The End of a Rainbow (Pinkies Love for Rainbow Dash)

“Whatever” Rainbow Dash responded.

”And the lucky one this time is… Rarity. The drama queen!” Discord made a fancy expression trying to mimic Rarity.

Rainbow Dash remained silent.

“Oh, a little grumpy are we? Well then, get ready for another round inside your head” Discord said while flicking another element of harmony in front of Rainbow Dash’s head.

Rainbow Dash tried to avoid it but her body was already frozen. The little crystal shard stopped in front of her and began glowing. The element of generosity. In a flash Rainbow Dash’s body lost control and images began forming inside her head once again.

“I will talk you through it” Discord said as the first image appeared.

It looked like Rarity was on her way inside a house she had never seen before.

“You see Rainbow, for reasons you will find out later, Rarity had moved away from ponyvillie into a city called Shallow Berk, Along with her sister. And you can see that little Sweetie Belle wasn’t too happy about it”

Discord kept talking while new images popped into her head. She could see Rarity and her little sister yelling at each other just before Sweetie Belle running out of the house in anger.

“And this is where I come on” Discord said happily.

An image came up showing Rarity running out of the house trying to follow Sweetie Belle, just before a grey stallion stopped her and began talking to her.

“Recognize that fine looking pony? Yep, you guessed it. That was me!” Discord said joyfully.
“I didn’t play a big role so far. But just you wait”

The images then began flashing faster. She saw how the next day Rarity was putting on makeup and stroking her mane.

“And of course you know who she is prettying up for”

It continued as the grey pony once again stood before the house talking to Rarity.

“I called myself Orion by the way. Stole the name from some other pony I once killed. It’s a good story actually. But I guess it’s not the time for that”

They both started walking around the town, talking and smiling. Rarity being unaware that she was on a date with a monster. They then sat down around a small table and began drinking some wine.

“And here I did some smooth talk. I am really good at that, but I am sure you have noticed that. Okay, wait for it…”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t see it but she knew Discord was smiling. Orion and Rarity began walking away from the table they were sitting at, reaching a building which seemed like “Orions” home.

“Yeah, I know what you are thinking. But that’s not my real home; I just stole it from another family I killed. Funny story! But more on that later, don’t worry about it. Watch closely now…”

Rarity was walking inside the house with Orion, then began drinking some more wine just before they… Kissed.

“Ohohoh” Discord laughed.

They kept kissing while lying on top of each other. Horrible images appeared in Rainbow Dash’s mind as she saw them having…

“I HAD SEX WITH RARITY!” Discord laughed out manically.

Rainbow Dash did anything to try to close her mind and end this torture. But to no avail.

“Okay, moving on. You see, all that time I spent with Rarity made little Sweetie Belle feel lonely, just as planned of course, and that’s when some sweet chaos started building. The little sister started doing anything to get Rarity’s attention. But she just kept on making her more mad, kinda sad, I know. Rarity then had an emotional breakdown and decided to break up with me on order to spend more time with her little sister. Tragic right? But don’t feel sorry for me, it was all part of the plan”

After images of Rarity crying and talking to Orion, she saw the 2 sisters walking outside together.

“How sweet. 2 sisters reunited and feeling nothing but happiness. But of course I needed to change that”

Discord was really pushing it.

“As you can see here I broke into Rarity’s house and did a very naughty thing. Not only did I read her diary, I actually wrote something in it and placed it in a spot where I knew Sweetie Belle would find it”

The images then changed to Sweetie Belle reading the diary just before running outside crying.

“What did you write?” Rainbow Dash wanted to ask, bit of course she couldn’t.

“Anything that happens beyond this point was actually not a part of my plan, but boy, it went better than expected” Discord giggled.

“Rarity then noticed Sweetie Belle was missing, she ran after her ending up at the lake where she to her fear saw that Sweetie Belle had jumped in the river in a suicide attempt”

Rainbow Dash could feel anger building inside her.

“That’s just really amazing don’t you think?”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t do anything but to watch Rarity trying to save her sister, trying to grab her but failed. She saw how Sweetie Belle went down the waterfall. How she… died.

“After the death scene Rarity cried and cried, then decided to go back to Ponyvillie in hope of some comfort. She arrived, made a funeral for Sweetie Belle, ended up living with Twilight, blablabla. End of story!”

Again, like a cold slap she was back in the real world, tears running down her face.

“Oh, you are crying? I knew that this would really get to you. I am so brilliant!” Discord almost danced around.

“You… Was it really necessary to kill an innocent little filly?”

Discord stopped and thought for a moment. “Hmm. Nope!”

Discord returned to dancing “But the chaos was so excellent don’t you think?” He hummed.

Rainbow Dash wiped away her tears. “I swear Discord. No matter what, I will NOT fail this challenge. I will beat you and watch you turn back into stone. I will make everything right. I SWEAR IT!”

Discord once again stopped and stared at Rainbow Dash. “You seem optimistic. Alright, let’s see you if you are telling the truth. Let’s see if you actually are able to complete this next challenge”

“Just get to it you stupid fuck!”

“Sure sure. The rules are a little different in this challenge. You have all the time you need in order to complete this challenge and you get to fly!”

Rainbow Dash looked up.

“For 30 seconds. After you have been in the air for that amount of time you will lose the ability to fly. So remember to count so you won’t die from falling to the ground at 50 feet height or something”

“What do I have to do?” Rainbow Dash tried keeping her head up. She was utterly tired.

“You may not have been able to save Sweetie Belle from the cold hands of death, but now you get the chance to save her two friends. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo” Discord was almost clapping at the excitement.

“What have you done to them?!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Oh well… Apple Bloom is inside their tree house safe and sound. Though all exits have been blocked and the tree house is on fire, but you know… Safe and sound”

Before Rainbow Dash could yell some more Discord interrupted.

“And Scootaloo is standing on a wooden board placed between 2 cliffs. Almost the same place where you and your friends did the ‘Hop, Skip and Jump’ thing. The wooden board is very old so if she just even moves the tiniest muscle the board will break. But don’t worry, little Scootaloo knows that”

Discord flew behind Rainbow Dash “And what does that have to do with Rarity, you ask? Good question!”

Discord continued leading a conversation with himself. “You see, if you don’t save both of these little fillies I will make it look it was Rarity who killed both her own sister and these two fillies. Which will probably lead to her going to jail” The wind had picked up and the cold was getting worse.

“And how do you plan on to make it look like her that did it?” Rainbow Dash asked while scratching her eye.

“I am the king of chaos you idiot. I can make the world explode with a snap with my fingers”

Rainbow Dash looked silently at Discord for a moment, raising her left eye.

“Fine. I can’t do that, but I can make the finest chicken salad!”

“Mhm” Rainbow Dash responded.

“Speaking of chicken. Ready to save some fillies?” Discord said while snapping his fingers, not waiting for a response.

A quick flash later, she stood in a grassy area with the bright sun striking her eyes.

“And the challenge starts… now!”

Just after these words a loud scream was heard from her right. It was the CMC’s tree house with fire surrounding the whole place. Rainbow Dash bashed out her wings and began flying, it felt great but she quickly folded them back in, remembering the rules. She fell to the ground but quickly got back up. Only 30 seconds of flying. Can’t waste them. She began running as fast as her hooves could move her body towards the flames. She didn’t really notice her surroundings, only the tree house and a bunch of green grass around it.

“SOMEBODY HELP!” Apple Bloom screamed from inside the house.

“I’m coming!” Rainbow Dash yelled, letting her know help was on its way.

Unfortunately the tree house was build a few feet above the ground and the latter was burning, so she was forced to fly. She bashed out her wings and quickly flew in front of one of the blocked windows. The fire became bigger and more treating.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Apple Bloom screamed in fear.

“Keep calm!” Rainbow Dash tried to calm her down as she began smashing her hooves at the window blocked with thick wooden planks.

“Goddammit. Come on!” She yelled at herself just before turning her body in midair and smashed her hind legs in the blockade, just strong enough the brake the planks.

She quickly punched it a few times more to make the hole big enough for her to enter. She instantly saw Apple Bloom running around in the corner. Rainbow Dash didn’t waste a second and quickly flew inside, avoiding a flame just below her. She grabbed Apple Bloom next to the huge flames and flew out the way she came in. Almost a foot above ground she folded back her wings, not wanting to waste another second in the air. She felt she had already used at’ least 20 out the 30 seconds she was given. They both landed hard on the ground but managed to not get any further damage.

“Rainbow Dash?! What happened? I thought you were dead?” Rainbow Dash was quick to get back on her hooves.

“I don’t have time to explain” She said she looked around for Scootaloo.

“Next filly” A voice sounded just as another scream was heard.

She looked behind her and she saw in the distance a long wooden plank between two cliffs at a deadly height, with Scootaloo standing in the middle looking terrified.

“Don’t move!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she ran towards the cliffs.

“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo look surprised.

“Not now Scootaloo! Just stand still!” She demanded as she was running as fast as she could, getting closer to the 2 cliffs.

“Okay. I only have maximum 10 seconds of flight. If she can just stand still I should have just enough time to fly up and get her. And hopefully land safely” she thought to herself.

But several feet before she was at the optimal position to set off the old wooden plank began cracking.

“HELP!” Scootaloo yelled nervously.

“Crap. I’m not gonna make it in time” Rainbow Dash’s hooves was running as quickly as her mind. The cracks became bigger and the plank was close to breaking.

“FLY SCOOTALOO!” Rainbow Dash yelled out, readying her wings.

“I can’t!” Scootaloo yelled back.

“I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! JUST FLY, NOW!” Just as the last words were out of her mouth Scootaloo jumped off the plank in tears, just before the plank broke. She started flapping her wings quickly but it was just not enough. She began dropping to the ground at deadly speed as she screamed in horror.

“Fuck!” Rainbow Dash let out just before getting air borne.

She flew as fast as she possibly could handle. After a few seconds she was about 10 feet above Scootaloo, as she began flying downwards at incredible speed. She got closer and closer to Scootaloo who was almost reaching the ground. Rainbow Dash kept flying directly downward, almost being able to touch Scootaloo.
But she knew the time would end any second now. They were both in danger of dying as they were closing in on the ground. Her mind switched over to the thought Pinkie Pie. If she herself died now she would never see her again.

“I’m sorry” She let out just before opening her wings wide making her fly off course, as she quickly tried to land.

A few seconds before she landed she heard a screaming followed by a bone cracking sound and a loud ‘thump’ She knew that she had failed saving Scootaloo. Failed the challenge.

She herself landed safely on the ground, some feet away from where Scootaloo had landed.

“I had more time” she whispered to herself.

“I could have saved her” Tears forced their way out from her eyes.

“I… Failed” She lowered her head.

“So close!” Discord said in a high pitch voice.

“Ah well” A snap was heard and the usual bright light flashed.

She could feel the sharp grass and the cold wind. She was back in the forest but she kept her eyes closed. Kept crying.

“Funny thing” Discord said.

“I ‘forgot’ to start the timer of you flying ability. So actually” He took a short breath.

“You didn’t have to worry about the 30 seconds at all!”

Rainbow Dash flinched. “What?”

“Yep. Silly me. Mistakes are made you know. And you’re the one to talk. You let Scootaloo die” Discord said in an annoying voice.

“You fucking piece of sh-“

“SEE YOU LATER!” Discord interrupted.

And at the blink of an eye she got teleported back into Lily’s house. “AAAAARGH!” Rainbow Dash screamed just before falling to the ground of exhaustion.

“Ehh, Pinkie. I know I have walked beside you for over 10 minutes now, but we are we actually going?”
“It’s a surprise!”
“Alright then. But just tell me it have nothing to do with baking cupcakes or something”
“Ehh…”
“Pinkie!”
“Don’t worry Dashie. I was just kidding! Actually we are here now”
“Is that Twilight’s hot air balloon?”
“Sure is! You know I can’t fly but the thing I will show you is up in the skies so I borrowed this!”
“But… Fine, let’s just go then. I can’t be bothered to ask any more questions”
“Let’s get in then!”
“Do you even know how to steer this Pinkie?”
“Sure! You just lean towards the direction you want the balloon to go!”
“I don’t think that’s how it works”
“Uh uh! We are getting close. Quick! Close your eyes!”
“What?”
“Don’t ruin the surprise! Come on Dashie, close your eyes”
“Eurg. Fine”
“Almost there”
“I can hear a’ lot of cheering. Where in the world are we Pinkie?”
“Okay, open your eyes!”
“So where… Oh dear Celestia!”
“Surprise!”
“Pinkie! This is the Wonderbolts 10 year anniversary performance! Only special guests have access to see this show! The tickets cost like 500 bits!”
“I know. And I just happened to have a 1000 bits lying around, so I thought I would take my best friend to see this! Are you happy?”
“But how did you- I mean…”
“Was it a mistake? Didn’t you want to go?”
“Pinkie this is amazing! Oh god, I just LOVE you!”
“Really?”
“Sure. This is the best gift a friend has ever given me! Thank you Pinkie!”
“I’m glad you like it Dashie”

“Wake… UUUUP!” Lily screamed, making Rainbow Dash jump out of the couch.

“What what?”

Lily began laughing. “I thought instead of using unnecessary time, I would just wake you up the moment I saw you were back”

Rainbow Dash waddled a little bit before standing up.

“Yeah. Good thinking” Rainbow Dash said in a sarcastic voice.

Lily kept smiling “I’m sorry. You want something to eat?”

Rainbow Dash felt hungry but sick at the same time. And the wound on her wing was still causing minor pain.
She decided she rather wanted to relax and ask a few questions.

“No thanks. But I-“

“Do you mind if I grab something to eat then?” Lily interrupted.

“Ehh…. Go ahead”

Rainbow Dash got annoyed by Lily’s approach. What was she so happy about? Rainbow Dash felt like every second with Lily was crucial and could help her defeat Discord. After 5 long minutes Lily returned from the kitchen, chewing on an apple.

“I gotta tell you Rainbow Dash. These apples growing outside my house sure are fresh”

“Lily I-“ Rainbow Dash stopped herself. That apple sure did look good, maybe she could just… No. Not now. Rainbow Dash shook her head violently and tried to focus.

“Lily, I got to ask you something!”

“Aha” Lily said then swallowed a piece of apple.

“Wait! Have you even seen my bushes just outside my house? They are filled with beautiful flowers in all colors”

“No, but I-“

“OH! You just HAVE to go see it. It’s marvelous! Come on!” Lily grabbed Rainbow Dash by her hoof and started dragging her.

“LILY!” Rainbow Dash yelled and broke free from her grip.
“What is going on?! This is hardly the time to watch some stupid bushes! Discord could be back any minute, and I have some serious questions and I would like for you to answer them NOW!”

Lily stopped and looked away.

“So why won’t you answer my damn questions!?”

“I’m sorry” Lily whispered.
“I just knew that the moment you returned you would question me. Wanting me to tell you about what happened with me and Discord. And I-“ Lily’s voice broke as she tried to continue.
“I am afraid” Lily turned around, looking at Rainbow Dash with tears in her eyes. Rainbow Dash’s anger faded away.

“Afraid of what Lily?”

“Afraid of you hating me” She whispered.

Rainbow Dash went numb. Did Lily have secrets so awful? So awful that she was afraid of being hated by her only friend? What could possibly have happened that was so traumatic that she didn’t dare talk about it?

“I understand Lily. But this could be important”

“I know” Lily was quick to respond.
“Okay” She sighed. “Sit down”

Rainbow Dash calmly placed herself back on the couch followed by Lily.

She took a quick breath “Me and my husband used to live in the city next to this forest. We were doing very well, or at’ least average. We just lived day by day. We both knew that it couldn’t go on like this. There was something missing, we needed something to give us a fresh start. And like sent from heaven; I became pregnant. It was the happiest day of my life when I found out. And I could see in Meadow Songs eyes that he shared me happiness. But joy soon became doubt, and happiness became fear. After about 4 months of carrying Pacific Light we realized we simply didn’t have enough money to raise our daughter properly. So we sold our house and moved into this house, in the forest. We made home to this small house we are sitting in right now, and we felt we were going to be okay. And everything did go pretty smooth. Sure my husband had to walk a few more miles just to get to work, but from the money we made from selling our old house, we had plenty to buy everything you need to take care of a little filly. Then the day became a reality. Our daughter was born. My husband and I looked into each other’s eyes and we both knew what to call her. We named her Pacific Light. We were ever so happy. No matter how hard we had to work and no matter how tired we were, seeing Pacific Light smile was all worth it. Yes, life was great. But one day the most horrible thing happened. A horrifying monster appeared just as we were about to go to bed as a family. The monster, or Discord as I now learned his name, talked to us. Told us he came for our daughter, he wanted to take her away from us for some reason. Of course we denied even though he kept treating us. Just as Discord tried forcing his way to Pacific Light my husband bravely jumped him and began fighting him. But the creature was way too powerful and killed Meadow Song with a strike to the head. Discord began smiling, laughing. I stepped in front of my husband, willing to die for my daughter. But just as he was about to strike something happened. Something that scared him. He swore he would come back and take my daughter, then fled. In fear of my daughter’s life, I wrapped her on cloth and ran just outside the forest, at the city entrance and placed her there, in hope someone would find her and take care of her. Hour after hour my fear of the monster returning grew larger. Already the second day I decided to go to where I had left Pacific Light and see if someone had rescued her. I’m still not sure who took her but I know someone had taken her into their home. They had left a note explaining that they had found and taken my daughter. I felt a huge relief knowing that she was safe. But at the same time I feel awful for just abandoning my daughter. And that’s why… why I thought you might hate me”

Rainbow Dash could feel her heart almost stopping. She could barely speak.

“I- I understand if you don’t want to be around me anymore” Lily were on the brink of crying.

“No Lily it’s just… I never..” Rainbow Dash felt like she needed to say something but couldn’t quite find the words.

Minutes passed as no words were said, only a light sound of boards creaking.

“Rainbow Dash” Lily then said.
“It’s okay. You don’t need me anymore. You only have 2 challenges left, and I know you can win this stupid game” Lily smiled pleasant as a tear rolled down her cheeks.

“Lily” Rainbow Dash whispered as she walked towards her.
“You did the right thing. And I would never hate you”

Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof and hugged Lily tightly.

“You have done so much for me Lily. And I will never leave you, not even when the game is over. I will come visit you all the time”

Lily gently hugged back. “Thanks. But why is Discord doing this?”

Discord The name ran through Rainbow Dash’s head. Rainbow Dash broke the hug and yelled
“DISCORD! I KNOW YOU ARE LISTENING! SHOW YOURSELF!”

A dark shadow flew across the room as Rainbow Dash grinded her hoof into the ground.

“Lily, you should hide” Lily looked back at Rainbow Dash

“No. I want to meet him again!” There was nothing she could say to talk her out of it.

“Get ready then” Rainbow Dash said.

“Aaaand, here I am!” A small burst appeared and Discord appeared in the middle of the room.

“Discord! I am gonna-“

“Wait!” Rainbow Dash was interrupted.

Lily took a few steps forward; “Discord” She said silently.

“Hello old pal!” Discord replied joyfully.
“How is your family doing?” He smiled.
“Oh! I forgot, you have no family. My bad” He then proceeded to laugh.

Rainbow Dash could see, even feel, the anger rushing through Lily as she started madly at him.

“Why did you force my daughter away from me? What reason could you have to kill my husband in order to get your hands on an innocent filly?”

“Sweet, little Lily. As the king of chaos, I have my reasons. Maybe I just wanted to babysit a little pony. Or maybe I wanted to taste pony flesh with a sprinkle of salt”

Lily grinded her teeth. “You evil MONSTER!” She yelled as she began storming towards her.

“WAIT!” Rainbow Dash let out and jumped over and tackled Lily.

They both landed on the ground just meters before Discord. Rainbow Dash held Lily tightly.

“Let me go! I wanna kill that fucker!” Lily screamed in frustration.

Rainbow Dash tightened her grip, holding Lily in place.

“He’s too powerful! He can’t kill me, because he needs me, but he could kill you with a single breath!”

“Listen to the Rainbow, Lily. She is not that stupid” Discord joined in.

Rainbow Dash could feel that Lily was loosening up, so she freed her from her grip. Lily immediately got up and snarled at Discord. “Mark my words Discord, you may be safe now, but when Rainbow Dash wins these final challenges I will make sure she kicks your lizard ass!”

Rainbow Dash stood next to Lily and nodded while staring down Discord.

“Such words Lily! Besides, my butt is not from a lizard. Do you even know these animals my body is made of?”

“Enough Discord! Give me the damn challenge already!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

All three stood inside Lily’s house just waiting to see what happened next. Though Discord seemed very calm as he transformed a table next to him into ash. Both Rainbow Dash and Lily looked confused as Discord took a pile of the ashes in his right hand.

“Watch this” He said just before blowing the ash away, revealing a little gem inside.

“Some epic magic right?” He smiled as he waited for an applause.

Neither Rainbow Dash nor Lily had any reaction making Discord frown.

“What?! I’d like to see you two Pegasus’ do the same” He said as he flapped his arms in the air with his eyes wide open.

No response.

“Fine! I was just trying to lighten the mood. Here” Discord took a firm grip of the little gem before throwing it towards Rainbow Dash. She didn’t even flinch since she was aware that it would stop just before her face. And so it did. It was a purple gem, Twilight’s element; magic.

“Things will start to make sense now” Discord smiled just before the element bursted out in light making Rainbow Dash trapped inside her mind once again.

“Rainbow Dash?” Lily asked nervously.

Rainbow Dash could still hear the voices around her.

“Don’t worry, I’m just about to show her what I did to her friend, Twilight Sparkle. She will come back in a few minutes. So now I must order the audience to sit down and remain silent. And no pictures with blitz!” Discord hushed Lily just before leading the conversation to Rainbow Dash. “So let’s begin shall we?”

At that moment images formed inside her head. She saw Twilight inside her house sleeping as Spike was running around moving books and dusting off. Suddenly it knocked on the door making Spike yell “Come in!” A pony then stepped inside. A pink pony. It was Pinkie Pie. Even though Rainbow Dash’s body was numb she could still feel her heart beating faster and her stomach getting lighter. This was the first time she had seen Pinkie after she herself had died. “So Rainbow Dash, I can imagine you are quite excited seeing Pinkie Pie. But let me talk you through it. You died in front of Pinkie because you were bit by a Drutaa. Surely she was mad that some animal had killed her love, so she of course wanted revenge. That’s something I can understand. She went to Twilight’s library to lend a book so she could find out where these creatures live. You see at this point she hadn’t told anybody about your death yet. This turns out to be a huge mistake, but more on that later. She lied to Twilight why she wanted to lend a book about the creatures in the Everfree forest and then took off. But since this is not about Pinkie Pie, so we will stay on Twilight a little longer” Discord kept talking as the images appeared inside her head like she was watching a movie.

“Also, in case you haven’t noticed Twilight had a crush on Rarity. And I’ll say it again; what the hell is wrong with you ponies? You are supposed to be friends NOT lovers! Eurgh!” Rainbow Dash actually had no idea that Twilight had a crush on Rarity. “I am just saying that lesbianism actually isn’t normal in equestria. I have never seen it before I meet you six. But let’s not change the subject. As you can see now, Twilight makes up a lie to get Spike out of the house. She tells him to pick up some feathers from Fluttershy. But little did the innocent dragon know that Twilight just wanted some alone time with his photo album. And unless you are blind and deaf you know that little Spike too had a crush on Rarity, meaning his photo album was filled with pictures of the white pony”

More images appeared showing Twilight walking up to her bed taking the photo album and opening it, then began pleasuring herself. Rainbow Dash tried to close her eyes, though they were already closed since it was her mind showing the images not her eyes. She was forced to watch.

“Let’s just skip ahead some minutes” Discord said to Rainbow Dash’s relief.

“Here you see Spike returning with the much needed feathers. And luckily Twilight had already cleaned herself up. Think of the awkwardness if he had walked in on her doing her dirty business. Anyway; Pay close attention now”

Rainbow Dash could see and hear Spike and Twilight having a conversation.

“I got the feathers” Spike said happily.

“That’s great, just place them over there” Twilight responded with a small blush on her face.

“I actually saw Pinkie Pie on the way” He said as he placed the feathers on a table nearby.
“I tried to get her attention, but I guess she didn’t notice me”

“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked curiously.
“She had been acting strange lately”

“I wonder why” Discord said sarcastically.

Rainbow Dash tried to hush on him, she wanted to hear what they were talking about.

The images kept appearing inside her head and so did the voices from Spike and Twilight. Spike was just climbing up the latter while Twilight continued the conversation.

“I think something happened between Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. She usually goes around telling everypony how awesome Dash is”

Spike just took the final step on the latter. “Yeah, what is up with that anyway? You think she has a crush on her” He laughed.

“Spike! What’s so funny about that? As I recall, you have a pretty big crush on Rarity” Twilight responded annoyed.

“But I’m a male, it’s natural. Two mares liking each other Is just… weird”

Twilight looked down. “Yes, a mare liking another mare is not easy. Not easy at all” She said with a sad voice.

“Oookay” Spike responded. “Goodnight then” He said as he lied down in his bed.

The images then disappeared making her only able to see darkness.

“See, Spike shares my skepticism. Maybe it’s a dragon thing. Since I am one tenth of a dragon. Alright, let’s move on.”

Suddenly the images returned as she could see Twilight running outside.

“You can imagine Twilight being a little too worried about her friend Pinkie Pie, so she went over to Fluttershy in hope that she would have some answers”

Rainbow Dash had been trapped inside her own mind for long now and she could feel her head having an intense pain.

The next few images showed Twilight talking to Fluttershy inside her house.

“Now, they are about to discuss something that is not important at the moment so let’s skip that” Unable to complain he skipped past the 2 ponies talking until Spike rushed inside to house. He looked confused as he could see Fluttershy was crying.

“So now Twilights decides to dump Fluttershy and let Spike deal with her as she runs off to visit Pinkie Pie, and let me tell you, this part is going to be fun”

Twilight got inside Sugarcube corner and greeted Mrs. Cake.

“Pinkie Pie wasn’t home at the moment so Twilight decided to infiltrate her room. Some friend huh?”

Rainbow Dash could see Twilight running up the stairs and began looking for something in Pinkies room. She then stopped before a chest and began using magic on order to open it. After she broke to lock she slowly opened the chest and let out a gasp.

“Ok. We’ll stop here” Discord declared.

Suddenly Rainbow Dash could feel her body rushing back to control and she took a deep inhale. “Why did you stop there?! What was in the chest!?” Rainbow Dash yelled.

Lily still stood the same place as before, looking even more confused.

“Oh, you’ll find out later. But something you didn’t see was Rarity leaving Ponyvillie for reasons I still can’t tell you. But I can say that she broke Twilights heart as she left without her” Discord made crying noises to annoy Rainbow Dash even more. And it worked; she could feel her body tensing and wings being lifted.

“Now now, let’s focus on the challenge. This time no transporting is needed, all I need is an answer”

“An answer to what?” Rainbow Dash asked bashing her tail a few times.

Discord flew past Rainbow Dash and took a turn around Lily. “As you know I love riddles, and I can’t play a game without a good riddle”

Rainbow Dash stared at Discord, grinding her teeth. “And what happens if I fail again?”

“Oh, of course. I almost forgot that! If you answer correctly, brace yourself, I will make sure Rarity doesn’t go to jail. Remember how you failed that last challenge?”

“I-“

“Of course you do! So being the kindest creature in all of Equestria I will not only make sure that Rarity is save, I will make her love Twilight, which means that Twilight will be happy too”

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before Lily broke in

“That’s not right. You can’t MAKE 2 ponies love each other with magic. It’s supposed to happen on its own!”

Rainbow Dash looked at Lily. “You’re right” Then looked back at Discord “When I win this challenge I still want you to make sure Rarity is safe, but not make her fall in love with Twilight”

“What? Oh, right. You ponies believe in ‘true love’ and ‘soul mates. Pfft” Discord flew just in front of Rainbow Dash looking into her eyes.

“Have it your way. But I will give you another reason why you would want to win this game. If you happen to fail, which of course won’t happen, I will simply burn down Twilights house/library down. I know it’s a little ‘old fashioned’ but hey, fire is a classic” As he said this, his pupils turned into small flames just before Rainbow Dash blew into his eyes making the flames extinguish.

“Aww, come on” he complained as he flew back and sat down on the couch Rainbow Dash was always sitting on. “Do you accept or what? I mean, you can’t refuse, but still…”

Rainbow Dash looked back at Lily. “Only if Lily can join this challenge too” she smiled.

“Outrageous!” He yelled. “I can’t do that! Do you know how much paperwork that would take?!” He made a frown then made a stack of paper appear and began writing something on every piece with lighting speed.

“Okay, everything seems to in order! Lily can help you with this challenge” He flicked his fingers making the paper burn into ashes.

Lily took a few steps forward, getting in position beside Rainbow Dash. “I know we can do this” She whispered. Rainbow Dash smiled friendly and nodded.

“How sweet. Now; get ready!”

Discord flew a few feet back as he began explaining the riddle. “Guess what I am talking about here: Poor ponies have it, rich ponies want it, it’s more chaotic than me, and if you eat it you’ll die. What am I talking about?”

Silence entered the room. Rainbow Dash wasn’t prepared for something that simple, yet so confusing. All Discord demanded was an answer. But though the answer might be simple, the question surely wasn’t. Rainbow Dash looked at Lily, and she could see her thinking about it too.

“It would probably be best if we talked together” Rainbow Dash thought.

She took a step closer “First thing first” she whispered to Lily.
“Poor ponies have it, what could that be?”

Lily closed her eyes “Hmm. It must be something you can’t buy for money then”

“Yes. Maybe it’s a feeling or something” Rainbow Dash said.
“You certainly can’t buy true love” Lily looked at Rainbow Dash.
“But how is love more chaotic than Discord?” She asked herself.
They both looked over at Discord whom was sitting around a table playing poker with inanimate objects.
“Love can be very chaotic at times” they both agreed.
“But you can’t eat love. Can you?” Lily looked at Rainbow Dash.
“Well, there are creatures that feed of love. But that does the exact opposite of killing them” She responded.
“If it could be love it might as well be hate”
“Yes. But I am guessing rich people don’t want hate, and why should poor people have more hate than anypony else?”
“I RASIE YOU 2 TIES” Discord yelled in the background.
Both Lily and Rainbow Dash did their best to ignore it.
“Goddammit. Maybe it’s a disease of some sort?” Rainbow Dash asked.
The more suggestions that were spoken out the weirder the question seemed.
“It’s a riddle after all. It must be something strange. Something illogically”
“But what in the world could that be?”
“YES. STRAIGHT FLUSH! I WIN!” Discord cheered as he collected all the chips lying on the table.
“Allright” He then made the table disappear and flew over to the 2 ponies.
“Have you come up with an answer yet?” He smiled.
Neither of them responded.
“Maybe its chaos itself” Rainbow Dash then suggested.
Lily didn’t respond.
“Come on little ponies. I need an answer”
Rainbow Dash’s body tensed up and her hearts began beating fast.
“I’m gonna go for it” She then said.
Rainbow Dash turned towards Discord “The answer is Cha-“
“WAIT!” Lily shouted.
“Oh come on!” Discord sighed.
“I know the answer” Lily said confident.
“What? What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
Lily took a few steps forward, staring into Discord’s eyes. “The answer is: Nothing”
Discord made a frown. “Correct” He said as he crossed his arms.
“Nothing?” Rainbow Dash thought for a moment.
Lily explained; “Poor ponies have nothing, rich ponies want nothing, nothing is more chaotic than Discord and if you eat nothing you will die”
Rainbow Dash understood. And she smiled knowing she had won the challenge.
“Thank you” She whispered to Lily.
Lily nodded and smiled back.
“Very well, Rarity will not be charged for the murder to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle”
“Yes!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she jumped hug Lily.
“But remember Rainbow Dash. The next challenge will be about your friend Pinkie Pie. This will surely be the most important challenge” Discord said in a serious voice.
Rainbow’s smiled quickly faded as she thought about Pinkie.
“I will come back tomorrow. Better prepare yourself” Discord pulled out a balloon shaped gem, which was Pinkies element.
“Next time you’ll see this element, you will know you are close to the ending”
In a flash both Discord and the element was gone. Rainbow Dash just looked up in the air.
“I will be ready Discord”

“So tell me about life in Ponyvillie” Lily said as she gave Rainbow Dash a glass of water.

“Oh, Ponyvillie is really a great place”

Lily was really good at making Rainbow Dash relax in this tense situation.

“I actually grew up just outside Ponyvillie in a place called Cloudsdale. Which was only for Pegasus’ of course”

“Cloudsdale. Sounds familiar. You lived alone?”

“Yeah. I never really knew my parents. I remember when I was very little, 2 ponies were taking care of me, but the memories are really blurry. And one day they just disappeared” Rainbow Dash tried to smile.

“But luckily Princess Celestia had ordered a maid to take care of me, so I wasn’t all alone”

Lily gently bowed her head, giving her a sign to continue.

“Her name was Arine. She was really kind and friendly. I always knew she wasn’t my real mother, but to me, she was the only one I had”

“Is she still living with you?” Lily asked just after drinking some of the water from her glass.

“When I got older she decided I was old enough to take care of myself. Even though I was sad to see here leave, I knew she was right. She wasn’t my real mother and she had her own family to take care of. So I was living on my own for a few years attending a school nearby and it wasn’t long before I met Pinkie Pie in Ponyvillie. And Pinkie was the type of pony that knew everyone around, so I have her to thank for meeting the rest of my friends” Rainbow Dash felt warm around her chest.
“I never imagined that our friendship would grow this big. They really helped me through the rough times. They often invited me to sleep over at their place, since they knew I was living on my own”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “That’s why I have to win this game”

Lily placed her hoof on her shoulder. “I understand. Can I ask how you and your friends met Discord? Or should we just go to bed?”

“No, it’s fine. I am not actually not sure how he came into this world but I knew that several years before any of us were born, Princess Celestia had used the elements of harmony to turn him into stone, he had been going around creating a’ lot of chaos before Celestia was able to stop him. Then, a horrible day he broke free from his prison of stone and began making chaos around Ponyvillie. Princess Celestia gave us the task to stop him, since we were the new holders of the elements. Unfortunately, Discord had hidden the elements and forced us to play a game in order to find them. On the way; he caused Chaos to every single one of us, making us abandon our friendship. Though Twilight had found the elements, they were useless. Just as everything seemed lost Twilight restored the faith in ourselves and our friendship, and together we defeated Discord and turned him back into stone. And somehow at that moment he managed to suck the Elements power into him and broke free once again, I am not completely sure how he did it, but I guess I will find out. The rest you know”

Lily stared at Rainbow Dash. “It’s amazing how you can keep telling stories that give me chills”

Rainbow Dash giggled.

Lily smiled back “You are really an amazing Pony Rainbow Dash. I am sure your parents would be proud of you”
Rainbow Dash didn’t respond. For some reason she found herself crying. She wasn’t sure why, but the tears just kept going. Lily hugged Rainbow Dash tightly and rubbed her on the back.

“Shh. Its okay” She said gently.

“I don’t even know why I am crying” Rainbow Dash laughed.
“I just-“

“It’s okay Rainbow” Lily interrupted.

“We both just need some sleep” She said as she broke to hug and wiped away the last tear under Rainbow Dash’s eye.

“You’re right” She smiled.

They both got up and as Lily cleaned up from the mess that had apparently appeared, Rainbow Dash walked towards her room. She felt like she needed to ask if Lily wanted some help, but something stopped her.

“Goodnight” She said instead.

“Goodnight Rainbow Dash” Lily smiled.

A few steps more and Rainbow Dash stood beside her bed in the dark room. She wanted to turn on the lights but she had learned that the lamp hanging above the bed didn’t work. She wasn’t sure if Lily knew it, but she had decided not to trouble her with it. Rainbow Dash let her body fall heavily onto the bed and curled up into a ball as she tried to calm down. She thought about Pinkie. Just before she fell asleep she made a wish. A wish that when she woke up, she would lie next to Pinkie Pie and look into her eyes telling her that she loved her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…”

“You are starting to scare me a little bit. What is going on?”

“…”

“Why won’t you say anything?”

“…”

“Please talk to me!”

“…”

“PLEASE! What did I do?!

“…”

“I am begging you, don’t do this to me”

“Goodbye Rainbow Dash”

“Don’t leave me”

“…”

“DON’T YOU FUCKING LEAVE ME!”

Suddenly a rush ran through her body as she yelled while jumping up her bed. She looked around. She was still in the same room.

“What did I just dream?” Rainbow Dash thought to herself.
She tried thinking the dream through but she couldn’t remember a thing, only that it was closer to a nightmare than a dream. Her heart was still pounding and chills ran down her body.
“What is going on?” She said to herself.

“Calm down!” she shook her head.
“I’m having an anxiety attack” she could feel her body shaking and her mind was completely awake. She began breathing heavily.
“Fuck!” she yelled.
Her whole body began tensing as she had some sort of dying sensation. She jumped out of the bed and rushed out of her room.
“Light. I need some light”
She quickly walked into the living room and flipped a switch to turn on the light. It was soothing but her heart was still raising. She decided to sit down on the couch. Again, she shook her head in attempt of relaxing. She took several heavy breaths and tried to control her heart beat. Suddenly a loud ringing noise sounded and the light was turned off. Rainbow Dash freaked out and let out a scream. Her heart was now beating faster than ever, as she could feel something getting closer to her.

“Dashie” someone whispered.

“It’s time” a deeper voice then sounded.

Suddenly as a lighting stroke down nearby, bringing a short flash of light into the room revealing somepony standing before her. It was… Pinkie Pie. In the blink of an eye her body fainted but her mind was still wide awake.

“I love you too” Rainbow Dash said just before fading away.

Pinkie still lying next to her crying heavily. “Dashie!” she screamed.
After a short while Pinkie then picked up Rainbow Dash and walked over to a chest placed in a corner of the room. With her hind hoof she opened up the chest, kissed Rainbow Dash’s dead body on the forehead then gently placed her into the chest then closing the chest again, just before putting a lock on it. Pinkie then walked over to her bed, falling on her knees and began screaming while crying. Eventually she fell asleep.
Rainbow Dash was aware that Discord was placing images inside her head once again to show her what he had done to Pinkie, but this time it happened unexpected. And Discord wasn’t talking her through it like he used to do. As Rainbow Dash had no choice she continued to watch the images pooping up inside her head.
It became morning and Pinkie Pie was quick to get out of bed, though she still looked very tired. In a few moments she was walking outside, not smiling like she used to do. But for a reason. Without knocking, Pinkie Pie entered Twilight’s house, greeting Spike who seemed to just have gotten up as well. Rainbow Dash remembered seeing these images before in the previous challenge. Pinkie was walking around the library, Twilight then got up, talked to Pinkie Pie and just like before Pinkie was quick to storm out after she found her book. But this time following Pinkie Pie instead of Twilight. And Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have it any other way. She wanted to see what had happened to Pinkie Pie.
She saw her walking home and ignoring Mrs. Cake’s greeting as she ran upstairs to her room at Sugarcube corner. She placed herself at a small table and began reading the book she ‘borrowed’. She stopped at a particular page and began reading. She somehow seemed angry. Suddenly she closed the book with a smash and ran outside. Rainbow Dash had an idea of where she was heading. Her assumptions becoming confirmed as she saw Pinkie Pie running inside the Everfree forest. She kept on running until she arrived at the spot. The spot where her and Rainbow Dash were playing in the mud. It was clear what Pinkie Pie was doing there, she was there to get revenge on the Drutaa. She was walking around for quite a while yelling for the creature to show itself. And as it seemed her wish came true, as 3 Drutaa’s appeared from behind a tree. Pinkie stormed towards the creatures just before lifting her body and stomping one of the Drutaa’s to dead, making the others hissing and showing their teeth. In a flash one of them jumped Pinkie, but she was reacting fast enough to bite onto it and tossing it away. It made some squeaking noises as it landed, it seemed to be unable to get back up. Pinkie then let her attention go to the remaining Drutaa. She was looking at it as if she knew that, that was the Drutaa that had killed Rainbow Dash. In a sudden move she once again lifted her body and smashed her hoof onto it making it scream just before spewing out with blood. Showing no emotions Pinkie began walking away, walking outside the forest. It seemed like it was getting late, as the sun slowly faded away. She walked inside Sugar Cube corner once again and without greeting Mrs. Cake she walked up to her room, shutting the door behind her. With heavy steps she walked over to the chest that Rainbow Dash’s body was lying in. She opened the lock securing it and lifted the lid, staring down into the chest just before she began crying.
“I did it Dashie. I avenged you“ she whispered just before closing the chest and locking it again.
She then fell to the ground and seemed to fall asleep. It annoyed Rainbow Dash that she could feel Discord watching as well. Like he was breathing onto her neck.

“Say something! “ she wanted to yell but she could only hear it in her mind.

“You don’t need me to talk you through this“ as voice suddenly sounded.

“Can you hear me?“ Rainbow Dash asked, still only hearing it in her own mind.

“Shh“ Discord replied.

The time had suddenly changed from night to early morning, and Pinkie Pie was wakening up. Her hair was still hanging straight down her head. She slowly made her way downstairs when Mrs. Cake greeted her good morning from behind the counter. Rainbow Dash had actually never seen Mrs. Cake anywhere else than behind that counter.

“Good morning Pinkie“ she smiled.

Pinkie didn’t reply.

“Do you mind running a little errand for me?“

“What is it?“ Pinkie mumbled.

“Can you please take this delivery to Carrot Top? You know where she lives“

Pinkie was just taking the last step down the stairs.
“Why can’t Mr. Cake take it?“

“Oh, he and I are very busy. Can’t you please do this for me. I’ll give you a fine cupcake in return“ Mrs. Cake said as she took a cupcake from behind the counter.

“Fine“ Pinkie yawned.

Rainbow Dash was rather confused that Pinkie didn’t tell anyone about what had happened at the Everfree forest. She probably just didn’t want everpony to feel sad. But still… She had to tell them at some point.
Mrs. Cake handed Pinkie a box which she placed on her back and began walking outside. It was bright and sunny outside, which normally brought a smile to Pinkie Pie. But not this time.

“Wait. Isn’t this around the time where Twilight came to visit Pinkie?“
Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

“Correct“ Discord replied.

A sudden realization hit Rainbow Dash. “The chest Twilight opened from the previous memory was where Pinkie Pie had hidden Rainbow Dash’s body!“

“Yup“ Discord giggled.

“But…“

“Hush now little pony. You are ruining the movie“

The images kept on appearing showing Pinkie Pie arriving at Carrot Tops house and handing her the box just before she began walking back home. Just a few steps before reaching SugarCube corner, Rainbow Dash was aware that Twilight was inside Pinkie Pie’s room about to open the chest that Rainbow Dash was lying in.
A million of thoughts rushed through her mind as she thought about what would happen next. She could only hope for Pinkie Pie explaining the situation to Twilight and that she would understand. But the answer was about to reveal itself as Pinkie Pie was walking upstairs. The images quickly changed to Twilight whom was panicking as she could hear Pinkie Pie coming up the stairs. In a sudden move she jumped down the chest Rainbow Dash was lying in and closed the lid just before Pinkie Pie entered.

“Come on Twilight! Give Pinkie Pie a chance to explain what happened!” Rainbow Dash tried to yell, but of course she was unable to do so.

She could do nothing but watch as Twilight teleporting herself away back to her home with the assumption that Pinkie Pie had killed Rainbow Dash. The images were still focused on Twilight as she was seemed to be writing a letter.

“Here’s what the latter says” Discord broke in.

“Spike.

Pinkie Pie has killed Rainbow Dash. You need to contact Princess Celestia.
The dead body lies in Pinkies Room, in a chest located near one of the corners”

“No” Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

“Yes” Discord laughed.
“Isn’t it funny how something’s turn out? Don’t worry, I will talk you through the rest. After Twilight had seen you lying in a chest inside Pinkie Pie’s room she mistakenly thought it was her that had killed you. She wrote a letter to Spike saying so, and he contacted Celestia. And look here” Discord giggled as the images continued, showing some of Celestia’s guards breaking inside SugarCube corner and began searching for Pinkie Pie while Mrs. Cake was talking to one of the guards whom was explaining the situation.

“Mrs. Cake couldn’t believe it either. But anyway, as you can see they took a hold of Pinkie Pie after they had confirmed that your body was lying in Pinkie Pie’s chest and understandable they accused her of the murder. So they dragged her into a cave Princess Celestia used for ponies that had broken the law. Pinkie was of course doing everything in her position to deny the murder, but the evidence was too clear so she was accused guilty of the murder and thrown behind bars in the cave, where she still is to this day”

The last few images appeared showing Pinkie Pie crying in the dark cave. A bright flash then appeared followed by a loud ringing noise, then everything became dark just before Rainbow Dash was back in her own body. She quickly looked around, she was not in Lily’s house anymore, she was at that damn spot in the middle of the forest again with Discord standing before her with a grin on his face.

“Isn’t it amazing?” He smiled.
“I barely did anything, besides killing you of course, yet all this excellent chaos occurred”

Rainbow Dash could feel the wind passing by making her mane flow in the air. It was pretty messed up Rainbow Dash had to admit. But the things she just had seen left her speechless. Her best friend thrown in a some sort of dungeon for something she didn’t even do. It was horrible. Her body began shaking in fear and her breathing was out of control.

“You’re not gonna cry are you? I feel so awkward standing before someone crying” Discord scratched his neck while looking away.

“No” Rainbow Dash said with a serious voice.
“I am not gonna cry anymore! This game is coming to an end and when it does I will make sure you will never see the light of day again. I will not turn you into stone this time, I will not have the possibility of your escape hanging in the air. I will avenge my friends. Mark my words Discord, I WILL kill you!” Rainbow Dash stared at Discord while tensing her body, trying to keep herself from jumping him.

Discord looked at her with a serious face as well. “Well then, you have to prove yourself. This time it will not be a challenge of skill. It will be a challenge of determination and dedication” Discord did a quick move with his right hand making the balloon shaped gem appear in his grip.

“This is Pinkie Pie’s element” he said while showing off the stone.
“The element of laughter. This will once and for all show how much you truly love the pink pony”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes.
“What is the challenge?” She asked slowly.

“Your friend Pinkie Pie is being kept in prison in a dungeon behind bars for a crime I committed. The only pony to bring justice to her is you. And I will give you to chance. I will send you to her, send you to the place Pinkie Pie is kept”

Rainbow Dash looked back up. “Let me guess, I will need to find some way to brake her free?”

“Not exactly” He responded as he flicked his fingers, as something appeared around Rainbow Dash’s neck. It was a little chain with a key around it.

“This is the key to set Pinkie free. You can simply open her cellar and bring justice by telling Celestia what truly happened. Then you can live with her the rest of your life”

“What is the catch?” Rainbow Dash was quick to ask.

“If you decide to go that way, to free Pinkie Pie, the game will end. You open that door and you will close the door to the chance of winning this game. I will keep control of the elements and you will lose your change to see me defeated” Discord smiled gently while looking at Rainbow Dash suffer from the terrible choice she was faced with.

“I could free Pinkie Pie. I could live together with her for the rest of our lives” Rainbow Dash thought to herself.
“But how long will our lives be with Discord having the power of the elements of harmony? Will it even be a life worth living? But if I don’t, I might never see Pinkie’s face again, and she will never see mine. She is trapped because of me!” Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof into the ground.

“You have the 2 choices, time to see how determined you really are of killing me” Discord smiled just before flicking the gem towards Rainbow Dash.

“The element of laughter”

In a flash the surroundings had changed. She was no longer in the forest. She was somewhere dark and moist. She was inside a cave. Only the torches on the cave walls made it able to see her surroundings. The ground was hard and water was dripping from the top. Her heart suddenly stopped when she looked behind her. Her eyes immediately focused in the only bright colour in front of her. She saw the bars going across the big hole inside the cave. The cave itself was long and roomy, she couldn’t even see the entrance. Only the stone surrounding her with a greenish light. But in front of her, just a few meters away there was an open space with a small bed build in and bars making anyone unable to enter or exit the small place. All these details were very clear but her eyes were only noticing one thing. And that was the pink pony lying on the small bed. She was sleeping. It felt like Rainbow Dash’s heart had stopped beating. Without her body even noticing it tears had begun rolling down her cheeks.

“Pinkie” a small whisper was forced out of her mouth.

But the one word was loud enough to be heard. As Rainbow Dash’s body was numb, the pink pony started to move. Slowly rolling onto the other side before opening her eyes.

“Huh?” Pinkie mumbled.

Suddenly eye contact was made, but clearly neither of the 2 was able to understand what they were seeing. It seemed so unreal, like time had stopped.

“Dashie” Pinkie whispered back.

Suddenly it felt like something exploded and time started again. Pinkie jumped out of the bed and ran towards the bars. She kept looking at her as she held both her hooves tightly around the bars.

“But…” Pinkie whispered in confusion.
“You’re not dead?”

Rainbow Dash forced herself to take a step closer, but she was still unable to think of something to say.

“Pinkie” was the only thing that came out as she kept walking closer.
With no other sound than the key around her neck making small noises, Rainbow Dash moved closer and closer to Pinkie Pie, just only a few centimeters away Rainbow Dash whispered
“I missed you so much” just before pressing her lips to hers, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

Again it seemed like time had stopped as they were kissing. In that moment everything felt right. Liked there was nothing wrong or evil in this world. Her mind was only focusing at what happened right now. But reality had to be faced as Rainbow Dash moved her head back and broke the kiss. She could see that now Pinkie Pie was crying too. But it was clear to see she was not scared, she didn’t even look confused anymore. Even though she wasn’t smiling Rainbow Dash knew that her tears were not tears of sadness but tears of joy.

“I-“ Rainbow Dash tried to say something, but there was so much to say that nothing could be said at all.

Pinkie was still standing still only making a few weeping noises. Other than that the only sound was the key dangling around her neck.

“The key” Suddenly it hit her.
Why she was here, the choice she had to make.

“Pinkie I-“

“Why aren’t you dead?” Pinkie interrupted.

Thought the question was completely understandable, she didn’t felt like it was the time to tell the whole thing to Pinkie Pie. With every second that passed, the choice became harder to make. She knew what the right thing was. She couldn’t let love stand in the way of destroying evil.

“I- I don’t know” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

“But- but” Pinkie stuttered.

Rainbow Dash’s mind kept screaming “WALK AWAY! YOU HAVE TO WIN THIS CHALLENGE! DON’T BE SO FUCKING SELFISH!”
Meanwhile her heart was yelling “PINKIE IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS! YOU HAVE THE KEY TO FREE HER, YOU HAVE THE KEY TO HER HEART!”

“What is that key around your neck?” Pinkie then asked.

Immediately the screaming inside her ended. Rainbow Dash tried to force herself to say something. She bit her lower lip hard just to get her going.

“It’s the key to free you” she then said.

Pinkie Pie, unknowing of the whole situation, lightened up. She began smiling. She thought… she thought that Rainbow Dash was here to free her. But then again, maybe she was.

“Pinkie I-“ then the conversation inside her head started again.

“Think about your friends. If you free Pinkie Pie then you will let everyone down. Think about Lily! What she have been going through to help you win this fucking game!”
But the conversation stopped there. Her heart had nothing to say. She knew what she had to do. So there she stood, looking into the eyes of her love about to make the toughest decision of her life.

“I’m sorry Pinkie” she whispered, then closed her eyes.

“What?” Pinkie responded.

Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything, she just turned around and began walking away.

“DASHIE! WHAT IS GOING ON?! PLEASE HELP ME!” Pinkie Pie screamed while pushing her body up against the bars.

Rainbow Dash kept silent, with every step she took her heart broke into more pieces.

“PLEASE DASHIE! PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Pinkie screamed.

The more Rainbow Dash walked the lower the screaming became. She forced her body to keep on walking though what she wanted the most was to turn around and help Pinkie Pie. But she couldn’t.

“PLEASE! I LOVE YOU!”

Was the last thing she heard before a very bright flash appeared, forcing her to close her eyes. She didn’t need to open them again to know where she was. She could feel the grass on her hooves. She could feel the cold wind passing by. Even the small noises of animals made it clear that she was back in the forest.

“What about that whole ‘I won’t cry anymore’ thing?” Discord chuckled.

Rainbow Dash looked down on her hooves. Her body felt extremely heavy, she barely listened to whatever Discord was saying. She could only hear mumbling. It felt like she was about to faint.

“Stupid pony” Discord suddenly said as he grabbed Rainbow Dash’s mane and pulled her up to his face.
“You’re not even listening”

Rainbow Dash didn’t struggle to get free from his grip.

“You completed the challenge. Well done” Discord repeated.
“Which means you only have one challenge left. One element is still in play. And that my friend, is your element. The element of loyalty” Discord was still pulling Rainbow Dash mane, but the pain was barely noticeable. The true pain came from within.
“Hello?!” Discord said louder.
“Fine. Have it your way” he just said before he tossed Rainbow Dash aside making her land heavily onto the ground.
“This will be your final rest. Except the rest of death of course. Be prepared Rainbow Dash. Be prepared for the worst”

In an instant, the ground felt softer and the wind was gone. She slowly opened her eyes. It was no surprise she was now laying on that same couch at Lily’s house. She closed her eyes again. Everything just felt so empty. She tried to focus but the only thing in her mind was Pinkie Pie. She just walked away from her. She was begging for help. And she just walked away…

“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing on the couch?”
Lily had entered the room. It was supposedly early morning. She could feel Lily sitting next to her on the couch just before a hoof was placed on her forehead.

“Are you sick?” She asked gently.

Rainbow Dash didn’t respond.

“How did you get all that dirt on you? Have you been outside? I-“ She could hear on Lily’s voice that she just realized what had happened.
“You just completed another challenge didn’t you?” She asked.

Rainbow Dash forced her body to sit up. Though she felt dizzy she managed to sit up straight.

“Yeah” She replied.

“Wait here. I’ll go make us some breakfast” Lily then got up and began walking into the kitchen.

She could hear she was taking out some bowls and other things. Without really thinking, Rainbow Dash stood up as well and took heavy steps towards the kitchen. She just stopped at the entrance and rested her body on the wall.

“Lily” she said calmly.

Lily looked back at Rainbow Dash with her purple eyes.

“Thank you” Rainbow Dash had a hoarse voice.

“But… for what?” Lily asked.

“For everything. You have taken care of me, you have given me food and a place to rest. I never met somepony as kind as you. And… I will do anything I can to help you as well. It’s just-“

“Shh” Lily interrupted as she walked towards Rainbow Dash.

“I know” she said just before hugging her.
“Don’t you worry about it” she whispered, then broke the hug.
“If you really wanna help” she smiled.
“You can help me make breakfast”

Rainbow Dash looked at Lily smiling and couldn’t help but to smile too.
“Sure”

A few seconds later they both stood in the kitchen. Lily had asked Rainbow Dash to stir some batter in a bowl while she was herself cutting some apples and other fruits.

“What are we making?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You are making some buns while I am cutting some fresh fruit. It should only take a few minutes and the batter should be ready”

“I’ve actually never baked before” Rainbow Dash confessed.

“Really?”

“Yeah” Rainbow Dash giggled.
“I usually just bought some cakes or fruit at my friend’s places”

“Out here, there isn’t much places you can buy food or ingredients” Lily smiled.

“I can imagine”

“Maybe you should just add another egg into the batter. They are up on that shelf” Lily said as she pointed towards a small shelf just left for her.

“Alright” But at the moment Rainbow Dash moved towards the shelf her right hoof hit the bowl with the batter making it fall to the ground. Rainbow Dash panicked.

“Oh no! I am sooo sorry!” she said quickly as she took the bowl and placed it back up.
Unfortunately most of the batter was already on the floor.

“It’s ok Rainbow Dash” Lily laughed.

“If you just find a mob in the closet over there and clean it up, then there is nothing to worry about” Lily kept laughing. She apparently thought it was funny.

Rainbow Dash still felt awful for making such a mess and ruining the batter as she walked over to get a mop. After some cleaning up the breakfast was ready. Unfortunately there were no buns as a result. They both sat around a table placed in the kitchen while chewing on some fruit.

“So… the next challenge will be the last” Lily suddenly said.

“Ehh… Yeah. It’s the last element”

“Your element right?” Lily said as she took another bite of the cut out apple.
“The element of loyalty” She continued.

“Yeah. I’m not sure how that came to be my element actually” Rainbow Dash scratched her mane.

“What? Loyalty is the best word to describe you. Unless there is an element of clumsiness”
Lily laughed friendly.

“Yeah. Very funny” Rainbow Dash smiled sarcastically.

“I actually dropped out of school when I was a filly” Lily started.

They were now both sitting next to each other on the couch in the living room, sharing stories.

“How come?” Rainbow Dash asked while scratching her eye.

“Not sure. It was either because I thought I was too smart to waste my time in school or because I just thought it was plain boring” Lily laughed.

“I know the feeling” Rainbow Dash smiled.

“I went to flight school for a few years, and it’s like I never learned anything. I was by far the fastest of the students and most of the teachers. So I too dropped out early and decided to be my own teacher. Which worked very well”

“Too bad you still have that magic spell on you making you unable to fly. I would love to see you in action”

Rainbow Dash placed herself more comfortable. “Yeah. It’s actually been rough not flying for this long. I always had it best alone in the air. I just get the feeling of being free, like there is nothing I can’t do. So being stuck on the ground is not the funniest thing. But what about you? I have never seen you in the air”

“Oh” Lily smiled and closed her eyes.

“I was never really a good flyer. Mostly because I didn’t have the interest in competing like most Pegasus’. If I need to, I can of course fly, but I prefer being on the ground. Things are just safer and secure here. But I guess I got that from my husband. He was really down to earth. Literally”

“Yeah” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Something wrong?” Lily asked gently.

“I am just thinking about the last challenge. I wonder what it will be about. It’s only myself remaining, and Discord is really good at coming up with the most cruel games”

Lily nodded. “He certainly is cruel. I wonder how many lives’ he has actually ruined. So far I count 2. Yours and mine. Though my life is being build up again after I met you”

Rainbow Dash looked oddly at Lily.

“Rainbow Dash, before you came knocking on my door I was living on my own. I had gotten use to go to bed without a ‘goodnight’ and I was really down. The only thing I looked forward to was… was to see my daughter again. I often dreamt that one day, somepony was knocking on the door, just like you did, and when I went over to open the door I would see a pony. And the words coming out of her mouth would be “Lily Dache? I am Pacific Light. I am your daughter” I know it will probably never happen, but it was the only reason I kept on living. But when you came you and reminded me what life is really about. You can’t just sit around and wait for your dreams to come to you. You have to go out there and take some chances. I have always been scared of new things, I was always trying to make things as simple as possible. But you, Rainbow Dash, you have inspired me to make some tough decisions. When this game is over, I will move away. I will search for my daughter and even if I find her and she won’t have anything to do with me, I will still know that I tried. I will have the satisfaction of saying “I took the step. I did the right thing” and when that day will come, I will have you to thank for it” Lily smiled while looking down.

Rainbow Dash smiled as well while placing her hoof on Lily’s shoulder.
“Thank you Lily. But I am not that fantastic really. I never opened up to others, I never trusted anyone. Most of my young years I had no friends. I was being bullied, I never had the courage to stand up for myself. I often ditched class because I was scared. Scared that I wasn’t good enough. And I had no parents to return home to, no parents that I could talk with about my problems, no parents that read a goodnight story before I went to sleep. No parents to love me. I was vulnerable. I was scared. But… then I met her. I met Pinkie Pie. She was so happy all the time, she was always talking. She seemed so extremely social and outgoing. I didn’t really care much for her at the beginning, I just thought she felt pity for me. But one day I decided to visit her, maybe just to give her a chance. But just before I knocked on the door to her room, I could hear noises coming from inside. It was crying noises. I just thought to myself “Who is inside Pinkie’s room” I didn’t think it was Pinkie Pie crying. She seemed like a pony that never had a reason to be sad. I slowly opened the door a little bit and peeked inside. I couldn’t believe it. It really was Pinkie Pie. She was hugging something. A small teddy bear. Suddenly she looked at me, she saw my peeking on her. “Well, that friendship is over” I thought. But she walked over and opened the door and invited me inside still with tears working their way down her cheeks. We both sat next to each other on her bed. And out of nowhere she asked me “Rainbow Dash. You don’t have any parents do you?” I was confused by the question but I answered her. I told her that I never really knew my parents. She then looked at me with tears in her eyes. “So you know how it feels to be completely alone?” She asked me. That was the day I found out that Pinkie wasn’t the pony I thought she was. She didn’t have any friends. Sure, she talked to a’ lot of ponies but when the sun was going down she had no one to talk to. No one to tell her true feelings to. I gently tried to place my hoof on her shoulder, but then she hugged my while crying out. I hugged back. I actually felt like crying too. After a while we began talking about everything. About our feelings and even about our favorite food. That night we became best friends. She taught me to open myself up to others. She told me I was amazing and I had to show it. I took her advice and I fell in love with competition and speed. I fell in love with her”

Lily looked at Rainbow Dash with a small smile. “You really are amazing Rainbow Dash”

“So are you Lily” she responded.

“Eugh. Why do females always have to talk about feelings and love? Why can’t they talk about sports and food?” It was Discord.
He wasn’t visible but he was somewhere in the room.
“Anyway, it’s time for your final challenge Rainbow Dash. Come with me”

Rainbow Dash got up from the couch, Lily stood up as well.

“Good luck” Lily said while smiling friendly.

“Thanks” Rainbow Dash responded.

Once again a bright flash appeared making Rainbow Dash standing in the middle of the forest. It was afternoon, and the moon was slowly starting to rise and the singing birds had been replaced with loud owls. Discord was looking at Rainbow Dash with a lifted eyebrow

“I will never get female ponies”

Rainbow Dash looked up “And I will never get freakish mutilated monsters”

“OH! So that’s how we are playing?” Discord yelled.
“Well, I will never get… Rainbow.. Flying….” Discord went silent.
“You’re stupid…” He said quickly.
“Hrmf. Any questions before we begin the final challenge?” Discord asked.

“Actually I got one” Rainbow Dash said while looking at a tree to her right.
“What is the meaning of this game? Why can’t you just use your normal magic to take over Equestria?”

Discord sighed. “I feel like I already explained this to you, but fine. Remember the first time you used the elements of harmony to stop Nightmare Moon? That was the day the elements found their new holder. You can call it destiny or pure luck, it doesn’t really matter. You 6 had been selected to play the role of the saviors. The elements became a part of your lives. Like an extra heart or something, or actually more like a replacement of the heart, since the elements actually hold your lives inside them, meaning that if the elements were to be destroyed so would the holders and the other way around. Example, I first appeared in Ponyvillie with my chaos and all, I broke the friendship between you and your friends, yet you still decided to use the elements against me and as you remember you failed hard. There was no magic in the elements, because there was no magic in your friendship. They are connected. Of course you rebuild your stupid friendship and made the elements work again, but that’s a boring story. What happened just after though was more interesting. I was able to suck the power into me, to become a part of the elements. You see, the elements aren’t able to separate the holders from each other, meaning that is not impossible that there can be more than one holder of one specific element. But like eating a pie with a friend, you can only eat half of it, to be fair. So I was only able to use a tiny bit of the elements power because most if it was already occupied by you and your friends. You of course had more power than me, but if I were to destroy your friendship once again, then the empty space of magic that will appear in the elements would be replaced with my powers. So the more chaos in your friendship the more power I can get from the elements. There is just one annoying thing. When you used the elements for the first time, Twilight was able to “bring the elements to life” so to speak, with a spark. And that spark is the only thing that keeps the elements so powerful. Of course Twilight has to die one day, but until then I would already had ruled Equestria for several years. That is the reason you are playing this game. The more you fail, the more chaos will be created in your friendship, and the more power will go to me. Get it now?”

Rainbow Dash tried to follow every word he was saying, and it actually kind of made sense.
”I am not just fighting for Equestria, I am fighting for our friendship”

“So now you know the importance of the game” Discord smiled.
“Are you ready to end it?”

It was true. This would be the challenge to end the game. All her suffering had led to this point. She couldn’t give up now. Everyone was depending on her.

“I am ready” she said as confident as she was able to.

“But are you really ready?” Discord asked.

Rainbow Dash didn’t know what to answer. She felt ready.

“The final flashback” Discord said at the moment Rainbow Dash went numb. Trapped inside her mind once again. She saw herself wakening up beside the grave. Herself walking in the forest, then finding a house. Meeting Lily just before yelling at her. She stormed out and met Discord. Then the images began flashing really fast, just showing the challenges she went trough, until she saw herself standing infront of Discord just before the final challenge. The memories had ended. The time is now.

“To win this challenge you will have to prove yourself, prove how much you actually would go through to save your friends” Discord paused.

“Prove that you are ready to kill, to save the ones you hold dear”

The wind was catching up, and it was getting colder. Rainbow Dash decided not to say anything at this point.

“Look here” Discord said as he made a small glass tube appear.

There was some transparent liquid flowing inside the tube. Rainbow Dash knew what he was about to say, but she hoped for the best. Or, not the worst.

“This is a highly dangerous poison. Grafted by me” Discord said proudly.
“And I made it transparent so no one would notice if the poison were to fall into a glass of water or wine. Clever, right?”

“I’m not doing it” Rainbow Dash said silently.

“Hmm?” Discord hummed.

“You want me to pure the poison into someone’s drink. I am not a killer like you, I would never be able to live with myself”

“Don’t worry Rainbow Dash” Discord said as he floated closer to Rainbow Dash.
“I am sure Lily will forgive you” He smiled.

Rainbow Dash suspected that it would be her. Who else would come up with such a twisted trick, but though she was prepared for it, hearing Discord say it still made her body shock.

“This is going too far Discord. You can test my skills, you can traumatize me, but NOT by killing another pony. And especially Lily!”

“Oh, but you have no choice” Discord said as he floated back again.

“You see, all the challenges you went through, finding the apple, fighting Star Bolt, saving the 2 fillies, answering the riddle and turn your back on Pinkie Pie. All that would have been with no reason if you decide to stop now. Do you really want it to end here? To give up on your friends?”

“But I can’t kill Lily!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“But you have to” Discord responded calmly.

“Here, I’ll give you the glass tube containing the poison and send you back to Lily. Then you can make the choice yourself” Discord tried handing Rainbow Dash the tube; “Oh right, you have no hands. Here, open wide!” He sang in a childish voice as he pressed the tube against Rainbow Dash’s mouth.

In a quick bite Rainbow Dash got the hold of the tube in her mouth.

“Good girl. Next time we’ll meet; your destiny will be sealed. Good luck!” He almost laughed.

A well-known bright flash appeared, forcing Rainbow Dash’s eyes shut. When she opened them again she was standing in Lily’s living room, still with the tube in her mouth.

“I am really getting tired of all this teleporting” She thought to herself.

She wasn’t even sure what to do now. She refused to kill Lily, but she also refused to fail the game. There is no way out. She took a few small steps, placing herself on the couch and dropping the tube right next to her. First then she noticed there were 2 glasses of water in front of her on the table. Discord must have set it up. She looked back at the poison.

“I’ll just tell Lily what the challenge is about and maybe we can find a solution” she told herself.

At that moment someone opened the front door, it was Lily walking in with a basket of what seemed to be berries. She took a few steps before she noticed Rainbow Dash was sitting on the couch. She quickly placed the basket on the ground and began questioning.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash! You’re back. What happened? Is it finished?”

Rainbow Dash placed her right hoof on the poison, wanting to show it to Lily. Instead she quickly scooped it behind her back, hiding it from view.

“Ehh… No. I haven’t got the challenge yet. Discord just tried to mess with my head” Rainbow Dash said nervously.

“Oh” Lily sounded disappointed.

“I see you have set up a fancy dinner for the 2 of us” Lily smiled.

Rainbow Dash looked at the 2 glasses of water on the table.
“Yeah. I used hours in the kitchen to prepare this” Rainbow Dash smiled back.

“With you kitchen skills, I’d say 2 glasses of water and no spoiled batter, is damn impressive” Lily laughed as she sat down next to Rainbow Dash.
“I was just out collection berries. I always do that when I have some things to think about. Reminds me” Lily quickly got back up and walked towards the basket of berries, turning her back on Rainbow Dash.

“DO IT NOW!” Rainbow Dash’s mind yelled.
In fear she quickly took the cork off the tube and poured down the poison down Lily’s glass. Discord was right, the poison was impossible to spot. Just as Lily turned around Rainbow Dash hid the tube behind her back and sent a nervous smile to Lily.

“These berries” she said as she returned with the basket and placed them on the table.
“If you squeeze them over your glass of water the juice from the berry will give a lovely exotic taste in the water. Try it” She said gently as she sat down next to Rainbow Dash on the couch.

“Eh.. Okay” She responded then took a purple berry from the basket, Lily doing the same.

“Just squeeze em’ good and your glass of water will soon taste of flower garden” Lily said as she squeezed her berry, making the juice fall down the glass.
“Yeah” Lily continued.
“My husband always said that. ‘If you put berry juice in your water it will get the taste of a flower garden’ he would say. I’m still not sure what he meant though” Lily laughed while tossing the dry berry next to the basket just before taking a hold of the glass.

“Aren’t you gonna squeeze your berry too Rainbow Dash?” She asked just as she was about to drink the water.

“Oh. Maybe later” Rainbow Dash tried to force a smile.

“Your choice” Lily said, then took a big sip of the water.

“DON’T DRINK THAT” Rainbow Dash screamed inside her head.
Unfortunately the words didn’t come out of her mouth. It was too late. She had almost drunk half of the water. Rainbow Dash’s body was tensing, and she felt like her head was about to explode.

“So while I was out collecting berries” Lily had no idea as she kept talking.
“I thought about my daughter and how I have no idea how she is. See that small chest up on that shelf?” Lily pointed towards a shell placed in the corner of the living room.

Rainbow Dash could see a small red chest on the shelf. It looked very old.

“When I abandoned my daughter in the hope of someone finding her, I returned to find a note giving the names of the ponies taking her, and the address of where they had taken her. I looked at it once then placed it in that chest. I never dared to visit her though I knew where she was. I was afraid Discord would come back and look for her in my house. I decided it was best for us both if I tossed the note away. But that note was the only hope I had left, so I placed it in that chest and I have never opened it since. I can’t even remember the name or the address that was given on the note. I think their names were something with ‘Breeze’ but I am not sure” Lily looked at Rainbow Dash and smiled.

“You have given me the courage to take the chance. I have decided to open the chest and read the note once again, then maybe I can find my daughter. And no better time to do so than with my best friend beside me” Lily just finished her sentence before standing up.

“I-“ Rainbow Dash tried to say something, but her whole body was shaking in fear.

The poison had to settle in soon. Lily had just grabbed the chest down from the shelf and began walking back to Rainbow Dash.

“Well” She smiled.
“Time to find my daughter” she just let out before falling to the ground.

“Lily!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she ran towards her.
She was lying motionless on the floor.

“What… What is going on?” Lily whispered.

Rainbow Dash had fallen on her knees beside Lily.

“I… I got my final challenge” Rainbow Dash could feel her eyes watering.
”I had to kill you Lily. I had to poison you” She cried out.
“I had no choice! If I didn’t do it I would fail the game. I would fail my friends!”

Lily stared at Rainbow Dash with a weak smile.
“I understand. You did the right thing Rainbow Dash” Her voice was slowly fading away.

“Lily” Rainbow Dash whispered with tears dripping from her eyes.

“But… just promise me, when this is all over, when you have defeated Discord, then find my daughter. Tell her I am sorry. Tell her that I love her”

“I promise Lily. I will never stop searching until I find her” Rainbow Dash’s voice broke.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash” Lily said faintly just before closing her eyes.

“Goodbye” Rainbow Dash whispered, then looked to her right. The chest was lying on the floor. The impact had seemed to open up the chest, and a small piece of paper was lying next to it. Must be the note, she thought to herself. With heavy steps she walked over and grabbed it. She had to wipe away a few tears to see clearly. She began reading. It just gave some information about how they found her all alone, and took her to a safe place. 2 names were written on the bottom. “Back Breeze” and “Twinky Puff” just below was an address. Rainbow Dash read the address through several times. Her heart stopped as she realized that the address given on the paper was… her own address. Rainbow Dash dropped the note, then slowly turned around walking over to Lily’s body lying on the floor. She looked at her face, she looked so peaceful.

“Mom?” Rainbow Dash whispered with a few tears running down her cheeks.

“Congratulations!” A voice sounded.
Suddenly she was back outside in the forest with Discord standing before her with a great smile, all the 6 elements were floating in a circle around him.

“You won the challenge. But sorry to say, I still win”

Rainbow tensed her body.

“Yeah. I only needed some amount of chaos so most to the element’s power would be free for me to take, and of course the ultimate chaos is happening at the moment.You might think you met Lily by a coincidence, but I led you to her. Remember the pile of fresh grass when you woke up? The lightning that stroke down? All me! So thank you for helping me create excellent chaos, thank you Rainbow Dash. Or should I say, Pacific Light?” Discord made a grin.

“DISCORD!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she stomped her hooves down in the ground, making some dust jump up around her.

“I can understand you are a little mad, but what will you do? You are a single Pegasus that can’t even fly” Discord giggled.

Rainbow Dash could feel her body tensing. She suddenly began yelling as she forced out her wings making a green burst appear, just before getting airborne. Discord couldn’t believe it.

“How did you…? Doesn’t matter. You still can’t hurt me”

Rainbow Dash flew up in the air, flying so fast a rainbow started creating behind her. In a swift move she began flying downwards just passing Discord and grabbing one of the elements floating around him. It was Applejacks element, the element of honesty.

“You wouldn’t” Discord said nervously.

Rainbow Dash stared into his eyes “Applejack taught me to be strong and confident. She was the one pony that loved competing just as much as I did. We didn’t talk much about our feelings, but we didn’t need to. As long as we were honest to each other” She said just before she smashed the element with her hooves.

“YOU IDIOIT! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR FRIENDS LIFES ARE CONNECTED WITH THOSE ELEMENTS!?”

Rainbow Dash quickly flew to the next element. Fluttershy’s element.
“I know. And they would understand. Fluttershy showed a side of myself I didn’t knew I had. She showed me that though some problems can be dealt with head on action, many problems can also be solved by just showing a little understanding and kindess” She said as she smashed the element of kindness, the same way as before.

“STOP IT YOU MORON! YOU ARE KILLING YOU FRIENDS!”

“Yes. But my friends’ lives aren’t the only ones connected with the elements”

“STOP IT!” Discord yelled as he tried to stop Rainbow Dash, but she was quick and evaded him, just before reaching the next element. The element of generosity.
“Rarity. I always thought I was just another pony. I wasn’t special, I wasn’t beautiful, but she gave me a gift that can’t be wrapped in a box. She have me the gift of confidence, and if that is not geneoristy, then I don’t know what is. Sorry Rarity” Rainbow Dash whispered, then smashing both her hooves into the element making it to dust.

“ARGH!” Discord fell back in pain.

“Hurts doesn’t it?! Maybe you should have thought about this when you decided to become a holder of the elements. It’s not all fun and games” Rainbow Dash yelled to him as she continued to the next element.

“Your days of chaos will come to an end Discord” She said, grabbing Twilight’s element. The element of magic.

“YOU IDIOT! I THOUGHT THESE PONIES WERE YOU’RE FRIENDS?!”

“Oh but they are” Rainbow Dash said as she placed the element in her right hoof.
“They taught me that I was not alone in the world. That there would always be somepony to catch me. They understood that I needed some space but they also showed me that’s its important to share your feelings even though it might hurt.” Rainbow Dash marked the last words as she crushed the element.

It was clear to see that Discord was getting weaker, he wasn’t even reaching out for her anymore. She flew fast, just stopping before Pinkie’s element.

“They showed me that others were feeling scared and lonely. That I wasn’t the only one crying, I wasn’t the only one hiding. I always thought that I was a coward, that I was weak. But the only way to ever become strong is to admitting your weakness. Only then you can receive understanding, receive friendship, receive love.” She looked at Pinkie’s element. She placed it to her lips.
“We could cry and laugh together” she said just before crushing it like the others.

As the pieces fell to the ground, Rainbow Dash got a pain inside her chest. Her body was weakening as well. She looked up. The Rainbow she had created was almost gone. All the colours had faded away, the rainbow was still standing but it was dark and grey. She forced herself to fly to the last element, her own element.

“You know Discord” she said as she grabbed the element, holding it tightly.
“There is no greater feeling than when you can tell another pony that you never knew your parents, that you are feeling scared and lonely, and they hug you and cry with you. Only when you are able to share pain with others are you able to share true happiness. And when that bond is created there is nothing more valuable than that. There are a million ponies out there with that bond, I can’t let them down. Only by offering my friendship, even my life, am I able to save all the others. You will never get the chance to break friendships ever again. The most important lesson my friends taught me was also the most challenging. To be loyal to myself, but thanks to them, I am now connected with the element of loyalty and I will prove that it wasn’t a mistake. Time to end this!” She yelled as she placed the element on the ground and lifted her upper body.

“THIS IS FOR MY PARENTS!” She screamed as she smashed her body down on the element making it break into several pieces.

“No! Do you know what you just did?!” Discord yelled as he fell to the ground.

“I made a sacrifice. Sometimes in life you have to lose something to gain something. And knowing I saved just one friendship is enough for me”

Suddenly Rainbow Dash’s body lost all its energy and she was forced to the ground, her head looking up in the sky. The rainbow was gone, the sky was clear.

“I always wished to one day wake up next to Pinkie Pie” She thought to herself.
“That wish might just come true” She shed a tear and closed her eyes with a smile.

It was done.