said, leaving the office.

It was evening when Dash finally got home. She hadn't realized she had left so late in the day to

challenge Paragon. Or, maybe, she had been out of it longer than she originally thought. None of that really

mattered, though. She was home now, and that was all that mattered. She had nothing to look forward to now but

the smiling face of her daughter and her friend, Pinkie Pie. The moment Dash walked in the door, she heard

Pinkie's voice calling to her from the living room.

"DASH, COME HERE QUICK!" Dash's mind instantly thought up a worst case scenario, and her face turned pale. Too

impatient to run, she instead flew into the living room to look for Pinkie. What have you done, Pinkie?!

Dash got to the living room and scanned it for Pinkie.

"Pinkie! I'm right here! what.. what are you.." She went silent. Pinkie didn't look up at Rainbow Dash. She

was lying against the far wall, and a single tear was rolling down her eye. But she was... smiling. She was

happy. Rainbow Dash looked toward the middle of the room to meet where Pinkie was looking. Instantly, the

soreness in Rainbow Dash's head and face faded, and the trials and tribulations that she had dealt with hours

ago seemed to utterly diminish in significance. All the anger, sadness, frustration and misery in her body

melted away as she beheld the most beautiful sight she had ever laid her eyes on:

Her daughter Maree, was standing in the middle of the living room, beaming up proudly at her.

Time Goes On

For many seconds, everyone stood completely still. Dash wouldn't dare spoil this, one of the most wonderful

moments of her life, with mere words, of which no quantity or quality could ever be sufficient to accurately sum

up her feelings right then and there. Maree's beaming face, perched atop 4 small, shaky legs, was transfixed on

her mother, waiting expectantly for words of approval that wouldn't come, simply because Dash knew they would

never be enough. Dash felt her eyes well up once again, but these new tears; these tears of joy; she had very

little control over, and could not regulate them as she had before. Despite her reluctance, they eventually flowed

freely down her smiling face, and passed her quivering bottom lip. When Maree's excitement finally became too much

to bear, Maree finally spoke up.

"Mommy look!" She squeaked, as though she believed Dash hadn't noticed her at all. Dash knew she could say little

else with her limited vocabulary, and so she too finally broke her silence.

"I see you... I see you Maree!" She finally said, her voice shaky with excitement. "You're doing so good, look at

you!" She took a step forward and crouched down to the ground about 6 feet away from Maree. "Come on, Maree! Come

on over here, I know you can do it!"

Maree's shaky legs got even shakier as she tried shifting her weight off of her front right leg, now

balancing on only 3. She reached out ever so slowly and tentatively, setting her hoof back down just a few inches

in front of her.

"There it is! Your first step! Come on kid, come on Maree! You can do it! You're doing it!" Rainbow Dash continued

to shower Maree with confidence, lending her all the encouragement she could. Maree then tried to bring her

corresponding back leg forward. That's where complications occurred, and Maree's frail little legs gave out, and

she quietly and softly fell to her right side, accompanied by a gentle "oof!"

The moment that lasted forever was finally over, and Dash rose to walk over to her fallen daughter, who's

ear-to-ear grin had receded slightly. She pulled Maree in, embracing her warmly.

"I go boof!" Maree giggled.

"That's okay, Maree, that's okay.." Dash assured her stroking her daughter's mane. "You took one step. one whole

step. Next time, you'll take two steps, and the next time you'll take 4 steps, and the next time..." Rainbow Dash's

voice faded as she sobbed quietly for a second. She hadn't been so out of control of her own emotions in a long

time. It was a little bit frightening, but also incredibly relieving and therapeutic. Finally, she composed herself

and continued. "..And the next time, we'll take you around the whole house. we'll just keep on trying until you

can get anywhere you want, any time you want! Maree, let me tell you, there's a a big world out there, a big, big

world. And the more you walk, the bigger it gets. It's full of amazing things you've got to see, and people you'll

come to know and love. From here on out, your world's going to get just a little bit bigger every day... one step

at a time."

Pinkie Pie, who had been lying on the floor a couple feet away, was profoundly moved by the scene. She

couldn't remember ever seeing Dash get so emotional, nor could she ever remember her ever crying before. She

looked over at a clock on the wall. She knew she had to go soon, but wanted to hold out as long as possible, so

she could be a part of this moment.

There was silence in the room for a minute or so. Dash stopped crying, and calmed herself down.

"I've let myself get caught up in this stupid competition with Paragon, and I've been letting myself get obsessed

with beating him. So much so, I'm missing the true point of what I'm doing here. I already missed my chance to see

Maree crawl for the first time, and I almost missed her first steps just now. I've been treating this parenting

thing like it's just something I do on the side; a hobby I do between shifts at the track. But that's not right at

all. This is my life now, and I need to see that now more than ever. What does it matter if Paragon is better than

me? So what? Maree needs me now, I don't have time to deal with Paragon. From now on, I'll be different. Better.

For Maree."

Pinkie slowly nodded her head in approval. She was seeing a side to Rainbow Dash she had never seen

before: a loving, nurturing, motherly side. And she liked it. This passed while with Maree had really changed her

personality, and Pinkie expected that this change would continue you happen. Dash was becoming a very mature and

responsible mare.

"Dash, I..." Pinkie knew that she really had to leave, but she badly didn't want to go. "I really ought to get

going right about now, I'm needed back at Sugarcube Corner. I'll probably talk to you again pretty soon, right?"

Pinkie finally stood up.

Dash smiled up at her friend. Maree was starting to go to sleep in her arms. "Right. Thanks for everything,

Pinkie." Pinkie started to head down the hall for the door, but stopped right in the middle of the hallway.

"Hey Dash?" She called back.

"Yeah, Pinkie?"

"This is normally when I'd wish you 'good luck', but I don't think you'll need any. I think you'll do just great

without it!"

Dash smiled again. "Thanks, Pinkie."

After that day, time seemed to move a lot faster. Each and every day, Dash spent time with Maree helping

her walk. And she got better at it every day. She took 2 steps, then 4, then 8, then 16. Before long, the days

had turned into weeks, and Maree was walking all over the house unassisted, Which brought Dash unending joy. Soon,

she could run, and even jump. It was a snowball effect of progress; the more she could do, the stronger she got.

And the stronger she got, the more she could do. She was the master of her own legs at last by the time she was

about a year old.

As her teeth continued to grow in, she was eating more and more solids. She was off the formula by the time she

was about 6 months, and it was replaced with baby food reminiscent of apple sauce but of different foods for a little while.

Maree's diet consisted mostly of fruit. When her teeth finally did finish growing in, she ate a lot of apples. She loved the

ones that Dash picked up from Applejack's, and Maree even started accompanying her on the walk. Maree liked to

just take an apple raw, but occasionally she still enjoyed the special apple sauce made by the Apple family.

Maree was talking in complete sentences by the time she was just 16 month old. Slow for her, Dash thought,

but well ahead of anypony she knew. Not long after, Twilight started inviting Maree over for a couple hours every

day to tutor her, giving her lessons on proper speech and math to start, gradually introducing more and more

complex things as she progressed. Twilight, for one, took unending joy in teaching her new student. She never had

to repeat herself. Maree absorbed knowledge as though it were water, and she was the world's driest sponge. Math

came to her remarkably fast, and she could perform basic arithmetic in no time. Language was yet another breeze to

teach her. Maree had almost abolished her 'baby accent' by the time she was about 2, and her words were crystal

clear. She learned to read young, and quickly picked up the habit of reading some of the easier books on

Twilight's shelf. She often stopped to ask how to pronounce a word, and what it means. Twilight was delighted to

see how much progress she was making in such a short time, and at such a young age. She often wondered if perhaps

Maree possessed even more potential for intelligence than herself. She decided if that were true, then she could

only be happier. It is, after all, every teacher's ultimate desire that their student will one day surpass them.

She felt so accomplished becoming Maree's mentor; she herself had been a student for many years under Princess

Celestia, and now she had finally come full circle by becoming Maree's teacher.

Once she was old enough, Dash decided it was time Maree started sleeping in a real bed, as opposed to a

crib. Maree disliked the idea of moving to another room so soon, so Dash compromised; she moved the bed in the

guest room into her own bedroom, and set each bed on either side of the room. Luckily, the Master Bedroom was

fairly large compared to the rest of the house, so both beds fit. It was tough work, and she scuffed up the floor

a bit, but she figured it was worth it to help Maree transition into a new stage in her life. She disassembled the

crib, and was going to throw it away, but decided to put it into the closest, for sentimental reasons. The first

night with Maree's new bed in place was strange. It was the first time they had slept more than an arm's reach

away from each other in years. Maree was visibly upset by the separation.

"Mommy, do I have to sleep way over here? Can't I just sleep over there with you? Just for tonight?" She asked

quietly.

"You know you can't sleep by my side forever. One of these days, you're gonna have to learn to sleep by yourself."

Dash replied softly, but firmly. Truthfully, Dash wasn't sure she was ready for it. She had slept by herself for

many years before Maree came into her life, but now the feeling of sleeping alone seemed so...unnatural. This

would be a period of growth for them both.

"But Mommy, I can barely see you! How will I know you're even there?" Came Maree's worried voice through the dark of

night once more.

"Because I'm always here, Maree. Even if you can't see me, or touch me, I'm still here. I'll always be here." Dash

said soothingly. "Now, get some sleep, you. You're gonna be okay. I promise."

Dash and Maree both started off to bed. Dash had an easier time than Maree, which wasn't to say it was at all

easy. It was stressful not being able to see, feel, or even hear her, despite her being right across the room from

her. She kept feeling around, instinctively, for something to hold, or for something to hold her. But every time

she reached too far, her hoof would only meet the air, and hang over the edge of her bed. Eventually, she started

to relax a little, and started to doze off. At one point she felt something large wriggling next to her, and she

almost jumped right out of bed, but soon enough she realized it was just Maree. She almost told her to go back to

her own bed, but said nothing. Instead, she just went right back to sleep, putting an arm around her daughter. She

knew now that even she wasn't totally ready, and that this would take some time. So, she decided to let Maree sleep

in her bed. Just for tonight.

Just a Cough

Years passed in what seemed like no time. Before Rainbow Dash had even realized it, Maree had already

celebrated her 5th birthday. A very particular routine had been set in motion, where the two of them would wake u

at almost the same time, eat, exercise, then drop Maree off for a couple hours at Twilight's, a bit more

exercise/play, have dinner, and not long after, they'd both go to sleep. Dash didn't used to be such a stickler

for schedules, but this one worked pretty well; it just stuck fast. In fact, she decided that if she was going to

be by herself for a couple hours every day while Maree studied at Twilight's, she might as well make the best of

her time and find something to do herself. She learned how to cook, which made their meals a lot healthier and

more interesting, and eventually got a part-time job as a flight instructor for young pegasi, to as to maintain a

certain level of income.

Dash's old life was gradually left behind, safe for her friendship with the other members of the mane 6.

She gradually pulled back from sporting events, and eventually stopped going to them altogether. She figured it

was probably best she remove herself from the chances of her encountering Paragon again to the best of her

abilities. She eventually lost interest in trying to prove whether or not he had cheated in their races; she had

been so flustered about it before, but as she found her time gradually being consumed by raising Maree, she

considered such a trivial matter unimportant by comparison. Dash spent a lot of time with Maree now. She was up

and about all day everyday, always ready for action. Dash wasn't as much the energetic type as Maree; she preferred

to demonstrate her prowess out of necessity to maintain a particular reputation, then to spend most of her time

relaxing, that is until she got into serious, competitive racing. She felt less energetic now that she was through

with racing.

From an earlier age, Dr. Leon had prescribed protein and calcium supplements to Maree, to help her

develop her muscles and her bones. He also administered several immunization shots to help keep her protected. He

considered it quite fortunate she hadn't had any troubles will illness yet up to that point. None of it was cheap,

but Dash knew it would be worth it. If it was Maree's well-being, there wasn't such thing as anything NOT worth

it.

Life seemed generally improving for everyone. They were all happy going about their daily routines. but as

it so happened, the truth was the appearance of peace was merely a guise to shield the fact that just beneath the

surface, things were deteriorating. Paragon, having gone unchallenged all these years, had amassed a large

gathering of followers in Cloudsdale, and it seemed as though he way was the only way. He and his gang frequently

attacked and bullied passersby who did not show Paragon the respect; or at least, the fear; that he deserved. What

started off has mere harassment spiraled downward into a ruthless martial rule: Paragon controlled Cloudsdale with

his soldiers, locking it down both ways. Ponies and information regarding what was happening with Cloudsdale only

moved in and out with his knowledge, lest the individual trying to evade him was rather skillful. Cloudsdale, once

a peaceful city not unlike the rest of Equestria, was turning into a rotten slum. The Pegalympics, though hosted

in Canterlot, was organized primarily by Cloudsdale, not to mention the majority of it's competitors hailed from

there. Thus, it was cancelled, and it had never returned. The Wonderbolts were nowhere to be seen.

And there was more to it than just that. Since Dash quit competitive racing, and Maree's expenses continued

to grow, there was a much greater outcome than income. Although she had saved up a fair bit of money beforehand,

Dash knew it would run out eventually. She had taken the part-time job to stave off this eventuality, but it only

slowed it down. It wouldn't last forever. One day, it would eventually become a problem.

For now, things were happy. things were fine. A little busy, but no complaints. Dash tried not to worry

about the future too much. What mattered right now is that she and Maree were happy together. Dash realized one

morning she had stopped having those strange recurring dreams. She guessed that whatever she was doing, she was

doing it just right, and was keeping her mind off of it. She slept much better now. Maree had been given the guest

room recently, and now slept on her own for the first time in her life. She handled the transition well, and had

actually volunteered for it before Dash could decide for her. Dash found it just a little too quiet in her room

without the tiny little breathing sounds of Maree from across the room. She figured her hearing must have become

incredibly good ever since the move; even the slightest tap in another room, and she shot awake to see what it

was. She hated that she was becoming one of those overprotective mothers, but she couldn't help it. She just cared

too much. No, she thought, there was not such thing. There is only such thing as caring too little. She'd never do

that. She would not be that person.

She woke up one morning, alone again. Though Maree was just a single room over, she always felt lonely

when she first got up. She felt... tired. More so than normal. She walked into the kitchen. Maree wasn't up yet,

which was odd, because they seemed to get up almost simultaneously on most mornings. Some people found it kind of

eery how they did that; they were always aware of each other's presence, and they somehow just knew when the other

was conscious under the same roof. Maybe that was Maree's special talent? No, that wouldn't explain why Dash

shared the link as well. Mother's intuition? Maybe. But neither of them would know for sure until Maree got her

cutie mark. She hadn't yet acquired one, but Dash figured it could be any day now. One day, they'll be out

together, and still do something, or find something, and she'll be overjoyed, and then that mysterious marking

will appear right before their eyes. Or maybe she'll come home one day from Twilight's and discover she's destined

to become the greatest intellect in Equestria, or maybe her wings'll start working right out of nowhere, and

she'll become Dash's successor as the world's best flyer... Then again, Dash, wasn't really Equestria's best, was

she? No. I can't think about that. Just ignore the urge. Let it go. Forget it.

She checked the time. It was only about 7:05, earlier than she normally got up. That explained why she

felt so tired. Well, I'm up now, she thought. She decided to fix herself something to eat. She didn't feel like

cooking for one person, so she just got herself cereal and milk. After a little while, Maree strolled into the

room, and greeted her mother who was already half done her breakfast.

"Morning, mommy! You're up early!"

Dash smiled back. "Good morning Maree. Yeah, I'm up early, I guess my body just didn't need the sleep today." She

continued to eat as she talked. "So how'd you sleep?" She asked.

"Okay I guess. My room is dark and quiet, and it's a little scary being alone at night." Maree replied quietly.

"Hey come on, you know there's nothing to be afraid of. You and me chased all the monsters out of there when you

first moved in, remember? Now it's just an ordinary room!" Dash chuckled playfully. She had no idea where Maree

had come up with the notion of monsters in her room - she suspected it happened while Maree was reading some kid's

book at Twilight's - but their first day there, Maree refused to go in, convinced there were monsters all over the

place. so they 'chased' them out, be looking under the bed, in the closet, and in every little space they could be

in.

"But Mommy, what if they come back?" Maree insisted.

"Then we'll chase them away again!" Dash assured her.

"What if they come back while you're asleep?" Maree was not going to give up.

"Then chase 'em away yourself! You're a big, strong girl now, you can beat them!" Dash tried to assure her

daughter of this, but could tell there was little success.

"But what if I can't chase them away? Can I sleep with you then?" Maree pleaded.

Dash sighed. "Is that was this is about?" She though aloud, rhetorically. She rolled her eyes and smiled again.

"Alright, if you meet a monster you that's too big and scary for you, you can sleep with me, and then we'll chase

him out tomorrow. Okay?"

Maree brightened up immediately. "Okay!" She replied with a smile. "Thank you, Mommy."

"Alright, now, since that's settled, you should get yourself some food. You can serve yourself, right?"

"Yup!" Maree replied enthusiastically, with a spring in her step. Dash took a sip of milk as Maree got herself a

bowl of cereal. All of a sudden, she choked, and started coughing. Maree was immediately concerned.

"Are you okay, Mommy?" She asked, watching her mother worriedly.

Still choking a little, Dash replied, "Just swallowed the wrong way, I'm fine-*cough**cough*" She replied. "When

you're done that, we can go outside and play a little, get some exercise. and don't forget your pills, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy!"

The rest of the day seemed to progress as normal. Maree and Dash played for a while before heading over to

Twilight's. Dash was constantly trying to clear her throat, trying to get that last bit of milk out of her lungs.

It seemed awfully persistent, never quite clearing up. The two of them got to Twilight's house, Dash still trying

to cough it up.

"Hey Maree! Hi Dash!" Twilight greeted the two right at her door. "How's my brightest pupil?" She asked, focusing

on Maree.

Maree giggled. "Auntie Twilight, I'm your only pupil!" Maree corrected.

"Well, you're still the brightest right? haha, go on inside I'll be with you in just a sec!"

"Okay Auntie Twilight!" Maree gave her Mom a hug goodbye and scurried on inside. Twilight started to say

something, but was interrupted but another coughing fit from Dash.

"Are you okay, Dash?" Twilight asked.

"Ugh, I swallowed something the wrong way this morning and I can't get rid of it.!" Dash explained, a tone of

impatience for her own body apparent in her voice.

Twilight pondered for a moment. "Hmm, let me look at it." Twilight requested.

Dash frowned. "How? Are you going to make me say 'Ah' and look down my throat?"

"Mmm, not quite. Stand up on your back legs up against the wall here, and stretch out. I'm going to try a new

spell." Twilight instructed.

Dash took a nervous step backwards. "You're not gonna, like, turn me inside out of anything crazy like that, are

you?"

"Twilight laughed a little. "No no, nothing like that, now, please..." Dash cautiously and slowly complied,

propping herself up against the outside wall of Twilight's house. Twilight's horn began to glow, and a moment later

so did Dash's torso. After a moment or two, the cyan coat that was Dash's body gave way to an image which showed a

complex network of organs and glands right from the next down to the intestines. Dash freaked out immediately,

almost losing her balance.

"AH! I told you not to do that!"

"Relax, Dash, I didn't 'turn you inside out', I'm looking through your skin, and inside you. It's a new spell I'm

thinking of teaching to some doctors. If they pick up on it, they won't have any need for X-ray machines anymore!"

Twilight announced proudly.

Dash looked down at body, far more exposed than she was used to. Although she had to admit, it look pretty cool.

"So.. my skin's still there are everything?" She touched herself on the chest, which caused the image to distort

itself, and she touched the same coat she always had. She sighed with relief, and let Twilight continue with her

work. Twilight focused on the lung, and looked to see if there was anything inside.

"hmmm.... I don't see anything out of the ordinary here, Dash. Whatever you swallowed must have been coughed up by

now...." Just then, Dash started coughing again, causing her body to convulse. Twilight flinched, as Dash made

little effort to cover her mouth. Dash was apologetic, but Twilight paid it little mind. She continued.

"..I do however, see a mild inflammation here.... you might just have a slight cold." Twilight reported, closing

down the image, showing only Dash's bare body again. "I'm not a medical expert, so I can't say, but take it easy

anyway, just to be safe." Twilight said cautiously. Dash got back down on all 4's again.

"A cold? Man, I can't be getting a cold now!" Dash said disappointed. "I just told my kid if she had any

problems with monsters, that she ca come sleep with me! What if it happens tonight, or tomorrow? What do I say,

no?" Dash sighed.

Now it was Twilight's turned to be confused. "Monsters? What in the world..?"

"It's a long story." Dash said. "By the way, have a little discretion over what Maree reads from now on, okay?"

Twilight shook her head "Whatever you say. Look, just be sure to take it easy, alright? Maree's a lot healthier

than she was when she was a foal, but her immune system is still very weak. It's a miracle she hasn't had any

problems yet."

Dash nodded understandingly. "Alright, I'll be careful. Well, I gotta go, I've got work. I'll talk to you later

Twilight! And thanks!" Dash started walking away.

"See you in a couple hours, Dash!"

Things progressively worsened. Each day, Dash felt a little worse, as her cough got harsher, and she

developed other symptoms as well. She eventually broke into a fever, and felt dizzy. She knew she was becoming

unwell; Maree did too; but she couldn't admit to being ill. Between medical bills, loss of work and still taking

care of Maree's needs and her own, she simply couldn't afford to be sick. Maree would constantly ask about Dash's

well-being.

"Mommy, are you okay?" She would ask.

Not before experiencing yet another coughing fit, Dash simply replied, "I'm just fine, Maree. Why do you ask?"

"You keep coughing, mommy. It sounds like it hurts a lot."

Dash just smiled, trying to reassure her daughter. "It's okay Maree. Just a little cough. Happens all the time.

I'll be better in no time. Okay?"

Maree would just hang her head, unsure. "Okay."

Each night, they went to their own rooms, and said good night to each other. What they didn't hear is Maree

quietly crying each night. She was young, but she was no fool. She knew her mother was sick. She needed help. But

she kept denying it, and it frightened her. She was afraid something terrible might happen, and she couldn't do

anything about it.

One morning, Dash, felt just awful. Her first attempt to get out of bed was only barely successful, nearly

falling over as soon as she stood up. Her fever was running high, her chest hurt, and her throat was practically

raw from the abusive coughing fits she'd been experiencing almost non-stop. She felt cold, and couldn't get warm.

She shivered, but did her best to conceal it. She conducted her usual morning business half-consciously until she

got to work.

One of the other flight instructors regarded her with concern. "Rainbow Dash, you look absolutely awful! Are you

sure you should be at work today?" She asked.

Dash, with limited awareness and between cough, made an attempt to reply. "I'm okay, really.. I'm.. I jus.. just..

don't worry I.. jus.. *cough* *cough*...." She stumbled a few steps forward, fainted, and blacked out right then

and there.

Beautiful Night for a Flight

Rainbow Dash awoke sometime later; she couldn't find a clock from where she lay to tell just how long. She

still felt awful, but was less distracted by that and more so by her new surroundings. Her mind was groggy, and

her vision a little blurry. She was in a bed, in a well lit room, surrounded mostly by curtains. She eventually

recognized the place as a hospital. Was she really that ill? She started to recount the most recent events that

had lead up to this. She remembered walking into work, and then feeling very... tired. Dash wasn't sure if tired

was the right word for it. She just suddenly felt like she couldn't stay awake any longer. Again, she wasn't sure

if "awake" was necessarily the best word, but it was all she could do to describe her situation. Then after she

'went to sleep', she woke up here. She guessed she hadn't dreamt, since she didn't remember dreaming; then again,

she remembered very few of her dreams. Then she remembered, and began searching for a clock again: where was

Maree? Was it time yet to pick her up? How long had she been out? To her frustration she couldn't so much as

locate an open window for her to look out, as she was surrounded by curtains, so take a rough guess at how many

hours had gone by.

She slumped in defeat, and tried her patience and waited for someone to notice her. She gathered from the

total lack of noise, aside from basic hospital machinery and the gentle humming of an an conditioner, that she was

alone in this room. She made an attempt to call for attention, but her throat hurt too much to raise her voice,

and she just coughed some more. That did seem to help a little bit though, as only a minute or so later, a Nurse

walked into the room, smiling pleasantly when she spotted Dash.

"Ah good afternoon, Rainbow Dash! I see you're finally awake!" She commented cheerfully.

Dash, trying to be as quiet and using as few words as possible, nodded, and then asked, "How do you mean finally?

How long have I been out?" She asked in a very hoarse voice.

"I would say a few hours. A minimum of 3." The Nurse replied.

Dash, too weak to get tired, simply moaned instead. "3 hours?"

"Minimum." The Nurse corrected.

"I need to pick up Maree! I'm so late!" Dash said, coughing some more.

"I don't believe that will be necessary. I don't know the exact details, but I've been informed that you daughter

is well looked after. The doctor will explain more." As she spoke, hoofsteps could be heard approaching Dash's

room. A familiar stallion bearing a name tag that read "Doctor S. Leon" walked into the room, a small, polite

smile on his face.

"Good afternoon, Miss Dash." He greeted Dash politely. He nodded to the nurse, dismissing her.

"Dr. Leon? Where's Maree?" Dash cut right to the chase, skipping 'hellos'.

"Don't worry, Miss Dash, she's taken care of. Almost as soon as you went down, Miss Sparkle was contacted, and one

of your other friends picked up little Maree for you." Dr. Leon assured her. "In fact, she's waiting outside right

now." He turned to the door and called out, "You can come in now, if you wish!" A moment later, Applejack walked

into the room, and Dash smiled, doing her best to welcome her friend. Applejack walked up beside Dash's bed.

"Hey, sugarcube, how ya feelin'?"

Dash took a moment to answer. "Honestly, AJ, I feel absolutely rotten." Dash said flatly.

"Honestly, Dash, you look absolutely rotten." The two shared a brief chuckle. After a moment, Dash changed

the subject.

"Hey, AJ, sorry I had to displace you like that just to clean up after me. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

Dash said apologetically.

Applejack put a hoof on Dash's chest reassuringly. "Hey come on, you can't apologize for being sick. It was no

trouble at all for a friend!"

Dash smiled again. "Thanks a lot, AJ. I really mean it." Dash looked over at Dr. Leon. "So what is it exactly?

What do I have?" Dash asked.

"From what I can tell, you've got Pneumonia. And a pretty bad case of it, too." Dr. Leon replied. "It's not fatal,

but it's a nasty illness to be sure. Inflamed lungs leads to perpetual coughing, chest pains and a shortness of

breath, and it often comes with a fever and chills. I haven't seen a case this bad in quite a while. It's usually

nothing to get hospitalized over, but you were the exception today. You're lucky most of your symptoms were above

your chest, I would hate to see what would have happened if your lungs had been more inflamed. Then we might have

had a problem." Dr. Leon explained. "As it stands however, I can release you to your home by tomorrow. Even so,

I'm afraid you'll be recovering for the better part of 4-6 weeks thereafter."

Dash tried to sit up in her bed, which she recognized as a mistake, and instead settled for simply raising her

head. "6 weeks? But... I've got things to do! I've got work! And who'll take care of Maree?" Dash asked

frantically.

"Actually, Maree will be removed from the house during this time." Dr. Leon admitted.

Dash was upset, but not necessarily surprised. "Removed? What do you mean?"

Dr. Leon, sighed, before going on to explain. "Exposing your children to a potentially harmful illness or disease

that you yourself are aware of carrying is a form of child endangerment, which is illegal. I am actually obligated

by law to enforce her temporary displacement from your home."

Dash was worried to say the last. "But... Where will she go?!"

Applejack spoke up now. "Relax, sugarcube. Me and the Doc were talkin' 'bout this jus' a little while before y'all

woke up. I'll be takin' her in while ya get better." She explained.

"Are you sure, AJ?" Dash was starting to relax a little, but she was still not happy about having Maree taken from

her for all that time.

"No worries, Dash! We got lotsa spare rooms for guests, and we're not expecting any other overnight guests for

almost two months. She won't have to lift a finger if she don't want to, and she'll have all the apples she can

eat!" Applejack put a hoof on her friend's shoulder, telling her just with her facial expression that everything

would be okay. That honest, reassuring smile was all Dash needed.

"Alright, then I guess it's oka-" She coughed a few more times, and winced at the pain in her raw throat.

"..Okay." She said, more quietly now.

"Well then it's settled! Y'all get some rest then, and get better soon. Tomorrow the Doc says you can go home, and

Maree'll already be moved out by then. Doc says it's best not to say goodbye, keep the infection risks as low as

possible and all." Applejack started for the door. "I'll be checkin' in on ya every day to see how ya are,

alrighty?"

"Alrighty. Thanks. Thanks for everything, Applejack." Applejack left, and Dr. Leon looked as though he would

follow behind her shortly.

"well, since that's all sorted out now, I suppose there's nothing left to do but let you rest a little while.

Tomorrow you'll be discharged, and you will be home. Hopefully you'll be able to take care of yorself for the most

part, but we'll have Applejack drop by every now and again to ensure you're managing." Dr. Leon left now too,

leaving Dash alone in her room again, where she simply lay quietly in her bed, soaking in everything she had been

told. 4-6 weeks without Maree, work, or really anything. This was going to be a long sick leave.

Dash spent the night at the hospital. She found it remarkably uncomfortable. The beds were nice, and it

was plenty quiet enough, but between thinking about Maree's well-being, being off work for so long, and being

terribly sick the whole time, she barely slept at all. Being as sick as she was was simply miserable. Every time

she coughed; which was far too often; she felt someone was running a knife along the inside of her throat. Her

internal body temperature was all over the map, either to hot for a blanket or too cold without. He breathing was

increasingly labored, and she always seemed short of breath. She hated the idea of spending a month like this,

suffering through it alone. Dash didn't get sick often, which was probably why it got her so badly when it did.

A while after Dash awoke, a nurse came in to check on her, and shortly thereafter Dash was given breakfast

by her bed. She wasn't particularly hungry, as was the case with most folks who were sick, but she made herself

eat, knowing the importance of vitamins in times of illness. Eventually, she was told that she could leave at any

time, and was starting to be escorted out of the room by a nurse. As they made their way down the hallway, Dash

encountered a familiar little filly trotting towards them; it was Maree! She ran right up to Dash and gave her a

big hug, and Dash hugged her back. Right then, Dash realized it had been just a little over 24 hours since she had

seen her child, and hugged even harder. She remembered that she wasn't originally going to get to say goodbye, and

so she had to ask.

"What are you doing here, Maree? Where's AJ?" She knelt down and looked at her daughter.

"She's at the front. I heard about what happened, and I wanted to make sure you were okay, Mommy." Was Maree's

reply.

"So you know then.." Dash sighed sadly.

"Yeah... but Mommy! I don't wanna go!" Maree pleaded, hugging her mom again. "I wanna stay with you, Mommy, until

you get all better."

Dash was heartbroken. She knew that neither of them wanted to be separated, but it had to be done. "I can't do

that, Maree. believe me, I really, really, REALLY want you to stay with me, but I just can't do that. If you hang

around me too much, you might get sick just like me, and I just won't be okay with that. So, you go with

Applejack, and be a good little filly while I'm getting better, okay?" Dash was trying her best to to get

emotional, or cough on Maree at all. Both were equally, enormously difficult to do. "It'll be great there, I

promise. They've got that big, open ranch, where you can get all the exercise you need, lots of apples, and hey,

I'm sure Applebloom'll play with you too! It'll be great, like a little vacation, you see?" Dash tried to cheer

Maree up, and at least succeeded in brightening her own spirits, at least until Maree's reply:

"I don't want to take a vacation away from my Mommy."

Rainbow Dash started to bite her lip, trying not to get emotional. "Maree, come on, look, I promise it won't be

forever. It'll be all over before you even know it, and then we can spend all the time in the world together.

Alright?"

Maree took a long time to reply. She knew what she had to say, but didn't want to say it. "......okay." Maree was

starting to cry when she finally accepted the situation.

"Good, alright, now why don't you go find Applejack and get going, I'm sure they've got a wonderful lunch planned

for you!" She gave Maree an encouraging nudge, as Maree slowly starting to walk back down the hall, her head hung

low, sobbing softly.

A couple hours after Dash got home, Applejack stopped by, and Dash told her about all of Maree's personal

needs: she took calcium pills with her meal, and a protein powder mixed with her drink; she visited Twilight's

house every day for 2 hours for tutoring; she exercised everyday, usually twice; she loved to read in her spare

time; Dash also told her about any appointments she was due for in the next while. Applejack assured Dash that she

had everything committed to memory, and being the embodiment of the Element of Honesty, Dash trusted her.

The first day home was the slowest day of Dash's life. It was the first time in years that she literally

had nothing to do. No kid to pal around with. Nothing more productive she could be doing. All there was for her

was whatever was within reach. She snacked lightly throughout the afternoon and evening rather than preparing a

meal; she really wasn't in the mood. She periodically took some medicine she had bought on her way home to try and

relieve her fever and cough, and they were helpful. Now coughing less frequently, Dash tried to sleep, figuring it

would be much easier now. She found instead, however, that it was just as difficult as ever, since the fever had

made her much drowsier, and relieving hat made her feel more awake. So now all she could do was lay in bed with

her thoughts, waiting for herself to fall asleep. You'd think she had never been sick before, with the shortage of

entertainment she had laying around. She guessed she just never really had time to kick back and have fun before.

Then again, playing with Maree wasn't just for exercise; it was fun too. It was bonding, and it was play.

The days ticked by awfully slow. Dash thought she might go mad with boredom. After the first week, Dash

was well enough to leave the house. She made routine trips out of the house just for the sake of being out doors

and into the fresh air again. She wanted to just take off and start lying, but she wasn't quite that well just

yet. She always made sure to check in on Maree every day when Applejack came by to see her. According to AJ's

report, Maree was adjusting well. She and Applebloom played together often, and she was very polite. She said she

missed her mom very much, and always asked how she was everyday, and everyday Applejack told her she was a little

better than yesterday. It kept Dash's spirits up to hear that Maree was doing well, and it gave her strength.

10 years later, 2 weeks had finally past. Dash awoke once again, and to her surprise, she didn't feel too

bad at all. She had a light cough, but her throat was not more itchy than sore. Her head was a little fuzzy, but

it wasn't as dizzy now. Applejack stopped by that day, at around the same time as usual. Dash reported to her that she was feeling pretty good, but not quite 100% yet.

But by that evening, Dash actually felt quite good; almost great. After the sun had set, and it was dark,

she stepped out. It was the middle of Spring, and the air was cool and comfortable. There was a gentle breeze

blowing through the massive backyard Dash owned. She closed her eyes and listening, lost in the near silence of

night. She decided to go flying somewhere, anywhere. She spread her wings, which hadn't been used in 2 weeks, and

took off nice and gentle. The cool, relaxing wind flowed through her coat and down her mane. It was amazing the

things she took for granted. The act of flight was something she had known how to do as long as she could

remember, yet she had never really taken joy in it before. It was always for something, be it traveling, running

errands, or racing. But this one time, on this night, she wasn't going anywhere. She didn't have anything she

needed to do, no one to race, and no where to go. It was relaxing to know that she could do whatever she wanted,

even if what she wanted was nothing at all. Her mind and body, still ill at the time she left the ground, had

started clearly up substantially. She'd never felt so conscious of the world around her. When Dash finally got

home, she thought that for once she could really get a good night's sleep at last.

The next day started off normal. Dash awoke well rested, and didn't feel sick at all. But things went a

little differently than she had planned by the time Applejack stopped by for her daily visit.

"How's the sick girl feelin' today?" Applejack asked.

"Great!" Dash replied instinctively, but quickly withdrew her statement, and followed with "I mean you know, I'm

doing alright for someone getting over pneumonia." She forced herself to cough. "I wouldn't want to go exposing

Maree to me quite yet, bu soon... maybe." Dash had no idea what she was saying, or why. Her heart was starting to

race as she spoke.

Applejack, without even thinking twice, simply said "Well, that's good to hear, Dash! I'm glad you're starting to

feel better.

Tell her you're fine, Dash kept saying to herself.

"Maree's been missing you something awful. She always asks about you."

I'm better than fine. I'm great. I was flying around last night. I'm healthy.

"She's been doin' everything right and all, but she doesn't smile a whole lot. Kinda heart breaking, if ya ask

me."

I'm more than fit to take care of my child. Just take the custody of your own child back already.

"Anyway, I don't mean to rush ya into magically curin' yourself or nothin'. Anyway I ought to get goin'. See ya

later, Dash!"

Come on! Say something!

But Dash said nothing as Applejack walked out the door. Dash wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. Despite

being perfectly fine well in advance of her approximate recovery time, She seemed to be just fine with Applejack

walking out of her house, holding onto her daughter for yet another day. Dash wanted to see her desperately, she

really did. But, she realized, there was indeed a good reason for this. Her financial situation wasn't very strong

right now. As it was, Applejack was more than happy to accompany the extra company free of charge; it wasn't

costing her a dime, and Maree was well looked after. Dash wasn't expected to be healthy for over 2 weeks, so she

could hold out for a while yet; if she was smart about her hours, she might even be able to start working again.

It was all for Maree. She just needed a little break, so that she could help her to the best of her abilities. It

was all for Maree. That's what she kept telling herself.

Descent into Darkness

And so it was that Rainbow Dash, in perfect health, would continue to fake her prematurely dispersed

illness, and would enjoy life. She got back into teaching flying lessons for young pegasi, carefully working hours

that didn't conflict with Applejack's regular visitations. Maree stayed in good health and under reliable

management, and Dash would be able to properly prepare for her return. In the back of Dash's mind, she knew what

she was doing wasn't right, but she rationalized the fact that she hadn't been expected to recover so quickly, and

what they didn't know couldn't hurt them; as long as she took Maree back before the time she was originally

supposed to take was up, there was no harm, and no foul.

The magical, stress relieving mid-night flights she took were an exhilarating experience. She had never

been so happy to fly. She'd step out into the cool of the night, spread her cyan blue wings, and just take off in

any old direction leading out of Ponyville. After her first night, she thought maybe she'd shoot for a particular

destination, but she later decided it was more enjoyable to have no where to go, and nothing to do. Having a

destination in mind meant there was a reason for her to be out here, and she didn't want that. She wanted there to

be no particular reason at all; just something she did of her own free will on the merest of a whim.

Dash could faintly remember a life years ago discarded in which this was all she ever did. Her needs and

desires defined the outcome of her life, rather than the needs and wants of others. She was her own guiding voice,

and she knew very little of responsibility or commitment. Dash looked back on the last few years she had spent

with Maree. She remembered them fondly as some of the best few years of her life. But how long had it been since

Dash was doing something for herself, rather than Maree? It had all been for Maree, it always had been. It was

nice that now, if only for just a short time, she could make herself happy, rather than those around her. How long

would it be, once Maree returned, before Dash's life was her own again? How long would the wait be before she

could do simple things like this for herself? In one mindset, she loved spending time with Maree, and would hate

to see her go; in another, she was starting to believe she may even anticipate her moving on. But that was

horrible, she knew, and was no way a mother should ever think. Was she really so selfish that she would fear a

lifetime with her own daughter, who she adopted of her own accord? Was she really the ever-giving saint who would

give her everything to someone else?

Each day, this internal argument grew louder in Dash's head, and she began thoroughly questioning her

motives and even her basic morals and principles. She was consciously lying in order to avoid her most prominent

responsibility, how could that possibly be right? But all she wanted was a little time to herself to enjoy life's

simplest gifts, what was so wrong with that? As if the dilemma itself wasn't brutal enough, each and every single

day Applejack confronted her, oblivious to Dash's plight, asking her about Dash's well-being, and would talk about

Maree; about how little she seemed to smile because of how much she missed her mommy, as if to confirm Dash's

questionable morals. She did her best to hide it, but every time Applejack came by, it killed Dash just a little

bit.

Dash had once tried to convince herself that she was only trying to help Maree by doing this; saving up a

couple advance pay checks to help them both out financially when she got back. But Dash had long since realized it

went far beyond just wanting to do some good; no doubt about it, all of this was ultimately just a result of Dash

being just too damned lazy to take care of the dearest thing in all the world to her. Dash used to hate it when

people called her lazy. She had always believed it to be untrue; she inevitably never failed her friends, even

when it wasn't necessarily in good time. But if there was ever a test for it, this was it.

One night, on the 5th week after becoming ill, Dash finally just broke down, crying hot tears into her

pillow over what she was doing. She couldn't keep lying to her friends anymore, and if at anytime, anytime at all,

one of her friends ever found out that she had lied just to get out of taking care of Maree, it would utterly

destroy her. She'd never be able to face any of them again, especially not Maree. This was her her final night,

she knew, so she needed to make the best of it.

She took of flying one last time, the night air clearing out her head and drying up her eyes. She was out extra

long on this night, knowing everything would be different when she closed her eyes on this one last night alone.

She still wasn't sure whether or not she should come clean about what she did. She knew she had to stop lying,

that was a given. But technically, withholding information wasn't the same as lying, and if no one ever knew about

it, no one would be hurt. Then again, the guilt she would hold onto would be quite severe, and any slight reminder

would put her through tremendous stress. Of course, how much easier would it be if she said it out loud anyway? All

that would accomplish is completely and undeniably accepting her wrongdoing, and that would be just as stressful.

If she never spoke of it - never thought of it - it might just fade into the back of her mind, effectively

allowing her to pretend it never happened. Just a feverish nightmare she had one time forever ago.

On this particularly long flight to nowhere in particular, Dash ended up in the air space a short distance

below Cloudsdale. She looked up at the town mournfully. She hadn't been there in a long time, but she'd heard

there was awful things happening up there. Paragon had completely rotted it from the inside out, and had a full

run of the place through his countless goons. She wondered why Celestia hadn't yet made any move to stop him; his

actions were minor acts of bullying before, but by now he was just one step short of terrorism, and surely that

had to be totally unacceptable. Celestia was a merciful leader, but everything had a limit.

The sky was quite clear on this night. Very few clouds hung in this night sky. The weather had been quite

notably clement this season. It was about time that Dash head back, and so she turned back towards her own home.

Maree, I'll be seeing you tomorrow, I promise. No more waiting, no more lying. We're going to be together again,

and this time we'll stay together. I promise I-

She didn't get a chance to finish the thought before she was grabbed violently in the back by her of her wings.

The sudden assault frightened her, and she screamed, only to be pulled in and to have a hoof cover up her mouth.

The assailant used a little too much force, and Dash cut her bottom lip on her teeth. She mumbled helplessly,

terrified, into the hoof, struggling to get free. Cruel chuckles crackled in her ear, and, unable to move, she

began to fear for her life.

After a few moments of struggling, Dash finally gave up, aware that she was being help too tightly to make

a move. In addition to the two pegasi holding her, a third descended into view from above. A large, masculine

figure with a bright yellow coat. It was the last pony in the world Dash wanted to see: Paragon. He chuckled to

himself, obviously amused by this situation.

"Well well, if it isn't the worlds most colorful silver medal, I haven't seen you around here in a long, long

time." He seemed almost nostalgic, but it was clearly all an act to help him savor the moment. "You can go ahead

and let her talk, no one can hear us way up here." The hoof removed itself from Dash, and the words flew out of

Dash's mouth instantly.

"What the big idea, paragon? Are you crazy? Let me go, I wasn't doing anything!" She spat at him angrily as a way

of hiding her fear.

"Flying in my airspace isn't nothing, Rainbow Dash." Paragon replied with a dissatisfied 'tsk'. "I would have

thought it was pretty clear that I own this airspace now. No one can just waltz in and out like that." Paragon was

taking this all too casually, and it made Dash even more scared. She tried to act tough, but her resolve was

evaporating fast. "Granted, it was something of an implied message. Perhaps in your.... SPECIAL case, I'll need

to be a bit more clear." He looked at his two cronies on either side of Dash and flashed them each a smile.

"Alright gentlemen, give her a run down."

Right on cue, the two Pegasi, still holding firmly onto Dash's wings, began flying through the air,

performing lucrative aerial acrobatics, painfully tugging on Dash's wings in many ways they were never meant to be

tugged. She briefly attempted to struggle, but that only made it worse. She had to just bite her lip; which was

now bleeding from earlier; and bear with it. When they were finally done, at the exact moment Dash thought her

wings might rip right out of her back, they both gave her a firm toss though the air. For a split second, Dash was

free again, only to be caught in Paragon's arms, trapped once more.

"Ha ha ha ha! Brilliant boys, truly a stellar performance!" The two bowed mockingly, and joined in Paragon's cruel

laughter. Dash's strength had faded by now, and she was nearly in tears. She trembled, not knowing what would come

next, and not particularly caring to find out.

"I really hope you're having fun, Dash, I know I am!" Paragon said, laughing directly into her ear.

"w-what are you gonna do to me?" Dash stammered, her voice shaking.

"'w-w-what are you gonna do to me?' Ha ha ha ha ha ha! It's no fun if I tell you! It ruins the suspense! The build

up!" He continued to cackle devilishly into her ear.

"Please, Paragon please! I have a child at home, she needs me! I just want to see her again, it's what I want more

than anything in the whole world! Just let me go, please!" Dash was now pleading with him. If she was at all like

her old self, such an action would have made her sick; her pride was one of the casualties in the struggle of

motherhood.

Paragon seemed interested by this. "A child, hm? I see. Well, how about this: I'll let you go, if you let me give

you a flying lesson." Paragon offered.

"A...flying lesson?" Dash asked. She really didn't like the sound of that.

"Absolutely! Surely, you must be curious how I perform such magnificent dives. Well, I'll teach you. It's almost

painfully simple really; all you have to do is close your eyes, tuck your body in...." As he spoke, Dash felt

something coiling around the base of her wings. It was rough in texture, and it felt familiar; a rope? But how

could he-

"...And then you just DROP LIKE A STONE!"

Paragon released his grip on Dash, and she immediately began to plummet to the ground. Whatever had coiled

around her wings had bound them together, and they were useless to her. She reached terminal velocity in moments,

and the fear she had felt before was incomparably small next to this feeling. She let out a horrified scream, but

almost immediately took it back. Somehow, amidst her panic, she came up with the rational thought that if any of

her friends saw her, she'd have to explain her being out at night, despite supposedly being sick, and so she'd

have to explain herself. She couldn't move, and she couldn't call for help. She was trapped, tumbling out of the

sky at breakneck speed.

It serves me right, she thought. I brought this on myself. If I had just gotten on with my life, this would have

never happened. I'd be sleeping comfortably in my home with Maree in the next room. Now I get to die alone, unable

to do what I was born to be the best at doing.

And so it was. She continued to fall from the sky, tears of frustration and sorrow flowing freely, her

eyes closed, hoping to not have to watch herself die. This was her fate. A fate she brought unto herself; her just

desserts.

Applejack... Maree... I'm sorry I lied to you guys. You deserve better.

Twilight... thank you for everything you've done. All the help you've given me. I couldn't have raised Maree

without you. Be the guiding spirit for her that I couldn't be.

Rarity... Fluttershy...Pinkie Pie... goodbye...

Rainbow Dash's anticipation was cut short as she stopped abruptly, and at first, she believed that she had

hit the ground and was dead. But there was no pain. Would dying have been painful? Probably not, but... nothing

seemed to change about her physically. She opened her eyes to one of the most welcome sights of all time: it was

Fluttershy!

"Fluttershy!" Dash gasped in glee, hugging her tightly. She'd been spared. She would see Maree again now all

because of her.

"Oh my gosh, thank you! You saved my life!" Dash's mixed and erratic emotions all boiled over at once, as she

began to smile, cry, and tremble all at the same time.

"There there, Dash, it's okay. You're safe now." Fluttershy said soothingly. "Come on, let's get you on the ground

safely."

The two landed on the ground, and Fluttershy helped Rainbow Dash get free of her bindings. It was indeed

rope. But, how did he tie that knot..?

"Are you okay, Dash?" Fluttershy asked.

Dash, taking stock of herself, noticed that while she was an emotional wreck, physically she was mostly unharmed.

"y-yeah, more or less..." Dash said with less than total confidence. The two sat quietly for a little while as

Dash tried to calm herself down.

"Hey, um, Dash, I don't mean to pry or anything, and uh, it's probably none of my business, but I had heard you

were pretty sick..." Dash's heart had only just started to level out when it started racing again. This was it.

"And so, I just have to ask... what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you been in bed?"

Dash looked straight at Fluttershy, trying to think of just how to respond to her. "Well, I just thought that...

you know... a little fresh air... might help..." Dash found it surprisingly hard to lie to Fluttershy. She'd

believe anything you say to her, because she has such trust in her friends. That might have been part of it.

"Fluttershy... I... I just..." Dash gave her mightiest effort not to start crying again. "I want you to keep what

I'm about to say a secret..." She started. Fluttershy looked confused, but nodded in agreement. "What I'm doing

right now... what I've been doing... it's a stupid terrible thing, and I need to understand that. I didn't mean

any harm by it... I just..." Her voice trailed off again, and she took in a deep breath, getting ready to confess.

"I wasn't really sick... I mean, I was at first, but I got better fast, and I just pretended to be sick for the

last while. When I got better, and I thought about what I could be doing, all the things in life I could be

enjoying... for myself... and then I thought about Maree. I love her, really I do. But I thought about how long it

had been since I could really go out and do my own thing; exactly as long as I had Maree. And then I thought about

how long it would be before I was alone again, and... I just couldn't take it. I just wanted - I NEEDED - a few

days to myself, you know? Just a little while..." Dash started breaking down one more time, sobbing loudly.

Fluttershy consoled her friend in her arms.

"Dash, please, try to calm down... everything's going to be okay... just calm down..." Dash noticed that

Fluttershy made no explicit reference to what Dash had just said, and so she instinctively believed that this

meant that she was not approving. She had every right to be of course, there really wasn't anything to be said about

it. What Dash had done was wrong, and even she knew it. And now, not even the embodiment of the Element of

Kindness could honestly say she had sympathy for her.

For a long time, neither of them said anything. Fluttershy just quietly held her friend, and they sat

under the moonlight. finally Fluttershy spoke.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked.

Dash wondered herself. Was she okay? Could she face Maree again? It would be hard, but she knew she had to try.

She decided then and there that she couldn't tell anyway what had happened. This incident needed to be forgotten

and left behind in a bad memory.

"I think so..." Dash said.

"Dash, I know you're sorry about what you did. I can feel it. And there's still a chance to make things right. Go

to her, Dash. Go to Maree, and be with her."

Dash stood up, her strength starting to return after an extended leave of absence. "You're right! I should go to

her right now and tell her I love her!" Dash started to walk away, since her wings were still sore.

Fluttershy stopped her quickly. "I meant in the morning, Dash. Everyone will be asleep at this hour."

Dash smiled a little for the first time in a while, realizing how silly it had sounded trying to go over there at

this time of day. "Yeah you're right."

"Get some rest, and in the morning, you tell her how much you love her, and how much you missed her."

Dash nodded. "I will! Thank you Fluttershy, thanks for everything!"

That next morning, Dash woke up with a bounce, and was out the door before breakfast. She hadn't slept

much, but she was fully awake. She had somewhere to go, and somepony to see. Her pony. Her daughter, Maree. She

marched right down to Sweet Apple Acres, her mind focused on but a single thing. She walked right up the the

front door and gave it a firm knock. Applejack answered, looking surprised.

"Dash? What are you doin' up 'n about so early? Ain't you s'pposed to be sick?" She asked.

Dash smiled at her friend confidently. "I got better. In fact, I haven't felt this good in a long time. So,

where's Maree?" asked Dash.

"I was kinda hopin' you'd be another couple a days, so we could kinda get all this sorted out..." Applejack

admitted, not making eye contact.

"Get what sorted out?" Dash asked curiously.

"I really didn't want you ta see her like this.." Applejack was looking at the ground, solemnly. Dash's energy was

started to fade again. Something was very wrong.

"Applejack, what's wrong with Maree?"

"Well, Dash, I honestly don't quite know just yet..." Applejack admitted. "At first I thought it was just a wee

li'l cough, and I didn't think much of it. But it got pretty bad, and just today I was gonna bring her in to see

if there was somethin' wrong."

Dash's eyes were growing wide. "Applejack, where is she?" Dash asked sternly.

"Well, see Dash, I really don't know if ya should be seeing her just now, I meant you just got over being sick 'n

all..."

Dash grabbed Applejack's shoulders and made her look directly into her eyes.

"Applejack." She said almost angrily. "WHERE. IS. MY. DAUGHTER?"

The look Dash gave her frightened Applejack, and so she decided to tell her. "She's upstairs, 2nd door on your right." And she got out of Dash's way.

Dash took to Applejack's instruction immediately, and (literally) flew up the stair case and into Maree's room. She swung the door open so fast, it nearly hit the wall behind it. She heart shattered at the sight of Maree, who was pale and dizzy, and only half awake.

"Maree? It's mommy, I'm back! How are you feeling?" Dash said, trying to keep calm.

"Mommy..? Mommy, I missed you.." Maree said meekly, coughing a few times.

"Oh I missed you too, baby, come here, it's alright.." Dash held her child, comforting her. She hadn't held her child in over 5 weeks.

"Mommy... I don't feel so good... I'm cold, but I'm also warm... what's going on..?" Maree asked drearily, coughing even more.

"You'll be okay, Maree, I'm here now. Everything'll be okay..."

Maree didn't seem to hear her. "So cold.. and warm.. I'm... so.." Maree's grip around her mother loosened a little.

"Maree?" Dash pulled back and looked at her daughter. She didn't look at her.

"Mommy... I'm... I'm scared..." And she went limp n Dash's arms.

Dash was petrified. She couldn't move a muscle in her body. Her jaw finally unfroze.

"Maree..?" Her voice was bare a whisper.

"Maree?" She had raised it to a stern indoor voice.

"Maree?!" Louder now, as though she were calling her from afar.

"MAREEEE!!"

Real Mother

Dash waited impatiently outside Maree's room, pacing constantly, unable to contain her need to see her. She was an absolute wreck; she had gone to a point where she was beyond tears, and was in a dazed shock, and was mostly unresponsive to anything that didn't directly relate to or concern Maree. She refused to eat or drink. Finally, Dr. Leon approached Dash with new information.

"Miss Dash, I've completed my diagnosis."

Dash almost ran right up to his face, eyes deadlocked with his own. "Well? What is it? Is she going to be okay?!" She was hysteric, and impatient and barely gave him a second to respond before she interrupted him "Tell me, please!"

"Miss Dash, please, I will tell you as soon as you are calm and reasonable." Was Dr. Leon's reply, holding up a cautious hoof.

Dash forced herself to a calm down a little, yet each second that passed before he answered still felt like an eternity to her.

"From what I can tell, it's most likely pneumonia, probably the very same affliction you had." Dr. Leon said finally.

"Pneumonia? So, she'll be okay, right? It's not serious?" Dash felt a little more relaxed.

Dr Leon's expression did not change, indicated that Dash's slight enthusiasm may be unwarranted. "I'm afraid it's not that easy." He admitted. "Your body is mature, and it has handled illness well in the past. It was well prepared for pneumonia, and I suspect you were probably a milk-foal as well, giving your immune system a proper jump start. There are several differences that are currently preventing Maree here from fighting the infection effectively." Dr. Leon said informatively. "First off, Maree has never really had much much exposure to illness before, and so she doesn't have much experience fighting off diseases and infections. This, coupled with the fact that she was fed formula rather than mother's milk is a serious immunity impediment."

"What does milk have to do with it?" Dash asked.

"I'm glad you asked, it's a chance to learn something quite important. A mother's milk carries what are called 'antibodies' which are a part of the immune system in your body. Their primary function is to identify a potentially harmful strain of bacteria in your body and target it for the other parts of your immune system to eliminate. If the task isn't particularly difficult, the antibodies can even do the job themselves. Some of these antibodies are transferred genetically during birth, as is the nature of evolution, but the most significant amount comes from feeding milk. This would normally help the youngling to prepare a basic defense against illness throughout their youth, so that they can grow up strong. However, Maree was fed a milk substitute growing up, and this, coupled with her premature birth that left her immune system underdeveloped, made her far more susceptible to illness, meaning that even trivial illnesses such as Pneumonia pose a serious threat to Maree's health. To be completely frank, it's a miracle she's lasted this long with out any serious troubles."

Dash began to grasp what was going on. Her body had been prepared, more or less, for the coming of this illness, so she took it quite well. Maree on the other hand, had taken every exemption in the book when it comes to preparing for an infection, and now she was taking the full brunt of it. It was an internal war inside her body, and her immune system was losing badly.

"Is there anything that you can do?" Dash ask, trying to put as much hope in her voice as possible.

Dr. Leon sighed slowly. "I'm afraid not." He said sadly. "There is not cure yet for Pneumonia. If there's anything that the medical industry is well known for, it's prioritizing. We're too caught up researching cures to things like cancer and diabetes to spend significant amounts of time curing something as trivial as Pneumonia, which kills so few ponies a year on the grand scale of things. It's sad, but I'm afraid it's the truth."

"But my daughter could be one of those ponies!" Dash exclaimed.

"I know.. believe me, there's not a thing in the world I want more than to help you, truly. Losing a patient, especially one I've known for so long, is like losing a part of myself. But all we can do right now - all anyone can do right now - is wait and see what comes up."

Time crept by agonizingly slowly. Dash, with special permission from Dr. Leon that violated regular visiting hour,s was permitted to stay with Maree for as long as she so chose. Time and space beyond that room ceased to exist for Dash, as she became utterly fixated on Maree, waiting for information. She remained comatose consistently, nothing but the sounds of her strained breathing and occasional tiny, weak coughs to indicate she was even alive. Dash couldn't bare the waiting. Every now and again, a nurse might come by to check on her and get a read out on her current status. Respiration rate, resting heart rate, core temperature.

At first the numbers were climbing:

-*temperature: 99.9

*heart rate: 90BPM

*respiration rate: 32BrPM

-*temperature: 100.9

*heart rate: 95BPM

*respiration rate: 34BrPM

-*temperature: 101.4

*heart rate: 101BPM

*respiration rate: 37BrPM

These numbers gradually showed up in Maree's chart over the next couple days. Eventually, the numbers started coming down. all except the temperature, which continued to rise.

-*temperature: 102.1

*heart rate: 95BPM

*respiration rate: 34BrPM

-*temperature: 102.9

*heart rate: 81BPM

*respiration rate: 29BrPM

-*temperature: 103.6

*heart rate: 71BPM

*respiration: 25BrPM

For days, the numbers continued to change. If everything had dropped at once, it would have been good news. But as the temperature continued to rise, Dash knew what it meant. Maree's body was losing the fight against illness, and she was getting worse. As her fever continued to climb, she became weaker by the day. Her daughter, far beyond hers or anyone else's control, was dying right in front of her. Dying...

Dash's whole world stopped turning when she finally acknowledged that fact. It seemed surreal that this could actually be happening to her now. After she had invested so many years into Maree, being with her, loving her and caring for her was all she knew. It was her life. How could she ever get passed this? She sunk into a deep depression, never leaving Maree's side, quietly crying onto her bed.

Dash became unresponsive after that day. As she gradually watched the hours go by, nurses tried to address her; to feed her; but she did not hear them. Maree was the only thing she could focus on; nothing else existed, not even herself.

After another day had gone by, Dash's tears finally dried up. She'd cried more in the past few days than she could ever recall crying at any point, and she'd finally capped out. Though her feelings remained the same, she could no longer shed but a single tear. Dr. Leon knew she was dehydrated, but Dash wouldn't even look at a glass of water. Dash could not feel her thirst, nor her hunger. She could not feel her sleeplessness nor her tremendous discomfort from sitting next to Maree's bed continuously without stop for so long. All she could feel was a great yawning void in her heart that opened wider every hour.

On the second day, Dr. Leon tried bringing in Dash's friends, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy in an effort to raise her spirits.

"Dash? Dash, are you alright?" Pinkie Pie asked, her hair flat and straight.

No response.

Applejack's turn. "Hey, come on now, sugarcube. Talk to us."

Dash turned to face them, acknowledging their presence at the very least, but continued to say nothing. Nothing could be said.

"How are you feeling?" Twilight asked. She knew the answer, she just wanted to try and get her to talk.

Dash didn't say anything for a while, and when she did it almost startled the group. "Only as good.." Dash coughed, not realizing how dry her throat was, and continued. "...Only as good as Maree." She turned back around to face her sick daughter. "When she is well and happy, I am well and happy. When she is weak and ill, I am the same."

The friends all looked at each other, not sure how to console their failing friend. Fluttershy approached the bed now.

"Dash, I'm not sure what to say, so I won't say anything. Come here.." She gave Dash a gentle hug, that Dash eventually returned. Dash suddenly felt like she needed a hug more than anything in the world, and pulled Fluttershy in tightly. It helped a little.

When they finally separated, Applejack spoke again. "No matter what happens, we'll always be with you, Dash. We'll help you pull through. Alright?"

Dash simply nodded, unable to muster a verbal response. She once again turned to face her child, and the rest of them took it as a cue to leave for now.

On the evening of the second day, Dr. Leon brought in some food and a drink.

"Miss Dash, I understand that you aren't feeling up to it necessarily, but I must insist that you eat something."

Once again, there was no response.

"Miss Dash, please, there is no reason to punish yourself for this. Eat."

"Why?" Was Dash's response. "If Maree's life ends here, what's left for me? Where does my life go from there?"

Dr. Leon was very concerned. This was a common symptom suffered by grieving mothers and widows. "You are still young, Miss Dash there's a whole long life ahead of you that you'll be throwing away if you keep this up."

"If Maree isn't there to see it with me... I don't want it. It's a long life filled with regret and sorrow. I'd rather just allow it to end here, any day now. Why bother with it at all..."

"Rainbow Dash, look at me." Dr. Leon knelt down by Dash's side looking straight at her. Dash met his eyes. "I want to understand that I know exactly what you are going through right now. I... I had a son once. Years ago. I never gave up on him, no matter what happened, even when he became sick. I remember being a total mess. My life was in shambles, and I was very much like you right now. When he finally died I... I couldn't accept it. I had no idea what to do, or where to go. Life seemed like it had no meaning to me anymore. But as time passed, and I gathered my strength again, I regained my focus, and decided to go to medical school, so that I could become a doctor and help others who had suffered or were currently suffering as I had, and to try and prevent these things from happening. It became my life's focus; the death of my son motivated me to becoming someone who saved lives every day. I've led a long, successful career now, and I have lost very few patients. But those few that I do lose... it's like losing a relative for me. But the good that I bring far outweighs it. The people I help, the lives I save, they make it all worth it. So don't tell me life isn't worth living, because it is. Life, from the moment it begins to the second it ends, is ALWAYS worthwhile. You just can't give up. Every moment counts. Every second is a second that could be spent bettering the lives of yourself and those around you. No matter what happens, nothing can make life not worth living, because nothing is more significant than the miracle of life. Cherish every day of it. Every second."

Dash looked at Dr. Leon for a long time, not speaking. She felt a lot stronger now, just by hearing his words. She had expected sympathy, it was a part of his job, not to mention his nature, but his words were not just supportive. They were moving; inspiring. Dr. Leon, having given his speech, left Dash to ponder on what he had said, leaving the food on a foldable table in the room. Dash picked herself up and ate a little bit.

Though her spirits were lifted somewhat by Dr. Leon's words, realistically Dash's situation didn't changed much in the next couple days. Maree was still sick, and increasingly so. Her temperature continued to climb, and although she didn't cough much anymore, her breathing was still heavily burdened by the inflammation of her lungs. The nurses and Dr. Leon continued to administer medication, but it seemed only to slow the inevitable. Maree was on the verge of critical condition, and there wasn't anything stopping it.

Finally, by the fifth day, like a warm, glowing torch in a dark damp cave, positive news came to Dash.

"Her temperature is finally leveling out." Dr. Leon said with relief in his voice. "It has finally come to a climax."

Dash almost broke into a smile, but fought against it; she didn't want to raise her hopes just yet. "That's great to hear!"

"Well, it's something, but we're not through this yet. Not even close. All this means is she isn't getting any sicker. Her temperature leveled at 105 degree Fahrenheit, which is far higher than I'd like to see it. That needs to come down at least 5 degrees before I can call her safe, and 2-3 more than that before she is healthy. And I'm very concerned about the inflammation of her lungs. Coupled with her high fever, which is weakening Maree's body, she isn't getting very much air. Something can still go wrong there while we continue our treatment. I need to closely monitor her lungs in case of failure; if something goes awry, we have to be ready to act quickly."

Dash's initial enthusiasm was rapidly diminished to hear that so little progress had been made, and her disappointment was visible in her face. Clearly in an attempt to try and give her hope back, Dr. Leon continued.

"..But there is hope now. The way I understand it, now that she's leveling out, our treatment will finally start to take effect. Her body is starting to fight back, and has stopped the advance of the virus. With regularly administered medicine, she should be able to get back over the hill and start recovering." This did help cheer up Dash a little. Once Dr. Leon was gone again, Dash leaned close to Maree's bed, whispering into her ear,

"Come on, Maree, you're winning! Just hold on a little longer, please... just a little while longer.."

Dash was eating at regular times now, but continued not to eat very much at once. She was losing weight from this ordeal, and it was quite apparent to those around her, since she didn't have much weight to lose in the first place.

On the 6th day, Dash, who had fallen asleep by Maree's bed, was awoken by a coughing noise. It was Maree's coughing. Maree was immediately worried. Maree had more or less stopped coughing days ago, and for her to suddenly break out like this was unusual. She immediately sought out Dr. Leon.

When Dr. Leon finished inspecting Maree, he approached Dash, looking troubled. Dash knew he was about to say something dire.

"What s it? What's wrong now?" She asked, almost exhausted.

"I can't be totally sure just yet, but something is not quite right with her right lung. It's become badly inflamed, and it's not functioning quite properly. My concern had turned to worry, and I fear that the lung may fail." Came Dr. Leon's grim reply.

Dash gasped. "Fail? What is that supposed to mean? I thought you said she was getting better!" Dash was frantic once again. Try as she might, she had indeed allowed herself to have hope, and now she was paying the price for it.

"I said that the virus had stopped advancing. I never said she was recovering. There is always a possibility for complications to occur. There's nothing I can do about it right now. I have to stay by her at all times now to watch for sudden changes that could be life threatening. My staff is on standby. Today could be hectic." The air became quite cold for Rainbow Dash as she sat down once again, fearful for what might happen.

The next couple hours were tense. Dash's heart raced, as she watched Dr. Leon lean over Maree, stethoscope against her chest, listening intently for something, anything, that would indicate complications. He was almost totally motionless. There was no sound other than the quiet, arrhythmic coughing coming from Maree. It pained Dash to hear her make those horrific noises; she thought she might have to leave the room to get away from it. Then it happened. There was the change. It was fairly subtle. The coughing was the same, but there was more gasping than before. A bit more. Dr Leon raised his head, his eyes opening for the first time in hours. He'd heard something. As calmly as possible, he turned to Dash.

"Miss Dash, I want to you go outside and tell my team to come in and assist me. After that, I'd like you to remain outside for a little while." His voice was shaking, and it was clear that his facade of calmness was but a thin layer over his panic.

Dash looked back at him, mouth agape. "What's happening? What did you hear? What's going on?" Dash demanded.

"Miss Dash, I need you to follow my instructions right now. There isn't much time."

"Dr. Leon, what is happening to my little girl?" Dash's tears, gone from her eyes for days, flowed once more. As they spoke, Maree's coughing became more violent, and her gasps shallower and faster.

"NURSES! I NEED ASSISTANCE IN HERE!" Dr. Leon shouted abruptly, having finally lost patience. Dash had never heard Dr. Leon, who was usually a very calm and gentle soul, yelling like that before, and she was frightened. Immediately, medical personnel flooded into the room, and Dr Leon began rapidly handing out orders that Dash didn't understand. One nurse tried to ask Dash to leave, but she didn't respond. Before she knew it, she was being forced out the door, as she fought to see what was going on.

Many minutes passed, and Dash was incredibly tense. She could almost hear every second that passed. A lot of commotion, talking, and movement came from inside of Maree's room, and Dash was dying inside not knowing what it was all about.

After several minutes, the action subsided slightly, and the door opened for Dr. Leon. He had a look of utter exhaustion on his face. He was weak and pale. Dash feared the worst.

"What happened?" She asked. There was no response as Dr. Leon sat down next to her.

"Dr. Leon, what's going on? Please, just tell me, I have to know!" Dash pleaded. Dr. Leon sighed heavily and closed his eyes. His whole body slumped at once.

"Lung Failure. It finally happened." He said very quietly. After a slight unintentional pause for thought, he continued, "There's nothing we can do now. She's lost a lung, and the one she has left is in rough shape. I have everyone on my team working just to keep her breathing, but that won't last. It's over."

The air was still, and Dash was silent. She could not cry. She could not yell. She could not gasp. At this news, she lost all of her energy. This was literally the worst thing that has ever and could ever happen to her. There was no instinct, no response, that was adequate as a response to this news.

"I... I'm.. I wish I knew what to say... I'm sorry for your loss... I did everything I could, really I did. I'm... I'm sorry that this had to happen, but with that lung gone, it's only a matter of time."

Dash continued her trance like state of shock. Out of nowhere, words fell out of her mouth that her mind had not yet approved.

"Take mine."

Dr. Leon was caught off guard. "E-excuse me..?"

"Take my lung. give it to Maree." This time Dash knew what she had said. "You can do that, right? move an organ from one pony to another?"

Dr. Leon was a little baffled. "Well yes, but I just couldn't do that..."

"Why not?" Dash cut him off.

"Well, lots of reasons. For starters, it's never recommended to perform a transplant while a patient is still ill, it can cause all sorts of issues, and for an organ like a lung, it's best to get it from a genetic relative, otherwise the likelihood of the transplant being successful is greatly diminished. Maybe if you were her real mother there might be a decent chance of success..."

"I AM HER REAL MOTHER!" Dash jumped out out her seat suddenly in a fit of rage. "I raised her, I cared for her. I was there when she first spoke, I was there when she took her first step, I have loved her more than I knew I could love anything! I don't care where she came from or who gave birth to her, she's MY daughter!"

Dr. Leon could see the tremendous passion in her eyes. It would not be wise to say 'no' to her now. "Well, even if you think that's how you feel... regardless of the operations success rate... a lung is not something you want to give up without hesitation. We can't rush into this recklessly." Dr. Leon cautioned, hoping to try and dispel the hostility. "Living with one lung is a life changing experience. Your breathing patterns will be highly irregular, and it'll take some time to adjust to your shortness of breathe. You have to strictly limit your physical activity, lest you hyperventilate. Competitive flying becomes a thing of the past. There is a strong likelihood your life expectancy will be shortened as a result of this procedure. And all this is irregardless of the success on Maree's part, which is impeccably low."

Dash paused, seeming to think, although she really didn't. "And what are Maree's chances without my help?" Dash asked rhetorically, knowing the answer. Dr. Leon didn't reply. "Exactly. So, do it. She doesn't deserve this... she didn't do anything wrong..."

Dr. Leon frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Ah... I..just... never mind. Look, I'm just saying that she deserves the best. She deserves a long, full life. Never mind what happens to me me, just do it. Please."

Dr. Leon was shook his head in amazement. He was looking upon what was not only the most loyal, but also the bravest mare in Equestria.

"Your courage is nothing less than inspired, and I'm really moved by your dedication. Alright, Miss Dash, if we're going to act, we have to move quickly. We'll move the both of you into an operating room and begin immediately."

Within a couple minutes, they had all been moved into a new room. Dash laid down on a surgical bed at Dr. Leon's prompting.

"Miss Dash, I'm going to have to render you unconscious with this gas for the operation." Dr Leon told her, holding a mask up to show her. "Remember, when you wake up, things will be permanently different. It'll be really stressful on your body at first, and you need to take it very slowly and calmly, and be sure not to overexert yourself."

Dash nodded up at him. "Alright. I'm ready." She closed her eyes. She briefly wondered how different her life will be without one of her lungs. She imagined it would probably feel a little like she was always running, and always a little tired. She guessed that she would have to tone down the exercising with Maree a little bit, or maybe even have someone else come over and help out. She knew that while Maree understood the importance of exercise, she wouldn't just do it on her on; she like to make a game out of it, with at least one other person. Inevitably, she also had to consider what it would be like if the transplant failed. Not only would she be surely unmotivated to do anything, but she would also be seriously limited in the things she could do anyway. She'd probably slump back into her old, lazy self, only far more quiet. It was terrifying to think of a future without Maree. Dash wasn't sure if she'd be able to cope with it. She had to hope for the best. She was figuratively putting her mind and literally putting her body into the success of this operation, and that was the very best that she could do. There could not be any regrets regarding her lack of effort. It was all or nothing.

Dr. Leon put the mask over Rainbow Dash's muzzle. "Alright, take a nice, deep breathe..." She did. She could already feel herself becoming lightheaded.

"See you on the other side." Was the last thing she heard before everything went dark.

Eye of the Storm

Dash dreampt during the time she was unconscious. It was perhaps one of the most vivid dreams she had ever

had. She was in the clouds, high above the ground, higher perhaps than even Cloudsdale. That was where she found

her. The mysterious White-Maned Mare of her dreams once again. In past dreams, Dash observed her from a non-

interactive perspective. The White-Maned Mare could see her, but she never interacted with her. However in this

dream, this particularly vivid dream, the White-Maned Mare flew right up to Dash. She had a gentle smile on her

face. She put one hoof on Dash's shoulder, and nodded approvingly, as if to say, "You are going to be okay.

Everything will be alright."

And that's when it occurred to Dash. Perhaps this White-Maned Mare was some sort of guardian angel,

watching her silently to guide and protect her. Dash never really held much stock in the concept of angels and

Heaven and Hell and such, but maybe, just maybe, if things turned out alright in reality, this might be a sign of

it's truth. When the White-Maned Maree began to turn away, Dash tried to call back after it, asking who she was

and what she was here for, but no sound came out of her mouth. Silence continued, and the White-Maned Mare drifted

slowly away into the clouds. Dash started after her, but suddenly felt like she was being pulled towards the

ground...

Dash awoke in a hospital bed yet again, something she had done more times in the last month than she had

for years previous. She found that waking up from an artificially produced state of unconsciousness wasn't quite

the same as waking up from sleep; she felt light-headed rather than drowsy, and a little weaker than normal. She

looked around, and noticed for once that she was not alone when she woke up. She could see a nurse and Dr. Leon

talking on the other end of the room. Dash noticed she'd been put in a hospital gown while she was out. Though she

had never totally forgotten why she was there, it was just now starting to return to her conscious mind what had

transpired recently. Maree's lung gave out, and Dash volunteered to give up one of hers. Dash took a peak down her

collar at her chest. Even knowing what had happened didn't do much to reduce the shock of the large and rather

unsightly scar, still bound by stitches, running lengthwise down her chest. It was a pretty gross sight, so she

decided to avert her attention from it.

Dash watched as the nurse was dismissed and Dr. Leon, having taken notice of Dash being awake, started to

walk over to her.

"Miss, Dash, you are awake I see. How do you feel?" He asked.

"Well, I'm doing okay, more or l-" Dash suddenly felt winded, and her shortness of breath made her cough. She took

another breath, and tried again. "I mean, I'm basically doing oka-" Again, her breath left her too early, and she

coughed again. "-Gah, Damn! What what is wrong..?" She took a slight breather, hoping to regather herself.

Dr. Leon "hm"ed understandingly. "Yes, this is common for someone in your position. You've only got one lung now,

remember? Now your breaths are shorter, and than means you need to speak either in shorter sentences, or make

regular breaks to breathe, or you'll have problems like this. It'll take some getting used to, I promise, but

you'll get the hang of it eventually, once you adjusted to your new speech patterns. So, as a test, let me ask

again. How do you feel?"

Dash took in a nice deep breath. "Fine." She answered. "Never mind me. How is Maree?" Dash, immediately leaped

into other matters.

Dr. Leon didn't give a verbal response. He simply looked Dash straight in the eye, and, for the first time

in a week, he smiled. Without uttering a single word, he spoke volumes to Dash's ears, and the news overjoyed her.

Despite being weak from the surgery, she could settle for no less than leaping right up from her bed and wrapping

her arms around Dr. Leons neck. After so much emotional stress, after life-threatening tribulation and hardship,

and a devastating state of depression that had ravaged Dash's mind and body, and an illness that nearly claimed

Maree's life, Dash once again cried the unrestrained and warming tears of joy akin to that which she had felt that

day she came home to see Maree standing before her for the first time, a proud, beaming face looking up at her.

"We've done it. Beating all odds, a true miracle has blessed this building and those who work inside of it, and

saved Maree's life." Dr. Leon thought aloud, returning Dash's embrace. "She's doing wonderfully. The swelling in

her left lung has come down significantly, and she's taken to her mother's donated lung quite nicely. Her fever is

breaking even as we speak; it's down to 100.5 and dropping. She's resting easy now, and She'll be healthy again in

just a couple more days, all of it resting. A true miracle."

Dash laid back down again, and felt her whole felt body give a great big sigh of relief. There's was

nothing to worry about. For the first time over a month, there was not a concern in all the world for Dash or

Maree. All she was obligated to do was sleep and rest, without any worry of what would happen to anyone. Yet of

course, she made herself do it anyway.

"Can I see her?" Dash asked.

Dr. Leon shrugged. "If you can make the trip." He said. "You'll probably feel pretty out of energy after what you

went through. The lack of sleep, malnutrition, dehydration, and a major operation. You might not be up to it."

"I'm going to try anyway." She stood up slowly, and

took a couple light steps. Her brain had ignored the tremendous amount of weakness in her body the passed few

days, and now that she was finally healthy, she was perfectly aware of how weak, tired, and hungry she was. She

could tell she wasn't going to make it, but unfortunately for her, she was even healthy enough to remember how

proud she was of her independence, and kept walking anyway. She made it to the end of the room, but had to stop.

"It's alright, Miss Dash, I'll get a wheelchair, and I'll take her to your room. There's no need to push yourself.

This is the time for you to relax." Dr. Leon walked passed, off to fetch a wheelchair. Dash's instinct was to try

again, but of course she had no idea where Maree's room was. You know what, she thought, I think I deserve a

break. I'll just stay right here until he comes back with the chair.

Dash wheeled up into Maree's room with Dr. Leon's help, and she brightened up immediately to see her

daughter resting quietly. No coughing, no gasping, no harsh breathing, just steady, healthy sounding breaths. She put herself right next to Maree. She looked her child over, and put a hoof on her head, stroking her mane. To her surprise,

she saw Maree's eyes slowly open up, and they met her gaze quickly. It was the first time she'd looked into her

daughter's eyes in over a week.

"..Mommy.." Maree's voice was low and cracked. It was obvious her throat was still very sore. "Mommy... I missed

you..." She slowly picked herself up, giving her mother the best hug she could muster. Dash returned the embrace,

and lost herself in her daughter's arms.

"I've been with you... the whole time. I haven't left your side... for a moment."

..But... you were gone for so long, Mommy, I missed you..." Dash guessed that she might not remember Dash coming

to get her on that day, being comatose for so long. It wasn't a big issue, but it was a little odd that she didn't

remember it at all.

"Am I...sick?" Maree asked drowsily.

Dash chucked a little. "Not anymore. You're getting better now." Dash explained.

"Well, I sure feel sick." Maree stated, finally letting go of Dash.

Dash chuckled again, a little louder this time. It felt good to laugh again. "Just a fever, kid. No problem. You'll

get over it soon enough, then we'll go back to the house together."

"Really?" Maree's expression, which had been drowsy and groggy, brightened up instantly. "We're finally going

home?"

Dash smiled sincerely. "Yup, in a couple days... it'll be just you and me... back to the way things... used to be.

And this time, we're staying together. I promise."

Maree smiled brightly enough to light the whole room. "Yay! I can't wait, I missed you so much, Mommy. Don't ever

get sick again please, it's so sad without you..." Maree hugged her mother again, more tightly this time. It was

just a generally light-hearted conversation from there, talking about what was going on in Maree's life mostly

while she stayed with Applejack. She seemed to remember this with clarity, despite not knowing how or why she

ended up in the hospital. Dr. Leon explained it was a very common psychological defense mechanism to block out

traumatic events from memory. They may return to her in time, or they may not.

They continued to talk often over the next couple days, Maree progressively getting healthier and

healthier. They explained what had happened while Maree was at the peak of her illness, in as kid friendly a way

as possible. Maree was particular confused and surprised by the concept of one of Dash's lungs being inside of her

now. Of course, she thought it was kind of cool when it was finally explained in a way she could understand.

When the two finally returned home, things were very quiet at first, much to Maree's dismay. You'd think

she'd never been ill at all from the amount of energy she had. Dash was constantly telling her that she needed to

relax and to slow down, and warned her not to overdo herself immediately after a major operation. Maree wanted to

play constantly, but Dash knew that she wasn't up to it, which disappointed Maree. Everything was slowly settling

back into the way things used to be, and life was becoming normal once again. However, there was one thing Dash

still needed to face before she could return to an ordinary life. A single inkling in the back of her mid

regarding a certain somepony she needed to confront: Paragon.

She had hoped that over the years, she could have simply forgotten about him. She could let him do

whatever he wanted, no matter how terrible, and just not be a part of it. Let someone else resolve the problem for

once, so she could live an honest, normal life. But after what happened to her that night when she nearly died

because of that man... she couldn't just take that. She needed to get back at him, and she knew exactly how to do

it.

One day, she asked Pinkie to watch Maree yet again, promising to Maree that it was a temporary thing that

wouldn't take too long. She walked over to Twilight's house, knocking on the door.

"Hey, Dash! I heard the operation was a success! How are you and Maree?" Twilight asked in a cheerful, friendly

manner.

"We're doing good. More or less healthy." Dash, not really there for small talk, tried to get to the point as

quickly as possible. "Hey Twilight, I know this will sound... weird and out of the blue... but do you remember

how... back a few years when I lost... to Paragon, you said you could have... done something... to find out whether or not...

he was cheating?" Dash asked.

Twilight frowned a bit, thrown by the rapid change in topic. "Uh, yeah... you mean, you still care about that? I

thought you gave up on that old showboat a long time ago." Twilight pointed out.

Dash scoffed a little bit. "Yeah, well, you could say that... recent events have convinced me... to change my

mind... and that I just haven't had... the spare time to... look into it." Dash replied frankly.

Twilight thought for a bit, shaking her head a bit. "Are you sure you really want to get into it again with him?

You're not exactly in the best condition right now..."

But Dash was insistent. "I'm sure, Twilight. It's not for me... it's for all the ponies... he's been bullying

around... all these years who haven't been... able to stand up for themselves. We're going to put a hole... right

through his perfect image... and prove that he's not... the best flier in Equestria."

Twilight was still hesitant. "But, what does it matter to you? Even if he's not the best in Equestria, I think

it's safe to say you aren't either anymore. Sorry to say, but it's the truth."

"I just said it's not about... me!" Dash repeated. "I don't care about being... the best flier in Equestria. All I

care about is... that he isn't, and that... because we can prove he isn't... he'll leave Cloudsdale... alone!"

Dash stopped to catch her breath, slightly winded by the conversation. She wasn't quite used to breathing with

only one lung, but she was getting a little better at making breaks to breathe.

Twilight, after giving it some more thought, finally gave in. "Alright, if this is what you really want to do.

I'll need to grab Spike and to fire up my hot air balloon."

Dash looked puzzled. "What's that for?"

Twilight turned and threw her reply over her shoulder. "You'll see. Meet me out back."

One week later, Dash was ready. It was time to face Paragon one last time. She took off towards

Cloudsdale, leaving Maree with Pinkie Pie. This was the last time she'd need to do so for a long time, for after

today, one way or another, everything was going back to normal. She just had to do this one last thing and be done

with it forever. By the time she got to Cloudsdale, she already had to stop to catch her breath. Flying was a lot

more laboring now than it had been before. Luckily, she wouldn't have to do much flying if Twilight's plan worked

properly. She was immediately disturbed by what she saw in Cloudsdale. Very few pegasi were out, and the few that

were were being harassed and attacked by Paragon's crew. Most of the pegasi that Dash saw were all badly bruised,

and their wings were especially harmed. It was clear that Paragon had aimed to ensure no one could leave safely by

crippling them. Dash had only severely injured her wings a few times in her life, and it was a most wretched

feeling. Losing the ability to fly was bad enough, but wings were not easy to treat. The bones in a pegasus' wing

are very frail, and can easily be damaged. They're also exceptionally sensitive, and equally damaging injuries to

the wing are a lot more painful than a wound anywhere else. This had to end.

Paragon wasn't difficult to spot. He was roughly in the middle of town, as usual, his grandiose form

apparent form a small crowd of followers. She walked right in his direction, and was spotted almost immediately.

"Hm? Well! If it isn't the world's most colorful silver-medal, back from the grave! I thought I took care of you

already!" Paragon was obviously surprised, but apparently not terribly upset.

"I had something I still... needed to take care of... before I could... give up on life: you." Dash replied

flatly, venom pouring from her words.

Paragon laughed out loud to himself. "Is that so? What are you going to do, little filly? Hit me? I should warn

you, there aren't any town hall walls for you to crash into around here, if you miss, you could carry on for quite

a while before you hit one!" A laugh broke out amongst himself and his cronies.

Dash's expression didn't change. "No. I want one last race." She said with an even tone.

Paragon laughed even more now. "Another? Perhaps the very simple pattern that has arisen from our previous

encounters has not yet permeated your unusually thick head, but you cannot beat me. It is a waste of both of our

respective times to even try."

Dash smirked, and said, in an effort to provoke him, "Are you saying no? Is the mighty Paragon... master of the

sky... backing out of a challenge?"

Paragon's smile receded into a glare, and then a cocky grin again stretched across his cheeks. "You would think

defeating the same opponent a third time would begin to bore me. Alas, there is indeed something special about

besting you. It never gets old." Paragon walked directly up to Rainbow Dash, towering over her with his grand

physique. "You're on, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash took the lead, showing Paragon to the starting point she had planned out. "Follow me."

The two combatants, followed by a large entourage, walked clear to the edge of town, in approximately the

same location they had faced off last time.

"This is the spot." Dash said. "It's the same race as before... a straight run to Ponyville... from here."

Paragon shook his head in wonder. "The exact same race I beat you in already, and you want to go through an

identical experience again? A curious one you are, Rainbow Dash." He stood directly next to her, preparing to

start the race. On cue, one pegasus stepped out of the crowd and started to count them down.

"On your marks... get set..." He paused briefly for suspense. "GO!" And the two took off with a powerful gust of

wind. This time, rather than taking a direct path to Ponyville, Dash stayed with Paragon, going straight out

ahead. It was difficult to keep up now that she had a drastically limited oxygen intake, but she knew she wouldn't

have to keep up for long.

Paragon noticed Dash tailing him, and a cross look came about his face. "W-what are you doing?" He asked.

Barely able to keep up with breathing, Dash somehow managed to reply with a simple "taking a... flying lesson...

from you."

Paragon was clearly agitated with this mockery, and fixated his attention on the goal ahead.

In the distance, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack, carried by Twilight's hot air balloon, watched as the

racers approached them.

"I still don't know why y'all needed ta come up here ta watch this here race, ya won't be able ta see nothin'

considerin' that this is the highest point of the race. They'll spend the rest of it way below this point."

Applejack commented, watching Dash and Paragon gradually close in. "And I especially don't get why y'all needed ta

bring me into it. I love watchin' Dashie fly N' all, but I just don't trus' this dang ol' thing, It makes me

nervous..." Applejack regarded the hot air balloon with a suspicious glare. Twilight simply said nothing, watching

as the two racers started to draw near. She looked down. She was directly over Ponyville. Perfect.

"Applejack, you've been paying attention to the flying lessons I've been giving you, right? You think you can land

this thing by yourself now?" Twilight asked over her shoulder, keeping her eyes on Dash.

"Well sure I can, it's as easy as apple pie! But why did I need to go through that god awful week of flying lesson

when I don't like fly-" Before she could finish her question, Twilight Sparkle leaped over the edge, and began

falling rapidly towards the ground, much to Applejack's horror. He eyes practically popped out of her head and she

screamed in terror. She looked over the edge to see her friend plummeting, headed directly for the clouds below.

"TWILIGHT! WHAT ARE YA DOIN'?! ARE YA CRAZY?! oh geez, what do I do, what do I do..." Applejack was panicking, and

decided to prep the balloon for landing as quickly as possible.

Twilight continued in a controlled fall, until she saw Dash and Paragon flying right up near her. Alright,

this is it, she thought to herself. You've been practicing this, you know you can pull it off. Just stay calm and

focused... Simultaneously, all three of them entering a diving position, and all three began to fall very

rapidly towards the ground. Dash and Twilight both smiled, knowing that so far, everything had gone perfectly.

Paragon, on the other hand, was dumb-founded. He had no idea what the two had planned, and no way of finding out.

All he knew is that regardless of what they were plotting, he had no intention of losing to either of them, and

certainly not both of them.

Out of nowhere, Paragon starting pulling away from Dash and Twilight. Dash tried tucking herself in as

much as possible, but she could only go so fast. She began to fall behind. Seeing this, Twilight's horn began to

glow, and suddenly she started to catch up to Paragon, leaving only Dash in the back. Though she was now behind

them both, Dash was satisfied; her part was done now. The look on Paragon's face was one of horror when he saw that

Twilight was gaining on him. A unicorn, of all things, was rivaling him in a diving contest. He watched her horn

with suspicion, knowing that she was doing something dastardly, but kept focusing. He pulled away further.

Twilight caught him again. The remainder of the drop was like this; he would pull ahead inexplicably, and Twilight

would just catch him again. Eventually, when they got too close to the ground to be safe, Paragon's speed peaked

out, reaching a blistering, yet unseen speed that Twilight couldn't hope to measure. Twilight didn't bother to

follow him this time. She simply nodded with satisfaction and changed into a face down, belly-to-ground position

and allowed her speed to drop harshly. After a few moments, Dash finally caught up, and caught her with several

seconds to spare.

"Did you see what you came here to see?" Dash asked, as she headed for Paragon's location.

Twilight grinned back at her friend. "More than enough."

Paragon finally landed on the ground in front of the Town Hall once again, panting heavily, as though he

had flown the entire distance rather than dive it. Shortly after his arrival, Twilight and Dash caught up, and

Dash dropped Twilight off, landing next to her.

Paragon, badly out of breath, tried to keep his cool as he addressed his opponents. "You see... Rainbow Dash? I am

still... The best! No matter what; or WHO; you challenge me with, I will... I will always win!" He coughed a

couple times, trying to catch his breath.

"Why so short of breath, Paragon?" Twilight asked rhetorically, with a certain smugness about her. "Have you been

overexerting yourself with magic?" Many people in the crowd about them stopped after hearing this. Paragon

furrowed his brow angrily.

"W-what in the world are you talking about, magic? What nonsense is this?" He snarled.

It's simple. Underneath that mask, you're hiding a horn, with which you are able to manipulate air pressure to

increase your movement speed through the air. That is how you are able to accomplish such a high diving speed."

Twilight explained. "A terminal velocity is when the downward force of gravity is matched by the upward force of

drag, causing one's speed to level out and cease accelerating. At no point during that fall did you reach anything

that could resemble a "terminal velocity", as you constantly were accelerating. Theoretically assuming your body

abides by the natural laws of physics, you should have stopped accelerating within the first 20 seconds or so, but

you didn't. You kept moving faster and faster, and I suspect that in that last spurt, you may have even gone

super-sonic, yet no sonic boom was made. Both the fact that you were able to move that fast and the fact that no

boom was created could only be possible in a vacuum, which you created by manipulation the airwaves to simply flow

around you rather than passed you, allowing you to fall uninhibited by drag for a few moments. You could have

easily just held your breath for that." Twilight said all of this with total confidence, and Paragon saw no place

to correct her. When she took a break to hear his response, he found one thing he could say.

"But then, how could you explain my moving more quickly in a straight, linear path? Surely, creating a vacuum, if

such a thing could be done, would only inhibit my ability to fly a straight path?" He made a good point. Twilight

was ready to counter it, though.

"Simple. If you can make air pressure drop, you can surely make it rise. You simply did the reverse; you increased

the density of the air immediately behind your wings, allowing you generate a greater amount of thrust on each

flap, giving you more speed."

Paragon was increasingly frustrated, and was becoming quite self-conscious of the crowd forming around them. "How

can yo be so sure that this is the only way I could have made myself dive faster?" He asked.

Again, Twilight was ready to immediately answer. "Easy. Because I did exactly the same thing. It's how I kept up

with you."

Paragon's argument was growing weak, and he knew it. "This is preposterous! I haven't an ounce of magic in me!

Can't I simply be a supreme flyer? Ha, all of you are merely jealous of my abilities!" Paragon boasted.

Now it was Dash's turn. "Then would you mind explaining how you managed to tie a knot in a length of rope binding

my wings together with both of your hooves full and your mouth flapping? Can we also attribute that to your

'supreme flying skills'?" Twilight hadn't heard this story yet, and frowned in disgust.

Paragon had been backed into a psychological corner. It felt like every pony in Ponyville was watching

this conversation, and he was finally out of excuses. With no other options, he started to crack up laughing.

Firstly out of amusement, but soon it became a very cruel, sinister laugh. It's eeriness chilled Dash and

Twilight, who were confused by his change in attitude. When he finally stopped laughing, he fixed the two with a

deadly look, a cynical smile cracked across it's lower half.

"Guess the cats out of the bag." He tore away his blue, axe-shaped mask, to reveal exactly what had been

anticipated; a great, majestic horn more than fit for an Alicorn his size. Numerous gasps and whispers spread

through the observing crowd.

"I knew it!" Dash exclaimed, unsurprised.

"So, you knew I was an Alicorn. You figured out my trick. Looks like you did your homework, kid. Bright child,

indeed, gold star. Although, I'd be even more impressed if you knew who I really was." Paragon said challengingly.

Twilight's confidence wavered slightly. "As a matter of fact, I can honestly say I have no idea who you are." She

admitted. Seemingly taking this as a leaping point, she regained her confidence again, and continued. "And I find

that rather strange. I haven't even so much as glimpsed a single piece of information on you. Not one book, text,

scroll, poem, not even so much as a mere fairy tale about you or anyone immediately related to you. It's quite

apparent someone is either covering up your tracks, or perhaps you are being deliberated ignored by history."

Twilight said.

Paragon chuckled a little. "That's too bad, that Celestia would really go to such lengths to ignore me. I thought

she was the mature one of the bunch... very well, I shall explain to you who I am, but first, a history lesson!"

*DISCLAIMER* I DO NOT INTEND ANY OF THE FOLLOWING TO BE TREATED AS CANNON. IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CURRENTLY

CONFLICTS WITH THE CANNON OF MLP FIM, OR IS LATER RENDERED INVALID IN A FUTURE EPISODE, I ASK THAT YOU DISREGARD

IT. I HAVE TAKEN EVERY PRECAUTION I CAN THINK OF TO ENSURE THAT I HAVE NOT CONTRADICTED ANYTHING THAT HAS BEEN

SAID, BUT MISTAKES ARE MADE BY PEOPLE ALL THE TIME.

He began to pace as he spoke. "A great many years ago, thousands of years before even the current reining

princesses of Equestria were born, this world had never seen Alicorns. It had been watched from an mere

observational point on another plane of existence by the ones known as the 'Silent Watchmen', shapeless, faceless

gods of infinite power and wisdom in their own dimension, but powerless overseers in this one. it is they who

watched our universe be born, finding worlds filled with life to watch over. When they see it fit, they would

would send some from their ranks to live on these worlds to rule over them. One day, they descended 8 gods from

their ranks to this world, it's dominant species still in it's infancy, to command them. Upon their arrival, they

took a form that would accurately represent the dominant species of this land; the strong, robust bodies of the

Earth Ponies, the majestic, elegant wings of the Pegasus, and the commanding power source that was the horn of the

Unicorn. These being would become known by the inhabitants as the Alicorns."

Twilight seemed troubled. "All of this doesn't make any sense, how can you possibly know this is true?" She asked.

"Paragon continued. "Ah, I assure it's very true, I am well in touch with the true history of this world. The

ponies of this world had never seen such majesty or power, and treated the Alicorns as kings and queens, as their

masters and lords. They reined for many centuries, until they realized that something was drastically different

about their new bodies that they hadn't been told about when they become of this world: they were now mortal. They

breathed, they live,d they aged, and so they would also inevitably die. In order to continued the cycle of the

gods, they began to pair up and take mates among their own kind, and created their own offspring, who each

possessed as much power as their ancestors. Essentially, each generation, they become even more powerful to

compensate for their shrinking numbers. They were able to continue for a few more millennia before the final

pairing between the last remaining Alicorns, Hayperion and Equest. Equest disliked Hayperion, and did not

initially accept him as a husband, but eventually realized that she was obligated to do so in order to continue to

cycle of the Alicorns and leave a legacy. When Hayperion discovered that their first born, who we now know as

Celestia, was a female, he insisted they try again, believing that if only one more cycle shall come to pass, it

should be run by a man. Though Equest disagreed, she accepted Hayperion's demands to keep him pleased. Hayperion

was outraged to find that yet again, he was denied a son by the birth of his second daughter, Luna. When Equest

denied Hayperion a third attempt, saying there was nothing wrong their daughters taking over Equestria, he was

outraged and lashed out against her. He managed to inflict fatal wounds upon her, but with the last of her

strength she cursed him with a spell that banished him to a small settlement far away removed from his home,

forbidding him to return or to permit anyone he knew to return. Shortly following Equest's passing, the 3 tribes of

ponies finally united, and even named their country after the deceased Alicorn! It was there that Celestia and

Luna were raised ever since." Paragon stopped pacing, allowing this information to sink in.

"Dash who had been quiet for a long time, was the first one to start asking questions. "So wait, what did that

have to do with you?" She asked.

"Ah, you see Rainbow Dash, one thing that has been forgotten by history is that Equest had a sister, who was not

fond of her, but was indeed fond of Hayperion. She accepted him as her husband, bringing with her a moderate

settlement's worth of loyal ponies who had faith in their ways. This was before the ponies of this world were so

uniform in their thoughts and beliefs, you see. And finally, as my father entered his last quarter-millenia of

life, he was granted with the son he had sought after for so long." Paragon stood proud, having finally completed

his long story.

Dash, surprisingly, was the first one to catch it. "Your father? You're Hayperion's son?" She exclaimed.

"And... and you said that Celestia is Hayperion's first daughter, which means... you're... you're.."

"You two are siblings. Brother and sister!" Twilight finished.

Paragon rolled his eyes irritably. "She's my HALF-sister, and it pains me to even admit to that." He muttered.

"But, you said the curse prevented Hayperion, as well as anyone connected to him, to come back here. Has Hayperion

died?" Twilight asked.

Paragon shook his head, almost seeming disappointed by it. "No, he's not long for this world, my father, but

before you ask, I'll explain how I can be here now; the curse said that Hayperion cannot knowingly send his

followers to Equestria. Whether he says yes or no makes no difference; if both persons are aware of the

suggestion, they are affected. However, I discovered a loophole. I simply left without my father's knowledge, and

thus he cannot approve or disapprove my actions." Paragon noted. "Thus I am before you today."

"Well, that won't last long. You'll be on your way now. You might have won, but you didn't do it fair or square,

so what have you got left? You're done here Paragon, and I want you out of my skies!" Rainbow Dash demanded.

Paragon started laughing again now, harder and more maliciously than ever before. "Your skies? You really

haven't been listening to the stories, have you?" Paragon commented, still chuckling. "Each generation was more

powerful than the last, and I am of the 4th generation. My sisters have the power to raise the sun and the moon,

and you think all I get out of it is a couple of parlor tricks that help me cheat at sporting events? You rally

have no idea what I'm capable of..." As he spoke, a breeze starting to pick up ever so gradually. "I am no mere

trickster, and I'm not just some big shot athlete with a big mouth." The wind started getting stronger, and now

some clouds had started to collect in this sky. Twilight had noticed that just the very tip of Paragon's horn had

begun to shimmer. This wasn't costing him an ounce of strength. "I am what your inferior, barbaric kind once

called a god. I am what happens when you take one of the lords of the universe and mix him with several others

over the course of thousands of years." The clouds began to cluster together thicker and thicker, and spread wider

and wider, quickly covering all Ponyville and several hundred yards surrounding it. An ominous dark shadow of

cloud loomed over the normally peaceful village, and it's inhabitants began to tremble in fear, backing away from

Paragon. "I am the master of storms, and the lord of the skies. I can create storms that even your nightmares

would fear." Low thunder began to roll through the clouds, and the wind had picked up to a considerable gust.

There was even some rain now. "I want you to know one thing, if anything, before I make you weep with fear, child.

I RULE THESE SKIES!" A loud crash of thunder broke through the skies right on cue at the tip of his sentence, and

many ponies began to run in fear of Paragon. "I was hoping to take this country little by little, subtly and with

as much entertainment as possible. But you know what? Screw subtlety. It's just not my thing." Paragon took a

couple steps toward his two opponents. "Let me ask you this, kiddies. Have you ever been in that perfect storm, the

one that is truly awe-striking, one that's so mighty, so torrential that you are humbled by its very presence, as

you slowly realize that no matter how strong you are, no matter how much success you garner, you will always be

inferior to the might of nature, who can do so little as sneeze and cause so much chaos as the death of hundreds."

Paragon chuckled cynically. "That feeling cannot even begin to prepare you for what I'm about to instill in you."

Darkness

The sky was going black, even though it was mid-day, winds picking up to higher and higher speeds. Rain

had begun falling lightly, and ponies were fleeing from the center of town. An intense duel was about to begin.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were the only ones still left facing off against Paragon. Paragon's

storm brewed as the tension rose.

"You know Twilight, I'm not gonna lie... I don't feel quite as confident about this plan as I used to..." Rainbow

Dash admitted. "Doesn't seem like we thought this all the way through, to be honest... didn't really have any

contingency plans in place if he started, you know... attacking." Rainbow Dash leaned close by Twilight's ear.

"So, uh... any ideas?"

Twilight had a solemn look on her face. "The plan at this point Dash, is for you to get out of here, and ask that

the citizens of Ponyville leave town and get to safety, while I face off against Paragon." Twilight said, taking a

step towards her opponent.

Dash went wide eyed, and stepped in front of Twilight. "Are you completely altogether in the head, Twilight? I

don't know if you've noticed, but this guy is pretty wickedly powerful when he tries to be. You can't take him

alone." Dash reasoned.

"Against an Alicorn, Dash, it comes down to a matter of magical prowess. You don't stand a chance against him, and

unless Princess Luna or Princess Celestia shows up right about now, I'm the best chance you've got." Twilight

pointed out. "I just need to make sure that everyone else gets out okay, especially you. I know it's hard for you

to understand, but you can't think of it as just being your life anymore. You have a child, and you have a duty to

ensure that you are there for her. So, get going and get everyone, including her, out of here!" Twilight stepped

around Rainbow Dash and took a few more steps toward Paragon. Rainbow Dash could only look on as her friend

prepared herself for a fight she knew she couldn't win. Dash had her orders, but hated every inch of them.

I'll come back for you Twilight, I promise. And Dash took off.

Paragon and Twilight watched each other for a few seconds, the suspense building rapidly.

"hm hm hm hm, looks like it's just the two of us now, Miss-" Paragon paused for a moment to think. "Come to think

of it, we haven't yet been properly introduced. You know who I am. And you are?"

"Twilight Sparkle." Twilight announced proudly. "I am Princess Celestia's finest pupil, and the younger sister of

Canterlot's Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor, as well as sister-in-law of the heir apparent to the throne of

Equestria." Twilight smiled. "As for my day job, I'm a librarian."

Paragon laughed out loud, "Oh well, now I'm scared! Lo and behold, I am to face off against a super-librarian!

Surely it shall be the most intense battle of my life!" Paragon mused, laughing to himself. "Well then, librarian,

student of Celestia, let's see what you've got!" Paragon's horn flared with energy, and suddenly the winds picked

up with tremendous force, blowing directly in Twilight's direction. Caught off guard, Twilight was swept off her

feet, and was knocked back.

Twilight hadn't even gotten back on her feet yet when Paragon attacked again, now summoning a whirlwind

laced with various twigs and forest debris and throwing in her direction. Twilight was only narrowly able to avoid

this, dodge-rolling to the side. She tried to retaliate, firing a bolt of energy at him from her horn, but he

avoided it by spreading his wings and simply allowing his own wind to carry him upwards, no flapping necessary.

Paragon shook his head, amused, but not impressed. ""I'm going to enjoy playing with you. You'll be most...

entertaining."

Rainbow Dash was leading a crowd of people away, floating overhead, when she encountered Applejack and

Fluttershy resisting the flow. She landed to greet them.

"Dash, what in tarnation is goin' on? Where's everypony runnin' to? And where'd all this stormy weather come

from?" Applejack asked in a fluster.

"Applejack, Fluttershy, you need to go help Twilight right now!" Dash demanded.

Fluttershy was confused. "What are you talking about, Dash? What's going on?"

"It's Paragon, he's a grade A psychopath, and he's fighting with Twilight! She can't do it on her own, you gotta

help her! She's in front of Town Hall, go quick! I'll join up with you as soon as I can!" Dash took off, and

without another word, Applejack and Fluttershy rushed to Twilight's aid.

Twilight meanwhile, was doing her best to defend herself against Paragon's onslaught, dodging and

dissolving whatever spells she could, taking occasional shots back at him with no success. Paragon's endurance

seemed endless; while Twilight grew more tired all the time, Paragon was unphased. In fact, he seemed to enjoy

himself. After a few more attacks, which Twilight barely managed to avoid, Paragon took a break to comment on the

entertainment before him.

"Hm hm hm, you're deceptively spry for a bookworm, Miss Sparkle. You've kept up so far. You're much more fun to

play with than that Rainbow Dash character. At least you can fight back when I get serious." He admitted. "Of

course, you must realize you don't stand a chance in all the world of stopping me. Here I am, still merely toying

with you, not even winded, and you look like you might pass out any moment now!" Paragon laughed a little. It was

true, Twilight was panting heavily. The fight had only been on for a few minutes, but she wasn't used to using

magic offensively. It was very intense, and she knew now that if this pattern continued, she would lose. She fired

yet another bolt of energy, but it was deflected off a barrier Paragon created around him. Twilight slumped in

defeat. He was too strong.

"You know, I've always thought these 'energy bolts' were an awfully boring way to fight. I prefer to make

something of my techniques; whirlwinds, typhoons, tornadoes, rain, lightning... it keeps things fresh and

interesting." Paragon commented offhandedly. "For example, I've found that rain itself is universally useless in

a fight. however, it is a key ingredient to one of my all time favorite tools in battle: mud." Twilight

immediately looked to her feet, to see them buried underneath a layer of mud. She attempted to struggled free, but

she only sunk deeper. Paragon continued, slowly walking towards Twilight. "It's durable, malleable, versatile,

plentiful... as long as it stays off me, it's a tremendously useful substance." Twilight continued to struggle,

and then remembered that she didn't have to; hoping to catch Paragon off guard, she fired another shot at him from

a much closer range. Unfortunately, an large mound of mud rose up to block it, and Paragon continued to walk

without breaking stride. He continued talking as though he hadn't noticed the attack. "Besides, dirt only deserves

to be buried in more dirt." He was now right up beside Twilight. "You've put up an admirable effort really. You

ought to be proud. I almost respect you. You are the stone amongst the dirt." He leaned right into Twilight's

face, just inches away. "Compared to you, however, I am a diamond." Twilight took her chance, and instinctively

jabbed him in the left eye with her horn.

Paragon reeled at the sudden pain, stepping backwards and holding his left eye. His focus was shaken just

enough for Twilight to escape the mud trap, and she ran for cover behind a nearby building. She stayed there,

catching her breath, when she was met suddenly by Applejack and Fluttershy, both with looks of concern of their

faces.

Fluttershy spoke first. "Oh dear, Twilight, are you alright? You look terrible.." She said with concern.

"We heard about Paragon. So, where is he?" Applejack asked.

Twilight, still out of breath, vaguely motioned behind her with her head. "He's disoriented right now, but that'll

only last a few more seconds. He's just too strong for me." She admitted.

"Well that's what we're here for! We're gonna help ya beat this bad boy!" Applejack declared. "Just tell us what

to do!" Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

"Guys, I appreciate it, but he's too much even for all three of us. There's only one thing I can think of that

might work, but I wouldn't exactly call it reliable..." Twilight said.

"What is it?" Asked Fluttershy. "If there's any hope, any at all, we should try it at least!"

Twilight, finally having caught hr breath, sighed. "I know a spell that can put out a Magical Negation Field for

several minutes. It's a very powerful, high level spell that disables all magic equal to or less powerful than the

level of magic that the field is given, including that of the user's. Problem is, I'm a little low on magic right

now, and if I'm going to make this even remotely effective against him, I need to charge it. And in order to

charge it properly, I would need you two to distract him for me." Twilight explained.

"Well, how long would you need?" Applejack asked.

Twilight considered for a moment. "At least 100 seconds." She said.

"100 seconds up against him? That seems awfully long..." Fluttershy said. Just then, Paragon rounded the corner,

fixing Twilight with a deadly glare, his left eye squinting, a streak of blood leading down from his eye all the

way down his face. He snarled very angrily, and began to walk towards her menacingly.

Applejack stood in front of Twilight, Fluttershy following, but with less confidence. "Look, we'll getcha as much

time as we can get ya. Just charge that spell with everything you got!" Applejack said. Twilight began to prepare

the spell.

Pinkie Pie looked out at the gloomy weather outside. She didn't particularly like rain. It made her hair

go flat. Maree was taking a nap in her room. The weather must have done it to her; she didn't sleep during the day

very often anymore. She felt bored; thought about eating. But, she didn't feel like making food. Maybe she'd just

have some cereal. And some juice. She walked over to the cupboard to find the box of cereal. It was empty. Pinkie

sighed. That put a damper on her mood. It was no fun feeling sad. Come to think of it, she couldn't really put her

hoof on exactly why she felt so sad. She didn't like rain, that was one thing, but she had no real reason to be

feeling down. She felt this persistent feeling that there was something badly amiss. Something wasn't right.

Specifically... like something bad was going to happen. She looked at the clock, and realized that Rainbow Dash

had been out a lot longer than she had expected her to be. And this rain would probably give her problems. She sat

down at stared out the window again. What's a Mare to do in lousy weather like this, all by herself, with a

missing friend and nothing to do? Then she saw them. Hundreds of them. Ponies started running right across her

field of view, all panicked and clearly running from something rather than to something. Pinkie immediately

stepped outside and stopped one of them to ask what was going on.

"Some crazy Alicorn is causing this storm and is attacking us! We're all running to safety!"

"Who, though? What was his name?" Pinkie asked.

"I don't know! Some big, yellow stallion! Hey, you better get to safety too!" And he ran off.

A big yellow stallion? It sounded like Paragon. Wait, he was an Alicorn? And Dash was going to challenge him! What

if he got angry, what if he wanted to get even? She wouldn't stand a chance! Pinkie looked back at Dash's house.

Stay safe, Maree. And she ran towards the center of town.

Applejack charged at Paragon, Fluttershy following close behind. Rather than make any attempt to get out

of the way or cast a spell, Paragon simply stood his ground. With sound timing, he hopped up onto his back legs as

Applejack got close to him, and before Applejack could take evasive action, he came down and struck her hard in

the side of the face, knocking her down. Fluttershy, seeing her friend take that hit, came skidding to a halt next

to Paragon, who swatted her away with a single swipe of his mighty wing. Both of her friends already down, Twilight

became quite worried.

"I was hoping that might last a little longer.." She muttered to herself. She still needed 92 seconds, and she

wasn't going to get that judging by the look in Paragon's eye as he approached her, backing her into a corner. He

gradually started to hover a few feet over the ground, attempting to impose on Twilight even more.

"Well, you've managed to blind me on one eye. That's well deserved, I was careless. But now, Miss Sparkle, you'll

be getting an extra special death..." Paragon's horn began to glow a very ominous, dark green glow. "Be on your

way now... to oblivion!"

"HEY PARAGON!" Paragon looked around, confused. "INCOMIIIIIIIIIIING!!!" Paragon looked up and behind just in time

to see Rainbow Dash tackle him with full force, hooves first, knocking the wind clear out of him and knocking him

right out of the sky. Paragon landed with a sound thud, and took several seconds to recover, as Dash hovered over

head. When he was getting back to his feet, Dash dove again for another tackle. This time, Paragon was able to

evade, as he did with the next couple attempts.

"You know, I've been wanting to do that for a long time now, and it is SO satisfying to finally pull it off!" Dash

boasted, flying circles overhead. Paragon, who was initially aflame with rage, suddenly calmed down, even smiled a

little.

"You know, we never completed that diving lesson." He said. "It's not enough that you simply drop; you must be

certain that you also remain absolutely STILL. Allow me to DEMONSTRATE!" His horn began to glow again. Rainbow

Dash's heart skipped a beat as a particularly loud rumbling of thunder crackled across the sky. Nothing could have

prevented what happened next.

A single lightning bolt came tearing out of the sky, traveling at 186 000 miles per second; the legendary

speed of light after which is was named; and struck Rainbow Dash dead-square in the back. Without so much as a

yelp of pain or surprised, Rainbow Dash plummeted from the sky and into the ground, where she lay in a crumpled,

motionless pile.

Full Circle (Finale)

Twilight Sparkle screamed in horror as she saw her friend fall, far beyond her ability to help. When she

saw that Dash wasn't moving after she hit the ground, Twilight feared the worst. Her friend was hurt badly, and

she needed help. Twilight wasn't able to spend much time worrying about her friend though, since Paragon almost

immediately returned his attention to Twilight. Dash's brave efforts had bought her a few more seconds, but she

still needed another minute. Her horn was glowing brightly, and Paragon knew that she was planning something. He

had to take her out.

"Pardon me, Mr. Paragon, sir?" Paragon turned around to see Applejack, right in front of her, legs already wound

up for a kick. "Special delivery from Sweet Apple Acres!" And she gave him a sound buck in the ribs, tossing him

several feet away. Paragon was winded again, and on the ground.

Applejack didn't spare a moment. Almost in the same motion, she immediately took off, running for cover

behind a building. Paragon was on his feet again, snarling ferociously. He could feel a couple of his ribs were

cracked. With another ominous shimmer of his horn, he cast a mighty spell, which conjured forth a small tornado,

headed directly in Applejack's direction. Twilight watched in terror as once again, one of her friends fell under

attack beyond her ability to help them. The tornado shredded the house with ease, discarding Applejack amongst the

wreckage, unconscious.

Before Paragon could turn around, he suddenly felt himself being assailed from behind, as someone jumped

up onto his back and began grabbing at his wings, holding on tightly.

"What in the-?" He began thrashing wildly, attempting to shake his assailant. Twilight saw that it was Fluttershy,

holding on for dear life on Paragon's back. Fluttershy finally realized that at a distance, Paragon was far more

dangerous, and was able to get off much more powerful abilities. All things considered, right on top if him was

the safest place to be in a fight.

"Get off me, worm! Left go of my wings, you little-!" He rocked back and forth violently, trying to throw

Fluttershy off balance. But she continued to hold, refusing to left go of his wings. She knew, as a pegasus, that

the wings were a very sensitive place, and that this probably hurt a lot. She didn't enjoy inflicting pain, but

she had to, in order to stop him from doing the same to her friends.

On one particularly rocking motion, Paragon's neck, on the upswing, connected with Fluttershy's lower jaw,

causing her to bite down on her tongue hard. The shock and the pain made her loosen her grip just so, and on the

very next swing of his lower back, she was launched off of Paragon and onto the ground in front of him. Fluttershy was

disoriented from the rocking and the blow to her jaw, and before she could regroup, Paragon walked over to her,

still laying down, and kicked her hard in the ribs. She yelped meekly, and rolled over to her other side.

Paragon was seething mad now, and looked ready to tear Fluttershy in half. His horned glowed once more,

and Fluttershy realized these might be her final moments of life, and a single terrified tear rolled down her

cheek. Before the spell was cast, however, Paragon felt himself once again being assailed from behind.

"Gah! Dammit! What is it now..?" Paragon roared, shaking once again. Twilight was stunned. It was Pinkie Pie!

"Ooh, shiny!" Pinkie exclaimed, looking at Paragon's horn. "That looks important!" And she clamped down on it with

her teeth, wrapping the rest of herself around his neck and shoulder area.

Paragon, now choking and unable to cast spells, tried shaking Pinkie off.

"M-my horn! Let go of my horn!" He cried, shaking his head every which way, until he heard a sickening 'crack'

that sent a chill down his spine. He yelped in a rather un-masculine fashion.

"Ah! Y-you're going to break it! Let go already!" He changed tactics, and started batting at her with his wings,

but Pinkie continued to hold firm. Though Paragon's wings had no effect in terms of getting Pinkie off his back,

he did noticed one thing; she didn't have any wings. That gave him an idea.

"Alright, if that's how you want to play, then you'd better hold on very tight!" He said, and took to the skies in

a powerful *woosh!*

Twilight feared for Pinkie, as he climbed higher and higher. The spell was nearly ready, only another 15

seconds or so to go. Her horn had begun to glow brighter, in a whitish-purple color, and was even a little warm.

"Just a few more seconds, Pinkie, that's all I need... hold on, please..."

As Paragon reached the top of his flight, he began to swoop backwards in a very wide back-flip. Pinkie's

back legs let go from the force, but her front legs and teeth still held on tight. Suddenly, Paragon's flip turned

on a dime, in a whiplash motion that Pinkie didn't expect. The centrifugal force was took much for Pinkie's little

jaw to bear, and she was launched off of Paragon's back, and was free-falling down the the ground. She started to

scream as she fell helplessly, and Twilight again felt totally useless as the spell continued to charge, leaving

her unable to do anything. Her hopes were recovered, however, as she saw Fluttershy, a little bit of blood

dripping out the side of her mouth, rush up to catch Pinkie Pie. The two landed safely a short distance away, out

of Paragon's sight.

Paragon slowly started to glide down towards Twilight, beginning to regain his composure.

"Now, if you're out of friends, Miss Sparkle, I say it's about time we complete our battle, don't you think?" Just

as he said that, a gentle ringing sound emanated from Twilight's horn that Paragon didn't hear. It's glow peaked

out, and it began to emit quite a bit of heat. The spell was fully charged. Her friends had done it! She looked

over them all now, injured and beaten. She sent them all a silent 'thank you', and prepared to fire the spell.

Paragon raised his now cracked horn, and it began to glow that ominous green glow once more. Twilight heard the

thunder rumbling, and knew that it was now or never. The spell discharged, its massive force pushing her back into

a wall, at exactly the same time as another one of Paragon's lightning bolts entered the field. It's energy was

mostly dissipated, but a small amount of it still zapped Twilight's horn, knocking her out.

From the center point of Twilight's horn, a large white orb began to expand outward, rapidly engulfing

Ponyville. Paragon, unsure what to do, was frozen still and collided with the sphere, his horn still glowing. His

screams were muffled by the humming noise the barrier created. It swelled outwards until it swallowed the whole

town, and a few moments later, it turned transparent and that was it. The clouds over Ponyville began to dissipate,

and the afternoon sun cast it's warm glow on the town once again.

A few minutes passed, and there was silence. Pinkie Pie walked over to Twilight, shaking her shoulder.

Twilight woke up drearily.

"Huh? Wh-what... what happened? Did we win?" She asked.

Pinkie Pie looked around. There was no sign of Paragon. She smiled, and her hair puffed up. "Yup! Looks like it!

That spell really did it Twilight! I had no idea you could that that kind of stuff, that was so crazy!" She

cheered, helping Twilight to her feet.

"I'm... I'm shaking... some of the electricity must of still hit me even while the barrier was going up... I can't

get full control of my nervous system yet..." She said, trembling and clenching all over. Fluttershy, still

bleeding from the mouth, and Applejack, who had awoken in the intervening minutes, surrounded her now too.

"Ya did it girl! I knew y'all had it in ya! Good goin', you saved the whole town!" Applejack cheered, patting

Twilight on the back.

"Twilight, don't you think we should check to make sure that Rainbow Dash is okay?" Fluttershy asked. Suddenly

Applejack remembered, and her expression changed drastically.

"Oh yeah! She's hurt, c'mon let's go check on her!" Applejack and Fluttershy started walking towards Dash.

Just then, Twilight came to a realization.

"Wait! Guys, hold on, I just thought of something!" The two stopped and looked at her. "If Paragon's lightning

bolt still hit me even right through the barrier, his magic is stronger than mine! He might still-" And right on

cue, Paragon burst out of the wreckage of a damaged house, his eyes aglow with a look that could kill. The four

friends' hearts collectively sunk at the exact same time, and Pinkie's hair went flat again. Paragon was still

ready to fight.

Paragon was now trembling with sheer rage, his horn now half gone, broken by its collision with the

expanding magic barrier.

"Y-ou....you... you BROKE my HORN!" He roared. The four friends all backed up at once. "You.... DARE to bring me

harm! I... I am royalty! divinity! Not one of you shall suffer as little as your rainbow-colored winged friend!

You will BEG me for death very soon!' He marched with vigor towards the ground, and his now broken horn glowed

again, dimmer this time. The damaged horn had diminished his ability to use magic, but once again, a little

slower this time, the dark storm clouds all began to swarm around Ponyville once again. Twilight felt like she

might cry. Even if her magic wasn't being blocked by her own spell, she wouldn't be able to do anything. She had

expended the last drop of her energy on that last spell, and now she was helpless.

Twilight had always secretly feared death. She was mystified and terrified by its uncertainty, and was

shaking now that it was upon her. She closed her eyes tightly, squeezing warm tears out. She didn't want to see

it, and she especially don't want to see her friends go through it. She led out an uncontrollable sob, which only

served to demoralize the group further. Paragon rose into the sky, imposing his commanding figure upon them.

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again, you fools..." He bellowed down to them.

"I RULE THESE SKIES!"

"Actually, Paragon, I do." A voice came from behind. All of a sudden, the clouds began to part, and the

storm stopped. Paragon turned around, and his eyes doubled in size. It was none other than Princess Celestia,

making her final approach to the scene.

Celestia descended on the battlefield from well above Paragon, who was completely wordless. Fluttershy,

Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle all lit up at once, as their fears melted away at the sight of their

princess. Paragon eyes suddenly turned from surprise to anger, and his horn began to glow again.

"Celestia! You... you have something of mine that was never intended to be yours! This kingdom is mine, do you

understand? I'm taking it from you, right here, right NOW!" He summoned another tornado, directing it at Celestia.

Without even moving, with a flash of her horn, Celestia dismissed the attack, and continued her approach.

Paragon's attacks persisted, and his created a whirlwind to knock her down. With a single sweep of her arm, she

rebounded and redoubled the wind's force, knocking Paragon right out of the sky and onto the ground. He was

already beaten in just a few moments, and Twilight and her friends all cheered her on.

Paragon struggled to his feet, weak and angry. Celestia landed softly, being sure to magically dry the

spot she landed on to avoid being caught in Paragon's mud trap.

"You've been a terror to my people, Paragon, and I'm here to put a stop to you." Celestia declared.

Paragon acted as though he didn't hear her. "It's... mine! I will take it from you, I will! I can still fight!"

Paragon grumbled, and his horn began to glow once more. A single, large storm cloud returned, and the terrifying

sound of thunder was heard again.

Twilight tried to warn the princess. "Princess Celestia, look out he's going to-" Too late. The bolt tore out of

the sky, crash right down on top of Celestia. Paragon, believing to have won, favored one side, panting. He too

was virtually out of magic by now. To his horror however, he discover that Celestia has created a barrier to

protect herself, and was unharmed.

"It's a terrible shame. We had the same father, and yet we're so different. You really should be thankful, if you

think about it. Had it turned out any other way, you would have had a different mother, and therefore would not

exist as you do today." Celestia commented. Paragon was unamused and uninterested.

"You will regret angering my father! You, your sister, your entire kingdom! You will regret this!" Paragon

snarled.

"It seems like it's time for you to find your place. Allow me put you there." Celestia's horn glowed again, and she

fired a great, green bolt of energy directly into Paragon's chest. He screamed in pain, and was on the ground

again. Paragon was defeated.

The four friends all flocked around Celestia, cheering her on and celebrating her arrival.

"Oh Princess Celestia, thank goodness you're here! We tried, we really did... but we weren't strong enough.."

Twilight said.

Princess Celestia put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, comforting her. "It's alright, Twilight. you tried your best.

You're no match for divinity, but I think that considering the circumstances, you and your friends put up a

valiant effort." Celestia said, looking at all of Twilight's friends.

"You should all be very proud of yourselves. If you hadn't done your part today, many ponies might have been

seriously harmed, and this little town may not still be here. Congratulations, all of you." The friends all

cheered again.

Broken and defeated, Paragon forced himself up onto his feet, stumbling as he attempted to make his

retreat. Twilight noticed him. "Where do you think you're going?" She demanded, walking up besides him.

"Leave him be, Twilight." Celestia commanded.

Twilight was confused. "What? But, what about everything he's done? He must pay!" Twilight said angrily.

"It is simply not in my nature to harm someone who cannot fight back, Twilight. He is no threat to us."

"But... Princess Celestia, he'll just come back when he's healed! It'll all start again right from the beginning!"

Twilight tried to reason.

"There won't be a next time. The moment he returns to his small kingdom with our father, Hayperion, he will be

bound there until Hayperion's dying breath, as he will have gained knowledge of Paragon's actions, thus binding him

by the curse set on him so long ago." Paragon had started to gain a little distance and was almost away from the

group. Through he several broken and cracked rips and almost unbearable fatigue, he managed to usher a slight

chuckle.

"My father... is very ill, you know... He might not live for much longer..." Paragon mention over his shoulder,

still walking away from the group.

"Then when you return, Luna and I shall both face you. We will be ready for your return, and next time you shall

not leave alive, and that is a promise. Bare that in mind, should you think to come back here to Equestria."

Celestia warned him.

"Paragon chuckled again. "So be it.." He spread his wings and started to take off. Celestia called after him as he

left.

"And next time, you leave my people out of our quarrel! You will come to me, Do you understand?!" She got not

response, but she knew he had heard.

The group watched for several minutes, and didn't look away or speak until Paragon's image had faded

completely into the background. Then they all sighed a sigh of relief.

"He is finally gone." Celestia stated. "Thank goodness." Twilight decided she might as well, now that there was no danger.

"Princess Celestia, how did you end up finding out about Paragon? And why did it take you so long?"

Princess Celestia was hesitant in her answer, knowing it wouldn't be very impressive. "Simply put, I just didn't know. He had things locked up pretty tightly in terms of information. I might have heard a few complaints about him early on, but I never got any names, and I simply dismissed, not realizing how serious it was." She replied. "That was my first time meeting him. I never expected such a vile pony could be related to me."

Twilight continued with her questioning. "And, while I'm at it, why aren't there any texts about Hayperion or his kingdom? Why is he absent from history? He seems like he's a rather big deal to me."

"Who the hay is Hayperion?" Asked Applejack.

"I'll explain later, AJ." Twilight said.

Celestia paused again, this time because she knew her answer would be difficult for Twilight and her friends to understand. "Well, whatever Paragon told you was likely not the whole story. You see, when Hayperion demanded a son after mine and Luna's births, my mother refused him, and it was at that time that Hayperion threatened her... with war." Celestia explained. "He declared that if he was not satisfied, he would take his loyal followers and kill those who were loyal to the Queen, and then eventually he would work his way up to the Queen herself and her children. She had to stop him at all costs, and so she did what she had to do. She cursed him, and banished him and his soldiers to a far away and remote land, never to return, but not before he inflicted fatal injuries on her. It was the first time in over 25,000 years that a god had threatened another god with violence, and the first time in the history of ponykind that war had ever been a real threat. If it hadn't been for my mother's decision, it's likely Equestria would never have come to be, and none of us would be alive today. And so, in honor of her death, they named their first country as a united people after her. Hayperion's imprint on history was wiped out, in an attempt to cover up what may very well have been ponykind's darkest hour. It wasn't smart or wise, I realize, but the decision wasn't mine. historians hid this knowledge from me until only very recently, and catching up on it has left me quite distracted as of late."

Twilight, satisfied but not very pleased, accepted this. She believed Celestia; she had no reason to lie to Twilight.

The group was quiet for a few moments, taking in teh information. Twilight was the first one to perk up, remembering Rainbow Dash.

"Oh no! Quickly, everyone we have to check on her to see if she is okay!" Twilight started running towards Dash's

body.

"Check on who..? Oh dear..." Celestia spotted Dash's body, and her along with the rest of the group all ran over

to Rainbow Dash. They caught up to Twilight, and a look of worry was on her face.

"She...she's not breathing..." Her voice was cracking, and She knew she was going to start crying soon. "Princess

Celestia, please! You have to help! Do something!" Celestia initially regarded her student with a blank

expression.

"I... I don't know what I can do, Twilight, you regard me as an almighty, but I cannot undo nature..." She

admitted.

Twilight grabbed Celestia's leg, begging her.

"Please, you've got to try! Please!" She was crying into Celestia's leg.

"I will try, Twilight, I will try..." She pointed her horn at Rainbow Dash's motionless body, and both began to

glow. For a while, the group remained motionless and quiet, hoping not to jinx anything. When Celestia's spell was

completed, she exhaled heavily and stumbled a bit, slightly light-headed. No one could say she hadn't tried her

best. There was no sign of life coming from Rainbow Dash's body.

Applejack took her hat off and put it across her chest, only to bury her face in it as she let out a

stream of tears. Pinkie wailed uncontrollably, and Fluttershy had to take a few steps away from the ground. She

couldn't even look. Even the Princess shed a few tears, despite her best effort to maintain composure.

"I... I'm so sorry, Twilight... I tried.. I really did..." Twilight buried her face in Dash's body, muffling her

sobs in her coat. She had lost one of her dearest friends.

"Mommy?" a voice came from behind. They all turned to look. Oh god no, not now Twilight thought. It was

Mare. She had awoken, alone, and had gone wandering.

"Oh dear... is this the one... the one that you told me about?" Celestia asked. Twilight nodded. "Oh dear... what

unfortunate timing..."

Maree walked into the middle of the group, suspicious but still unaware of what everyone was crying about. "What's

going on? What's wrong with Mommy?" She asked, to no response. No, please no.. stop, I can't take this now...

Twilight kept thinking.

Maree pushed her mother, who did not respond. "Mommy! wake up!" She too was now growing concerned. "Mommy, please,

wake up, why won't you wake up?" She was starting to cry a little now, and Twilight could bare no more. She got up

and walked away, unable to watch anymore.

"Mommy! Why won't you get up?" Maree kept shaking Dash, crying more and more.

Celestia put a hand on Maree's shoulder, and she looked up. "I'm afraid your mother... can't wake up anymore." She

tried to say it as best she could, be her words failed her.

"But... why?" Maree asked, forcing Celestia to explain more. The poor child had never been touched by death, she

had no grasp of the concept.

"Your mother is... gone." Celestia said.

"Is... is she coming back?" Maree asked.

This was doing terrible things to Celestia's heart. "I'm afraid not." She replied.

Maree began to cry even more now. "But... but... she said she'd never leave, she said we'd always be together!"

Maree curled up by her mother's body, wailing. "Come back, Mommy, Come back!"

The entire scene was gut-wrenching. No one could think of anything to say. Nothing could be said. It was an

emotionally heavy moment that was immediately and profoundly changing their lives. They had lost someone very

dear, and nothing could be done to rectify it. What was more, Maree was now orphaned once again.

Maree snuggled up close to Dash body, which was still a little warm. You could almost fool yourself into

thinking she was asleep. All of a sudden, Maree's horn began to glow dimmly. Twilight's tears broke for just a

moment as she made room in her emotions for surprise. This was her first time using magic!

"What is she..?" Twilight started.

"Twilight... watch." Celestia said, and they were all silent. After a few moments, Maree stopped crying, and her

breathing became more relaxed and rhythmic. She was asleep. Her horn stopped glowing then. A moment later, Dash's

ear twitched. Twilight gawked in amazement. Dash's hoof twitched this time, and she let out a quiet groan, and

said something very quiet.

"Dash? Dash, are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Mmm... mommy..." Dash moaned, half conscious.

Twilight was overcome with excitement. Rainbow Dash was alive! They group cheered with joy at their friend's

revival. Dash looked up, confused at the commotion.

"What's going on? Why's everypony so excited? Where am I?" Dash asked in a daze.

"You're alive! Dash, you're alive, I don't know how, I just... I can't explain it, but she did something, and

now..!" She hugged her friend tightly. Dash was still confused.

"What do you mean? You're saying Maree saved me, like with magic? Can you just do that?" She asked.

"I don't know! But she did it! I still can't believe my eyes, she did it..." Dash looked down on Maree, sleeping

quietly by her side. I guess you did it, kid. You saved my life. Guess we call it even now.

When everyone had settled down a little bit, Dash starting talking about the experience of being dead.

"It was the oddest... feeling ever, I was completely weightless... and My mind was clearer than... it ever was...

all of my memories...all of them... came flooding back to me... and I felt like I... knew everything... and then

I... I saw..."

Dash paused for a while. "I saw her, Twilight... I was right there with her... this time..." Dash was saying.

"Who are you talking about, Dash?" Twilight asked.

"I saw... I saw my... my mother..." Dash explained. "She looked exactly like me... except her mane... her mane was

white like snow... I didn't expect that... then again, I had no memories of her... until then, so I didn't know

what... to expect." She said. "I saw her so many times... in my dreams, not knowing... who she was... after I

died, I... took one look at her and... instantly, I knew who she was. I flew right into... her arms and gave her

my biggest hug... I felt amazingly happy... more so than I ever had... in my life... until I met her." Dash said,

pointing to Maree.

"Did She say anything?" Twilight's eyes were alive with curiosity.

"Yeah... she said, 'I'll always be... with you. I've always been... with you.' and..." Her voice trailed off.

"And what? what else did she say?" Twilight inquired.

Dash didn't make eye contact. "Well, just normal mom stuff... you know... like..." She trailed off again.

Twilight persisted. "Come on, tell us!" Everyone was watching Dash, waiting for what she'd say next.

Dash sighed, and blushed a little. "She said... 'I love you, Rainbow Dash.'" All of Dash's friends let out a big

"Aww" together, and they all shared a giggle.

"I remember, as I was being... pulled back down... towards Equestria, I heard... heard her say... 'take good care

of her'... I remember that I promised... from now on, we're together... forever. Unconditionally.

Maree... that was her name... now I remember... that's where her name... comes from..." Dash said, looking at

Maree again.

"Do you remember what the place you went to looked like?" Fluttershy asked.

Dash thought back. "It was... cloudy... made of clouds, basically..." She explained.

"Cloudsdale?" Applejack suggested.

"No, I think I was higher... than Cloudsdale..." Dash said.

"But, Clousdale is the highest point in Equestria!" Twilight pointed out.

"Come to think of it... I don't think I was... even in Equestria... anymore." Dash said. All of them were stumped.

"Well, wherever you say you were, Rainbow Dash, I believe in you." Celestia offered. "I am a firm believer in

spirituality, and I do believe in a higher plane, where your mother is now... where you too shall go, one day."

She offered a warm smile. "Luckily for us, that day was not today." She took a few steps back to that she could

address the whole group.

Well everyone, now that all five of your are together again, I would just like to say one last time that I

am impressed by, and proud of each and every one of you. And I would like to cordially invite you all to a ceremony

at the Canterlot royal palace, where I will present you each with a medal, commemorating your bravery and your valor."

Celestia announced.

Dash laughed nervously. "That's really something special, Celestia, but could we maybe do that tomorrow? I for one

would like to get some rest... I'm sure at least one of us is going to need medical treatment... just put it off

for a bit while we all recuperate, okay?"

Celestia laughed. "Of course, get some rest; you've all earned it. I will see you all tomorrow then." She started

off, but then stopped again to give Maree one final look. "That filly you have there... she's very special you

know. I've never seen anypony bring someone to life, not even myself." Celestia remarked. "She could grow up to

do amazing things."

Dash smiled humbly. "Yeah, I know. I'm pretty lucky, I guess."

"I wish you both good luck ,and good health." And Celestia flew off, back to Canterlot.

Two days later, the five friends were all waiting at the train station. Rarity was finally visiting home

again, back from one of her frequent trips out of town tending to her new expansion. Rarity spied her friends from

the train and rushed out to greet them, lugging several bags.

"Hello, hello! It's so wonderful to see you all again, I've got presents and stories, and-" Rarity took a closer

look at her friends, and dropped her luggage in shock. Fluttershy was bandaged around the chest area, and also had

a couple band-aids around her face. Applejack was bandaged in the head, and was suffering from a mild concussion.

Twilight had several cuts about her body. Dash, who was later found to have two broken legs, as well as a few

broken ribs, was in a wheelchair, since she couldn't properly walk by herself. Maree stood by her side, giving Rarity a polite, friendly smile. They both had large, unsightly scars down the center of their chests in nearly identical locations.. Only Pinkie Pie seemed mostly unharmed, which was unusual. She was typically

the most rambunctious one. And all five of them were sporting these absolutely darling little medals.

"WHAT IN EQUESTRIA HAPPENED WHILE I WAS AWAY?!"

THE END.

And so, the story finally ends. After 2 long months of writing, over the course of 13 chapters that were

originally only going to be about 8, I have conveyed to you a story I have been passionate about for a while now.

I've received almost unanimously positive feedback, and I thank each and every viewer for reading this. I would

like to personally thank FunnyJunk users "Kofro", "feveryoucantsweat" and "walrusnipples" as well as FiMFiction

user "NLRsoldier" for being supportive. Most of them have been a part of this project since it's beginnings, and

"walrusnipples" is currently catching up even as I type this. You can thank me later when you read this for

yourself. Thanks guys, and I hope you can join me next time for the sequel, which returns in August! If you check

into my FunnyJunk profile, and I'll have a more accurate date up hopefully before I leave in 3 days to British

Columbia. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll all join me again some time!