Chapters “Rainbow. . .” a voice rang. “Rainbow. . .wake up. You have a purpose to fulfil for me.”
Rainbow Dash shot up out of her sleep. Her breath came in short burning bursts. It was just a dream. She thought to herself as she looked around her room. Deciding to walk off her nightmare, she made her way to the door and cracked it open. The hospital hallway was empty, despite the two night nurses sitting at the front desk.
Rainbow started to walk to the front desk, keeping her head down. Why am I still dreaming about her? I thought Twilight said I was cured. Her feet stopped her at the desk. “I had another nightmare.”
The nurses looked at eachother before the shorter one asked, “About Celestia?”
Dashie nodded, not trusting her words.
“Oh dear,” said the taller one, “I’ll call the therapist up right away. Go back to your room and we’ll send her down when she gets here, okay?”
“Thank you.” Rainbow whispered before turning back down the hallway.
I remember the feeling of sheer intense pain all over my body. She was screaming something; I think it was about murder.
“Rainbow Dash, no! You can fight this!” Fluttershy yelled through the blockage in my mind. I knew then that it was serious. Fluttershy never yells. “Come back to us!”
I wanted to come back to my body but something was holding my inner self back. The Loyalty I had was beating against my conscience, be loyal, be loyal!, but my Element was useless against the power of the Princess.
“Loyalty is dead.” she formed the words through my mouth. “Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty. . . Friendship is dead!” she made me laugh. “You are all so pathetic. Are you so naive to think that by simply killing King Sombra you eradicated his hate? It is more alive than it has ever been! It lives within us all as battle of cowardice and power rages within us. Queen Celestia has opened my eyes to that power.”
“The power of Friendship is stronger than hate!” Twilight argued. “and Magic is all the more powerful because of it!”
Celestia made me turn to her, our eyes locking as I took a step towards her. “Did you not understand me? Friendship is dead Twilight Sparkle. Your Element is Magic, but not just any magic; The Magic of Friendship. And since our friendship is dead your Element is useless.”
“Dashie. . .” Fluttershy hung her head, holding back her tears, “you know that’s not true.”
“Oh, but it is! Celestia will show you. She will show you all! And if you do not accept her rule, than you will die!”
“Rainbow!” Rarity’s mascara was running down her cheeks. “You would not kill us. Not the friends you hold so dear.”
For a moment I had gained my body back. She was right; I would not kill them. I loved them too much to let Celestia harm them. “Girls, I-” before I could continue, the Queen pushed me back out. She finished my sentence for me, saying, “I have no friends.” and then she made me take flight.
Rainbow shot up out of her sleep, cursing at the flashback. Her room was bathed in the warm light of morning. Her room mate, Kiteflyer, was staring out of the window like she always did in the morning. Dash said a goodmorning to her.
“Sunshine.” Kite said simply, giving Rainbow a smile along with it. Kiteflyer gave her that nickname when Rainbow Dash shared her story with her. At first she thought it was demeaning. But Dashie learned to love the nickname once it spread around the building. All of the other patients seemed to look at her with awe, calling, “Sunshine! Sunshine!” It gave her confidence to get through the day.
Dashie nodded at her roomie, her own smile growing. “Yup. I’m up and awake.”
“Rainbow Dash?” a nurse poked her head through the bedroom door. “Oh good, you’re up. Fluttershy is here to see you if you want.”
Dashie followed the nurse down the long hallway of bedrooms, turning right when they passed the front desk. I wonder what she wants? she wondered as they walked down the hallway. I haven’t seen her since. . . Rainbow dropped the thought, not wanting to have another flashback.
At the end of the hallway the nurse opened the door to the sunroom. It wasn’t anything fancy; a table with chairs around it was in the center. Rainbow caught Flutters gaze, looking down quickly. Fluttershy was wearing a white tank top with a light blue skirt that went to the floor. Her bangs were pulled back with small butterfly hair clips. It was the first time Dash had ever seen her entire face. “Dashie. . .” Flutters uttered softly walking forward. “How are you doing? I mean. . . we haven’t talked since the night you flew off.”
“Fluttershy. . .I don’t know what to tell you.” Rainbow closed the space between them, brushing away the stray hairs in front of Flutters face. “All I can say to you is that I’m sorry.”
Fluttershy looked up, meeting Dashie’s gaze. “You should be.” her voice was soft, but that didn’t take away from the edge she put on it. “I know the murder wasn’t your fault. But when you ran off. . .you didn’t leave any sort of message behind. I was so worried about you. We’ve all been.”
“Didn’t Twilight tell you where I was?”
“She didn't tell us anything until last night. She. . .no one trusts anyone anymore. Even the six of us friends don't trust each other.” Fluttershy sat down on a couch farthest away from the door. “Not since. . .”
“Not since I killed Spike?” Rainbow sat next to her, slouching.
Fluttershy nodded. “I mean, we know it wasn’t you. It was the Princess.”
Rainbow let herself roll her eyes. It was me. I killed him with my hands! she dared not say this out loud. She knew Fluttershy was more fragile than ever. “Do they even want to see me? If you must be worried then they must be too.”
“They want to see you more than anything. But Twilight is being really weird about them coming here. I don’t know why.” Flutters played with the bottom of her shirt. “AJ can’t wait for you to come back home. She says she has an extra room waiting for you.”
“At her house?”
“Yes.”
Rainbow hid her shock. “Why would she want me to live with her?”
“You could help at the farm. She says hard work is good for the soul. . .we think it’d be the best thing for you to do.” Fluttershy took Rainbows hand, gently squeezing it. “Don’t think that we want to dictate your life. We want you to be happy again.”
“I know.” Rainbow Dash fell silent; her mind was a war zone at the moment.
“My wonderful subject, have you done what I have asked?” The Queen took me under her enormous light grey wing, kissing my forehead.
“Yes my Queen. I have done what you have wanted.”
“Good. You must understand that any being other than ponies are inferior and don’t desire to live. Our power is great. We must use it to destroy the diseased races. Once this is done Equestria will be on the course of becoming perfect.” Celestia took me to a nearby window. “Look at my world Rainbow Dash. What do you see?”
I strained my eyes to see what the Queen wanted me to see. When I couldn’t find it I hung my head in shame. “I can’t see anything, my Queen.”
Celestia laughed, her pointed teeth glimmering in the morning light. “Then let me tell you what I see. I see a world that has potential to be everything it was meant to be. I see the farmers, the flyers, and the magic doers being the best they can be. But until this world can happen it needs to be cleansed.”
“Cleansed?”
“Yes, my subject.” she turned, folding her wings tightly to her sides. “And you and I will be the ones to do it.”
I looked at my hands, amazed that the Queen had chosen me for this job. “Celestia. . .I am unworthy of such a task.”
“You are worthy Rainbow Dash. But there is one thing you need to do to gain my full trust.” The Queen sat in her throne, her white robes flapping as they fell to the floor; She slouched slightly. Her fingers snapped and within seconds she had a glass of wine in her hands. “I need your element, Rainbow. I need the Element of Loyalty.”
“But my Queen, it’s all the way back in Ponyville. They will capture me and torture me until I give away your position!”
“You will do well, for your life's sake. Now go. I have made my command.” The Queen sipped at her drink. Her dismissal was obvious.
I bowed and then opened the nearest window. My hands trembled as I jumped out, my wings stretching out to catch me.
Rainbow ate slowly, Fluttershy sitting across from her. The pink haired friend waiting patiently for Rainbow to finish before calling a nurse in to take the plates.
“Do you want to see the others? I can call them and ask if their busy.” Fluttershy asked as she pulled out her cell phone. “ I mean, if you want me too that is.”
Rainbows nerves sparked to life as she considered Flutters offer. Do I want to confront them? “Sure, call em up.” she smiled and leaned back in her chair. “Call Twilight too. I want to ask her why she was keeping information from us.”
The two waited patiently for the other four to show up. Rainbow took this time to clear her mind. She couldn't remember that last time she saw Applejack. It must have been eight, nine months? The two had a stupid fight over a cup of apple cider which resulted in AJ ignoring Rainbow until she apologized. That was a month before Celestia took over Dashies mind.
There was a knock at the door, followed by a blur of pink fluffy hair. “Ohmygosh! Rainbow Dash! I’ve missed you soooo much!” Pinkiepie practically screeched as she hugged Dash. “Twilight said you didn’t want to see us so I thought you didn’t love us anymore but you do! You do love us!”
“Calm down Pinkie.” Rarity said as she set her purse on the table. “Hello Rainbow Dash. We brought you a cupcake if you want it.” She placed a rainbow colored cupcake on the table as well. “Pinkiepie made it special.”
AJ walked through the door, her hat in her hands. “Rainbow. . .I’m sorry about our fight. I know you've probably forgotten about it, but I still want to apologize. It wasn’t right for me to ignore ya like that.”
Rainbow smiled at all of her friends. “Girls. . .I’ve missed you all so much. I’m so glad you made time to see me.” She stood up and walked over to AJ. “I forgive you as long as you forgive me.”
Applejack nodded and smiled. “I do forgive ya.”
“Good.”
What a cute little get together, hm? something whispered in Dashie’s mind. Be a shame if something-
“Rainbow, are you okay?” Fluttershy had Dash in her arms. “You look faint. Should we take you back to your room?”
Everyone in the room was staring at her. Dash swallowed hard. “I’m fine, really. . .I’m fine.” She grabbed a nearby chair and sat not bothered by Fluttershy’s caring glances. “When is Twilight going to be here?”
“Any minute now.” Pinkiepie pushed the cupcake so it was in front of Rainbow Dash. “Here, eat this. I promise it’ll make you feel better.”
Rainbow didn’t protest. It tasted like freshly picked cherries topped with a sugary cream. “I always forget how amazing you are at baking Pinkie.” Rainbow said between bites. Pinkiepie straightened with pride at the compliment.
Soon, Twilight entered the room. “Hey girls. What’s up?”
Rainbow motioned for Twilight to sit next to her. “I want to talk to you.”
“Ya better have a good explanation for why you kept information from us.” Applejack sat on the other side of Rainbow, putting her hat on her head.
The alicorn sat by Rainbow Dash. “I do.” she answered AJ. “I didn’t know if Rainbow was ready to see you guys. She’s gone through hell and back. I want her to be okay.”
“We all want her to be okay!” Rarity cut in. “You would have saved us from a whole lot of worrying if you just told us she was here. . .it’s not like you to keep us in the dark Twilight. I thought we were your friends.”
“You are my friends. Look, I see now that I was wrong. I’m sorry.” Twilight put a book on the table and opened it. “I was reading about this sort of thing. . .and when I read this I thought it would be best to leave her alone.”
Rainbow Dash looked at the page. It said something about hate and the power it had. She rolled her eyes. “You kept me from my friends because of a book?”
“Stop it guys.” Fluttershy appeared behind the princess. “She knows she was wrong. Stop yelling at her.”
The other four sighed in unison, sinking in their positions. Pinkiepie was the first to speak up. “What about Celestia? She’s still evil!”
“We need to use our Elements against her. . .but being who she is she thought ahead and planned for this to happen.” Twilight turned to Rainbow. “She stripped your loyalty from you which in turn killed the Element inside of you.”
“Well no wonder we’ve been distrusting each other.” AJ cut in.
“Can’t she just put on her necklace and get it back?” Rarity asked hopefully.
“That’s the thing. . .” Twilight sighed, closing the book on the table. “Celestia has it. Rainbow took it from me while she was still under the influence of the Queen.”
Rarity cursed silently, rummaging through her purse to find her cell phone. “Well maybe if we hadn’t killed King Sombra this wouldn’t have happened.”
“We didn’t know this was going to happen when we did, Rarity.” AJ said under her breath.
“What are we going to do. . .?” Fluttershy whispered.
Rainbow looked around the room, taking time to make eye contact with all of the girls. When she was done she stood. “You have to defeat her without me.” The girls gasped, starting to argue. “Hey!” Rainbow yelled to get them to quiet. “Celestia will be able to hypnotize me again if I get too close to her. You know that better than anyone else Twilight. I know you guys are scared. . .I am too, Okay? I’m scared. Me, Rainbow Dash, is admitting that she’s scared. But I have faith in you. You can do this. And if you can’t do it for the good of Equestria, then do it for me. You guys can save at least one friend, right?”
Pinkiepie was the first to respond. The pink haired beauty stood up, her hair bouncing. “For you Rainbow.” she put her hand to her forehead and pulled it away again like a soldier.
Next was Fluttershy and Rarity, who mimicked Pinkiepies movements. “For you Rainbow.”
“For you Rainbow.” Applejack stood.
Twilight stood as well, looking Dash in the eye. “Only for you, Rainbow.”
After her meeting with her friends yesterday, Dashie was starting to feel a lot better. Her nerves seemed to calm down letting sleep come more easy. Although her past worries were directed at Fluttershy, she was glad that she saw them all.
“Please Princess, she’s been really busy the last couple of days. She needs to be left alone.” The nurses please became louder as she got closer to the room.
“She shouldn’t be left alone. Ever. I’m seeing her now and that’s a royal order.”
Rainbow’s heart picked up pace as the door opened. She knew this voice; it was someone powerful. “Who’s there?”
“Hello Rainbow Dash.” Princess Luna said politely. “Twilight said you are able to see people now so I think we should talk.”
Kiteflyer cocked her head at the princess. “Sunshine? Who is?”
“This is Princess Luna. Why don’t you go with the nurse. We need to be alone. . .here.” Dash gave Kite her sketchbook and a pencil. “You can draw in here. But don’t draw over my sketches okay?”
The girl nodded, walking over to the employee with a huge smile on her face. “Sunshine nice.” she whispered before leaving the room.
Luna closed the door seeming overjoyed at the chance to be alone with Dash. “This is all my fault Rainbow Dash. I started this and I need to end it.”
“What are you talking about Princess? It was King Sombra who turned Celestias mind.” Dash moved over on the bed, patting the soft mattress for Luna to sit next to her. “Please sit Princess. You’re making me nervous.”
Luna sat, her royal personality fading. “I told her I hated her.”
Rainbow’s face went blank. It wasn’t surprising that Luna had uttered those words to her sister. She did try to take over Equestria after all. Dash took a breath and let it out slowly. “Luna, she knows you didn’t mean it.”
“She said it back to me.” the Princess of the night looked down at her hands. “Sombra’s hate was in her at the time. All it needed was a spark for it to ignite the hate inside of her. I. . .I was that spark. If I hadn’t said that I hated her she wouldn’t have snapped.”
“You don’t know that.”
Luna shook her head. “It’s the only logical explanation for what has happened.”
Dash let the information sink in for a moment. “Why are you talking to me about this? Shouldn’t Twilight be the one to help you? I’m not an egghead like her.”
“Did Celestia take over her body or yours? Twilight doesn’t know anything about Celestia’s true power. . .she showed Twilight dark magic once, before she went to save the Crystal Empire. It’s been in her the entire time; It’s within everyone. But Celestia had it worse than any person I’ve ever met. Sombra placed it there when we defeated him the first time.”
“And she’s just been suppressing it?”
“Yes. And so have I.” Luna looked Dash in the eye. “Nightmare Moon was my evil self. My ego got so big I couldn’t hold it back any longer. Celestia has been holding on to so much hate. . .it was only a matter of time before she turned.”
“Is there a way to defeat her.” Dash asked.
The princess nodded. “We have to kill her.”
LIES!! She’s lying. I am invincible. How could you even get close enough to me to make the final blow? The voice was quieter than before. Do not listen to her Rainbow Dash.
Dashie pushed the voice aside. “That’s treason.”
“Do you think Equestria will care about treason? No, we must kill her.” Luna stood up, suddenly determined. “I can do it, but I will need your friends to help me get close enough.”
“Who will raise the sun? Who will rule us?” Rainbow Dash stood as well.
“I have been raising the sun for the past months, have I not? I will rule. . .but if the people wish for someone else then it will be Princess Cadence who will take hold of the crown. Rainbow Dash, you must trust me in this. I have done months of research with Twilight within my castle's library to figure out how to deal with Sombra’s hate. Only death will destroy it.” Luna made her way over to the window, placing her hands behind her back. “The King may have been able to survive by transferring his hate into another being, but he cannot do it a second time as he is not in his own body. I will take what is left of Celestia’s magic before her last breath fades so as to not lose the knowledge that she holds.”
“Is it even possible to hold that much magic?” Rainbow Dash made her way over the Luna, her curiosity aching.
The princess sighed. “If shared between Cadence, Twilight, and I then yes. It won’t be easy but it can be done.”
“Ah, Luna, my bitch of a sister. How art thee on this beautiful morning.” The Queen knelt down to become level with her younger sister. “I hope Rainbow Dash didn’t hurt you too much.”
“Sister, what hath become of you?” Luna pushed herself up onto her knees, her arms struggling to hold her weight. “Why do you hate us so?”
“Because dear sister,” she picked up Luna by the neck and pinned her against the wall with all of her strength, “you are the only thing standing in the way of my vision of pure perfection. . .Rainbow, get your Element. We are going to purify the world tonight. Starting with my sister.”
“But your majesty, I thought she was the key to total perfection.” I said to my Queen respectfully.
Celestia took a deep breath and let Luna go. The younger princess hit the floor hard, her body trembling. The Queen fixed her crown and turned to me, her slave. “The plan has changed my dear Rainbow Dash. Now go get your Element of Betrayal.”
“Not so fast Celestia!” A familiar voice shouted.
I turned around and gasped. My most hated enemies walked into the room, their Elements around their necks. “How did you get in here?” I demanded as I stomped towards them. “I will not let you hurt my Queen!”
Celestia laughed and walked to my side. “You five again? You’ll never be able to defeat me without the sixth Element.”
“Maybe not,” Twilight stepped forward; she stood like royalty, “but we will be able to get our friend back.”
I growled. “I am not your friend. I am a servant to the Queens master plan as everyone is.”
“Kill them.” Celestia said to me blankly as she turned to go back to her sister.
I spread my wings out wide and screamed out in a war cry. I rushed Twilight Sparkle, knocking her off of her feet. The princess tried to get up, but I was faster. I punched her in the back of the head, knocking her out. I looked at the rest of my enemies; their scared faces made me chuckle.
“Who’s next?” I asked, crouching for another attack.
AJ attacked at my right. The farmer kicked at me, but I grabbed Applejack’s leg and twisted hard, popping the bone out of the socket. I then turned to face a scowling Rarity. I screamed at the beauty queen and hit her in the gut, dropping her instantly. Pinkiepie jumped into the air, a fist ready to shoot forward. I grabbed her first, twisting her hand, then kicked her in the side. Fluttershy stood motionless, tears streaming down her face.
“What? You’re not even going to try to hurt me?” I taunted.
Fluttershy shook her head, taking a step forward. “I’m going to use my Element. . .we used to be so close Rainbow Dash. How did this happen?”
I scoffed and turned away from the gentleness Fluttershy was showing me. “I told you, my eyes have been opened to the truth.”
“Look around you Dash! You just hurt your friends! Where is your loyalty? Where is the real you?” Fluttershy kept moving towards me. “Look at me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love us. . .that you don’t love me.”
I locked eyes with her and started to form the words, but they wouldn’t come. I tried once more, growing more frustrated by the minute. Finally accepting defeat, I said, “I can’t say it. Not to your face.”
Fluttershy was now two feet from me. “Then you should know that Celestia is lying to you. Do you think she really cares about you? Sombra’s using her Rainbow. . .” Flutters took another step forward, grabbing me at her shoulders. “Please, come back to me.”
I could feel Celestia’s grasp loosening. I turned my head to see Twilight standing, holding the back of her head; it was bleeding. She was screaming a spell the the Queen, who was screaming back at her. I turned back to my old friend and smiled. “I have to go save my Queen.”
“No Dashie. No you don’t. She’s not your master.” Fluttershy pulled me into a hug and ran her fingers through my hair. “You’re coming home with us.”
AJ grunted as she finally got her leg back into place. She stood, limping over to Twilight to help defeat the Queen. Rarity followed her shortly after. Pinkie was rubbing her arm as she stood to join the group.
“Fluttershy. . .I’m so sorry for what I’ve done.” I whispered.
Flutters Element started to glow bright pink. “It’s okay.” She said as she let go. She gave me a kiss on the cheek as she walked passed to join the others.
I turned and watched as my former master was defeated. I started to sob as the reality of my actions flooded my mind. I had killed so many innocent people, creatures; they were gone forever. “What have I done?” I whispered to myself as Celestia’s grasp let go of my mind.
Rainbow only watched as her friends and the Night Princess strategized over the table. They were in the sunroom again. Dash was sitting next to an open window. A cold breeze brushed over her wings, making her shiver with delight.
“Why can’t we kill her in her sleep?” Applejack asked. Her hair was out of it’s ponytail, something Rainbow Dash had never seen before.
“Because the magic will be lost forever.” Luna said calmly. She was very under dressed. Dash had never seen her in pants, or a tee shirt for that matter.
Fluttershy petted the bunny that was resting in her hands. “And it’s immoral.” she whispered.
Silence enveloped the room as the women got lost in their own thoughts. Pinkie Pie was the first to move. “What about Dashie’s Element? Can we fix it?”
All eyes fell upon Rainbow. She shifted uncomfortably. “As far as I know, the Queen transformed it into the Element of Betrayal. It’s useless to us now. . .”
“But the Element of Loyalty lives within you.” Twilight stated.
Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know. But it was made into something else. You’ll have to do it with the five that are left.”
Luna grabbed her purse, which Dash had noticed she carried it everywhere she went, and pulled out the accursed necklace. It’s color had darkened to a deep blood red. The princess tossed it around in her hands. “The Element lives within you, as Twilight Sparkle said. It’s something that my sister overlooked, thank the moon. Even though she broke you she could never kill the Loyalty within you. She could only suppress it.” she made her way over to Rainbow Dash, giving her the necklace. “You and you alone have the power to recharge this jewel.”
Dash looked at the jem. “Can you defeat Celestia without me?” her tone was harsher than she meant it to be.
Luna hesitated. “Yes, we can. But it-”
“Then leave me out of your plan.” she dropped the gem to the floor and left the room, going to see Kite Flyer. She’ll cheer me up. she thought as she walked down the hallway.
Fluttershy flinched as the door to the sunroom slammed shut. The six girls in the room froze. Luna sighed and picked up the necklace.
“What was that all about?” Applejack asked, a hint of anger showing through.
“That was my sister’s influence.” Luna stated. “It looks like I will have to create a spell to recharge her Element.”
Twilight stood. “I’ll help.”
"Are you sure you are up for the task? It will drain most of our energy and it will take days to recover." Luna looked at the other princess gently.
"I am a princess now. And as a princess it is my duty to serve Equestria in any way that I can." she plucked the gem from Luna's hand and looked at it closely. "In fact, I think I might already know the start of a spell that could work. . .with the right amount of focus and in the right setting. . .maybe Rarity could lend a little bit of magic as well so it wouldn't be so taxing. Hm. . ."
Fluttershy looked around the room, taking in everyone's body language. They were on the edge of their seats waiting for Princess Twilight Sparkle to give them the answer. She too was on the edge. Flutters cared more for Dashie than any of the other ponies in the room. The two had spent most of their childhood together; so many memories were made.
"Aha! I think I have it!" Twilight beamed with pride. "Luna, Rarity, come over to my library later today and we will preform the spell."
Rarity shot a worried glance at Luna. The Princess laughed, saying, "I have full confidence that your spell will work, Twilight. But why don't you go over the details with me first." she took Princess Twilight by the shoulder and walked her to a corner of the room, motioning Rarity to follow as she did so.
The three other ponies sat in silence. Fluttershy played with the bottom of her shirt, thinking to herself. Poor Rainbow Dash. . .I wish she would try to help us. she chewed on her lip. But maybe it's for the best. Queen Celelstia could take her mind again. I don't know if we could defeat her a second time.
"I'm going to to talk to Rainbow." Applejack stated as she stood up from her seat.
Fluttershy only nodded, thinking to herself the entire time.
Rainbow Dash payed to attention to the orange girl sitting across from her. Kiteflyer was sitting on the floor next to Dash with a sketchbook in her hand. She scribbled silently on a blank sheet, paying no mind to the two other women staring at her. Rainbow smiled, happy to see her new friend enjoying herself.
"Rainbow," AJ started, "Ima be honest with yah."
"Well, that is your Element." Dashie smirked.
Applejack nodded. "I don't think it's possible to kill Celestia. We know what she's done, but that doesn't make it right to. . .to. . ."
"It's hard for you to say the word kill, hm?" Rainbow Dash glared at her.
"It's hard for anyone to say it." the farmer shot back at Dashie. "It's not right. People should die from natural causes. It would be more moral, and maybe even a worse punishment, for Celelstia to remain in her coma for the rest of her days. Killing ain't right, no matter what the person has done."
"Shunshine!" Kite held the book up to Dash with an excited grin.
The rainbow haired girl nodded in approval before turning back to face her friend. "What do you want me to do? In her comatose state, Celestia could still control me. No. . .leaving her alive is risking me turning into a slave again. And, I'm sorry Applejack, but I don't want to take that risk." When she saw how sad her friend looked, she added. "Talk to Luna about it if it's an issue."
"There's something else I wanted to talk to yah about." AJ said.
"Oh?"
"It's about Spike."
Rainbow Dash froze at the mention of his name. "What about him?"
"Twilight forgave you, but. . .have you forgiven yourself? You still talk about it and. . ." she let her sentence drop.
Dash picked at the table between them before answering. "I'd say I have."
"Have you really?"
Again, Rainbow took her time to answer. "Well. . .just because I've forgiven myself doesn't mean I still don't think about it. It. . .I didn't do it out of my own free will, I know that and I've accepted it. But I'm still grieving over him just like we all are."
An out of place smile appeared on Applejacks face. "You've changed, Dash. In a good way or bad, I don't really know. . .but you've changed."
She nodded, agreeing with her. "I think it's for the better that I don't help you with anything that has to do with Celestia."
"So do I, after talking with you."
The two mares fell into a comfortable silence, the sound of Kiteflyer's pencil the only thing they heard.
“How much more do I have to kill before you are satisfied my Queen? How many more?” I followed her leader down a long corridor, slouching in submission.
The Queen stopped and turned in a fury. “You question my rule Rainbow Dash? That is punishable by death.”
“It haunts me, Celestia. The faces haunt me in my dreams. Blood. . .so much blood runs from my hands. . .how can I stay sane?”
Celestia softened in understanding. “My loyal subject, do not let them mock you. Thier spirits are trying to find rest, which they do not deserve.”
“How do I rid of them?”
“I will cast a protection spell around my castle. Then you will be able to walk freely without worrying about the dead.” she continued to walk forward, looking at a scroll a servant gave her. “Have you fetched me your Element?”
“It was difficult, but yes.”
The Queen laughed in joy. “Excellent . Lock it in the safe with the other artifacts. . .why was it so difficult for you? My power should have given you more than enough strength to fight anyone in your way.”
“Twilight Sparkle woke up.” I shivered, the name making me want to vomit. “She fought me with all of her magic. Any spell she could think of she used on me. But, like I said my Queen, I was victorious. I left her where she laid, broken and bruised.”
Celestia nodded in approval. “Maybe she’ll learn her lesson this time.”
