Ten years later.

Chapter 7 – Rainbow Dash

“R-Rainbow, what’s goin’ on out there?” Apple Bloom asked with a whimper.

Rainbow’s voice shook a little as she spoke. “I-I don’t know, but I know we’re going to be alright, we will help them!”

“I ain’t felt anything like that before. Is that magic that’s makin’ my knees wobble?” asked

the yellow earth pony. “It’s like I got a ton of bricks weighin’ down on me all of a sudden.”

No sooner did he say those words when the group fell to their knees again. Even Spike’s strong dragon legs gave in despite his best efforts to remain upright.

“My wings feel heavy!” Scootaloo cried out. “What’s happening?”

“I can’t get back up!” Spike said as he struggled in vain to push himself up. His arms

quaked a bit before buckling under his weight. He breathed a little harder as he lie on his

stomach. “A-are we...under a spell...or something?”

“No, no we’re not. At least I don’t think so“ Rainbow replied, struggling futilely to get back to her hooves. “I think

we’re just feeling the side-effects of some very powerful magic from this monster of a nightmare.”

“Y’mean like...like being at the edge of a storm or somethin’ and feelin’ a really strong

breeze?” Apple Bloom inquired.

“That...that’s actually a good metaphor” Rainbow Dash attempted to straighten her wings as she

continued, “I think we’re being weighed down by the Nightmare‘s magical energy. It’s so strong,

it’s like physical weight for us.”

“My forehead hurts,” Sweetie Belle whimpered. She gazed at Dash, hoping she could

offer some way to alleviate her pain.

Rainbow gave Sweetie Belle the most comforting smile she could muster while ignoring her

own wing’s burning pain.

“Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle. We’ll be alright, just...try not to think of it too much.”

“Dash, are we going to be alright?” Scootaloo asked.

A distant explosion could be heard behind the many layers of stone. Trixie flashed

the younger pegasus what she hoped was a convincing smirk. She spoke loud enough so that she could be heard over the rumbling of the stone walls. I will

protect you, no matter what.”

This seemed to do little to calm Scootaloo down. She simply nodded and closed her

eyes. “I wish the others were here.”

Apple Bloom sniffled quietly. “I-I miss Applejack.”

“Rarity...she...she would know what to do.” Sweetie sobbed, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “Rarity isn’t scared of

anything...”

Rainbow frowned sadly as she listened to the three fillies, they were actually not fillies anymore though. She hated this feeling of

helplessness.

She looked at the soon to be ruins of the palace. The earth shook again and everypony fell on their tummies.

A more masculine sobbing caught Rainbow’s attention. She turned to her side, her gaze

now resting on Spike, who trembled while the castle continued to echo with the explosion of

powerful combat magic.

The young dragon was lying on his side, not too far from her, and had his tail tucked

between his legs. His eyes were closed, tears streaking down his cheeks as he shook. So

often he would let out a hiccuping sob.

“T…Twilight...” Spike sniffled. He pulled his tail in closer to his body and wrapped his arms

and legs around it.

Rainbow tried to reach out with a hoof to the frightened dragon. “Spike–”

Her words were cut off by the sudden confident baritone of Spike himself, however.

Spike grumbled:”Rainbow, you have to get there! I’m sure the others are somewhere there! Luna can’t fight that creature all on her own, she needs the elements of harmony!” he told her.

Rainbow Dash glares at the others. She just thought about how she got here. First she landed in the city of Canterlot. She flew around and found the old Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike who wanted to help. She promised to protect them, but now she doesn’t protect them anymore, she’s not at their side anymore.

She’s always loyal, but they told her to fly back to the castle. It was actually a good idea, she found Twilight with the elements, Applejack and Rarity there. “We must find Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie! The elements of harmony have to be complete, then we could fight back and help Luna” Twilight yells as they run around the castle in order to find the two missing ponies. Rainbow Dash remembers everything exactly. It happened so fast, Twilight teleported them and soon when the cyan Pegasus woke up again, she wanted to find the others. It was her duty as the element of loyalty.

Her eyes peer outside. The enormous magical energy of the nightmare causes strong energy waves. Every time they get thrown at the walls and she can see how the town gets destroyed more and more. She’s also seen how other, littler nightmares try to destroy other towns and cities. She knows one thing for sure, they have to stop it, they are the only ones who can stop this brute.

To their big surprise Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are already in the room when they arrive the destroyed chambers where the gigantic nightmare.  Rainbow is sure it’s about 20 feet now. A scaring, powerful aura is around them. The Pegasus frowns, she has no hope. They defeated discord, Nightmare Moon and the power of love defeated Chrysalis together with her changeling army, but no one of them had such strong magical energy that they were able to destroy a whole city and his minions damage a lot of other towns too.

A bursting laugh comes out of his mouth, he holds the unconscious Luna in his gigantic claw. “I TOLD YOU, YOU CAN’T DEFEAT ME! I’M TOO POWERFUL FOR YOU. I WILL TAKE OVER THE ENTIRE WORLD AND I WILL START WITH YOU” he yells and his words are echoing from the ancient walls.

Twilight stomps her hooves on the floor and suddenly the necklaces of the elements of harmony start to glow, they fly over the heads of the six ponies. “We can’t stop now, girls! And we will defeat this awful monster!” she tries to give them hope. The necklaces spark and glow in a bright light.

Everypony starts to soar up into the sky. They all believe in the power of magic, they all believe they can do it and they try their best. They will try their best, for the last gorilla attack against this mighty enemy.

Even his growl seems to have a physical strength fighting against the power of the elements of harmony. All of them concentrate and perform their duties as the spirits of the elements of harmony. The air vibrates because of all the magic fighting against each other. It looks like a blaze destroying everything and also seems like that. It feels like Rainbow’s muscles and bones would melt because of all this power and heat. But they still try, they still do their best.

Twilight, one of the most powerful unicorns in the world. The element of magic.

Applejack, a trustworthy, honest, dependable pony. The element of honesty.

Fluttershy, the caring pony, especially to her animal friends. The element of kindness.

Pinkie Pie, the happy, pink, party pony who just giggles at her fears. The element of laughter.

Rarity, the beautiful, fashion pony, who would give their friends anything. The element of generosity.

And of course herself, Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus who would do anything for her friends, family and land. The element of loyalty.

Yes, the element of loyalty, that was one of the reasons why she was able to

Dear Rainbow Dash,

Your wonderful performances in the last Best Young Flyer Competition have impressed us, also the water hurricane you and your team made for Cloudsdale was simply amazing. Your passion, your skills and loyalty to your friends and inhabitants of Ponyville is outstanding. Every single member of the Wonderbolts agreed that you are the most appropriate pony for this job. It is my honour to pronounce that you are invited to become a member of the performer and rescue team: The Wonderbolts.

We hope that you accept our offer and become one of us. You can find more information and your official Wonderbolt suit in the attached parcel. We hope for your quick response!

The leader of the Wonderbolts,

Spitfire

“That was an awesome show Rainbow Dash! Your skills are amazing, Spitfire made no mistake by making you a member and how you rescued that poor filly that fell down, that’s so great!” Soarin’ kissed my cheek tightly:”I hope you can teach me some of your moves soon! That’d be so great!” I blushed and smiled brightly. I finally was a Wonderbolt, I was living the dream. I couldn’t see my friends so much anymore, but they were pretty busy too. They are happy for me and I am happy for them. I love my friends, I will always love them, we’ll always be friends, no matter what will happen in the future.

“Hey Dash, I want to talk to you” Spitfire smiled at me and laid her hoof on my back:”You know you’re almost ten years in the team and you’re actually the youngest of us, but when you come back… I won’t be a Wonderbolt anymore, I’m twenty years older than you and I get old, I’m not that good anymore and that’s why I want you to become the new leader, you’re the best of us, without any doubt. We’ll do the ceremony when you come back, I hope you agree!”

Of course I agreed. This was easily one of the best days in my entire life. I was so happy that I was going to be the new leader of the Wonderbolts.

She concentrates and struggles, but can hardly bare the magical power of the nightmare anymore. It’s not working, they don’t have enough strength, they can’t win. They will lose. I haven’t told them the news yet, this is my dream, I have to tell them… No I can’t lose now, I can’t! We have to rescue Equestria!

She knows it, she just knows it that her friends have similar revelations right now, they all fight, they all still fight to save their beautiful land. She can feel it, how their power gets stronger, how they help the elements of harmony with their own, inner power. They can do it!

They will do it!

They will save their home, their family, friends and everypony else!