The Heart's Shell

Fluttershy flew all the way to Cloudsdale and visited Rainbow Dash’s old house again. She knocked on the door a couple of times. A tired Firefly opened the door.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing out so late?” she asked.

“Firefly, I need to talk to you. I can’t sleep” Fluttershy replied.

“Of course, you’re always welcome to visit, no matter what time it is”

The two mares sat on the couches and drank some hot chocolate that Firefly made.

“So, what’s on your mind Fluttershy?” Firefly asked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

“It’s about Rainbow Dash and Tank” Fluttershy replied.

“Oh yes. Did the song work on him? Is he cured?”

“About that, I’ve just started teaching the girls the song earlier. But that’s not why I’m here” Firefly put down her cup on the table.

“Why are you here then?”

“I had something that I didn’t tell you before”

“Oh, and what was that?”

“Rainbow Dash is gone” Firefly froze in her position.

“What do you mean ‘gone’?”

“Rainbow got a watch for Hearth’s Warming. This watch could grant her anything she wanted. She wished for Tank to come back. But the watch put a curse on Tank which made him sick. The watch told Rainbow that the song you sang to your daughter is the only thing that can cure him. Whilst we’re doing that, the watch is a demon foal which feeds off her grief, and Rainbow... Well Rainbow Dash is fighting her demon foal right now” Firefly had her mouth wide open.

“Dashie is fighting her evil self?”

“When you put it that way, yes”

“She is so brave, saving Equestria hundreds of times”

“Yes, but that was with us. This is the first time she is going out on her own. And that’s why I couldn’t sleep. I had a nightmare”

“What happened?”

“In my nightmare you mean?”

“Yes”

“I was in the meadow when I found Rainbow Dash. I ran up to her but then I found out she was transparent. I fell through a hole as I saw floating pictures of Tank. Then she said to me: ‘you did this to me’. Then that’s when I woke up”

“I see. I kind of knew that Rainbow Dash had a close bond with Tank. And it hurt her to see her sad. But it wasn’t just losing Tank that was hurting her, there was also something else too” Fluttershy’s eyes widened.

“What might that be?”

“Rainbow had her first taste of losing somepony she was close to when she was only 4 years old”

“4?”

“Yes. When she was 4, she had a good bond with her grandmother, Blue Streak. She was a former Wonderbolt back in her day, but she retired as soon as she wasn’t able to fly as fast as she used to. In fact, Blue Streak who was also my mother told her about the Wonderbolts themselves and that’s what inspired my daughter. They were really close.

Blue Streak would always tell stories about her past to my daughter too. But then, my mother got really sick and got sent to hospital. Rainbow had no idea what was going on at the time. It wasn’t until her 5th birthday party when we got the news that Blue Streak was in a terrible condition. When she was at the party, she had invited all of her friends. Mainly because they didn’t believe her that her grandmother was a former Wonderbolt. She got really anxious when Blue Streak wasn’t arriving, or that she was left alone in the house. But she was really excited when we arrived back.

‘Did you pick up Grandma?’ she asked us.

We looked at each other. We didn’t know how to break it to her. We thought that she would be heart broken.

‘Sweetie, I’m afraid your grandmother is not coming’ I replied.

‘Why?’ she asked. Then I hugged my little girl, broke down into tears in front of her.

‘Your grandmother is gone’ I replied back. Then Rainbow pushed me away.

‘Hold on. Are you saying that my grandmother is dead?’ she asked back. I hugged her again.

‘I’m sorry’

‘How could you have let this happen?’

‘I’m so, so sorry’

‘She didn’t even say goodbye! She told me that Wonderbolts never die! She lied to me!’ Rainbow sobbed into my chest.

We did try to hide the truth from her, but she had already figured it out. It was something that she was never going to forget, even now.

Fluttershy was crying and using hundreds of tissues in the process.

“I never knew that Rainbow was exposed to losing a loved one at such a young age” she sniffed “But what does that have to do with Tank”

“Well, years later, when she first got Tank, she came to visit us to show him off. We were really impressed that she got a new pet. Then I found out from Rainbow that Tank reminded her of her grandmother”

“So that’s why she felt sad about Tank hibernating, she didn’t want to feel the same sadness she did 14 years ago”

“Last month, we heard that there was a disturbance in Cloudsdale in the weather factory. We don’t know what caused it, but the next thing we know, Ponyville gets winter early. That night, it was raining heavily. Rainbow knocked on my door, she was soaked.

I asked her what was wrong. She said that Tank needed to hibernate. Then she said that she missed her grandmother. I was surprised she still remembered that moment. Then she ran up to my arms and cried herself to sleep”

“That is really odd. Always looked up to Rainbow Dash, even when she was shorter than me, because she was so brave and loyal. She always helped me through any situation. I never knew for a minute that beneath all of that pride and ego, there was a small filly who had lost one of the most important ponies of her life. And when I said ‘your winter is going to be petless’ to her face, that’s when it all came out. Not just the memories of Tank, but the memories of her grandmother too”

Firefly looked at the clock, it read 1:00AM.

“Maybe you should head back to Ponyville now” Firefly said.

“Yeah, good idea. Thank you for listening to me”

“No problem”

The two mares, Rainbow Dash and Blue Streak walked silently for a while until Blue Streak brought another topic up.

“You know, I still think it’s crazy that you’re fighting Iris. Is that literally the first time you ever experienced grief, last month?” Rainbow Dash stopped walking and Blue Streak looked back. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s not the first time” Rainbow replied.

“It’s not?”

“No, the first time was…was…” Rainbow couldn’t finish her sentence.

“Was what?”

Rainbow then had a vision. She was looking at Blue Streak weirdly. In her mind she was shifting from a young mare to an elderly mare. She couldn’t make it go away.

“Make it stop!” Rainbow yelled as she crouched down on the ground.

“Make what stop? I’m not doing anything” Rainbow looked up and calmed down.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me”

“What came over you?”

“It was so strange. I looked at you and then you changed into my grandmother”

“What? What does your grandmother have to do with anything?”

Rainbow Dash got back up and took a big breath in and let it out, just like Twilight would in a stressing situation.

“The first time I ever experienced grief was when I was 5 years old” Blue Streak’s eyes widened.

“5? That’s a young age, you mustn’t have had your cutiemark then”

“I didn’t. It was 14 years ago. When I was 4, my grandmother would tell me stories about the Wonderbolts. She was a former member herself. I thought she was the coolest pony to ever exist, even though she was old. The other fillies didn’t believe me that she was a former Wonderbolt, but I wanted to prove them wrong. At my 5th birthday, I told every filly in Cloudsdale about my grandmother and all the stories that she told me. Then my parents came in and told me that she…that she…” Rainbow stumbled in her words. “forget it! You don’t want to know”

“But I do. Tell me, I’ll listen. I won’t make fun of you or anything” Rainbow sighed and continued.

“My parents told me that my grandmother had passed away. On my 5th birthday. It was something that I couldn’t get over. I was completely heartbroken. What made things worse was that Tank reminded me of her. And when I found out he was hibernating, I didn’t want to lose him like I lost my grandmother”

The two mares stayed in silence again. Blue Streak hung her head.

“That’s so sad. Why were you exposed to death at such a young age?”

“It wasn’t my fault; I think it was just old age that killed her. But every time I look at Tank, I look at her. And I don’t want the same thing to happen to him”

“That makes sense. Pity you were too young to have that as your demon foal” Rainbow nodded her head in agreement. Then she looked at Blue Streak in a closer perspective, then she realized something that was obvious to her this entire time.

“I remembered something”

“You did?”

“My grandmother’s name was Blue Streak. Same as yours. She had the same coat color, mane style and the same cutiemark!”

“Really? That’s creepy”

“Blue Streak, you’re a younger version of my grandmother!”

“I’m what!?”

“A younger version of my grandmother!”

“How is that possible? I’m 19 years old. Shouldn’t I rather be an old mare or something?”

“I don’t know how this is possible either”

Suddenly an evil laugh emerged from the biggest tunnel. It sounded like Rainbow’s Demon foal Iris.

“That tunnel! Let’s go before it’s too late!” Blue Streak responded.

“Good idea!” Rainbow replied.

The two mares headed towards the middle cave. They didn’t know how far they had to go, or what to expect when they got there. All they did know what that Iris was powerful and they had to be careful. But Rainbow just smiled to herself.

‘I can’t believe it, I’m friends with my grandmother! My grandmother when she was 19, the same age as me!’

Rainbow Dash and Blue Streak had been following the middle tunnel for hours. They didn’t see anything new besides crystals and other gem stones.

“Are we there yet?” Rainbow Dash complained. “We’ve been flying for hours. Are you sure you know where you’re going?”

“Yeah. I told you, I know the demon caves better than any pony” Blue Streak replied.

“But you’ve been to Iris heaps of times?”

“Yep”

“Do you know what she looks like?” Blue Streak got nervous when that question popped up.

“I’d rather not say”

“Come on, I’m going to be fighting her anyway, I just want some heads up is all” Blue Streak took a deep breath in and exhaled.

“Well, you already know that most of the demon foals have dark smoky bodies with white eyes?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, Iris doesn’t”

“She doesn’t?”

“No. She is the only demon foal I’ve seen to have different eyes from the others”

“What do her eyes look like?”

“The eyes are like those of a pony instead of a demon foal. Whilst we have the whites around our eyes, she has reds around her eyes. And where there would usually be a color of the eyeball, like yours is pink, hers is white. She has no reflections but just a straight on black pupil”

As Blue Streak was saying this, she was making what it looked like with her eyes. Though she was a Pegasus, Rainbow didn’t know how she would be able to do it. But either way, she was freaked out.

“Ok, I get it! Please don’t do that again!” Rainbow Dash complained.

“You wanted to know what she looked like”

“But not like that. Are her eyes really red?”

“Yep. I’ve seen her myself”

“Right I knew that” Blue Streak stopped in her position but Rainbow kept going. “Hey, why did you stop?”

Rainbow Dash unintentionally bumped into a rocky wall.

“Ow, I think my nose is broken” Rainbow replied.

“We’re here” was Blue Streak’s response. Rainbow got up from the ground and looked at the huge realm in front of her. It was covered in clocks and the realm was black and white.

“Whoa” Rainbow stared in awe. “This is Iris’ realm?”

“Yep. The realm of inevitability” Rainbow stood there confused.

“The realm of what now?”

“The realm of inevitability. It means you try your best to stop something from happening. But you know deep down that you can’t do anything about it”

“That’s a little harsh”

“It’s like when you tried to stop your tortoise Tank from hibernating, but in the end, he had to. Even though now he isn’t which has led to something much worse. You’re lucky that Iris is giving you a second chance. How did you plan to stop Tank from hibernating anyway?” Rainbow froze in her position.

“Um, well, you don’t want to know that story! It’s too boring!” Rainbow lied.

“I don’t care if it’s boring. I still want to her about it”

“Trust me, you don’t want to. You’ll regret it”

“No I won’t. Why don’t you trust me? I thought we were friends”

“We are! I’m not saying any different, but I think you don’t want to hear this story!”

“Why not? I listened to the last one you told me!”

“Well that one was different!”

“How was it different?”

"No worries, if she won’t tell you, I’ll be happy to take over" a lower voice bellowed. It was Iris. The two mares stopped arguing and looked behind them at the demon foal in question. She was just like Blue Streak described. She had red in her eyes, white eye color and total black pupils. She was also twice the size as the normal ponies looking at her.

“You are Iris?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes I am. Recognize me? I’m the voice in the watch. The one who gave you that chance to make your wish come true”

“Yes, but you made Tank sick in the process!”

“That was your fault, not mine! I was just showing you the consequences. You really should have just listened to Fluttershy. She knew what was best!”

“But if I did, your plan wouldn’t work!” Rainbow smirked.

“Oh what was that I heard? You want to hear my plan?”

Rainbow face palmed.

“Yes!” Blue Streak replied.

“Very well. You see, when I was created, I was the same size as you two. I spent the first month crying just the other pathetic demon foals you came across. Then when your grief was brought back, I was set free from this saddened prison and I was able to notice the things around me, outside the cave. Then I was able to hear your plea and send you that watch. And then I gave you the opportunity to make your wish in return for more grief power. So then, I would take over Equestria and my plan can come true!”

“What are you planning to do to Equestria?” Rainbow asked.

“Why, what you started of course!” Rainbow’s ears drooped.

“What is she talking about? What did you start?” Blue Streak asked.

“Um, well” Rainbow uttered.

“What’s this? You haven’t told her?” Iris giggled maniacally. “This is amusing!”

“Stop! Please don’t!” Iris didn’t listen.

“Rainbow Dash here tried to stop winter from coming in order for Tank to not hibernate! She even went as far as go up into Cloudsdale and destroy the weather factory! That is a totally evil plan and you didn’t even care that what you were doing was wrong, all you cared about was that tortoise. Too bad you didn’t accomplish what you wanted!” Iris replied.

Blue Streak looked back at Rainbow who hung her head.

“Is this true? You tried to stop an entire season from coming?” Blue Streak asked. Rainbow just sighed. “why would you do that?”

“Blue Streak, I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out. At the time, I didn’t care that what I was doing was wrong. I sung a whole song about it. But over the past month, I have regretted it. Because deep down I tried to do something unreasonable, so bad, and all to protect Tank. But in reality, I wasn’t protecting him at all, I was keeping him all to myself!”

“Exactly, your selfishness has given me more power than you can ever imagine. It even gave me the power to go back in time and alter something” Iris replied. Rainbow and Blue Streak stood there confused.

“Go back in time and alter something?” they both asked.

“Yes. You see, Rainbow Dash. Your grandmother didn’t die when you were 5, she died when you were 10. By then you already had your cutiemark and your own demon foal, so I went back in time to the time where you didn’t have a cutiemark yet and cursed your grandmother to die earlier!”

Rainbow Dash stood there shocked and speechless.

“But hold on, how would you have been able to do that if you hadn’t existed in the first place?” Blue Streak asked.

“What do you mean?” Iris responded.

“I mean; how could it be possible to go back in time to alter the past so that you yourself could be created? Cause isn’t it true that you were created after last month?” Iris was feeling uncomfortable.

“Well yes, that is true but...”

“A pony can only create one demon foal. If it is true that you went back in time to produce a more recent one, then you couldn’t have existed before then. Unless you expect me to believe that you grew from the first one, which I don’t”

“Fine! Do you want to know my secret?” Iris asked. “My name is not Iris”

Blue Streak was astounded.

“Then who are you?” she asked. Suddenly Iris began to transform. She was not a demon foal. She ditched the demon foal body behind her and became a black shadowy figure with red eyes. Blue streak saw the transformation and tried to run further back, but then she noticed Rainbow was stuck in one place.

“Come on, Rainbow! We have to get out of here!” Blue Streak yelled as she ran towards her. Rainbow didn’t say anything. “It’s not safe here”

“She…. killed…. my…. grand…. mother” Rainbow stuttered, holding back tears.

“Didn’t you see anything? Your demon foal is not your demon foal. If you still want to defeat her with your gems, you might not have a chance!” Before she could finish, the door shut behind them. There was no way out.

“Who are you?” Rainbow’s expression changed to one of anger as she turned to the shadowy figure. “Answer me, WHO ARE YOU?!?!”

“My real name is Tenebris. I am a creature that corrupts an evil idea and spread it across”

“How did you do it?” Blue Streak asked.

“First of all, I wasn’t as powerful as I am now. Mainly because Equestria is full of peace and harmony. Then, I discovered these caves which had every single pony’s saddest moments. Ok I didn’t discover them; I was actually the creator of them. I was the one who would take the saddest memory from when a foal got her cutiemark and use their power to get stronger.

‘I figured out that I could pose as one of them and take all of their grief power until I got strong enough to take over. But there was one problem, the ultimate flaw to my plan; all of the demon foals were of fillies, I couldn’t get enough power from them.

‘So I devised a plan to make one of them a mare. I picked a random one; it turned out to be Rainbow Dash. Then in order for the plan to work, I went back in time and erased her demon foal. It just so happened that the next time she experienced grief was with her tortoise.”

“YOU MONSTER!!” Rainbow yelled, tears streaming down her face as she charged towards Tenebris.

“Dashie, no!” Blue Streak cried. Rainbow showed her wrist which had the gems. Rainbow went straight through the figure. The gems were ineffective. Tenebris just laughed in delight.

“Did you really think that you could stop me?” Rainbow just stared down at the gems in shock. “Didn’t the princesses tell you that they can’t be used unless they’re activated?” Rainbow Dash slowly got up, her back right leg was injured.

“Why did you do it? Why me? Was I just a part of your plan? You ruined my life just to get your way?” Rainbow asked.

“Of course, I’m awesomely evil! Now because you have given me enough power, I can finalize my plan to finish what you had started. Get rid of Winter!”

“Get rid of winter?” Rainbow asked.

“Too much? I know what is even better! I’ll erase the weather!”

“You won’t get away with this!”

“But I will, first, I’ll get rid of you. You are no use to me!” suddenly the shadowy figure went inside Rainbow Dash. She collapsed onto the ground. Blue Streak ran towards her.

“Rainbow, are you ok?” she asked. Rainbow was struggling to breathe.

“You...have...to...g-get...out...of...here! And...take...T-Tank...with..you” Rainbow weakly replied. She gave Tank and the gems to Blue Streak.

“But there’s no way out”

“Just...g-get...out...of...here!” Rainbow yelled. Then, she felt an intense pain inside and started to scream. Blue Streak took Tank and the gems began to light up. Suddenly they were gone. But little did they know that Equestria was in danger.