The Returnby R-Dashiefan20ChaptersChapter 2Chapter 4Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 28Chapter 30Chapter 31EpiloguePrologueChapter 1Chapter 3Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 15Chapter 19Chapter 24Chapter 27Chapter 29Chapter 2We arrived on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. There was various animal noises coming from inside it. "Alright. Everyone ready?" I asked as I headed the group. "No." Fluttershy said quietly. I grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close to me. "You don't have to be afraid. I will protect you and everyone else from harm." I said. She looked into my eyes and nodded as her fear slightly faded away. "Yes. Because you did such a smashing job at protecting Dash." Rarity said. Twilight gasped. "Rarity, how could you?" She asked. I let go of Fluttershy and walked over to Rarity. I looked her in the eye. "Now, is not the time for your mouth, 'darling'." I said impersonating her to my best ability. "Well, it's only the truth." She said. "Actually, if it wasn't for me, she would be dead!" I yelled, my anger rising. "How do you figure that?!" She shouted back. "Because if I hadn't taken that gunshot, she would be dead!" I screamed. Fluttershy was cowered down behind AJ at this point. "True. But, instead she's been captured and taken to Celestia knows where. For all we know she could be dead anyway!" She shouted. Twilight clamped her hands over both of our mouths. "Will you two shut the hell up already?!" Twilight shouted. "Rarity, there was no need for you to rub that in. Jet, there was no need for you to take it this far." She said as she lowered her hands. "I'm sorry, darling. I know that you're hurting more than all of us." Rarity said. "It's okay, Rarity. I can't be easy losing one of your best friends." I said as she hugged me. Chapter 4"Well, now what?" AJ asked. "I'm not sure. But, there's good news. If this bridge is still burning, it means we're not late to the party." I said. "Party?!" Pinkie said. "Not that kind of party, Pinkie." I said. "We could always fly across and carry Pinkie, Rarity, and AJ." Twilight said. "Oh. Right." I replied, remembering my wings. "Sorry. It's hard to think knowing that Dash is somewhere right now possibly being hurt." I said. "That's alright. You take AJ, Fluttershy can take Rarity, and I'll carry Pinkie." Twilight said. I picked up AJ and lifted us off the ground. I got us over the chasm quickly and landed just as Twilight landed beside me. I looked back to Fluttershy swaying back and forth as she looked down into the chasm. Just as I was about to say something, they both dropped. Rarity screamed as she fell. I flew as fast as I could and caught them both just before they hit the ground. I joined the others on the grass above. Rarity hugged me again. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She said. Fluttershy stood up wearily. "I'm sorry, Rarity. I just couldn't support both of us." Fluttershy said. "It's okay, darling. Next time though, just tell us if you can't do it. We won't judge you. We know you're not the bravest when it comes to heights." Rarity said. There was a crash from the castle ruins behind us. Chapter 7I looked up to see another pegasus dressed in black. She had long wavy blond hair and an eye patch over her left eye. "Wind Storm?!" I shouted. She just looked down at me and laughed. "That's right, 'captain'." She said sarcastically. "But, why?" I asked. "It's simple. You left me to die when we were found out in the Saddle Arabia desert." She said. "What?! No, you told me to go on without you. I tried to come back for you, but, you sealed the door so I couldn't get back in." I replied. She stopped for a minute and her expression changed from hate to sorrow for a brief second. She shook her head. "No, you're lying. You will pay for what you did to me." She said as she charged at me with her sword drawn. I dodged out of the way just in time. She sliced the chandelier in half, freeing Midnight and Thunder. They all flew off into the distance through a hole in the roof. I started to go after them, but, they used there cloaking. "No, Jet. They're not worth it." Twilight said. "I know I can get through to them. We weren't just a team. We were best friends." I said as we headed out of the castle ruins. "We need to stop them from getting the rest of that armor. It's the only way to help them." She said. "Where do we go now?" AJ asked. "Well, Celestia said that they hid the pieces in the castle ruins of each of the kingdoms across Equestria. So, since that happened more than a thousand years ago, that means they hid them in present day Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Las Pegasus." I said. Rarity gasped. "I refuse to go back to that awful city of Manehattan. It changes people." She said. "We don't really have a choice here Rarity." I said. "Fine. But, don't expect anyone in that city to be of much help." She said as we headed back into town toward the train station. As we boarded the train, Twilight came over to me. "What was that pegasus talking about when she said you'd pay for what you did to her?" She asked. "Well, it was a long time ago. Back before I even became a captain. We were on a covert ops mission in Saddle Arabia..." I said. Chapter 8(FLASHBACK) 'We were sitting on a cloud waiting to make contact with our target'. "Do you think we'll get to fight any bandits?" Wind asked. "I would hope not. We're supposed to do this without being seen, remember?" I replied. "Yea, but, wouldn't it be cool?" She asked. "It would be. But, let's try to avoid it." I said. I stared through binoculars at the giant steel building that was said to be a secret military base. We were looking for some intel on a secret project that was said to be a violation of the peace treaty with Equestria. I watched as a unicorn dressed in fatigues came out of the base and lit a cigarette. "Now's our chance. Cloak up." I said as I pulled my face mask up. We headed down and positioned ourselves. I took the guy out and threw him to Wind who took his keycard and PDA, then hid his body in a dumpster. I used his keycard to get us inside. We pulled our masks down and entered the door and entered a long hallway. I pulled out the PDA and pulled up a map. I looked at and found a room that looked to be a giant hangar. I signaled for Wind to follow me. She nodded. We moved down the hallway and came to a set of hanger doors. There was two successions of them with a small space between them. We passed through them and entered the hangar. What we saw shocked us. They had built nuclear bombs. We quickly snapped some photos before leaving. We were almost to the door when I sneezed. We heard a guard yell as we were heading toward the door. The alarm sounded and we took off running. I heard the hangar door slam behind me, followed by a sharp scream. I turned to see Wind with her leg trapped under the door. I ran back and tried to lift the door. It was too heavy. "Just go!" She yelled. "I won't leave you. You're my partner!" I screamed as I tried the keycard in the door with no effect. She pushed me and threw a knife at the inside control panel of the other door. It slammed shut as I ran to help her. I pounded on the door with my fists. "No! Wind! I won't leave you!" I screamed. I heard guards shouting as they ran toward me. "I'm sorry, Wind!" I said as turned and ran towards the exit. I busted through exit door just as the building went into full lockdown. I flew back to HQ with a heavy heart, knowing that it was my fault. Chapter 11As we went down, torches lit up on either side of the stairs, providing plenty of light. We made it to the bottom and entered a giant hallway. "I don't like this. It's scary down here." Fluttershy said quietly. "It's okay, Fluttershy. This place has been undisturbed for years. The chances of anything being alive down here are very low." I said. We continued on and Rarity screamed. I jumped and turned to look at her. "What's wrong?" I asked. She pointed to the ground, where a spider was crawling across. "Seriously?" I asked. She just gave me a angry pouty face. I just turned around and kept going. We made it to the end of the hallway and entered a large throne room. "Alright, ladies. It looks like we beat them here. Let's look around." I said. "Do you think it'll be in the same place as before?" Twilight asked. "I guess it's worth a try." I replied as I made my way behind the throne. There was a lever back there. I pulled it and sure enough the floor opened up, revealing a pedestal. This one had a pair of gold gauntlets with red gems embedded in the hands of them. I grabbed them and put them into Twilight's bag. "Okay. At least we have one piece of the armor. As long we have that, he won't be able to reach his full power." I said. "True. We should probably get out of here, there's no telling when those three will show up." Twilight said. "Yes, let us leave this spider and dirt infested place." Rarity added. We made our way back out and onto the street. I hailed a taxi and we headed back to the train station. Chapter 12"Okay, where to now?" I asked. "Well, we could go to either. There's a train for both leaving in about five minutes. I vote we go to Las Pegasus. It's a long train ride and it will give us some time to sleep, get our strength back up." Twilight said. "I agree. We'll need our strength. Especially if we encounter my team again." I said. "Then its settled, we will head to the party capital of Equestria. Las Pegasus." Pinkie said. We boarded the train and took our seats in one of the cars that had bedding in them. We laid down and fell asleep almost instantly. It had been a stressful day. I kept having nightmares about Dash. I woke up in a cold sweat and pulled my legs over the edge of the bed. I sat there with my face in my hands. I heard a thump on the top of the car we were in. It was the sound of someone running on top of the train. I got up and moved to the door just as it opened and I was face to face with a blond haired pegasus with an eyepatch. "Wind Storm." I said as she kicked me in the chest, knocking me backwards. She jumped over me and grabbed Twilight's bag. She ran to the other end of the car and out the door. I chased her and caught her on top of the cars. "Why are you even still trying? Prince Blackblood will rule all of Equestria. It's his destiny." She said. "No, you're wrong. Wind, this isn't you. Whatever hold he has over you, fight it." I said as she drew her sword. "The prince has done nothing but show me the truth. Now, die!" She screamed. "I won't fight you. This isn't you. The real Wind Storm was my best friend. She would never give in to someone like Prince Blackblood. Fight it, you are strong. Remember the truth." I said as I dodged her blade. "You speak lies!" She said as she swung again. "Come on, I know that my Wind Storm is in there somewhere! You're stronger than him! Fight it!" I yelled. She dropped her blade and fell to her knees with her hands to her head. "That's it! Fight him! Don't let him win! We've been through worse and come out on top!" I said. "Get out of my head, you evil bastard!" She screamed. "That's it, come back to me, Wind!" I shouted. She dropped her hands and looked up at me. "Jet Stream?" She asked with a drowsy look on her face. "I'm here, Wind. Just relax and let me help you." I said. She managed a week smile before collapsing. I grabbed her and headed back into the train. I set her on my bunk and sat on the edge of it. I took her bag and Twilight's. Chapter 13"What is he doing here?!" Twilight asked as she jolted me awake. I looked up to see her standing over me with an eyebrow raised. I hadn't even realized I'd fallen asleep. "She was trying to steal our piece of the armor last night. I followed her out onto the top of the train and talked her down. I think I managed to break Blackblood's hold on her." I said. "I'll be the judge of that." Twilight said. She grabbed Wind's head and brought it close to hers. She put her horn against Wind's forehead. After about a minute, she put her back down and pulled back. "Well, she's cleared of dark magic. How did you do it?" She asked. "I just reminded her of how strong she is and how close we've always been. She fought him off. And there's also some better news." I said as I opened Wind's bag and pulled out the helmet from before. "Wow! We have two pieces now! We might get to have that after party after all!" Pinkie yelled. Wind started to wake up. She looked up at me. "Jet! I thought you were reassigned." She said. "No. I had some help in making them see the error of their rules." I said. "Where am I?" She asked. "You're on a train to Las Pegasus." I replied. "Las Pegasus? How did I get here?" She asked as the train jolted to a stop. "Come on. I'll explain everything on the way." I said as we exited the train. As we walked to the tourist kiosk, I explained what happened to her. "Wow. The last thing I remember is hearing that you were being reassigned." She said. "Yea. You were pretty out of it." I replied as I grabbed a map. I looked it over. "Damn it. Would it kill these people to list the kingdom ruins on a map." I said. "Excuse me." Said a voice from in front of me. I looked up to see a male unicorn with straightened black and red striped hair. He was wearing black jeans and an orange T-shirt with a picture of a microphone on it. "I couldn't help but over hear that you were looking for the old kingdom ruins." He said. "Yea. Why?" I asked. "Well, it's just that that's where I'm heading here shortly. Just as soon as my DJ arrives. We're throwing a huge rave out there. I can give you guys a lift if you'd like." He said. "That would be nice. What do you ladies think?" I asked. They all nodded. "Alright. Sounds like a plan to me. I'm Jet Stream. This Is Wind Storm, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rain..." I started to say as I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Sun Blast. I run a club out here in Las Pegasus." He said. "You said you were waiting on your DJ." I said. "Oh, there she is now." He said pointing behind us to the train. I turned to see the unicorn from Pinkie's party. "Vinyl Scratch!" Pinkie screamed and ran over to the DJ and hugged her. "Oof! What are you doing here, Pinkie?" She asked. "We're on a top secret mission for Celestia." Pinkie said. "Pinkie!" We all shouted. "Oops! Don't tell anyone, Vinyl." Pinkie said. "Your secrets safe with me." Vinyl said. She looked over at Sun Blast. "Sun, it's been a while." She said as she fist bumped the other unicorn. "Our annual rave last year. Man that one got out of hand fast." Sun said. "Pssh. You're telling me. Tavi kicked my ass when she found out about it. So many cops." Vinyl said. "So, shall we?" Sun said pointing to a bus parked in the train station parking lot. We hopped aboard and headed into the desert. Chapter 14As we rode down the desert road toward the ruins, everyone was talking, dancing, and having fun. Vinyl was playing some more of her dubstep as we drove. I just sat there lost in my own thoughts and watched the desert dunes whizz by. "Hey, Jet. Is everything okay?" Wind asked. "Huh. Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just remembering what happened yesterday." I replied without looking away from the window. "You really love her, don't you?" She asked. I sighed and looked at her with sad eyes. "It's more than love. I would do anything for her. If it came down to it, I would sacrifice myself for her." I replied. She just looked at me with care in her eyes. She pulled me into a hug. "We'll save her. Don't worry." She said. "Thanks. You've always been good friend and team mate." I said as she let go and went back to join the others. I rode the rest of the way in silence. The bus stopped in front of a partially collapsed Roman style temple. There was a group of people waiting outside of the building. "Well, we're here. Let's get our gear unloaded and get this party started." Sun said as we exited the bus. The DJ booth set up rather easily and Vinyl started the music. We made our way back behind the booth to a hallway and found the throne room. I turned to the group and noticed one of them was missing. "Where's Pinkie?" I asked. "Take a guess." Twilight said as she pointed behind us to the rave area. "Of course. Oh well. We shouldn't need her. Let's find that lever." I said. We split up and searched the room. "Found it!" AJ shouted from the right side of the room. "I found one too." Rarity said from the left side. "Two levers? I wonder which one is the right one." Twilight said from behind the throne. "Wait, I found something." I said as I looked at an inscription on the wall. Everyone came over to look at it too. On the wall was the phrase, 'רק כאשר התפיסה שלך משתנה, יהיה לך למצוא את הדרך הנכונה'. "What in tarnation is that chicken scratch." AJ asked. I studied the inscription for a minute. "It appears to be ancient Hebrew." I said. "How do you know that, darling?" Rarity asked. "In the academy we are forced to learn over a dozen languages so we can translate any documents we may encounter during our missions." I said. "What does it say?" Twilight asked. "It says, 'only when your perception is altered, will you find the correct path'." I said. "What does it mean, alter your perception?" Twilight asked. I just shrugged. "Hey guys!" Pinkie yelled as she burst into the room. She joined us at the wall. "What are you guys doing?" She asked as she looked at me. I looked into her eyes and noticed that her pupils were bouncing around. "Pinkie, did you accept any kind of food from anyone at the rave?" I asked. "Of course I did. It would've been rude to say no." She said. I just sighed and put my head in my hand. "Just help us find the right lever so we can get the armor piece and get out of here." I said. "What do you mean help you find it? It's right there." Pinkie said as she pointed to the middle of the room. "Pinkie. There's nothing there. Maybe you should just sit down until the effects of whatever you took wears off." I said. She gave me a hateful look and walked over to where she pointed. She motioned beside herself. "You guys don't see the pedestal sitting right here?" She asked. I looked to Twilight with a concerned look. "Pinkie, maybe Jet's right. You should just find somewhere to sit down." Twilight said. Pinkie just groaned. She stuck her hand out and it disappeared. When she pulled her hand back, she was holding a set of gold grieves with red gems in the shins of them and what appeared to be spikes on the backs of them. We all gasped. "Pinkie. How did you do that?" Twilight asked. "I just grabbed them. They were sitting right here." She replied. "Wait. Alter your perception. That's it, we couldn't see them because our minds are free of mind altering drugs." I said. "Well, ah guess them ancient Las Pegasusians liked ta party to." AJ said. "I guess so." Twilight said. Just then, the boots levitated out of Pinkie's hands and disappeared. Chapter 16"Nurse Redheart?" I asked. Her face got really red. "Uh. Um. Yes..." She said. "Don't worry. This is our little secret." I said as she examined my back. "What was this cut made by?" She asked. "A sword enchanted with dark magic." I said. "Oh my. This will take some work." She said as she pulled off her backpack. She unzipped it and pulled out a roll of gauze, a washcloth, a strip of leather, and a bottle of alcohol. "You may want to bite down on this." She said as she handed me the leather strip. "No. Just do it." I said as pushed the strip away. "Suit yourself." She said as she uncapped the alcohol and poured some onto the rag. "This will sting. A lot." She said. "Just get it over with already." I said. She shrugged and started to rub the rag against the cut. I cringed slightly at the pain. After she had thoroughly cleaned my wound, she pressed a clean towel to it and started to wrap the gauze around me. Once she finished, she pulled out a small trash bag and stuffed the wash cloth and my old shirt into it. She then pulled out a pill bottle and uncapped it. She pulled out a small white pill. "Here, take this." She said. "What's that?" I asked. "It's a condensed form of opium. It'll draw out the poison from the dark magic." She said as she pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to me. "If you say so." I said. I took the pill and emptied the bottle of water. "Good. Now, just get some rest and you'll be fine." She said as she left the bus. "What about my shirt?" I asked. "Don't worry, darling. I'm sure I can find something around here to use to make you a new one. Just get some rest." Rarity said. Wind Storm sat down beside me. "I'll stay by your side until you wake up. We should be in Fillydelphia by then." She said. "Thank you. All of you." I said as I closed my eyes. Chapter 17(Dream Sequence) I awoke laying in a field of black lotus flowers. I stood up and looked around, the only thing I could see was black trees around me. I was still in just my jeans and boots. "Hello?" I called out. "No one can hear you. We are deep in your subconscious." I heard a familiar voice from behind me. I turned to see Luna standing there. "Luna. What are you doing here?" I asked. "I sensed that you were in peril. I entered your nightmare to lend you some advice. Your mind is slowly being taken control of by the dark magic that was in that blade. If you do not stop it, you will become a mindless puppet for Prince Blackblood, just like your team mates." She replied. "But, how do I stop it?" I asked. "You must find the disharmony in your mind and destroy it. It is the thing that my brother's dark magic feeds on. He makes those you care about into beings of pure chaos. They infiltrate your mind and corrupt you until you beilieve that that is how they really are." She said. "But, where do I even start to look?" I asked. She pointed to a path between the trees. "You must find your own way from here. Once you enter the forest of that dark magic, I will not be able to help you any more." She said. I nodded and started toward the path. "Wait." She said. I turned to her. "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this." She said as she handed me a silver kitana that had a pattern of black stars going up the blade. "This will allow you to face any foe you may encounter here. Good luck. Remember, all of Equestria is counting on you." She said as she disappeared. "Oh, yeah. No pressure or anything." I said as I made my way towards the path. Chapter 18I walked slowly down the narrow path between the trees, fully aware of my injury that was still very painful, even in my subconscious. As I continued I heard voices coming from the black forest around me. I continued on and found myself in a clearing. I stopped as I heard the voices get closer. Just as I made my way to the center of the clearing, two shapes jumped out of the brush at me and knocked me to the ground. I stood and got into a fighting stance with my sword. I was shocked by what I saw. Better yet who I saw. It was Fluttershy and AJ, only they were different. They had black eyes and their skin had a greyish tint to it. "Well, looks like we got us a fighter. Wouldn't you agree, sugahcube?" AJ said to Fluttershy. "I think you're right, AJ." Fluttershy said. She didn't speak in her usual sweet and innocent voice. This Fluttershy was more confident and had a demanor about her that said she was ready to kill anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way. "I don't know who you think you are taking on those names. You're not the Fluttershy and AJ I know and love." I said standing my ground as they pulled out weapons of their own. Fluttershy had a giant hammer and AJ had a barbed lasso. "Let's do this!" I yelled as I charged them. I dodged as AJ tossed her lasso at me. But, I wasn't quick enough and she caught one of my wings and pulled it tight. I thought for sure she was going to rip it off. I grabbed the lasso with my free hand and pulled it. AJ flew toward me and brought my sword up as she flew over head. The blade caught her in the torso and sliced straight down. She dissipated in a cloud of black smoke. Just as I was turning to face Fluttershy, she got me with her hammer on the cut on my back. "Gah!" I screamed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" She asked sarcastically as she started to laugh evilly. I reached back and undid the lasso from my wing. I grabbed the handle of it and flung the end at Fluttershy, catching her leg. She yelped as I pulled her to the ground. Her hammer flew out her hand and landed on her head as she hit the ground. She dissipated just like AJ did. After she was gone, both of their weapons disappeared and the black forest receded into a small wooded area that the sun was able to get through. On the other side of the clearing, I saw the path continuing to a dilapidated looking town. Chapter 20I headed out of Mountgomery towards the castle. I arrived and entered the garden entrance. There was black lotuses and brambles everywhere. The door to the castle was blocked by huge vines of thorns. I slashed them with my sword, but, it just bounced off. "Shit, now what?" I said aloud. "Now, you die and submit to the will of Prince Blackblood." A voice said from behind me. I turned to see a dark version of Twilight, with her horn glowing with black light. "What makes you think you can succeed where the others failed?" I asked. She laughed maniacally. "Because, unlike them I can use this forms magic to allow the use of my full potential as a being of pure dark magic!" She yelled as she sent a blast of dark magic at me. I dove out the way just in time. There was a huge scorch mark where I had been standing. "Hmm. Perhaps I'll need a little help from my number one assistant." She said as Spike appeared at her side. He lunged at me and bit into my bad wing. "Gah!" I screamed as I fell to one knee. Twilight walked over and stood over me. "Seems like you are not as strong as you thought." She said as she charged a blast from her horn. Just as she fired, I pulled Spike off my wing and held him in front of the blast. He was vaporized and my hands were scolded. I picked up some dirt and threw it into her eyes. I jumped out of sight while she was blinded. "You can't hide forever. I will find you." She said as I crouched behind a bush. "Think, Jet. How can you beat a being of pure dark magic?" I asked myself. I watched as she looked around for me. I raked my brain. "What would Twilight do?" I asked as I watched her getting closer. "If I can just distract her long enough, I can get the jump on her." I said aloud. I noticed a small rock by my foot. I picked it up and chucked it into a bush across from me. "There you are!" She said as she ran over and searched the bush. I jumped out and ran my blade through her back. She turned into black smoke and vanished. The brambles disappeared and the garden returned to normal. The vines of thorns receded from the castle door. I opened them and headed inside. Chapter 21I made my way through the black crumbling hallways and into the throne room. Sitting in the throne was Rainbow Dash. But, not my Dash, this was the dark magic version. Her hair was no longer beautifully colored in the spectrum of the rainbow, it was now several shades of gray. "It's about time you got here." She said as she stood up. She had a solid black broadsword in one hand and a crystal orb in the other. She was throwing the orb into the air and catching it again as she walked over to me. "Don't even try to get to me. You're not my Dash." I said as I readied my sword. "No. Maybe not. But, after I destroy this, you won't know the difference." She said holding the orb out for me to see. I looked into it and saw that it was flashing various pictures. I realized that it was all my memories of Dash. The orb was slowly being clouded by black smoke. "Yep. It's only a matter of time before you will only remember your precious Dashie as the monster I made her into." She said. "No. I won't let you take her away from me!" I yelled as I swung my sword. She parried my move and stuck the orb into her pocket. She then started to fight with me. We fought back and forth for several minutes. Finally, we locked blades. I saw the strain on her face as she struggled to hold me back. I let out a slight laugh. "What's so funny?" She asked. "Just the fact that..." I started as I disarmed her. Her sword flew up and lodged in the ground a few feet away. "I've always been better at sword fighting than Dash." I finished. I held my blade to her throat and readied to strike. I hesitated. I just couldn't do it, I knew this wasn't my Dash, but I just couldn't do it. She sensed my hesitation and spun kicked me to the ground. "Ha. I knew you'd wimp out." She said as she retrieved her blade and walked over to me. She stood over me and pulled out the crystal orb. It was almost completely black now. "Any last words before you become a permanent member of the Blackblood army?" She asked as she raised her sword. I just sat up and closed my eyes and waited for her to strike. I heard a metallic clang. I opened my eyes to see Dash locking blades with someone. I looked over to see Wind Storm. She looked down at me. "You're not really going to give up are you? What happened to the fearless leader I know and love?" She asked. "I'm still here. I just can't bring myself to hurt Dash. Even if that is just a cheap dark magic copy." I said. Wind knocked Dash back, which stunned her. She looked back at me. "If you don't kill this cheap copy, you'll never see the real Dash again." Wind said. "What's the point. We're just going to lose in the end anyway." I replied. "That's not true. That's just the dark magic talking. You have to get up and fight. Imagine if Dash saw you being this way, do you think she would still love then? No, she wouldn't. She loved the fact that you were strong and brave and would do anything for her." She said as she deflected another blow from Dash. Her words hit me like a bag of bricks. "You're right. I can't just give up. I need to fight!" I yelled as I picked up my sword and swung at Dash and hit her in the shoulder, cutting straight down through her chest. "No!" She yelled as she disappeared. The crystal orb fell free. I caught it just before it hit the floor. The castle became brighter and new again and the black smoke from the orb absorbed into my hand and went back to normal. "I can take that and put it back where it belongs it for you." Wind said. "Thanks. I don't know what I would've done without you." I said as I handed her the orb. "Well, you would've fallen to the darkness like I did." She said as she gave me a hug. "True." I said. "Well, I think now it's time for you to wake up." She said. "Wake up." She said again Chapter 22(Equestria) "Wake up!" I heard Wind Storm's voice. I opened my eyes to see her staring at me with concern in her eyes. "How are you feeling?" She asked. I sat up and stretched, immediately regretting it as I felt my wound bust open. "Damn it." I said as I saw the blood soaking the bandages. "It's okay. Nurse Redheart came along with us. I'll go get her." She said as she got up and moved down the aisle. She came back after a minute. "Well, you definitely look a lot better. Let's get those old bandages off of you." She said as I moved to the outer seat and lifted up my arms. She slowly unwrapped the gauze from my midsection and put it into another trash bag. She rubbed it down with some more alcohol and rebandaged it. "There you go, hun. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a rave to get to." She said as she left the bus. I had just realized that the bus was stopped. "How long have we been here?" I asked. "About five minutes. The others have been waiting on you to get up. We should go find them." Wind said as I got. I grabbed my sword and followed her off the bus. I was immediately jumped by Pinkie. "I'm so happy to see that you're feeling better!" She said. Her pupils were still bouncing around her eyes and she was almost completely covered in glow stick and bracelets. "Pinkie, have you been eating random food stuff from these people again?" I asked. "Yes. I haven't slept since the train ride. I feel great!" She yelled. "Alright, Pinkie. But, I still think you should quit accepting food from these ravers." I said as we left to find the others. After a few minutes of looking around, we found Twilight and Rarity by the DJ booth. It was set up in a big open field in the center of the city. We started walking over to them. Twilight saw us and came over to me. "How are you feeling, Jet?" She asked. "I still feel like crap. But, we have a job to do and I can't sit on the sidelines while you ladies put yourselves in danger." I said as I shivered a little. I just realized that I was still shirtless. Twilight saw me shiver and walked over to Rarity, who was talking to guy wearing jeans and a plain white shirt. The most normal looking person I had seen at this crazy party. She and Twilight walked back over to us. "You're liable to catch your death in this weather, darling. Here. I know it's not the most stylish outfit, but, it's all I could do on such short notice." She said as she handed me a red shirt and a black hoodie. I quickly slipped both on. I notice that the shirt had the black and white knife on the front of it. "I took the liberty of embroidering it with the symbol from your previous attire." Rarity said. "Thanks, Rarity. I like it." I said as I gave her a hug. I turned to Twilight. "Any word on the whereabouts of the old kingdom ruins?" I asked. "Actually, we have found them. There's only one problem, the door into it is collapsed in on itself." Twilight said. "I think I can get us through that." I said. "No go. AJ already tried to kick it in. It's a solid mass of rubble." She said. "Just let me try." I said. "Alright then. Let's get everyone together." She said. Chapter 23After getting everyone together, Twilight led us to the ruins entrance. "Ah don't see how you're gonna kick through that mess. It's pretty solid, sugahcube." AJ said as I approached the entrance. I examined the rubble. I tried to punch through it and almost broke my hand. "Fuck! That hurt!" I said as I shook my hand. "Ah told ya it was solid." AJ said. "Yea. I got that, thanks." I said. 'Use the dark magic.' I heard a voice say. "What?" I asked as I turned to the others. "We didn't say anything." Twilight said. 'Use the dark magic!' The voice yelled. "You guys don't hear that?" I asked. They all listened then shook their heads. "Are you sure you're okay, darling. Maybe you should sit down for a minute." Rarity said. 'USE THE DARK MAGIC!' The voice screamed at me. I saw an image in my head of the doorway exploding open. "Guys, stand back. I have an idea." I said. "What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. "Just trust me." I said. They all backed up a few feet. I approached the door and raised my hand. I concentrated on the image I had seen. A bolt of black fire shot out of my hand and exploded against the doorway. The rubble was gone and the way was clear. I turned around to see everyone staring at me with their mouths hanging open. Twilight broke the silence. "How did you do that?" She asked. "I'm not sure. I just pictured the doorway exploding and that happened." I replied. "This is impossible. In the history of Equestria, there's never been a pegasus be able to use magic before. I don't understand how this is possible." She said as we entered the ruins. It didn't take us long to find the throne room. We searched around and found another inscription. It read, 'Μόνο εκείνοι που ασκούν τις μαύρες τέχνες πρέπει να περνούν από σώος.' There was also an arrow pointing to the left of it to a set of pillars that looked like it should be a door. "It's Greek." I said. "What's it say?" Twilight asked. "It says, 'Only those who wield the black arts shall pass through unharmed.' It's a warning to trespassers." I said. "The black arts. As in black magic?" Twilight asked. "That would be my guess." I said. "How are we supposed to get through then?" She asked. I thought about the voice I had heard. "I think I can get through it." I said. "What makes you think you can do that, darling.?" Rarity asked as I approached the wall between the pillars. "Back outside the ruins before I saw the doorway explode in my head, I heard a voice telling me to 'use the dark magic.' I think that instead of corrupting me like it did to my teammates, Blackblood's dark magic was somehow absorbed into my body." I said as I explained about my dream, Luna's appearance, the dark versions of all of them, and the black smoke in the orb. "Wow. That's incredible. It somehow managed to corrupt your memories of each us and turn them against you to try and break your subconscious. When it didn't succeed, you somehow took it's power and harnessed it." Twilight said. "Yea. That's why I think this will work." I said. She put her hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure about this?" She asked. "We don't really have a choice. If I don't survive this, please take care of Dash for me." I said as I took a deep breath and stepped between the pillars. I felt like I stepped into water. Chapter 25As soon as we got outside, the whole ruins collapsed. We were all coughing from the dust that was blown out behind us. While we were having our coughing fit, I felt the chest plate leave my hand and a familiar voice. "We'll take that. Thank you for getting this for us." Midnight said as he and Thunder flew off. I recovered and quickly pulled a small round metal disk from Wind's bag and shot it at them, it hit Midnight right between the wings as they disappeared from sight. "What was that you shot at them?" Twilight asked as we made our way back to the bus. "It was a tracking beacon. Now, we'll know just where Blackblood is hiding out at." I said as I grabbed a PDA looking device from Wind's bag and switched it on. It showed a red dot traveling over the ocean toward... "Saddle Arabia." I said aloud. "So, we need ta hop a plane." AJ said. "Oh, I don't like flying. Can't we take another way?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. If we're going to get their, we have to fly." I replied. She whimpered and hid behind Twilight. "It's okay Fluttershy. It's just a ride in a plane. We'll be fine." Twilight said. "Yes, don't worry, darling. I'm sure Fillydelphia has the best pilots." Rarity said. We found Sun Burst dancing in the crowd by the DJ booth. I pulled him to the side. "Can you give us a lift to the airport?" I asked. "Sure thing. Just give me a second." He said as he walked over to Vinyl and said something to her, she just nodded and kept DJ'ing. We boarded the bus and left for the airport. Chapter 26We arrived after about ten minutes. We headed into the terminal and found the ticket counter. I walked up to the lady at the counter. "We need seven tickets for your next flight to Saddle Arabia." I said. She checked her computer. "We have a flight leaving in five minutes, but, it's on a propeller plane." She said. "That's fine. We'll take it." I said as I bought the tickets. We went out onto the tarmac and found our plane. It was a rusted looking propeller plane that had a single door on the side and an old man sitting in the pilot seat. "Y'all heading to Saddle Arabia?" He asked. "Sure are. You our pilot?" I replied. "Yep, hop aboard and we'll take off." He said. "I'm sorry, but, I'm not getting on that. I'll just wait here for you guys." Fluttershy said as she started to walk off. I ran over and grabbed her hand. I looked into her light blue eyes. "Fluttershy. I need you to be brave one more time. If we don't get on this plane, we lose our chance to rescue Dash. Do it for her. Think of everything she's done for you." I said. She just stared back into my eyes for a minute. "Okay. For Rainbow Dash!" She yelled as we all boarded the plane. The pilot started the engine and took off. The plane rattled as it flew. Fluttershy was sitting next to me, squeezing my hand and whimpering with her eyes closed tight. "It's okay. We will get through this." I said. I looked at the tracker device as something hit the plane. There was an explosion as the plane started to free fall over Saddle Arabia. Fluttershy let out a scream. "What the hell was that?" I asked the pilot. "Someone just fired a rocket at us. We need to get out of here." He said as he handed each of us a parachute. "Hurry, if we drop below two thousand feet, those parachutes won't do a bit of good." The pilot said. Everyone quickly strapped on their chutes and jumped out one at a time. The only ones left were me, the pilot, and Fluttershy. "Come on, Fluttershy. We have to jump." I said. She whimpered and shook her head. "I-I can't." She managed to say. "We're hitting three thousand feet!" The pilot warned. "Fluttershy, we have to go now!" I yelled over the increasing wind. She shook her head again. "Two-thousand nine hundred!" The pilot yelled. "Come on, Fluttershy! We're running out of time!" I yelled. She had her eyes tightly closed and tears were streaming down her face. "Two-thousand eight hundred!" The pilot yelled. "Two-thousand seven hundred!" The pilot yelled. I looked from Fluttershy to the pilot and back again. "Two-thousand six hundred!" He yelled as he jumped out the door. I watched the altimeter get to two-thousand five hundred and it was dropping fast. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy!" I yelled. She turned to me with concern and fear on her face. "For what?" She asked. "For this!" I yelled as I pushed her out the door. She screamed as she fell backwards out the door. I jumped behind her and noticed that she wasn't pulling her chute open. I folded my arms into my sides and shot down to her. I leveled myself next to her and pulled her cord. She shot back up a few feet as the chute opened. I pulled my own cord and nothing happened. I started to panic as I pulled my emergency cord and again, nothing happened. I knew this was it. I pulled out my phone and dialed Twilight. "Hello?" She asked. "Remember your promise to take care of Dash for me?" I asked. "Yea." she said. "When you rescue her, tell her that I'll always love her." I said as I hung up the phone. I watched, helpless as the ground got closer. "I'm sorry, Dash. I tried." I said to myself as I looked at the selfie we had taken together and shut my eyes to embrace my fate. I felt my heart pounding, tears welled up in my eyes as I thought of the fact that I'd never see Dash again. I felt the impact of the ground as I hit. I could taste blood and could feel the sharp pain of several broken ribs. I blacked out and my body began to tingle all over. So, this is what death felt like. Chapter 28It was easy to get in, considering that the door was blown down. We walked down the hallway and all I could think about was Wind Storm screaming for me to leave her behind. "You okay?" She asked from beside me. I just looked over at her and nodded. We continued down the hallway until we came to a set of blast doors that had a symbol of a black skull and crossbones on it. "I think this is it. Stand back." I said. I raised my hand and pictured the door being blown in. I felt my whole body heat up as a huge wave of fire erupted from my hand. The door was melted to just a dripping mass of steel. "Well, that's definitely new." I said as I walked through the door. We entered a dark hallway that lead down and we could hear voices at the end of it. We continued walking and entered a giant chamber with three narrow walkways branching off. One led to the door we entered, the other two led to dark door ways. below us was a river of flowing lava. At the center of the room, on a raised set of steps was a throne that had red cushioning and black wood. In front of the throne was Midnight and Thunder. They were talking to a guy sitting in the throne. The person in the throne had jet black hair and was wearing the greave and chest plate that the two had stolen from us. He stood up as he saw us walking toward him. "Ah, just who I wanted to see." He said in a loud booming voice. It was the same one the guard had spoken with at my wedding. "Prince Blackblood, I presume?" I asked as we approached his throne. "That was my former name, but yes. You may refer to me as Lord Chaos." He said. "How about I refer to you as the piece of shit that stole my beautiful bride!" I yelled. "Hmm. Such hostility. Is that any way to talk to your new ruler?" He asked. "The only thing you're the ruler of is the guy who's face I'm going to kick in!" I yelled. "Enough of this. You will hand over what is rightfully mine." He said. I took Wind's bag from her and opened it up for him to see the contents. "You mean, these?" I asked as I motioned to the helmet and gauntlets inside it. I held it over the edge of the walkway and motioned that I would drop it. "If you don't have these, you will never gain full power." I said. "True. You could just go ahead and drop them, cause me too lose my full powers. But, if you do, you'll never see your precious Rainbow Dash again. However, If you hand them over to me now, I will reunite the two of you." He said. I hesitated. "I'm sorry, guys." I said as I turned to the others and threw the bag to him. He caught it and pulled out the armor pieces. "I held my end of the bargain. Now, it's your turn." I said. "Very well. Midnight, take them to Rainbow Dash." He said as Midnight started down one of the paths. We followed him deeper down into the fortress. We arrived at a door and were pushed inside and stripped of my sword. "Enjoy your final moments together." Midnight said behind us as he closed the door. Chapter 30I felt the back of my head starting to burn up. My hands began to glow dark purple and that light encompassed Dash as I watched. After about a minute, the light faded and her eyes opened up. I was terrified she wouldn't remember me. She jumped up. "Jet! You came for me!" She yelled as she wrapped her arms around me. She brought me into a long, passionate kiss. After she pulled away from me, I took a deep breath. "Of course I came for you. Why wouldn't I?" I asked. "The two pegasi guarding me kept saying that you had been corrupted and weren't coming for me." She replied. "Well, I'm here now. What happened to your dress?" I asked motioning to her current attire. "They ripped it off me. Something about being able to hide weapons in it." She said. "They didn't hurt you did they? Or do anything else to you?" I asked. "No. They just ripped my dress off and stuck me in here." She said. "That's a relief." I said. "How did you guys get captured anyway." She asked. I looked away and put my hands in my lap. "I... well... I kinda gave the bad guy the means to destroy Equestria." I said. "You what?" She asked. "Yea. I was going to destroy them in the lava, but he said if I did, I'd never see you again. I couldn't take that chance." I replied. She wouldn't look me in the eyes. "I can't believe you did that. You sacrificed all of Equestria for me? Are you nuts?" She asked. Her words stung like a knife in my chest. "But, if we didn't get thrown in here, you would've died." I said. "I don't care. You shouldn't have done that. You should've just thrown the stuff in the lava and been done with it. You could've found someone else." She said. I got up from the bunk. "I don't want anyone else." I said as I walked across the room and sat in the corner. I pulled my knees to my chest and propped my arms on my knees. I rested my head on my arms and hid my face. I felt the tears burst from my eyes. The only reason I put myself through all this was to get Dash back, but, now she hated me. In fact, I hated myself for being so selfish. How could I put myself before the fate of Equestria? I was so stupid. "Rainbow Dash, that's not fair! We. He went through a lot to come and rescue you. He almost got himself killed. Twice! All to rescue you and bring you home. And you have the nerve to tell him he could've just 'found somebody else'?!" Fluttershy yelled as I looked up. "What?" Dash asked. "It's true, darling. If it wasn't for his quick thinking, we never would have found you." Rarity said. "Yea. And I never would have gotten to go to a rave!" Pinkie yelled. Everyone just gave her a dirty look. "Yea, sugahcube. It was tha' thought of you that kept him goin'." AJ said. Dash got up and came over to me. "Is this true?" She asked. "Of course it's true. I would do literally anything for you." I replied. "Well, in that case. Get off your ass and show me the strong, brave, and resourceful man I fell in love with." She said. I stood up, revitalized by her words. I looked around, the door was too solid to kick down. But, I bet the wall next to it isn't. "Stand back, ladies, I have a rather explosive idea." I said. I harnessed the dark magic in my hand and hit the wall next to the door with all my might. It exploded into rubble. We ran through it and up the stairs we had come in on. Chapter 31We ran through the dark hallways and out onto the walkways above the lava river. Blackblood was standing by his throne with his full armor on. The armor had somehow completely covered his body from head to toe. He looked like an armored titan. He looked over as we approached. "Get them, you fools!" He yelled. Midnight and Thunder charged at us. I jumped over Midnight and grabbed the sword off his back. I landed just in time to hit Thunder with the butt of it and knock him unconscious. I turned to see Wind fighting with Midnight. "Go, I got this!" She yelled. I nodded and ran up to Blackblood. Before he could react, I harnessed the dark magic and gut checked him. He doubled over and I sliced off his horn and wings with my newly acquired sword. "Argh! You will pay for that, you piece of Equestrian scum!" He bellowed as he stood up and knocked me back. "just leveling the playing field." I said. He pulled a sword from behind his throne. It was a gigantic broadsword that looked like a blade from a windmill. "Prepare to die! I will make you wish you were never conceived!" He yelled as blood dripped down the front of his helmet. He swung his sword at me as I put up my own to block. My blade shattered almost instantly. I was knocked back several feet as he swung again. I dodge rolled out of the way and his sword got stuck in the ground. I harnessed the dark magic again and kept it knowing I would need it. I struck him in the ribs several time before he got his sword free. He raised his sword again and slashed straight down. I rolled out of the way again and his blade got stuck again. This time, I hit him right in the face a few times before he got free. "Enough! You have nowhere left to run!" He said. I looked back and realized he was right. I was right at the edge of the walkway. "Now you die!" He said as he raised his blade again. I took a step backward and some of the footing gave way and crumbled. I braced for the inevitable strike of the blade. "Noooooo!" I heard as a black blur flew in front of me, knocking Blackblood over the edge. I ran over to see what it was. I leaned over the side and saw Wind Storm hanging on with both hands.. I grabbed her hand as she slipped. "Hold on Wind, I got you!" I yelled as I tried to pull her up, but she was too heavy. "That's right! Save your pegasus friend!" I heard Blackblood say. I leaned farther over the edge to see him holding on to her legs. "Jet, listen to me! You have to get out of here!" She screamed. "What?! No! I won't leave you again!" I yelled as I tried to pull her up. "You can't lift us! Even if you could, it would just mean saving the greatest evil in all Equestria! You have to let me go!" She screamed. "No! I won't do it!" I yelled. "That's fine. Just remember, friends till the end." She said as she gave me a smile and let go of my hand. "Noooo!" I yelled as I watched her fall into the lava river below. "Wind Storm!" I cried as the fortress began to collapse. "Jet, we have to go now!" Dash said as she pulled me my feet. We ran out of the fortress just as it disappeared into the sand dunes. We made our way back to the airport and caught the first plane back to Equestria. EpilogueWhen we got their we told Celestia about everything that had happened. We had a funeral for Wind Storm and redid the wedding. We even had Pinkie and Sun Burst arrange the reception. We partied all night. It was just what I needed to take my mind off Wind. We honeymooned in Las Pegasus and partied at Sun Burst's club. After about three days of partying, we returned to our normal lives in Equestria. I returned to my job as captain of the Covert Flyers as a day job and Dash got her wish of becoming a Wonderbolt. Life was great. Dash had to take a leave of absence from the Wonderbolts shortly after starting because she became pregnant. We had a beautiful little foal pegasus with blond hair, that we named after the one who saved my life. Wind Storm. The funny thing about it is, neither one of us remember ever having sex for her to become pregnant in the first place. Oh, well. Just one of those mysteries that will go unanswered, I suppose. PrologueI stood up and drew my sword. With tears in my eyes, I pointed the blade at Luna. "What have you done?" I asked. She threw hands out in front of her. "Me?" She replied. "Yes, you! That hypnotized guard called Celestia, 'dear sister'! She only has one sister! You!"I shouted. Celestia stepped on front of my blade and pushed the tip down. "You are correct. I do have only one sister." She said. "I knew it! That ring you gave me for Dash was a set up!" I said. "Let me finish. It's true, I have only one sister. But, Luna was not responsible for this." She said. "Well, who was then?" I asked. "Follow me and I'll explain everything." Celestia said as she walked into the castle. She lead us to the library and pulled a large leather bound book from a shelf. I recognized it immediately as the book Twilight had showed me before. Celestia flipped through the book and stopped on a page. She handed me the book and pointed to a story. It was the same one as in Twilight's copy, but, the whole page was there. I read it and gasped. "Is this true?" I asked. Celestia just nodded. Chapter 1"What is it?" Everyone asked. "According to this, Luna and Celestia have an evil alicorn brother. He murdered their parents when they refused him the throne. Luna and Celestia had no choice but to banish him to Tartarus. If this is true, it means that he is the pure embodiment of chaos itself. I'm sorry I accused you Luna." I said. "It's okay. I understand your anger." Luna said. "Now, hang jus' a minute. I thought that Discord was tha' embodiment of chaos." AJ said. "No, he simply has access to its power. But, chaos itself comes from our brother's dark magic." Luna said. "Yes. I was afraid that he had escaped when cerberus was away. We have dreaded this day. The return of Prince Blackblood." Celesita said. "But, why keep this a secret?" Twilight asked. "Would you want everyone to know that you had to banish both your sister and brother?" Celestia asked. "Good point. How do we find him?" Twilight replied. "I'm not sure. But, if I know him, he'll be after his sword and armor. If he gets them, he will be able to harness his full power. So, we scattered them across Equestria to the ruins of all the old castles. He'll most likely strike here first at our old castle." Celestia said. "You mean in the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "I'm afraid so." Luna replied. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind me. "Do we really have to go there?" She asked. I turned around and looked at her. "Yes we have to go there. If there's even a slight chance that we'll find a clue as to his whereabouts, we're taking it. Because if we find him, we find Dash." I said. She inhaled and swallowed. "Okay. Let's get Dash back." She said. We hurried out of the castle and headed to the Everfree Forest. Chapter 3"So, I have to ask. How did you survive that gunshot?" Twilight asked as we headed into the forest. "Well, the material I had Rarity make my tux out of is the material we use for our sword cases. It's a combination of leather, shark skin, and Kevlar. It's bulletproof, fire retardant, and cut resistant." I said. Fluttershy gasped. "Oh, those poor sharks. How could you?" She asked. "Don't worry Fluttershy, we only use the skin from sharks that have died from natural causes. The CF never hurt animals." I replied. "Oh, well that's fine then." She said. We walked in silence for a few minutes until there was a rustling in the bushes behind us. It quickly moved to in front of us. Out of the brush, a large brown blur flew past and landed in front of us. A huge wolf made of wood was standing there blocking our path. It opened its mouth and a horrid smell came out. "Rawr!" It growled. I wasn't in the mood for this crap. I walked up to it and stuck my face up to its muzzle. "RAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" I growled at the top of my lungs. It hunkered down and tucked its stick of a tail between its legs before retreating to the bush it had jumped out of. The others just looked at me. "What?" I asked as I started to walk again. AJ came up to walk beside me. "How did you do that?" She asked. "It's one of the things they teach us in the academy. Any animal will back down if you assert your dominance." I replied. We continued on in silence. We came a chasm with a burning rope bridge. Chapter 5"We need to get moving." I said. "Right." They all said as we headed to the entrance to the ruins. It was a run down grey stone castle. The walls were falling in and the columns looked as if they could collapse at any minute. "Where did they put it!" A voice said from up ahead. I put my finger to my lips as I turned and headed towards the room. I peered around the corner to see a giant dilapidated throne room. There were two pegasi dressed all in black. Only they're heads were exposed. One had jet black hair and the other had bright orange. I recognized them as members of my squad, they were my lead scouts. "Do you know those two?" Twilight asked, clearly reading my expression. I watched as they tore the place apart looking for Prince Blackblood's armor. "They're the top members of my squad. The one with black hair is Midnight Wing, the other one is his brother Thunder Skies." I said quietly. "What should we do?" Fluttershy asked. I thought for a minute. "I have a plan. But, I don't think you'll like it." I said as I looked at Rarity. "What?" She asked. I just smiled at her. "I need you to use your looks to distract them long enough for me to get behind them on the other end of the room." I said. She just sighed. "Is there no other way? I mean look at those two. They look absolutely dreadful, darling." She replied. I just looked at her. "Fine." She said. "Thank you. Just keep them looking away from the right side of the room. Also, keep them in the center of it as well." I said as she made her way into the open. She cleared her throat. "Yoo hoo, boys. Can you help a lady out?" She asked in a sultry voice. She walked into the room and made her way around to the left side. They kept their eyes on her the entire time. Just like I planned. "How did you get over that chasm?" Midnight asked. "Well, I was riding along in my hot air balloon, when out of nowhere this huge gust of wind swept me out of the basket. It was Simply dreadful." Rarity said as I made my way along the wall behind them. I moved along quickly to avoid being spotted. "You seem to be fine to me." Thunder said. "Oh, but I feel faint." Rarity said as she collapsed. Midnight caught her before she hit the ground. I was almost to the other end. Rarity cracked her eye open and looked at me. I motioned for her to get them back together. She stood up and pushed Midnight away. "You ruffian. How dare you try to get fresh with me." She said as I cut the rope holding the chandelier that they stood under. It fell down and trapped them both. Chapter 6I walked up and gave Rarity a high five. "Nice work, darling." She said. "Me? You're the one that kept these two idiots busy." I said as the others joined us. "Ladies. If you don't mind, look for some kind of secret switch or something. I need to talk to these two, alone." I said as I kneeled in front of the two trapped pegasi. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked. "You were supposed to be reassigned to Appaloosa." Midnight said. "Well, guess what. It didn't happen. Why are you betraying the CF? You were my most trusted scouts." I said. "Pssh. More like your favorite lap dogs." Thunder said. "What are you talking about? I trusted you guys with my life. You were the only family I had when I joined the CF, and you're not even related to me." I said. Midnight spit at me. "I was supposed to be the captain, but then you came in and showed off your fancy schmancy flying skills. After that, they demoted me to scout. I've hated and resented you for that since the beginning." He said. "Yea, and if he would have gotten that position, we would have been set for life. We never would have had to worry about money or anything." Thunder said. "But, now, Prince Blackblood has offered a place at the head of his air force. All we have to do is find the pieces of his armor for him." Midnight said. "Well, he'll never get them. So, it looks like you guys are out of a job." I said. "Hey, I found something." Twilight said from behind the thrones. "It looks like a lever. I'm going to pull it." She said as there was a grinding noise from under the floor. The floor split in two between the thrones and opened up to reveal a pedestal. On top of the pedestal sat a roman style helmet that was gold with a black plume on top. I was walking over to the helmet when I saw a black blur whizz past me and snatch the helmet. Chapter 9(Flashback end) There was nothing but silence in the train car. "Wow." Twilight said. "How did she get free?" Rarity asked. "After that mission, I led a secret mission to rescue her. I went against the orders of HQ to save her. We found her in an POW camp on the line to be executed. She was alive, but, they had tortured her for days trying to get information out of her. She wouldn't crack, so they cut out her eye and stuck her in a cell to be executed later." I replied. Rarity cupped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my goodness. That's awful." She said. "Yea. But, she never shed a tear. She was always tough, that's why when I was promoted, I made her my lieutenant." I said. The train jolted us as we pulled into the station. We got off and headed to the tourist kiosk. I grabbed a map and looked it over. "Hmm. I don't see any ruins on the map." I said. "Of course not, darling. The city was built on top of all the ruins." Rarity said. "Yeah, they threw a huge party and covered everything up." Pinkie said. "Well, how are we supposed ta' find some ruins if theys all underground. Go ta' every building an' ask ta' explore tha' basement?" AJ asked. "Hmm. I have an idea." I said as I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. "Hello?" Said the voice from the other end. "Hello, doctor. You know that favor you owe me?" I asked. "Yea." He said. "Well, I'm calling it in. How soon can you get to Manehattan?" I asked. "I'm already here." He said as he walked out from behind the tourist kiosk. He had spiky brown hair. He was dressed in his usual light brown suit and trench coat with white undershirt and hourglass pin. "Who's that?" Twilight asked. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Doctor Whooves." He said as he took Twilight's hand and kissed it. He let go of her hand and looked over at me. "What can I do for you, Jet?" He asked. "Well, doctor. I was hoping you could guide us to the ruins of the castle that used to be here." I said. "Ah, yes. Back when this was part of the great Equestrian empire. If I remember right, you should be able to find them under the movie theater. Just head into the basement and look for the loose wall." He said. "Thank you. Much appreciated, Doctor Whooves." I said as he walked back around the kiosk and disappeared. I found the theater on the map. "Alright, ladies. Let's go." I said as I hailed a taxi. Chapter 10We arrived at the theater after a few minutes. We got out of the taxi and went into the theater. I walked up to the ticket booth. "Hello, sir. We need access to the basement of this building." I said. "I'm sorry, sir. The basement is for staff use only." The ticket vendor said. I pulled Twilight over to the window. "Do you know who this is?" I asked. He looked at her for a minute, then shrugged. "This is the Princess Twilight. Celestia's top student and Princess of Ponyville." I said. He just looked at us with a bored expression. "So?" She asked. "Well, just imagine if a princess were to give this theater a bad review. I don't think it would get a whole lot of business after that, and they would have to shut it down from lack of profits. Then, you would probably never get another job ever, because your superiors would tell all future employers that you were responsible for this theater being shut down." I said as I gave him a smug look. His eyes widened. "Sorry, princess. Right this way." He said as he left the booth and led us through the theater. We came to a door at the back end of the building. He unlocked it and stepped back for us to enter. "Thank you, sir." Twilight said. We headed down into the basement. It was a dark and smelled of mildew. "Okay. Doctor Whooves said to look for the loose wall." I said. I went to one of the walls and knocked on it. It was solid. I tired the spot beside it, it was hollow. "Think I found it." I said. I drew back and hit the wall with full force. It collapsed in on itself and revealed a set of stone stairs. "Nicely done, sugahcube. With that kinda power, we could use yer help on tha' farm durin' apple bucking season." AJ said. "If we get through this, you've got yourself a deal." I said as we descended the stairs. Chapter 15"Thanks for finding these for us." Midnight's voice echoed. "Oh, I see you managed to turn Wind Storm back to your side. It doesn't matter though." Thunder said. "Show yourselves, cowards." I screamed. Out of nowhere I felt a sharp pain in my back, the feeling of a blade slicing my skin. "Gah!" I screamed as I fell to one knee. "Why don't you try that with me?" Wind yelled as she pulled up her mask. All I could hear was metal clashing in the air somewhere. Just then, Midnight appeared and fell from the air, his stealth suit ripped. He got back up. "Come on brother. Let these fools have what time they have left as free Equestrians." He said as he took off down the hallway. "You better run!" Wind said as she reappeared and landed beside me. "Are you okay?" She asked. I stood up and gave her a weak smile. "I've had worse." I said. She helped me to walk as we exited the room and headed around the DJ booth and past the crowds. Sun Blast was leaned against the side of the bus talking to some pegasus wearing jeans and a purple hoodie. They were both covered in glow sticks. We walked toward him. His eyes went wide when he saw me. He hurried over and helped me onto the bus. "What happened in there?" He asked. I cringed as I sat on the edge of a seat and took of my shirt and sword. "No time to explain. We have to get to Filldelphia. We're running out of time." I said. "Fillydelphia? That's the next stop on our rave tour. It's where we host Burning Mare. We'll head out soon, first, we need to get you fixed up. I'll be right back." He said as he ran off the bus. He came back a few minutes later with a woman that looked really familiar. She was dressed in a pair of tattered jeans and a black hoodie and a neon red backpack with a white cross on it. She, too was covered in glow sticks. Chapter 19I continued down the path and headed for what looked like my home town of Mountgomery. The only problem was that it wasn't supposed to look like this. At the end of the road was a huge road block made up of broken car parts. I continued cautiously through the town. As I neared the hardware store, I heard an eerie giggling coming from inside. I saw the flash before I heard the sound. I jumped just a barrage of various tools flew out of the shop door and lodged into the building across from it. They had been fired from some kind of cannon. I would have just stayed in the air if it wasn't for my jank wing. I landed just as Pinkie came out of the shop with a black cannon. She had the same grey skin and black eyes as AJ and Fluttershy. She also had a giant creepy grin on her face. "How do you like my death cannon?" She asked. "I don't." I said. "That's okay. Maybe Rarity can change your mind." She said as I was hit be and arrow in the shoulder. I turned to see a grey skinned, black eyed Rarity armed with a bow looking at me with an evil smirk. "You know, the impaled look really does suit you, darling." She said as she notched another arrow. She shot just as I jumped out of the way. The arrow struck the ground where I was standing. Rarity groaned. "Please do hold still, darling. I simply wish to make you a new outfit. It's part of my new line called funeral chic." She said. As she fired off another arrow. I heard the squeak of the wheels of the cannon behind me. I knew I'd never win in a fair fight with either of them, I had to make a plan. I jumped up to the rooftops just as I heard a match strike. I ran by Rarity just as the cannon went off. "Gah!" I heard her scream as the shrapnel from the cannon struck her. I looked back to see a black mist where she had been standing. I heard another match strike. I ran over and slid across the roof and grabbed Rarity's bow just as the cannon fired again and the shrapnel passed overhead. I stood up and notched an arrow just as Pinkie lit another match. I fired and knocked the mouth of the cannon upwards just as it fired. I jumped down and ran over to her, I ran my blade straight through her. Before she dissipated, she gave me a thumbs up. Even as a being of pure chaos, Pinkie was the strangest girl I had ever met. A light swept through the town and it returned to how I truly remembered it. I turned to see that the blockade was gone, revealing what appeared to a dark version of Canterlot. Chapter 24I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a mirrored version of the throne room from the ruins. Except this version wasn't crumbling and falling apart, it looked almost brand new. I saw something move in the shadows across from me. I drew my sword and moved over to the other side of the room. As I approached the far wall, two huge shapes jumped out at me. I dodged out of the way and landed on a charred skeleton. I jumped up, disgusted. I turned to see two giant mechanical bronze bulls standing in front of me. They snorted fire and smelled of burnt flesh. "Khalkotauro. Impossible, you were destroyed years ago." I said as they stared at me through black onyx eyes. One of them charged me and I jumped into the air. I landed just as the other one blasted flames from its mouth. I rolled out of the way and just barely missed being roasted like a pegasus steak. The one that had just tried to roast me turned and kicked me in the back with its hoof. I flew across the room and banged into the wall. I was dazed as I saw one of them charging at me. I rolled out of the way as it hit the wall and stuck there. I stood up and slashed its neck with my sword. Nothing happened, my sword phased right through it. "What the?" I asked aloud. 'Only dark magic will end these bulls.' The voice said in my head again. I put my sword away as the bull dislodged itself from the wall and charged again. I jumped up and over it while I shot a black bolt of lightning at it's back. The lightning coursed through it and it exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. I landed in front of the other bull as it blasted fire again. I put my arms up to shield my face and closed my eyes, knowing I was done for. I opened my eyes and noticed that the fire was parting around me. I stood up as the fire stopped. The bull started to back away as I shot another bolt of lightning at it. It exploded and sent more shrapnel everywhere. As I watched, the shrapnel from both bulls pulled together in the center of the room and formed a pedestal with a gold and black chest plate on it. I walked over and grabbed the chest plate. As soon as I did, the whole place began to shake and rumble. I ran through the pillars and came out the other side. "What happened in there?" Twilight asked. "No time, we need to get out of her! The whole place is coming down!" I yelled as I pushed them pushed them towards the exit. Chapter 27I opened my eyes to the sound of a sharp scream. I sat up and realized that I was sitting in a sand dune crater. I looked up to see Fluttershy staring at me with tears in her eyes. "You're okay!" She screamed as I stood up. I checked myself. No broken bones, no blood, and the injury on my back was gone. "How is that possible?" I heard Twilight ask from behind me. I turned to see them all standing behind me with looks of concern on their faces. Fluttershy gave me a huge hug. "I don't get it. That fall should have killed me." I said as I pulled away from Fluttershy and double checked myself. Even my wing was healed. "Yer not a zombie are ya?" AJ asked as she backed away from me. "No. I'm just not dead. This doesn't make sense, I just free fell from like two-thousand feet. I've seen people fall from just one-thousand feet and they had to scrape them off the ground with a shovel." I said. I looked around and found my phone, completely shattered, sitting right where I just was. I was completely perplexed as to how I had survived that fall. I found the tracker device. No surprise that it was intact, it was made of a material that was nearly indestructible. I saw the red blip wasn't far from where we were now. "We should get going. We'll figure this out later. Hold this." I said as I handed Fluttershy the tracker device and took off my shirt and hoodie. I removed the bandages and redressed. I took the device back from Fluttershy and started walking in the direction of the red blip. "What even happened up there?" Twilight asked as we passed over a sand dune. "I had to push Fluttershy out of the plane to get her to safety. Then I opened her chute for her because she was to frightened to move. When I tried to open mine, nothing happened." I replied as I kept tracking the red blip. "Not even your emergency chute?" She asked. "No. I wasn't really worried about myself though. I just wanted to get Fluttershy to safety." I said as we neared the location of the red blip. We came to an old run down warehouse in the middle of nowhere that looked vaguely familiar. Wind Storm walked over to me. "Isn't that the same warehouse from before?" She asked. I just nodded, thinking about the time I had to leave her behind. I put the tracker device back into her bag and took a deep breath as we approached the entrance. Chapter 29A fluorescent light shone above us, lighting the room. I looked around and saw that we were in some kind of holding cell. I looked to the far wall and saw a cot with someone lying on it, someone with a very distinctive head of rainbow hair. "Dash!" I yelled as I ran over to her. I picked her up and sat on the cot with her head in my lap. Her eyelids fluttered open for a moment. "Jet?" She asked weakly. "I'm here, baby." I said as I noticed she was no longer wearing her wedding dress. She was lying there in just her underwear and bra. Her breathing was shallow and she looked pale. "What' wrong with her?" I asked. Twilight came over and examined her. "It looks like she's been deprived of food and water for days. She's..." Twilight started to say. "No. That can't be right." I said as I pushed her hair from her face. By the sound of her breathing, I knew Twilight was right. She wouldn't last much longer in this condition. "No! I won't lose you again!" I yelled. Her breathing was getting more shallow now. I raked my brain for anything I may have learned in the academy that would help. I couldn't think of anything. We were trained for almost everything, but not for this. I looked up with a pleading look to the others. AJ was trying to kick the door down, Rarity stood there and wouldn't meet my eyes, Pinkie had finally passed out and was sprawled on the floor, and Fluttershy was sitting in the corner crying. Only Twilight and Wind were looking at us. They both had tears in their eyes. Wind put her hand on my shoulder. "There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry." She said. I looked at Twilight. "Isn't there a spell you can do?" I asked. "I'm sorry. Not even magic can cheat death." She said. I felt tears stream down my face. "No! I refuse to let her go!" I screamed. 'We can heal her.' The voice said in my head. 'Really?' I thought. 'Yes. But, you must do something for us.' It said. 'Anything. I will do anything.' I thought. 'Excellent. If we are to heal her, we will need to take something from each of you.' It said. 'What do you mean take something from us?' I asked. 'It is the law of equivalent exchange. In order to perform a feat as great as this, something must be taken in order for something to be given.' It said. 'What are you going to take?' I asked. 'Nothing too important. We do not require much to thrive. We simply want what all others want. Love.' It said. 'What are you talking about?' I asked. 'We will take away a loving memory that you two share.' It said. 'Which one?' I asked. 'We will decide once you make your decision. But, we would not waste any time if we were you. Her life force is fading fast.' It said. I thought about what it was telling me. If I agreed to this, it would save her life, but we would lose a happy memory of us together. If I didn't, I would lose her forever. 'Tick tock, tick tock.' The voice said. 'Okay. Do it.' I thought. 'Excellent.' It replied.
Chapter 2We arrived on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. There was various animal noises coming from inside it. "Alright. Everyone ready?" I asked as I headed the group. "No." Fluttershy said quietly. I grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close to me. "You don't have to be afraid. I will protect you and everyone else from harm." I said. She looked into my eyes and nodded as her fear slightly faded away. "Yes. Because you did such a smashing job at protecting Dash." Rarity said. Twilight gasped. "Rarity, how could you?" She asked. I let go of Fluttershy and walked over to Rarity. I looked her in the eye. "Now, is not the time for your mouth, 'darling'." I said impersonating her to my best ability. "Well, it's only the truth." She said. "Actually, if it wasn't for me, she would be dead!" I yelled, my anger rising. "How do you figure that?!" She shouted back. "Because if I hadn't taken that gunshot, she would be dead!" I screamed. Fluttershy was cowered down behind AJ at this point. "True. But, instead she's been captured and taken to Celestia knows where. For all we know she could be dead anyway!" She shouted. Twilight clamped her hands over both of our mouths. "Will you two shut the hell up already?!" Twilight shouted. "Rarity, there was no need for you to rub that in. Jet, there was no need for you to take it this far." She said as she lowered her hands. "I'm sorry, darling. I know that you're hurting more than all of us." Rarity said. "It's okay, Rarity. I can't be easy losing one of your best friends." I said as she hugged me.
Chapter 4"Well, now what?" AJ asked. "I'm not sure. But, there's good news. If this bridge is still burning, it means we're not late to the party." I said. "Party?!" Pinkie said. "Not that kind of party, Pinkie." I said. "We could always fly across and carry Pinkie, Rarity, and AJ." Twilight said. "Oh. Right." I replied, remembering my wings. "Sorry. It's hard to think knowing that Dash is somewhere right now possibly being hurt." I said. "That's alright. You take AJ, Fluttershy can take Rarity, and I'll carry Pinkie." Twilight said. I picked up AJ and lifted us off the ground. I got us over the chasm quickly and landed just as Twilight landed beside me. I looked back to Fluttershy swaying back and forth as she looked down into the chasm. Just as I was about to say something, they both dropped. Rarity screamed as she fell. I flew as fast as I could and caught them both just before they hit the ground. I joined the others on the grass above. Rarity hugged me again. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She said. Fluttershy stood up wearily. "I'm sorry, Rarity. I just couldn't support both of us." Fluttershy said. "It's okay, darling. Next time though, just tell us if you can't do it. We won't judge you. We know you're not the bravest when it comes to heights." Rarity said. There was a crash from the castle ruins behind us.
Chapter 7I looked up to see another pegasus dressed in black. She had long wavy blond hair and an eye patch over her left eye. "Wind Storm?!" I shouted. She just looked down at me and laughed. "That's right, 'captain'." She said sarcastically. "But, why?" I asked. "It's simple. You left me to die when we were found out in the Saddle Arabia desert." She said. "What?! No, you told me to go on without you. I tried to come back for you, but, you sealed the door so I couldn't get back in." I replied. She stopped for a minute and her expression changed from hate to sorrow for a brief second. She shook her head. "No, you're lying. You will pay for what you did to me." She said as she charged at me with her sword drawn. I dodged out of the way just in time. She sliced the chandelier in half, freeing Midnight and Thunder. They all flew off into the distance through a hole in the roof. I started to go after them, but, they used there cloaking. "No, Jet. They're not worth it." Twilight said. "I know I can get through to them. We weren't just a team. We were best friends." I said as we headed out of the castle ruins. "We need to stop them from getting the rest of that armor. It's the only way to help them." She said. "Where do we go now?" AJ asked. "Well, Celestia said that they hid the pieces in the castle ruins of each of the kingdoms across Equestria. So, since that happened more than a thousand years ago, that means they hid them in present day Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Las Pegasus." I said. Rarity gasped. "I refuse to go back to that awful city of Manehattan. It changes people." She said. "We don't really have a choice here Rarity." I said. "Fine. But, don't expect anyone in that city to be of much help." She said as we headed back into town toward the train station. As we boarded the train, Twilight came over to me. "What was that pegasus talking about when she said you'd pay for what you did to her?" She asked. "Well, it was a long time ago. Back before I even became a captain. We were on a covert ops mission in Saddle Arabia..." I said.
Chapter 8(FLASHBACK) 'We were sitting on a cloud waiting to make contact with our target'. "Do you think we'll get to fight any bandits?" Wind asked. "I would hope not. We're supposed to do this without being seen, remember?" I replied. "Yea, but, wouldn't it be cool?" She asked. "It would be. But, let's try to avoid it." I said. I stared through binoculars at the giant steel building that was said to be a secret military base. We were looking for some intel on a secret project that was said to be a violation of the peace treaty with Equestria. I watched as a unicorn dressed in fatigues came out of the base and lit a cigarette. "Now's our chance. Cloak up." I said as I pulled my face mask up. We headed down and positioned ourselves. I took the guy out and threw him to Wind who took his keycard and PDA, then hid his body in a dumpster. I used his keycard to get us inside. We pulled our masks down and entered the door and entered a long hallway. I pulled out the PDA and pulled up a map. I looked at and found a room that looked to be a giant hangar. I signaled for Wind to follow me. She nodded. We moved down the hallway and came to a set of hanger doors. There was two successions of them with a small space between them. We passed through them and entered the hangar. What we saw shocked us. They had built nuclear bombs. We quickly snapped some photos before leaving. We were almost to the door when I sneezed. We heard a guard yell as we were heading toward the door. The alarm sounded and we took off running. I heard the hangar door slam behind me, followed by a sharp scream. I turned to see Wind with her leg trapped under the door. I ran back and tried to lift the door. It was too heavy. "Just go!" She yelled. "I won't leave you. You're my partner!" I screamed as I tried the keycard in the door with no effect. She pushed me and threw a knife at the inside control panel of the other door. It slammed shut as I ran to help her. I pounded on the door with my fists. "No! Wind! I won't leave you!" I screamed. I heard guards shouting as they ran toward me. "I'm sorry, Wind!" I said as turned and ran towards the exit. I busted through exit door just as the building went into full lockdown. I flew back to HQ with a heavy heart, knowing that it was my fault.
Chapter 11As we went down, torches lit up on either side of the stairs, providing plenty of light. We made it to the bottom and entered a giant hallway. "I don't like this. It's scary down here." Fluttershy said quietly. "It's okay, Fluttershy. This place has been undisturbed for years. The chances of anything being alive down here are very low." I said. We continued on and Rarity screamed. I jumped and turned to look at her. "What's wrong?" I asked. She pointed to the ground, where a spider was crawling across. "Seriously?" I asked. She just gave me a angry pouty face. I just turned around and kept going. We made it to the end of the hallway and entered a large throne room. "Alright, ladies. It looks like we beat them here. Let's look around." I said. "Do you think it'll be in the same place as before?" Twilight asked. "I guess it's worth a try." I replied as I made my way behind the throne. There was a lever back there. I pulled it and sure enough the floor opened up, revealing a pedestal. This one had a pair of gold gauntlets with red gems embedded in the hands of them. I grabbed them and put them into Twilight's bag. "Okay. At least we have one piece of the armor. As long we have that, he won't be able to reach his full power." I said. "True. We should probably get out of here, there's no telling when those three will show up." Twilight said. "Yes, let us leave this spider and dirt infested place." Rarity added. We made our way back out and onto the street. I hailed a taxi and we headed back to the train station.
Chapter 12"Okay, where to now?" I asked. "Well, we could go to either. There's a train for both leaving in about five minutes. I vote we go to Las Pegasus. It's a long train ride and it will give us some time to sleep, get our strength back up." Twilight said. "I agree. We'll need our strength. Especially if we encounter my team again." I said. "Then its settled, we will head to the party capital of Equestria. Las Pegasus." Pinkie said. We boarded the train and took our seats in one of the cars that had bedding in them. We laid down and fell asleep almost instantly. It had been a stressful day. I kept having nightmares about Dash. I woke up in a cold sweat and pulled my legs over the edge of the bed. I sat there with my face in my hands. I heard a thump on the top of the car we were in. It was the sound of someone running on top of the train. I got up and moved to the door just as it opened and I was face to face with a blond haired pegasus with an eyepatch. "Wind Storm." I said as she kicked me in the chest, knocking me backwards. She jumped over me and grabbed Twilight's bag. She ran to the other end of the car and out the door. I chased her and caught her on top of the cars. "Why are you even still trying? Prince Blackblood will rule all of Equestria. It's his destiny." She said. "No, you're wrong. Wind, this isn't you. Whatever hold he has over you, fight it." I said as she drew her sword. "The prince has done nothing but show me the truth. Now, die!" She screamed. "I won't fight you. This isn't you. The real Wind Storm was my best friend. She would never give in to someone like Prince Blackblood. Fight it, you are strong. Remember the truth." I said as I dodged her blade. "You speak lies!" She said as she swung again. "Come on, I know that my Wind Storm is in there somewhere! You're stronger than him! Fight it!" I yelled. She dropped her blade and fell to her knees with her hands to her head. "That's it! Fight him! Don't let him win! We've been through worse and come out on top!" I said. "Get out of my head, you evil bastard!" She screamed. "That's it, come back to me, Wind!" I shouted. She dropped her hands and looked up at me. "Jet Stream?" She asked with a drowsy look on her face. "I'm here, Wind. Just relax and let me help you." I said. She managed a week smile before collapsing. I grabbed her and headed back into the train. I set her on my bunk and sat on the edge of it. I took her bag and Twilight's.
Chapter 13"What is he doing here?!" Twilight asked as she jolted me awake. I looked up to see her standing over me with an eyebrow raised. I hadn't even realized I'd fallen asleep. "She was trying to steal our piece of the armor last night. I followed her out onto the top of the train and talked her down. I think I managed to break Blackblood's hold on her." I said. "I'll be the judge of that." Twilight said. She grabbed Wind's head and brought it close to hers. She put her horn against Wind's forehead. After about a minute, she put her back down and pulled back. "Well, she's cleared of dark magic. How did you do it?" She asked. "I just reminded her of how strong she is and how close we've always been. She fought him off. And there's also some better news." I said as I opened Wind's bag and pulled out the helmet from before. "Wow! We have two pieces now! We might get to have that after party after all!" Pinkie yelled. Wind started to wake up. She looked up at me. "Jet! I thought you were reassigned." She said. "No. I had some help in making them see the error of their rules." I said. "Where am I?" She asked. "You're on a train to Las Pegasus." I replied. "Las Pegasus? How did I get here?" She asked as the train jolted to a stop. "Come on. I'll explain everything on the way." I said as we exited the train. As we walked to the tourist kiosk, I explained what happened to her. "Wow. The last thing I remember is hearing that you were being reassigned." She said. "Yea. You were pretty out of it." I replied as I grabbed a map. I looked it over. "Damn it. Would it kill these people to list the kingdom ruins on a map." I said. "Excuse me." Said a voice from in front of me. I looked up to see a male unicorn with straightened black and red striped hair. He was wearing black jeans and an orange T-shirt with a picture of a microphone on it. "I couldn't help but over hear that you were looking for the old kingdom ruins." He said. "Yea. Why?" I asked. "Well, it's just that that's where I'm heading here shortly. Just as soon as my DJ arrives. We're throwing a huge rave out there. I can give you guys a lift if you'd like." He said. "That would be nice. What do you ladies think?" I asked. They all nodded. "Alright. Sounds like a plan to me. I'm Jet Stream. This Is Wind Storm, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rain..." I started to say as I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Sun Blast. I run a club out here in Las Pegasus." He said. "You said you were waiting on your DJ." I said. "Oh, there she is now." He said pointing behind us to the train. I turned to see the unicorn from Pinkie's party. "Vinyl Scratch!" Pinkie screamed and ran over to the DJ and hugged her. "Oof! What are you doing here, Pinkie?" She asked. "We're on a top secret mission for Celestia." Pinkie said. "Pinkie!" We all shouted. "Oops! Don't tell anyone, Vinyl." Pinkie said. "Your secrets safe with me." Vinyl said. She looked over at Sun Blast. "Sun, it's been a while." She said as she fist bumped the other unicorn. "Our annual rave last year. Man that one got out of hand fast." Sun said. "Pssh. You're telling me. Tavi kicked my ass when she found out about it. So many cops." Vinyl said. "So, shall we?" Sun said pointing to a bus parked in the train station parking lot. We hopped aboard and headed into the desert.
Chapter 14As we rode down the desert road toward the ruins, everyone was talking, dancing, and having fun. Vinyl was playing some more of her dubstep as we drove. I just sat there lost in my own thoughts and watched the desert dunes whizz by. "Hey, Jet. Is everything okay?" Wind asked. "Huh. Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just remembering what happened yesterday." I replied without looking away from the window. "You really love her, don't you?" She asked. I sighed and looked at her with sad eyes. "It's more than love. I would do anything for her. If it came down to it, I would sacrifice myself for her." I replied. She just looked at me with care in her eyes. She pulled me into a hug. "We'll save her. Don't worry." She said. "Thanks. You've always been good friend and team mate." I said as she let go and went back to join the others. I rode the rest of the way in silence. The bus stopped in front of a partially collapsed Roman style temple. There was a group of people waiting outside of the building. "Well, we're here. Let's get our gear unloaded and get this party started." Sun said as we exited the bus. The DJ booth set up rather easily and Vinyl started the music. We made our way back behind the booth to a hallway and found the throne room. I turned to the group and noticed one of them was missing. "Where's Pinkie?" I asked. "Take a guess." Twilight said as she pointed behind us to the rave area. "Of course. Oh well. We shouldn't need her. Let's find that lever." I said. We split up and searched the room. "Found it!" AJ shouted from the right side of the room. "I found one too." Rarity said from the left side. "Two levers? I wonder which one is the right one." Twilight said from behind the throne. "Wait, I found something." I said as I looked at an inscription on the wall. Everyone came over to look at it too. On the wall was the phrase, 'רק כאשר התפיסה שלך משתנה, יהיה לך למצוא את הדרך הנכונה'. "What in tarnation is that chicken scratch." AJ asked. I studied the inscription for a minute. "It appears to be ancient Hebrew." I said. "How do you know that, darling?" Rarity asked. "In the academy we are forced to learn over a dozen languages so we can translate any documents we may encounter during our missions." I said. "What does it say?" Twilight asked. "It says, 'only when your perception is altered, will you find the correct path'." I said. "What does it mean, alter your perception?" Twilight asked. I just shrugged. "Hey guys!" Pinkie yelled as she burst into the room. She joined us at the wall. "What are you guys doing?" She asked as she looked at me. I looked into her eyes and noticed that her pupils were bouncing around. "Pinkie, did you accept any kind of food from anyone at the rave?" I asked. "Of course I did. It would've been rude to say no." She said. I just sighed and put my head in my hand. "Just help us find the right lever so we can get the armor piece and get out of here." I said. "What do you mean help you find it? It's right there." Pinkie said as she pointed to the middle of the room. "Pinkie. There's nothing there. Maybe you should just sit down until the effects of whatever you took wears off." I said. She gave me a hateful look and walked over to where she pointed. She motioned beside herself. "You guys don't see the pedestal sitting right here?" She asked. I looked to Twilight with a concerned look. "Pinkie, maybe Jet's right. You should just find somewhere to sit down." Twilight said. Pinkie just groaned. She stuck her hand out and it disappeared. When she pulled her hand back, she was holding a set of gold grieves with red gems in the shins of them and what appeared to be spikes on the backs of them. We all gasped. "Pinkie. How did you do that?" Twilight asked. "I just grabbed them. They were sitting right here." She replied. "Wait. Alter your perception. That's it, we couldn't see them because our minds are free of mind altering drugs." I said. "Well, ah guess them ancient Las Pegasusians liked ta party to." AJ said. "I guess so." Twilight said. Just then, the boots levitated out of Pinkie's hands and disappeared.
Chapter 16"Nurse Redheart?" I asked. Her face got really red. "Uh. Um. Yes..." She said. "Don't worry. This is our little secret." I said as she examined my back. "What was this cut made by?" She asked. "A sword enchanted with dark magic." I said. "Oh my. This will take some work." She said as she pulled off her backpack. She unzipped it and pulled out a roll of gauze, a washcloth, a strip of leather, and a bottle of alcohol. "You may want to bite down on this." She said as she handed me the leather strip. "No. Just do it." I said as pushed the strip away. "Suit yourself." She said as she uncapped the alcohol and poured some onto the rag. "This will sting. A lot." She said. "Just get it over with already." I said. She shrugged and started to rub the rag against the cut. I cringed slightly at the pain. After she had thoroughly cleaned my wound, she pressed a clean towel to it and started to wrap the gauze around me. Once she finished, she pulled out a small trash bag and stuffed the wash cloth and my old shirt into it. She then pulled out a pill bottle and uncapped it. She pulled out a small white pill. "Here, take this." She said. "What's that?" I asked. "It's a condensed form of opium. It'll draw out the poison from the dark magic." She said as she pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to me. "If you say so." I said. I took the pill and emptied the bottle of water. "Good. Now, just get some rest and you'll be fine." She said as she left the bus. "What about my shirt?" I asked. "Don't worry, darling. I'm sure I can find something around here to use to make you a new one. Just get some rest." Rarity said. Wind Storm sat down beside me. "I'll stay by your side until you wake up. We should be in Fillydelphia by then." She said. "Thank you. All of you." I said as I closed my eyes.
Chapter 17(Dream Sequence) I awoke laying in a field of black lotus flowers. I stood up and looked around, the only thing I could see was black trees around me. I was still in just my jeans and boots. "Hello?" I called out. "No one can hear you. We are deep in your subconscious." I heard a familiar voice from behind me. I turned to see Luna standing there. "Luna. What are you doing here?" I asked. "I sensed that you were in peril. I entered your nightmare to lend you some advice. Your mind is slowly being taken control of by the dark magic that was in that blade. If you do not stop it, you will become a mindless puppet for Prince Blackblood, just like your team mates." She replied. "But, how do I stop it?" I asked. "You must find the disharmony in your mind and destroy it. It is the thing that my brother's dark magic feeds on. He makes those you care about into beings of pure chaos. They infiltrate your mind and corrupt you until you beilieve that that is how they really are." She said. "But, where do I even start to look?" I asked. She pointed to a path between the trees. "You must find your own way from here. Once you enter the forest of that dark magic, I will not be able to help you any more." She said. I nodded and started toward the path. "Wait." She said. I turned to her. "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this." She said as she handed me a silver kitana that had a pattern of black stars going up the blade. "This will allow you to face any foe you may encounter here. Good luck. Remember, all of Equestria is counting on you." She said as she disappeared. "Oh, yeah. No pressure or anything." I said as I made my way towards the path.
Chapter 18I walked slowly down the narrow path between the trees, fully aware of my injury that was still very painful, even in my subconscious. As I continued I heard voices coming from the black forest around me. I continued on and found myself in a clearing. I stopped as I heard the voices get closer. Just as I made my way to the center of the clearing, two shapes jumped out of the brush at me and knocked me to the ground. I stood and got into a fighting stance with my sword. I was shocked by what I saw. Better yet who I saw. It was Fluttershy and AJ, only they were different. They had black eyes and their skin had a greyish tint to it. "Well, looks like we got us a fighter. Wouldn't you agree, sugahcube?" AJ said to Fluttershy. "I think you're right, AJ." Fluttershy said. She didn't speak in her usual sweet and innocent voice. This Fluttershy was more confident and had a demanor about her that said she was ready to kill anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way. "I don't know who you think you are taking on those names. You're not the Fluttershy and AJ I know and love." I said standing my ground as they pulled out weapons of their own. Fluttershy had a giant hammer and AJ had a barbed lasso. "Let's do this!" I yelled as I charged them. I dodged as AJ tossed her lasso at me. But, I wasn't quick enough and she caught one of my wings and pulled it tight. I thought for sure she was going to rip it off. I grabbed the lasso with my free hand and pulled it. AJ flew toward me and brought my sword up as she flew over head. The blade caught her in the torso and sliced straight down. She dissipated in a cloud of black smoke. Just as I was turning to face Fluttershy, she got me with her hammer on the cut on my back. "Gah!" I screamed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" She asked sarcastically as she started to laugh evilly. I reached back and undid the lasso from my wing. I grabbed the handle of it and flung the end at Fluttershy, catching her leg. She yelped as I pulled her to the ground. Her hammer flew out her hand and landed on her head as she hit the ground. She dissipated just like AJ did. After she was gone, both of their weapons disappeared and the black forest receded into a small wooded area that the sun was able to get through. On the other side of the clearing, I saw the path continuing to a dilapidated looking town.
Chapter 20I headed out of Mountgomery towards the castle. I arrived and entered the garden entrance. There was black lotuses and brambles everywhere. The door to the castle was blocked by huge vines of thorns. I slashed them with my sword, but, it just bounced off. "Shit, now what?" I said aloud. "Now, you die and submit to the will of Prince Blackblood." A voice said from behind me. I turned to see a dark version of Twilight, with her horn glowing with black light. "What makes you think you can succeed where the others failed?" I asked. She laughed maniacally. "Because, unlike them I can use this forms magic to allow the use of my full potential as a being of pure dark magic!" She yelled as she sent a blast of dark magic at me. I dove out the way just in time. There was a huge scorch mark where I had been standing. "Hmm. Perhaps I'll need a little help from my number one assistant." She said as Spike appeared at her side. He lunged at me and bit into my bad wing. "Gah!" I screamed as I fell to one knee. Twilight walked over and stood over me. "Seems like you are not as strong as you thought." She said as she charged a blast from her horn. Just as she fired, I pulled Spike off my wing and held him in front of the blast. He was vaporized and my hands were scolded. I picked up some dirt and threw it into her eyes. I jumped out of sight while she was blinded. "You can't hide forever. I will find you." She said as I crouched behind a bush. "Think, Jet. How can you beat a being of pure dark magic?" I asked myself. I watched as she looked around for me. I raked my brain. "What would Twilight do?" I asked as I watched her getting closer. "If I can just distract her long enough, I can get the jump on her." I said aloud. I noticed a small rock by my foot. I picked it up and chucked it into a bush across from me. "There you are!" She said as she ran over and searched the bush. I jumped out and ran my blade through her back. She turned into black smoke and vanished. The brambles disappeared and the garden returned to normal. The vines of thorns receded from the castle door. I opened them and headed inside.
Chapter 21I made my way through the black crumbling hallways and into the throne room. Sitting in the throne was Rainbow Dash. But, not my Dash, this was the dark magic version. Her hair was no longer beautifully colored in the spectrum of the rainbow, it was now several shades of gray. "It's about time you got here." She said as she stood up. She had a solid black broadsword in one hand and a crystal orb in the other. She was throwing the orb into the air and catching it again as she walked over to me. "Don't even try to get to me. You're not my Dash." I said as I readied my sword. "No. Maybe not. But, after I destroy this, you won't know the difference." She said holding the orb out for me to see. I looked into it and saw that it was flashing various pictures. I realized that it was all my memories of Dash. The orb was slowly being clouded by black smoke. "Yep. It's only a matter of time before you will only remember your precious Dashie as the monster I made her into." She said. "No. I won't let you take her away from me!" I yelled as I swung my sword. She parried my move and stuck the orb into her pocket. She then started to fight with me. We fought back and forth for several minutes. Finally, we locked blades. I saw the strain on her face as she struggled to hold me back. I let out a slight laugh. "What's so funny?" She asked. "Just the fact that..." I started as I disarmed her. Her sword flew up and lodged in the ground a few feet away. "I've always been better at sword fighting than Dash." I finished. I held my blade to her throat and readied to strike. I hesitated. I just couldn't do it, I knew this wasn't my Dash, but I just couldn't do it. She sensed my hesitation and spun kicked me to the ground. "Ha. I knew you'd wimp out." She said as she retrieved her blade and walked over to me. She stood over me and pulled out the crystal orb. It was almost completely black now. "Any last words before you become a permanent member of the Blackblood army?" She asked as she raised her sword. I just sat up and closed my eyes and waited for her to strike. I heard a metallic clang. I opened my eyes to see Dash locking blades with someone. I looked over to see Wind Storm. She looked down at me. "You're not really going to give up are you? What happened to the fearless leader I know and love?" She asked. "I'm still here. I just can't bring myself to hurt Dash. Even if that is just a cheap dark magic copy." I said. Wind knocked Dash back, which stunned her. She looked back at me. "If you don't kill this cheap copy, you'll never see the real Dash again." Wind said. "What's the point. We're just going to lose in the end anyway." I replied. "That's not true. That's just the dark magic talking. You have to get up and fight. Imagine if Dash saw you being this way, do you think she would still love then? No, she wouldn't. She loved the fact that you were strong and brave and would do anything for her." She said as she deflected another blow from Dash. Her words hit me like a bag of bricks. "You're right. I can't just give up. I need to fight!" I yelled as I picked up my sword and swung at Dash and hit her in the shoulder, cutting straight down through her chest. "No!" She yelled as she disappeared. The crystal orb fell free. I caught it just before it hit the floor. The castle became brighter and new again and the black smoke from the orb absorbed into my hand and went back to normal. "I can take that and put it back where it belongs it for you." Wind said. "Thanks. I don't know what I would've done without you." I said as I handed her the orb. "Well, you would've fallen to the darkness like I did." She said as she gave me a hug. "True." I said. "Well, I think now it's time for you to wake up." She said. "Wake up." She said again
Chapter 22(Equestria) "Wake up!" I heard Wind Storm's voice. I opened my eyes to see her staring at me with concern in her eyes. "How are you feeling?" She asked. I sat up and stretched, immediately regretting it as I felt my wound bust open. "Damn it." I said as I saw the blood soaking the bandages. "It's okay. Nurse Redheart came along with us. I'll go get her." She said as she got up and moved down the aisle. She came back after a minute. "Well, you definitely look a lot better. Let's get those old bandages off of you." She said as I moved to the outer seat and lifted up my arms. She slowly unwrapped the gauze from my midsection and put it into another trash bag. She rubbed it down with some more alcohol and rebandaged it. "There you go, hun. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a rave to get to." She said as she left the bus. I had just realized that the bus was stopped. "How long have we been here?" I asked. "About five minutes. The others have been waiting on you to get up. We should go find them." Wind said as I got. I grabbed my sword and followed her off the bus. I was immediately jumped by Pinkie. "I'm so happy to see that you're feeling better!" She said. Her pupils were still bouncing around her eyes and she was almost completely covered in glow stick and bracelets. "Pinkie, have you been eating random food stuff from these people again?" I asked. "Yes. I haven't slept since the train ride. I feel great!" She yelled. "Alright, Pinkie. But, I still think you should quit accepting food from these ravers." I said as we left to find the others. After a few minutes of looking around, we found Twilight and Rarity by the DJ booth. It was set up in a big open field in the center of the city. We started walking over to them. Twilight saw us and came over to me. "How are you feeling, Jet?" She asked. "I still feel like crap. But, we have a job to do and I can't sit on the sidelines while you ladies put yourselves in danger." I said as I shivered a little. I just realized that I was still shirtless. Twilight saw me shiver and walked over to Rarity, who was talking to guy wearing jeans and a plain white shirt. The most normal looking person I had seen at this crazy party. She and Twilight walked back over to us. "You're liable to catch your death in this weather, darling. Here. I know it's not the most stylish outfit, but, it's all I could do on such short notice." She said as she handed me a red shirt and a black hoodie. I quickly slipped both on. I notice that the shirt had the black and white knife on the front of it. "I took the liberty of embroidering it with the symbol from your previous attire." Rarity said. "Thanks, Rarity. I like it." I said as I gave her a hug. I turned to Twilight. "Any word on the whereabouts of the old kingdom ruins?" I asked. "Actually, we have found them. There's only one problem, the door into it is collapsed in on itself." Twilight said. "I think I can get us through that." I said. "No go. AJ already tried to kick it in. It's a solid mass of rubble." She said. "Just let me try." I said. "Alright then. Let's get everyone together." She said.
Chapter 23After getting everyone together, Twilight led us to the ruins entrance. "Ah don't see how you're gonna kick through that mess. It's pretty solid, sugahcube." AJ said as I approached the entrance. I examined the rubble. I tried to punch through it and almost broke my hand. "Fuck! That hurt!" I said as I shook my hand. "Ah told ya it was solid." AJ said. "Yea. I got that, thanks." I said. 'Use the dark magic.' I heard a voice say. "What?" I asked as I turned to the others. "We didn't say anything." Twilight said. 'Use the dark magic!' The voice yelled. "You guys don't hear that?" I asked. They all listened then shook their heads. "Are you sure you're okay, darling. Maybe you should sit down for a minute." Rarity said. 'USE THE DARK MAGIC!' The voice screamed at me. I saw an image in my head of the doorway exploding open. "Guys, stand back. I have an idea." I said. "What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. "Just trust me." I said. They all backed up a few feet. I approached the door and raised my hand. I concentrated on the image I had seen. A bolt of black fire shot out of my hand and exploded against the doorway. The rubble was gone and the way was clear. I turned around to see everyone staring at me with their mouths hanging open. Twilight broke the silence. "How did you do that?" She asked. "I'm not sure. I just pictured the doorway exploding and that happened." I replied. "This is impossible. In the history of Equestria, there's never been a pegasus be able to use magic before. I don't understand how this is possible." She said as we entered the ruins. It didn't take us long to find the throne room. We searched around and found another inscription. It read, 'Μόνο εκείνοι που ασκούν τις μαύρες τέχνες πρέπει να περνούν από σώος.' There was also an arrow pointing to the left of it to a set of pillars that looked like it should be a door. "It's Greek." I said. "What's it say?" Twilight asked. "It says, 'Only those who wield the black arts shall pass through unharmed.' It's a warning to trespassers." I said. "The black arts. As in black magic?" Twilight asked. "That would be my guess." I said. "How are we supposed to get through then?" She asked. I thought about the voice I had heard. "I think I can get through it." I said. "What makes you think you can do that, darling.?" Rarity asked as I approached the wall between the pillars. "Back outside the ruins before I saw the doorway explode in my head, I heard a voice telling me to 'use the dark magic.' I think that instead of corrupting me like it did to my teammates, Blackblood's dark magic was somehow absorbed into my body." I said as I explained about my dream, Luna's appearance, the dark versions of all of them, and the black smoke in the orb. "Wow. That's incredible. It somehow managed to corrupt your memories of each us and turn them against you to try and break your subconscious. When it didn't succeed, you somehow took it's power and harnessed it." Twilight said. "Yea. That's why I think this will work." I said. She put her hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure about this?" She asked. "We don't really have a choice. If I don't survive this, please take care of Dash for me." I said as I took a deep breath and stepped between the pillars. I felt like I stepped into water.
Chapter 25As soon as we got outside, the whole ruins collapsed. We were all coughing from the dust that was blown out behind us. While we were having our coughing fit, I felt the chest plate leave my hand and a familiar voice. "We'll take that. Thank you for getting this for us." Midnight said as he and Thunder flew off. I recovered and quickly pulled a small round metal disk from Wind's bag and shot it at them, it hit Midnight right between the wings as they disappeared from sight. "What was that you shot at them?" Twilight asked as we made our way back to the bus. "It was a tracking beacon. Now, we'll know just where Blackblood is hiding out at." I said as I grabbed a PDA looking device from Wind's bag and switched it on. It showed a red dot traveling over the ocean toward... "Saddle Arabia." I said aloud. "So, we need ta hop a plane." AJ said. "Oh, I don't like flying. Can't we take another way?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. If we're going to get their, we have to fly." I replied. She whimpered and hid behind Twilight. "It's okay Fluttershy. It's just a ride in a plane. We'll be fine." Twilight said. "Yes, don't worry, darling. I'm sure Fillydelphia has the best pilots." Rarity said. We found Sun Burst dancing in the crowd by the DJ booth. I pulled him to the side. "Can you give us a lift to the airport?" I asked. "Sure thing. Just give me a second." He said as he walked over to Vinyl and said something to her, she just nodded and kept DJ'ing. We boarded the bus and left for the airport.
Chapter 26We arrived after about ten minutes. We headed into the terminal and found the ticket counter. I walked up to the lady at the counter. "We need seven tickets for your next flight to Saddle Arabia." I said. She checked her computer. "We have a flight leaving in five minutes, but, it's on a propeller plane." She said. "That's fine. We'll take it." I said as I bought the tickets. We went out onto the tarmac and found our plane. It was a rusted looking propeller plane that had a single door on the side and an old man sitting in the pilot seat. "Y'all heading to Saddle Arabia?" He asked. "Sure are. You our pilot?" I replied. "Yep, hop aboard and we'll take off." He said. "I'm sorry, but, I'm not getting on that. I'll just wait here for you guys." Fluttershy said as she started to walk off. I ran over and grabbed her hand. I looked into her light blue eyes. "Fluttershy. I need you to be brave one more time. If we don't get on this plane, we lose our chance to rescue Dash. Do it for her. Think of everything she's done for you." I said. She just stared back into my eyes for a minute. "Okay. For Rainbow Dash!" She yelled as we all boarded the plane. The pilot started the engine and took off. The plane rattled as it flew. Fluttershy was sitting next to me, squeezing my hand and whimpering with her eyes closed tight. "It's okay. We will get through this." I said. I looked at the tracker device as something hit the plane. There was an explosion as the plane started to free fall over Saddle Arabia. Fluttershy let out a scream. "What the hell was that?" I asked the pilot. "Someone just fired a rocket at us. We need to get out of here." He said as he handed each of us a parachute. "Hurry, if we drop below two thousand feet, those parachutes won't do a bit of good." The pilot said. Everyone quickly strapped on their chutes and jumped out one at a time. The only ones left were me, the pilot, and Fluttershy. "Come on, Fluttershy. We have to jump." I said. She whimpered and shook her head. "I-I can't." She managed to say. "We're hitting three thousand feet!" The pilot warned. "Fluttershy, we have to go now!" I yelled over the increasing wind. She shook her head again. "Two-thousand nine hundred!" The pilot yelled. "Come on, Fluttershy! We're running out of time!" I yelled. She had her eyes tightly closed and tears were streaming down her face. "Two-thousand eight hundred!" The pilot yelled. "Two-thousand seven hundred!" The pilot yelled. I looked from Fluttershy to the pilot and back again. "Two-thousand six hundred!" He yelled as he jumped out the door. I watched the altimeter get to two-thousand five hundred and it was dropping fast. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy!" I yelled. She turned to me with concern and fear on her face. "For what?" She asked. "For this!" I yelled as I pushed her out the door. She screamed as she fell backwards out the door. I jumped behind her and noticed that she wasn't pulling her chute open. I folded my arms into my sides and shot down to her. I leveled myself next to her and pulled her cord. She shot back up a few feet as the chute opened. I pulled my own cord and nothing happened. I started to panic as I pulled my emergency cord and again, nothing happened. I knew this was it. I pulled out my phone and dialed Twilight. "Hello?" She asked. "Remember your promise to take care of Dash for me?" I asked. "Yea." she said. "When you rescue her, tell her that I'll always love her." I said as I hung up the phone. I watched, helpless as the ground got closer. "I'm sorry, Dash. I tried." I said to myself as I looked at the selfie we had taken together and shut my eyes to embrace my fate. I felt my heart pounding, tears welled up in my eyes as I thought of the fact that I'd never see Dash again. I felt the impact of the ground as I hit. I could taste blood and could feel the sharp pain of several broken ribs. I blacked out and my body began to tingle all over. So, this is what death felt like.
Chapter 28It was easy to get in, considering that the door was blown down. We walked down the hallway and all I could think about was Wind Storm screaming for me to leave her behind. "You okay?" She asked from beside me. I just looked over at her and nodded. We continued down the hallway until we came to a set of blast doors that had a symbol of a black skull and crossbones on it. "I think this is it. Stand back." I said. I raised my hand and pictured the door being blown in. I felt my whole body heat up as a huge wave of fire erupted from my hand. The door was melted to just a dripping mass of steel. "Well, that's definitely new." I said as I walked through the door. We entered a dark hallway that lead down and we could hear voices at the end of it. We continued walking and entered a giant chamber with three narrow walkways branching off. One led to the door we entered, the other two led to dark door ways. below us was a river of flowing lava. At the center of the room, on a raised set of steps was a throne that had red cushioning and black wood. In front of the throne was Midnight and Thunder. They were talking to a guy sitting in the throne. The person in the throne had jet black hair and was wearing the greave and chest plate that the two had stolen from us. He stood up as he saw us walking toward him. "Ah, just who I wanted to see." He said in a loud booming voice. It was the same one the guard had spoken with at my wedding. "Prince Blackblood, I presume?" I asked as we approached his throne. "That was my former name, but yes. You may refer to me as Lord Chaos." He said. "How about I refer to you as the piece of shit that stole my beautiful bride!" I yelled. "Hmm. Such hostility. Is that any way to talk to your new ruler?" He asked. "The only thing you're the ruler of is the guy who's face I'm going to kick in!" I yelled. "Enough of this. You will hand over what is rightfully mine." He said. I took Wind's bag from her and opened it up for him to see the contents. "You mean, these?" I asked as I motioned to the helmet and gauntlets inside it. I held it over the edge of the walkway and motioned that I would drop it. "If you don't have these, you will never gain full power." I said. "True. You could just go ahead and drop them, cause me too lose my full powers. But, if you do, you'll never see your precious Rainbow Dash again. However, If you hand them over to me now, I will reunite the two of you." He said. I hesitated. "I'm sorry, guys." I said as I turned to the others and threw the bag to him. He caught it and pulled out the armor pieces. "I held my end of the bargain. Now, it's your turn." I said. "Very well. Midnight, take them to Rainbow Dash." He said as Midnight started down one of the paths. We followed him deeper down into the fortress. We arrived at a door and were pushed inside and stripped of my sword. "Enjoy your final moments together." Midnight said behind us as he closed the door.
Chapter 30I felt the back of my head starting to burn up. My hands began to glow dark purple and that light encompassed Dash as I watched. After about a minute, the light faded and her eyes opened up. I was terrified she wouldn't remember me. She jumped up. "Jet! You came for me!" She yelled as she wrapped her arms around me. She brought me into a long, passionate kiss. After she pulled away from me, I took a deep breath. "Of course I came for you. Why wouldn't I?" I asked. "The two pegasi guarding me kept saying that you had been corrupted and weren't coming for me." She replied. "Well, I'm here now. What happened to your dress?" I asked motioning to her current attire. "They ripped it off me. Something about being able to hide weapons in it." She said. "They didn't hurt you did they? Or do anything else to you?" I asked. "No. They just ripped my dress off and stuck me in here." She said. "That's a relief." I said. "How did you guys get captured anyway." She asked. I looked away and put my hands in my lap. "I... well... I kinda gave the bad guy the means to destroy Equestria." I said. "You what?" She asked. "Yea. I was going to destroy them in the lava, but he said if I did, I'd never see you again. I couldn't take that chance." I replied. She wouldn't look me in the eyes. "I can't believe you did that. You sacrificed all of Equestria for me? Are you nuts?" She asked. Her words stung like a knife in my chest. "But, if we didn't get thrown in here, you would've died." I said. "I don't care. You shouldn't have done that. You should've just thrown the stuff in the lava and been done with it. You could've found someone else." She said. I got up from the bunk. "I don't want anyone else." I said as I walked across the room and sat in the corner. I pulled my knees to my chest and propped my arms on my knees. I rested my head on my arms and hid my face. I felt the tears burst from my eyes. The only reason I put myself through all this was to get Dash back, but, now she hated me. In fact, I hated myself for being so selfish. How could I put myself before the fate of Equestria? I was so stupid. "Rainbow Dash, that's not fair! We. He went through a lot to come and rescue you. He almost got himself killed. Twice! All to rescue you and bring you home. And you have the nerve to tell him he could've just 'found somebody else'?!" Fluttershy yelled as I looked up. "What?" Dash asked. "It's true, darling. If it wasn't for his quick thinking, we never would have found you." Rarity said. "Yea. And I never would have gotten to go to a rave!" Pinkie yelled. Everyone just gave her a dirty look. "Yea, sugahcube. It was tha' thought of you that kept him goin'." AJ said. Dash got up and came over to me. "Is this true?" She asked. "Of course it's true. I would do literally anything for you." I replied. "Well, in that case. Get off your ass and show me the strong, brave, and resourceful man I fell in love with." She said. I stood up, revitalized by her words. I looked around, the door was too solid to kick down. But, I bet the wall next to it isn't. "Stand back, ladies, I have a rather explosive idea." I said. I harnessed the dark magic in my hand and hit the wall next to the door with all my might. It exploded into rubble. We ran through it and up the stairs we had come in on.
Chapter 31We ran through the dark hallways and out onto the walkways above the lava river. Blackblood was standing by his throne with his full armor on. The armor had somehow completely covered his body from head to toe. He looked like an armored titan. He looked over as we approached. "Get them, you fools!" He yelled. Midnight and Thunder charged at us. I jumped over Midnight and grabbed the sword off his back. I landed just in time to hit Thunder with the butt of it and knock him unconscious. I turned to see Wind fighting with Midnight. "Go, I got this!" She yelled. I nodded and ran up to Blackblood. Before he could react, I harnessed the dark magic and gut checked him. He doubled over and I sliced off his horn and wings with my newly acquired sword. "Argh! You will pay for that, you piece of Equestrian scum!" He bellowed as he stood up and knocked me back. "just leveling the playing field." I said. He pulled a sword from behind his throne. It was a gigantic broadsword that looked like a blade from a windmill. "Prepare to die! I will make you wish you were never conceived!" He yelled as blood dripped down the front of his helmet. He swung his sword at me as I put up my own to block. My blade shattered almost instantly. I was knocked back several feet as he swung again. I dodge rolled out of the way and his sword got stuck in the ground. I harnessed the dark magic again and kept it knowing I would need it. I struck him in the ribs several time before he got his sword free. He raised his sword again and slashed straight down. I rolled out of the way again and his blade got stuck again. This time, I hit him right in the face a few times before he got free. "Enough! You have nowhere left to run!" He said. I looked back and realized he was right. I was right at the edge of the walkway. "Now you die!" He said as he raised his blade again. I took a step backward and some of the footing gave way and crumbled. I braced for the inevitable strike of the blade. "Noooooo!" I heard as a black blur flew in front of me, knocking Blackblood over the edge. I ran over to see what it was. I leaned over the side and saw Wind Storm hanging on with both hands.. I grabbed her hand as she slipped. "Hold on Wind, I got you!" I yelled as I tried to pull her up, but she was too heavy. "That's right! Save your pegasus friend!" I heard Blackblood say. I leaned farther over the edge to see him holding on to her legs. "Jet, listen to me! You have to get out of here!" She screamed. "What?! No! I won't leave you again!" I yelled as I tried to pull her up. "You can't lift us! Even if you could, it would just mean saving the greatest evil in all Equestria! You have to let me go!" She screamed. "No! I won't do it!" I yelled. "That's fine. Just remember, friends till the end." She said as she gave me a smile and let go of my hand. "Noooo!" I yelled as I watched her fall into the lava river below. "Wind Storm!" I cried as the fortress began to collapse. "Jet, we have to go now!" Dash said as she pulled me my feet. We ran out of the fortress just as it disappeared into the sand dunes. We made our way back to the airport and caught the first plane back to Equestria.
EpilogueWhen we got their we told Celestia about everything that had happened. We had a funeral for Wind Storm and redid the wedding. We even had Pinkie and Sun Burst arrange the reception. We partied all night. It was just what I needed to take my mind off Wind. We honeymooned in Las Pegasus and partied at Sun Burst's club. After about three days of partying, we returned to our normal lives in Equestria. I returned to my job as captain of the Covert Flyers as a day job and Dash got her wish of becoming a Wonderbolt. Life was great. Dash had to take a leave of absence from the Wonderbolts shortly after starting because she became pregnant. We had a beautiful little foal pegasus with blond hair, that we named after the one who saved my life. Wind Storm. The funny thing about it is, neither one of us remember ever having sex for her to become pregnant in the first place. Oh, well. Just one of those mysteries that will go unanswered, I suppose.
PrologueI stood up and drew my sword. With tears in my eyes, I pointed the blade at Luna. "What have you done?" I asked. She threw hands out in front of her. "Me?" She replied. "Yes, you! That hypnotized guard called Celestia, 'dear sister'! She only has one sister! You!"I shouted. Celestia stepped on front of my blade and pushed the tip down. "You are correct. I do have only one sister." She said. "I knew it! That ring you gave me for Dash was a set up!" I said. "Let me finish. It's true, I have only one sister. But, Luna was not responsible for this." She said. "Well, who was then?" I asked. "Follow me and I'll explain everything." Celestia said as she walked into the castle. She lead us to the library and pulled a large leather bound book from a shelf. I recognized it immediately as the book Twilight had showed me before. Celestia flipped through the book and stopped on a page. She handed me the book and pointed to a story. It was the same one as in Twilight's copy, but, the whole page was there. I read it and gasped. "Is this true?" I asked. Celestia just nodded.
Chapter 1"What is it?" Everyone asked. "According to this, Luna and Celestia have an evil alicorn brother. He murdered their parents when they refused him the throne. Luna and Celestia had no choice but to banish him to Tartarus. If this is true, it means that he is the pure embodiment of chaos itself. I'm sorry I accused you Luna." I said. "It's okay. I understand your anger." Luna said. "Now, hang jus' a minute. I thought that Discord was tha' embodiment of chaos." AJ said. "No, he simply has access to its power. But, chaos itself comes from our brother's dark magic." Luna said. "Yes. I was afraid that he had escaped when cerberus was away. We have dreaded this day. The return of Prince Blackblood." Celesita said. "But, why keep this a secret?" Twilight asked. "Would you want everyone to know that you had to banish both your sister and brother?" Celestia asked. "Good point. How do we find him?" Twilight replied. "I'm not sure. But, if I know him, he'll be after his sword and armor. If he gets them, he will be able to harness his full power. So, we scattered them across Equestria to the ruins of all the old castles. He'll most likely strike here first at our old castle." Celestia said. "You mean in the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "I'm afraid so." Luna replied. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind me. "Do we really have to go there?" She asked. I turned around and looked at her. "Yes we have to go there. If there's even a slight chance that we'll find a clue as to his whereabouts, we're taking it. Because if we find him, we find Dash." I said. She inhaled and swallowed. "Okay. Let's get Dash back." She said. We hurried out of the castle and headed to the Everfree Forest.
Chapter 3"So, I have to ask. How did you survive that gunshot?" Twilight asked as we headed into the forest. "Well, the material I had Rarity make my tux out of is the material we use for our sword cases. It's a combination of leather, shark skin, and Kevlar. It's bulletproof, fire retardant, and cut resistant." I said. Fluttershy gasped. "Oh, those poor sharks. How could you?" She asked. "Don't worry Fluttershy, we only use the skin from sharks that have died from natural causes. The CF never hurt animals." I replied. "Oh, well that's fine then." She said. We walked in silence for a few minutes until there was a rustling in the bushes behind us. It quickly moved to in front of us. Out of the brush, a large brown blur flew past and landed in front of us. A huge wolf made of wood was standing there blocking our path. It opened its mouth and a horrid smell came out. "Rawr!" It growled. I wasn't in the mood for this crap. I walked up to it and stuck my face up to its muzzle. "RAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" I growled at the top of my lungs. It hunkered down and tucked its stick of a tail between its legs before retreating to the bush it had jumped out of. The others just looked at me. "What?" I asked as I started to walk again. AJ came up to walk beside me. "How did you do that?" She asked. "It's one of the things they teach us in the academy. Any animal will back down if you assert your dominance." I replied. We continued on in silence. We came a chasm with a burning rope bridge.
Chapter 5"We need to get moving." I said. "Right." They all said as we headed to the entrance to the ruins. It was a run down grey stone castle. The walls were falling in and the columns looked as if they could collapse at any minute. "Where did they put it!" A voice said from up ahead. I put my finger to my lips as I turned and headed towards the room. I peered around the corner to see a giant dilapidated throne room. There were two pegasi dressed all in black. Only they're heads were exposed. One had jet black hair and the other had bright orange. I recognized them as members of my squad, they were my lead scouts. "Do you know those two?" Twilight asked, clearly reading my expression. I watched as they tore the place apart looking for Prince Blackblood's armor. "They're the top members of my squad. The one with black hair is Midnight Wing, the other one is his brother Thunder Skies." I said quietly. "What should we do?" Fluttershy asked. I thought for a minute. "I have a plan. But, I don't think you'll like it." I said as I looked at Rarity. "What?" She asked. I just smiled at her. "I need you to use your looks to distract them long enough for me to get behind them on the other end of the room." I said. She just sighed. "Is there no other way? I mean look at those two. They look absolutely dreadful, darling." She replied. I just looked at her. "Fine." She said. "Thank you. Just keep them looking away from the right side of the room. Also, keep them in the center of it as well." I said as she made her way into the open. She cleared her throat. "Yoo hoo, boys. Can you help a lady out?" She asked in a sultry voice. She walked into the room and made her way around to the left side. They kept their eyes on her the entire time. Just like I planned. "How did you get over that chasm?" Midnight asked. "Well, I was riding along in my hot air balloon, when out of nowhere this huge gust of wind swept me out of the basket. It was Simply dreadful." Rarity said as I made my way along the wall behind them. I moved along quickly to avoid being spotted. "You seem to be fine to me." Thunder said. "Oh, but I feel faint." Rarity said as she collapsed. Midnight caught her before she hit the ground. I was almost to the other end. Rarity cracked her eye open and looked at me. I motioned for her to get them back together. She stood up and pushed Midnight away. "You ruffian. How dare you try to get fresh with me." She said as I cut the rope holding the chandelier that they stood under. It fell down and trapped them both.
Chapter 6I walked up and gave Rarity a high five. "Nice work, darling." She said. "Me? You're the one that kept these two idiots busy." I said as the others joined us. "Ladies. If you don't mind, look for some kind of secret switch or something. I need to talk to these two, alone." I said as I kneeled in front of the two trapped pegasi. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked. "You were supposed to be reassigned to Appaloosa." Midnight said. "Well, guess what. It didn't happen. Why are you betraying the CF? You were my most trusted scouts." I said. "Pssh. More like your favorite lap dogs." Thunder said. "What are you talking about? I trusted you guys with my life. You were the only family I had when I joined the CF, and you're not even related to me." I said. Midnight spit at me. "I was supposed to be the captain, but then you came in and showed off your fancy schmancy flying skills. After that, they demoted me to scout. I've hated and resented you for that since the beginning." He said. "Yea, and if he would have gotten that position, we would have been set for life. We never would have had to worry about money or anything." Thunder said. "But, now, Prince Blackblood has offered a place at the head of his air force. All we have to do is find the pieces of his armor for him." Midnight said. "Well, he'll never get them. So, it looks like you guys are out of a job." I said. "Hey, I found something." Twilight said from behind the thrones. "It looks like a lever. I'm going to pull it." She said as there was a grinding noise from under the floor. The floor split in two between the thrones and opened up to reveal a pedestal. On top of the pedestal sat a roman style helmet that was gold with a black plume on top. I was walking over to the helmet when I saw a black blur whizz past me and snatch the helmet.
Chapter 9(Flashback end) There was nothing but silence in the train car. "Wow." Twilight said. "How did she get free?" Rarity asked. "After that mission, I led a secret mission to rescue her. I went against the orders of HQ to save her. We found her in an POW camp on the line to be executed. She was alive, but, they had tortured her for days trying to get information out of her. She wouldn't crack, so they cut out her eye and stuck her in a cell to be executed later." I replied. Rarity cupped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my goodness. That's awful." She said. "Yea. But, she never shed a tear. She was always tough, that's why when I was promoted, I made her my lieutenant." I said. The train jolted us as we pulled into the station. We got off and headed to the tourist kiosk. I grabbed a map and looked it over. "Hmm. I don't see any ruins on the map." I said. "Of course not, darling. The city was built on top of all the ruins." Rarity said. "Yeah, they threw a huge party and covered everything up." Pinkie said. "Well, how are we supposed ta' find some ruins if theys all underground. Go ta' every building an' ask ta' explore tha' basement?" AJ asked. "Hmm. I have an idea." I said as I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. "Hello?" Said the voice from the other end. "Hello, doctor. You know that favor you owe me?" I asked. "Yea." He said. "Well, I'm calling it in. How soon can you get to Manehattan?" I asked. "I'm already here." He said as he walked out from behind the tourist kiosk. He had spiky brown hair. He was dressed in his usual light brown suit and trench coat with white undershirt and hourglass pin. "Who's that?" Twilight asked. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Doctor Whooves." He said as he took Twilight's hand and kissed it. He let go of her hand and looked over at me. "What can I do for you, Jet?" He asked. "Well, doctor. I was hoping you could guide us to the ruins of the castle that used to be here." I said. "Ah, yes. Back when this was part of the great Equestrian empire. If I remember right, you should be able to find them under the movie theater. Just head into the basement and look for the loose wall." He said. "Thank you. Much appreciated, Doctor Whooves." I said as he walked back around the kiosk and disappeared. I found the theater on the map. "Alright, ladies. Let's go." I said as I hailed a taxi.
Chapter 10We arrived at the theater after a few minutes. We got out of the taxi and went into the theater. I walked up to the ticket booth. "Hello, sir. We need access to the basement of this building." I said. "I'm sorry, sir. The basement is for staff use only." The ticket vendor said. I pulled Twilight over to the window. "Do you know who this is?" I asked. He looked at her for a minute, then shrugged. "This is the Princess Twilight. Celestia's top student and Princess of Ponyville." I said. He just looked at us with a bored expression. "So?" She asked. "Well, just imagine if a princess were to give this theater a bad review. I don't think it would get a whole lot of business after that, and they would have to shut it down from lack of profits. Then, you would probably never get another job ever, because your superiors would tell all future employers that you were responsible for this theater being shut down." I said as I gave him a smug look. His eyes widened. "Sorry, princess. Right this way." He said as he left the booth and led us through the theater. We came to a door at the back end of the building. He unlocked it and stepped back for us to enter. "Thank you, sir." Twilight said. We headed down into the basement. It was a dark and smelled of mildew. "Okay. Doctor Whooves said to look for the loose wall." I said. I went to one of the walls and knocked on it. It was solid. I tired the spot beside it, it was hollow. "Think I found it." I said. I drew back and hit the wall with full force. It collapsed in on itself and revealed a set of stone stairs. "Nicely done, sugahcube. With that kinda power, we could use yer help on tha' farm durin' apple bucking season." AJ said. "If we get through this, you've got yourself a deal." I said as we descended the stairs.
Chapter 15"Thanks for finding these for us." Midnight's voice echoed. "Oh, I see you managed to turn Wind Storm back to your side. It doesn't matter though." Thunder said. "Show yourselves, cowards." I screamed. Out of nowhere I felt a sharp pain in my back, the feeling of a blade slicing my skin. "Gah!" I screamed as I fell to one knee. "Why don't you try that with me?" Wind yelled as she pulled up her mask. All I could hear was metal clashing in the air somewhere. Just then, Midnight appeared and fell from the air, his stealth suit ripped. He got back up. "Come on brother. Let these fools have what time they have left as free Equestrians." He said as he took off down the hallway. "You better run!" Wind said as she reappeared and landed beside me. "Are you okay?" She asked. I stood up and gave her a weak smile. "I've had worse." I said. She helped me to walk as we exited the room and headed around the DJ booth and past the crowds. Sun Blast was leaned against the side of the bus talking to some pegasus wearing jeans and a purple hoodie. They were both covered in glow sticks. We walked toward him. His eyes went wide when he saw me. He hurried over and helped me onto the bus. "What happened in there?" He asked. I cringed as I sat on the edge of a seat and took of my shirt and sword. "No time to explain. We have to get to Filldelphia. We're running out of time." I said. "Fillydelphia? That's the next stop on our rave tour. It's where we host Burning Mare. We'll head out soon, first, we need to get you fixed up. I'll be right back." He said as he ran off the bus. He came back a few minutes later with a woman that looked really familiar. She was dressed in a pair of tattered jeans and a black hoodie and a neon red backpack with a white cross on it. She, too was covered in glow sticks.
Chapter 19I continued down the path and headed for what looked like my home town of Mountgomery. The only problem was that it wasn't supposed to look like this. At the end of the road was a huge road block made up of broken car parts. I continued cautiously through the town. As I neared the hardware store, I heard an eerie giggling coming from inside. I saw the flash before I heard the sound. I jumped just a barrage of various tools flew out of the shop door and lodged into the building across from it. They had been fired from some kind of cannon. I would have just stayed in the air if it wasn't for my jank wing. I landed just as Pinkie came out of the shop with a black cannon. She had the same grey skin and black eyes as AJ and Fluttershy. She also had a giant creepy grin on her face. "How do you like my death cannon?" She asked. "I don't." I said. "That's okay. Maybe Rarity can change your mind." She said as I was hit be and arrow in the shoulder. I turned to see a grey skinned, black eyed Rarity armed with a bow looking at me with an evil smirk. "You know, the impaled look really does suit you, darling." She said as she notched another arrow. She shot just as I jumped out of the way. The arrow struck the ground where I was standing. Rarity groaned. "Please do hold still, darling. I simply wish to make you a new outfit. It's part of my new line called funeral chic." She said. As she fired off another arrow. I heard the squeak of the wheels of the cannon behind me. I knew I'd never win in a fair fight with either of them, I had to make a plan. I jumped up to the rooftops just as I heard a match strike. I ran by Rarity just as the cannon went off. "Gah!" I heard her scream as the shrapnel from the cannon struck her. I looked back to see a black mist where she had been standing. I heard another match strike. I ran over and slid across the roof and grabbed Rarity's bow just as the cannon fired again and the shrapnel passed overhead. I stood up and notched an arrow just as Pinkie lit another match. I fired and knocked the mouth of the cannon upwards just as it fired. I jumped down and ran over to her, I ran my blade straight through her. Before she dissipated, she gave me a thumbs up. Even as a being of pure chaos, Pinkie was the strangest girl I had ever met. A light swept through the town and it returned to how I truly remembered it. I turned to see that the blockade was gone, revealing what appeared to a dark version of Canterlot.
Chapter 24I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a mirrored version of the throne room from the ruins. Except this version wasn't crumbling and falling apart, it looked almost brand new. I saw something move in the shadows across from me. I drew my sword and moved over to the other side of the room. As I approached the far wall, two huge shapes jumped out at me. I dodged out of the way and landed on a charred skeleton. I jumped up, disgusted. I turned to see two giant mechanical bronze bulls standing in front of me. They snorted fire and smelled of burnt flesh. "Khalkotauro. Impossible, you were destroyed years ago." I said as they stared at me through black onyx eyes. One of them charged me and I jumped into the air. I landed just as the other one blasted flames from its mouth. I rolled out of the way and just barely missed being roasted like a pegasus steak. The one that had just tried to roast me turned and kicked me in the back with its hoof. I flew across the room and banged into the wall. I was dazed as I saw one of them charging at me. I rolled out of the way as it hit the wall and stuck there. I stood up and slashed its neck with my sword. Nothing happened, my sword phased right through it. "What the?" I asked aloud. 'Only dark magic will end these bulls.' The voice said in my head again. I put my sword away as the bull dislodged itself from the wall and charged again. I jumped up and over it while I shot a black bolt of lightning at it's back. The lightning coursed through it and it exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. I landed in front of the other bull as it blasted fire again. I put my arms up to shield my face and closed my eyes, knowing I was done for. I opened my eyes and noticed that the fire was parting around me. I stood up as the fire stopped. The bull started to back away as I shot another bolt of lightning at it. It exploded and sent more shrapnel everywhere. As I watched, the shrapnel from both bulls pulled together in the center of the room and formed a pedestal with a gold and black chest plate on it. I walked over and grabbed the chest plate. As soon as I did, the whole place began to shake and rumble. I ran through the pillars and came out the other side. "What happened in there?" Twilight asked. "No time, we need to get out of her! The whole place is coming down!" I yelled as I pushed them pushed them towards the exit.
Chapter 27I opened my eyes to the sound of a sharp scream. I sat up and realized that I was sitting in a sand dune crater. I looked up to see Fluttershy staring at me with tears in her eyes. "You're okay!" She screamed as I stood up. I checked myself. No broken bones, no blood, and the injury on my back was gone. "How is that possible?" I heard Twilight ask from behind me. I turned to see them all standing behind me with looks of concern on their faces. Fluttershy gave me a huge hug. "I don't get it. That fall should have killed me." I said as I pulled away from Fluttershy and double checked myself. Even my wing was healed. "Yer not a zombie are ya?" AJ asked as she backed away from me. "No. I'm just not dead. This doesn't make sense, I just free fell from like two-thousand feet. I've seen people fall from just one-thousand feet and they had to scrape them off the ground with a shovel." I said. I looked around and found my phone, completely shattered, sitting right where I just was. I was completely perplexed as to how I had survived that fall. I found the tracker device. No surprise that it was intact, it was made of a material that was nearly indestructible. I saw the red blip wasn't far from where we were now. "We should get going. We'll figure this out later. Hold this." I said as I handed Fluttershy the tracker device and took off my shirt and hoodie. I removed the bandages and redressed. I took the device back from Fluttershy and started walking in the direction of the red blip. "What even happened up there?" Twilight asked as we passed over a sand dune. "I had to push Fluttershy out of the plane to get her to safety. Then I opened her chute for her because she was to frightened to move. When I tried to open mine, nothing happened." I replied as I kept tracking the red blip. "Not even your emergency chute?" She asked. "No. I wasn't really worried about myself though. I just wanted to get Fluttershy to safety." I said as we neared the location of the red blip. We came to an old run down warehouse in the middle of nowhere that looked vaguely familiar. Wind Storm walked over to me. "Isn't that the same warehouse from before?" She asked. I just nodded, thinking about the time I had to leave her behind. I put the tracker device back into her bag and took a deep breath as we approached the entrance.
Chapter 29A fluorescent light shone above us, lighting the room. I looked around and saw that we were in some kind of holding cell. I looked to the far wall and saw a cot with someone lying on it, someone with a very distinctive head of rainbow hair. "Dash!" I yelled as I ran over to her. I picked her up and sat on the cot with her head in my lap. Her eyelids fluttered open for a moment. "Jet?" She asked weakly. "I'm here, baby." I said as I noticed she was no longer wearing her wedding dress. She was lying there in just her underwear and bra. Her breathing was shallow and she looked pale. "What' wrong with her?" I asked. Twilight came over and examined her. "It looks like she's been deprived of food and water for days. She's..." Twilight started to say. "No. That can't be right." I said as I pushed her hair from her face. By the sound of her breathing, I knew Twilight was right. She wouldn't last much longer in this condition. "No! I won't lose you again!" I yelled. Her breathing was getting more shallow now. I raked my brain for anything I may have learned in the academy that would help. I couldn't think of anything. We were trained for almost everything, but not for this. I looked up with a pleading look to the others. AJ was trying to kick the door down, Rarity stood there and wouldn't meet my eyes, Pinkie had finally passed out and was sprawled on the floor, and Fluttershy was sitting in the corner crying. Only Twilight and Wind were looking at us. They both had tears in their eyes. Wind put her hand on my shoulder. "There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry." She said. I looked at Twilight. "Isn't there a spell you can do?" I asked. "I'm sorry. Not even magic can cheat death." She said. I felt tears stream down my face. "No! I refuse to let her go!" I screamed. 'We can heal her.' The voice said in my head. 'Really?' I thought. 'Yes. But, you must do something for us.' It said. 'Anything. I will do anything.' I thought. 'Excellent. If we are to heal her, we will need to take something from each of you.' It said. 'What do you mean take something from us?' I asked. 'It is the law of equivalent exchange. In order to perform a feat as great as this, something must be taken in order for something to be given.' It said. 'What are you going to take?' I asked. 'Nothing too important. We do not require much to thrive. We simply want what all others want. Love.' It said. 'What are you talking about?' I asked. 'We will take away a loving memory that you two share.' It said. 'Which one?' I asked. 'We will decide once you make your decision. But, we would not waste any time if we were you. Her life force is fading fast.' It said. I thought about what it was telling me. If I agreed to this, it would save her life, but we would lose a happy memory of us together. If I didn't, I would lose her forever. 'Tick tock, tick tock.' The voice said. 'Okay. Do it.' I thought. 'Excellent.' It replied.
