Love Conquers All

Rainbow Dash faintly heard her name being called, it was quiet, almost indiscernible. She couldn't feel her burns anymore, she could barely feel her body. She was there, but yet she wasn't. She could hear other voices, crying out. They were somehow familiar, yet so distant in her mind.

"Rarity!" A faint squeaky voice that Rainbow Dash finally put a name to came from the fogginess around her. Sweetie Belle.

"Applejack, help!" Applebloom's voice came from the murkiness next.

"Rainbow Dash!" That voice seemed closer than the other two, it was Scootaloo's. Dash finally found her voice after trying to summon words.

"Scootaloo..?" Her own voice seemed off, it echoed and bounced off of walls she couldn't see. it also took more effort to project due to the fact that she couldn't feel her mouth move. This experience was definitely in the top 10 weirdest things she'd ever felt, and that saying quite a lot since she... experimented with some things in Flight School.

"RAINBOW DASH!" All three voices shot at her and drew closer. It was then that Dash could make out three distinctive colored blobs. Magenta, Green, and Red. The eye colors of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Girls...?" Dash was severely confused at this point. "What's going on here?" She was sure it was just her painkiller addled mind playing games with her, but she had to be sure.

"That colt Star Shine he did this!" Sweetie's Belle's squeaking voice came from the green blob.

"What is this?" Dash still had no idea what happened or where she was, but Star Shine definitely had something to do with it.

"We're not sure..but usually whenever he talks we can hear him." Scootaloo's magenta blob spoke now. "We think it's magic."

Scootaloo always seemed like a smart cookie to Dash, but maybe that was the fact that the filly was her number one fan talking. But Dash had to agree with Scoots' conclusion. Magic definitely had something to do with this.

"Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry our date was ruined...." Another voice entered her perception. But this one had form, it had direction. It was so familiar...it was Soarin.

--

Soarin was sitting next to Dash still, holding her hoof in her own. Now was as good a time as any to get all of his feelings off of his chest.

"Rainbow Dash, I'm so sorry our date was ruined..." He sighed, he definitely needed that apology. "I'm sorry I didn't realize that my best friend loved me...How could I miss that?" Soarin looked down at the comatose pegasus' hoof. " How could I be so stupid..? I hurt your feelings, I hurt hers, I hurt my own." He let go of Dash's hoof, not feeling worthy of holding it anymore. "It's just...have you ever loved someone so much, that there is no possible way for you to actually love them? That's how it is with Spitfire...we've spent our whole lives together as best friends. She's like a sister to me...I always thought that we have this unspoken bond. This unspoken promise. That no matters what happens, no matter where we go or who we're with, that we'll always have each other. That's something special...it always will be. I will always love her in that way, but not in the way she want me to.." His voice died down to a mumble, it did feel good to get that out, he couldn't deny it.

If he had been looking at Rainbow Dash, he would've seen a tear form in her closed eyes.

--

"Well...that is certainly an...interesting tale." Rarity sat in front of Pinkie Pie, looking quite uncomfortable. Pinkie had just told the whole story: From the date to the captivity of Rainbow Dash. "I certainly see why you're in here now.."

"I just...why can't she love me back..?" Pinkie wasn't listening to Rarity, she was too far into her train of thought. "We all deserve a chance, so where's mine?" Pinkie sulked on the hard bench provided for her in the cell.

"Well, considering what you d-" The fashionista was cut off by the pink mare.

"I tried it all...I hung out with her the most I could, I always watched her practice, I always complimented her." Pinkie could feel the impending mane deflation. Her alter ego was coming up fast. "The one time I try something direct, i get rejected harder than a cupcake at a diabetes convention. I mean, she just left me there...it hurt...so much." She felt a hoof on her shoulder, she looked up to see Rarity smiling at her.

"Pinkie dear, do you remember the Grand Galloping Gala?" Pinkie nodded, how could she forget that night? "Do you remember my little...urm...'fiasco' with Prince Blueblood?" Again, Pinkie nodded. "Yes, well I loved him before I even knew him. Then, when I finally discovered how...uncivilized he actually was, I still loved him. I still wanted him to be mine, even though he clearly did not want me. I gave him opportunity after opportunity to redeem himself, to justify my feelings for him, and every time, what did he do? He damned himself even further until I snapped." Rarity frowned when she mentioned her very unladylike behavior from that night.

"Okay..?" Pinkie didn't see the point of the story, considering that she had been there for the actual event.

"The point being.." Rarity trotted up to the bench, turned around and dusted off the bench with her tail, then sat down in the most delicate fashion imaginable. "That you can fall in love with somepony, but sometimes you also have to fall out of love with them." Rarity hugged her downtrodden friend. "I know that you feel like Rainbow Dash hurt you, but the more you try to hold onto this, the more you're just hurting yourself. Pinkie, my dear, you are a wonderful and interesting mare. I know that there is somepony out there for you, but that pony isn't Rainbow Dash."

Pinkie smiled, Rarity was right. There was always somepony else out there for her.

--

Twilight was laying down in her chair on the main level of the library. The lantern above her bathed the room in an eerie glow, she often sat down here and read while Spike slept...well...now it was Spike AND Star Shine. She loved them both dearly, but she still needed a small amount of alone time with her books.

"Ugh...Twilight.." The unicorn looked up to see a very sleepy Spike stumbling down the stairs holding his stomach. Letter time.

"This late? It must be really important." Twilight put her book down and trotted over to her number one assistant. She was always eager to receive a letter from the Princess, but at these hours? Twilight needed to have a discussion with her mentor about her hours.

With a loud belch and some green flames, the letter plopped to the ground. Twilight quickly noticed that the seal wasn't the usual Celestia red, but dark blue.

"Spike...you can go back to sleep.." The baby dragon gave a weak thumbs up and trudged back upstairs. Twilight levitated the letter in front of her. The letter definitely had the royal seal, but instead of the usual sun in the background, there was a moon. "Princess Luna sent me a letter..?" Now Twilight knew this had to be important. Her magic opened the letter and Twilight read the five words on the paper aloud.

"Do not trust Star Shine.."