Love Conquers All

by Befallen Tragedy

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance
Length: 31710

Rainbow Dash gets a date with Soarin but why are Spitifre and Pinkie Pie acting so weird about it?

When Rainbow Dash gets a date with Soarin, everything starts to go wrong. Pinkie and Spitfire announce their love for their respective friends…and in the background, dark figures' plans start to unfold.

An idea from KiaraKovu123.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-08 19:39:23 UTC

A Chance Encounter

Nopony could deny Twilight's organizational skills. In the few hours after the failed Canterlot invasion, she had successfully re-planned the wedding and the reception with exceptional precision. She rallied all of the terrified guests, reassured them, set up the gardens for a party, she even got the Wonderbolts and DJ-PON3 to attend to boost morale. It did exactly that.

Only the family of the couple and the famous were at the reception. The number was close to 50 ponies crowding the garden, with all of the celebrities and beautiful ponies attending one would expect eyes to be wandering. However, one certain pony had her eyes fixated on a guest across the dance floor. Her magenta eyes were focused on the handsome colt, her hoof fiddled with the tie in her mane. Just go over and talk to him, you foal. "Just go over and talk to him? He's Soarin...the Soarin." She spoke in barely a whisper. Just go over there, stand up tall, and say 'Hey, I'm Rainbow Dash and I like you!' As she argued with herself, a similar conversation was going on in the head of the famous air corpsman on the other side of the dance floor.

--

C'mon Soarin, you know she likes you. You saw how she fawned over you at the Gala, surely you can just..go over there and say something. Anything. He had gotten the last minute invitation to the royal wedding a few hours ago, well, he and Spitfire did. While Spitfire was content with wearing the traditional blue and yellow Wonderbolt outfit, he knew that the Rainbow Maned pegasus would be here, so he was in his dress blues. He even had his rank insignia pinned to his sleeve. You look impressive, you know it, she knows it, everypony knows it. Who could say no to you now? Nopony, that's who. He knew that he was compensating for his nervousness with cockiness. His one true defense mechanism.

"Hey Soarin, you okay?" He was snapped out of his mental pep talk by his captain and roommate.

"Oh, uh, hey Spitfire..." His eyes were drawn to the ground, and his cheeks flushed out of embarrassment.

"A blush? My my, was Soarin busy daydreaming about a little piece of tail?" Soarin looked up and across the floor to Rainbow Dash, who was dreamily gazing at him. The yellow pegasus followed his look and smiled slyly, then she nudged Soarin. "Soarin is nervous? The colt who, against orders, preformed the lightning strike and subsequently scorched a five-star general is nervous?" Soarin blushed harder and stood up straight.

"You're right Spitfire! I have nothing to be afraid of!" The fiery maned pegasus always seemed to know what to say and when. He gave his teammate and long time friend a hug and walked away, without hearing the sigh that emanated from the yellow Wonderbolt.

--

Rainbow Dash was more interested in the floor than her other surroundings, Soarin had caught her staring at him, so she sequestered herself to floor gazing. So, she didn't see the colt she was thinking about approaching her.

"Hey, you're Rainbow Dash...right?" Her eyes went wide as she looked up and into a pair of shining emerald eyes, they reminded her of Applejack, but as she focused a bit more, she saw the pale blue coat and navy blue mane.

She all of a sudden felt her throat tighten and her words were stuck in her mouth. The pegasus prodigy could barely feel her hooves, let alone her mouth. "R-Rainbow...Dash...Yeah, Yeah! That's me! I'm her and she's me." She chuckled nervously. "W-What I meant was, I-I'm Rainbow Dash." She all of a sudden felt really small compared to the colt, even though she was just an inch or two shorter than him.

Soarin smiled warmly. "Yeah, you won the best young flier competition last year. You were awesome, saved our skins" He chuckled at the memory.

"Yeah, I-I won that.." She felt her confidence rising as the Wonderbolt seemingly praised her. "And, I'm sure you would have been fine without my help, I mean, you're the Wonderbolts. You can do anything." Out of the corner of her eye she could see a flash from a camera, but she paid it no heed.

Soarin just waved his hoof at her dismissively. "We were out cold, we were lucky you pulled off that Sonic Rainboom, which was awesome by the way." A deep blush formed on the cyan pegasus' face.

"Th-thanks..." An awkward silence followed, both ponies were rubbing the backs of their necks and looking anywhere but each others eyes.

"So, you wanna do something sometime?" Both pegasi blurted the exact same sentence at the exact same time, and both pegasi looked equally stunned.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. "W-Wha..?"

--

Spitfire was talking to some random upper-crust pony when she heard two, overly loud ponies say something.

"So, you wanna do something sometime?" She turned her head and saw Soarin and a familiar looking blue pegasus both looking rather shy and embarrassed. Alarms went off in her head, all of them telling her to stop what she just heard before it got out of her control.

"I'm sorry, Duke. I really must go." The pony she was conversing with nodded and bowed away. She made a beeline straight for the couple, but hung back just enough to hear them.

"W-Wha..?" She knew who the blue pegasus was, now. It was Rainbow Dash, the pony from the Grand Galloping Gala and the Best Young Flier Competition. "I-I mean, yeah! Definitely!" The rainbow maned pegasus was blushing profusely and obviously nervous. Now was the time to intervene. She spread her wings wide as a sign of dominance and trotted over to them.

"Hey Soarin, hey Rainbow Dash. Fancy seeing you here." Spitfire put on her friendliest smile, even though she felt like frowning. Soarin smiled nervously at her, while the enraptured prodigy just stared at her Soarin with a love struck gaze. "So, what are you two talking about?" She knew full and well what they were talking about, she just didn't want them to go any further into the conversation.

"Oh, um, Rainbow Dash and I were just thinking about hanging out sometime." She knew the only thing 'hanging out' between those two were their tongues and possibly Soarin's appendage.

"Well, I don't know Soarin. We're always training, and you have that mare from fillydelphia.." Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide in surprise, then her ears drooped.

Soarin shot an accusatory glance at the hothead pegasus. "What? Spitfire, she's a reporter, she just wants an interview." He turned back to Rainbow. "Listen Rainbow Dash, I'll be in Ponyville on Thursday, we'll hang out, alright?"

Rainbow Dash could only nod and smile brightly as she galloped away, her gown fluttering after. Spitfire frowned as she heard giggles coming from the pegasus and her cohorts which now surrounded her. Soarin's hoof tapped her.

"What the hell was that, Spitifre?" He hissed out the words at his friend.

"I just want to make sure you're not getting in over your head, Soarin." She smiled innocently and cocked her head to the side. "Just being a good friend."

"Funny, seemed like you were trying to stop me from having a date." his anger faded as he sighed. "I'm sorry Spitfire.." He mumbled. "I just..I haven't been on an actual date for a long time."

"But, we go out every week, Soarin." She got a kind smile in return.

"Well...yeah, but we're best buds. I mean, we live together. So of course we hang out and go out. But we're just friends, Spitfire. You know that." The pale blue pony trotted off, leaving Spitfire to think. Her immediate thought was that she wasn't going to let her Soarin go. Not without fighting and conquering the other mare, and everypony knows that love conquers all.

Have You Heard the Good Word

Rainbow hurried away from the Wonderbolts, the excitement overtook her mind. She had a DATE with Soarin! EEEE! I can't believe it! Oh man, this is my first date! And it's with a Wonderbolt! Ohmygosh! I have to tell my friends! Her friends were in the corner: Twilight was talking to the princesses, Applejack was hoofing out pieces of cake to ponies who wanted it, Pinkie was blaring music with the DJ, and Rarity and Fluttershy were talking about something. She decided they were the ones to tell first, so she sped over to them.

"Rarity! Fluttershy!" Both mares jumped, Fluttershy dove behind the prissy unicorn out of fright.

"Rainbow Dash! Do not scare us like that! It is improper for a lady." Fluttershy peeked out from behind Rarity's royal purple tail, when she saw it was Dash, she trotted out.

Oh, um, hi Rainbow Dash..." The timid pegasus kept low to the ground, as she always did. It was a sign of submission that pegasi often did, after all being low to the ground was against pegasi nature.

"You wont believe it! I-I got a date!" Rainbow spread her wings proudly and swelled up her chest.

"That is fantastic news Rainbow Dash! Who is the lucky mare?" Rarity watched her friend's chest deflate and her wings droop. Rainbow cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing.

"What..?"

"We just want to know who you got a date from.." Fluttershy spoke up that time, her voice was a bit more bold.

"Rarity, what did you mean 'who's the lucky mare?'" Rainbow Dash leaned closer to her fashionista friend.

"Well, dear, I always assumed..." Rarity started to push her mane up, as she usually did when she was nervous.

"Assumed what, Rarity?"

"That you were a...." Rarity cleared her throat and mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"That you were a....filly-fooler." Rarity looked down, as if she was ashamed for saying it. Dash, for her part, looked stunned.

"What?" The response from Dash was short and filled with annoyance.

"I always thought that too..." Fluttershy smiled and and gently flew up to her friend, hugging her lovingly" So..who is the lovely mare?"

Rainbow glared at her friend and pushed the pink maned animal lover away. "What? I'm not a filly-fooler! Is it because of the rainbows? They're natural! I swear! Check my roots!" She parted her mane with her hooves. "See?" True enough, the roots of her mane were multicolored, proving the authenticity.

The other two mares looked confused. "No...Rainbow Dash...we just thought that...because you've never shown interest in colts.." Rarity looked up at the two pegasi. "Now, don't get me wrong dear, nothing is wrong with..." She cleared her throat. "being...one of those."

Dash landed, Fluttershy still holding onto her. "Rarity..."

"No, No Rainbow Dash. It was presumptuous and wrong for me to assume such a thing. Most impolite." Dash carefully pried Fluttershy off of her.

"Well, I only had the eyes for one colt...and I got a date with him" Rarity's curiosity had been piqued, as she leaned in close to Dash.

"Oh? Who would that be,dear?" Fluttershy also leaned in, but not as close as Rarity.

"Oh yes, who is he? That is...if you don't mind telling.." The yellow Pegasus shrunk back some.

"Soarin." All she needed was that one word, and both Rarity and Fluttersh gasped.

"The Soarin?!" Rarity's eyes sparkled with thoughts of being that much closer to high society.

"From the Wonderbolts..?" Her quiet friend added.

"The one and only. He asked me out." Once again, Dash's wings spread wide and her chest swelled with pride.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash! I am proud of you, you must simply let me make something for the occasion." Rarity was already envisioning a new outfit for her fast and furious friend. Perhaps something more pastel, calmer. Not as loud as the current dress.

"Umm..Rarity? Don't you think this dress is fine? It's all fancy and stuff. It'll work." Dash looked around and saw that Fluttershy was gone, most likely to tell her other friends or she saw an animal in trouble.

"Oh no, my dear. You simply don't understand! This gown is for formal occasions, it will not do for a date. He will think you're over-doing it. I will design something better once we get back to Ponyville, gratis." The fashionista circled the blue mare. "These seams are tearing..." Dash folded her wings against her sides. "Of course, I forgot to account for fully extended wings." Rarity mumbled some other things, nothing that interested Dash.

"Thanks and all, Rarity, but really-" She was silenced when a white hoof pushed itself against her mouth.

"I will not hear any dissent. I am making you, my friend, this dress." Rarity removed her hoof. "3 PM, my boutique, tomorrow."

As the pair talked, they were unaware of a certain flame maned pegasus eavesdropping. Now she was sure she needed to stop this. Who knew, if this date went well then her whole life would fall apart....but if it went badly...well, let's just say Spitfire would be numero uno once more in Soarin's life.

--

The train ride to Ponyville had been...eventful. All of Dash's friends had piled on the speculation train on an express trip to assumptionville. Apparently, most of her friends took her for a filly-fooler, or a pony not interested in others romantically at all(That was Twilight's assumption.) Dash had quickly dispelled most of the thoughts, though Twilight was awfully stubborn with her opinion.

For some odd reason though, Pinkie looked almost disappointed that she had a date, but the pink earth pony had quickly regained her bounciness. Dash wrote it off as her imagination and finished explaining the minor details.

As of right now, she was outside of Rarity's Boutique. She was hesitant to go in, she knew how...obsessive Rarity was over her designs. Dash reached her cyan blue hoof out towards the door, but before she could even touch it, the door swung open and three little fillies ran right into Dash.

"Oof!" The three fillies all looked up at her.

"Hey there Rainbow Dash!" Applebloom smiled up at her.

"Hi Rainbow Dash!" Sweetie Belle's voice cracked as she spoke.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo stared up at her with adoring eyes.

"Hey you three, going out crusading?" All three nodded. "Well, I'm sure today's going to be the day."

"Ya really think so, Rainbow Dash?" The earth filly smiled wide, along with the rest of the crusaders.

"I know so, now get going. I have some business with Rarity." The Cutie Mark Crusaders stood up, but didn't leave.

"Is this about that date you have with that...Soaring guy?" Scootaloo prodded her idol's chest.

Did everypony know by now? Obviously Rainbow having a date was so spectacular that everypony had to question her motives and reasoning. Dash sighed grumpily and trotted past the three and into the boutique, slamming the door behind her.

"Really Rarity?! You had to go tell the CMC?" Rarity spun from her mannequin, her read sewing glasses adorned her face.

"What? I like spreading gossip." The fashionista smiled nervously at Dash.

"Ugh...I knew I should've told Twilight first."

Art of the Stress

"Come, come. come. We have much to do today!" The fashionista practically sung with glee as she led Rainbow to the central podium. "We have to update your measurements, find some proper colors to go with your mane." Rarity's horn glowed blue as she levitated several tape measures over. "It really is hard to find a color except black that goes with every color of the rainbow..." She added as a side note.

Dash instinctively flared her wings, which got in Rarity's way. "Keep those down, Rainbow Dash!" The pearl white pony spat out blue feathers. "Ugh, for Celestia's sake, control yourself!" Dash folded her wings against her body, but they still twitched, wanting to get free again.

"Sorry Rarity, I'm nervous. I hate standing still, it's not who I am.." The energetic pegasus started to trot in place. "I need to move!" She felt a tape measure tighten around her midsection, causing her to grunt, Rarity glared at her, which effectively stopped the pegasus from moving. "Sorry..."

"I just need to get your measurements. One more minute." She tightened the tape a little more, making sure the pegasus dare not move."Aaaand done!" She telepathically moved all of the measuring devices away, while also bringing up a clipboard. "It seems you've lost an inch around your barrel, you lucky mare. I swear, If I could lose the inches like you, I would never stop eating."

Rainbow Dash blushed, she knew she had a high metabolism and an athletic build, but it was necessary for what she wanted to be. Rainbow also knew it made her the envy of every mare in Ponyville, having two stores that sold sweets in town made a high metabolism extremely valuable. "Hehe, well...maybe you could come jogging with me one day. It's a good way to stay fit."

The unicorn was marking down more numbers and scribbling out others. "Me? Exercise? Oh no, I do not wish to get all sweaty and grimy.." She shivered at the thought.  "I'll stick with my weight loss spells and diets, thank you very much."

Dash just shrugged. "To each their own, I guess." Rainbow Dash always preferred old fashioned exercise over any fancy shmancy magic spells or diet. A good run or better yet a nice long flying session was the way to go in Dash's mind.

"Now, let us see if we can find just the right color for you, dear."

--

Back at Soarin's and Spitfire's apartment, the former was pacing around nervously in his room while the latter sat on the couch in the living room, trying to read the latest Cosmarepolitan Magazine. "Spitfire, what am I going to wear? I can't wear my dress blues, she's seen those, and that's about the only fancy clothes I own."

"I would lend you one of my dresses, but I'm afraid you don't have the figure to pull it off." Spitfire deadpanned. She closed her magazine and looked at her roommate.

"Oh, haha. This isn't a laughing matter Spitfire, I need something to wear." The colt looked between his Wonderbolt uniform and his military uniform. "I could always go buy something, it's not like I don't have the money.."

Spitfire raised herself off of the couch and rolled her eyes. "Quit obsessing over this, Soarin! Just wear your dang Wonderbolt uniform. The mares love it and you know it." The yellow mare strode into the colt's room and over to where her partner was looking between his two outfits and picked up the button up shirt with her teeth and put it back in his dresser.

"I'll feel under-dressed! Especially if she's wearing that gown from the wedding, did you see that thing? She looked amazing in it." His last few words trailed off into a dreamy tone. Spitfire, for her part, just sighed and trotted out of the room.

"Yeah...amazing-" She waited until she knew she was out of earshot. "-ly ridiculous. I mean c'mon, who wears all rainbows? Only filly foolers and colt cuddlers, that's who. Since I didn't see a pair swingin' between her legs, I'm gonna guess she's not that into colts" The mare grabbed a glass from the counter and the bottle of Sweet Apple Ale from the fridge. "I bet she's only into him for the fame, or to worm her way into the wonderbolts.." She picked up the bottle of alcohol with her mouth and poured it in the glass, she put the bottle back in the fridge and took a swig of her fresh drink. "I hate her already..."

"AHA!" A cry echoed from the bedroom. "I got it!" She looked up to see Soarin holding his Wonderbolt uniform. "Wait..."

--

Rarity and Rainbow Dash, mostly Rarity though, had decided on the color. A nice shimmering green color. The pastels didn't work out to well the way Rarity had hoped, but they still got it. The dress itself was still bits and pieces of fabric on a mannequin.

"Can I go yet, Rarity? You don't really need me here anymore. Plus, I'm sooo bored." The pegasus fell onto Rarity's  red velvet couch to make her point.

The unicorn sighed. "Very well, Rainbow Dash. I suppose I've gotten all I can out of you about this colt." It was true, Rarity had been grilling her for the past hour on all of the things she knew about Soarin, which was quite a bit considering she was one of the top members of the Wonderbolt Fan Club. She had divulged everything from his favorite color to the place of his birth...which, in retrospect, was a tad creepy that she knew that.

"Thaank you!" Rainbow Dash jumped off the couch and sped out the door to anypony else but Rarity. But, as luck would have it, she ran into the one other pony that could annoy her more than Rarity.

"Hey there Dashie!" Pinkie Pie was standing right in her way. "I was just coming to see you at Rarity's. I was baking some cupcakes and I thought 'Boy, I bet Dashie would like some of these!' Because, c'mon, who doesn't like my cupcakes? Nopony that I know, that's for sure!"

"Pinkie Pie, I-"

"So, I have some cupcakes here for you." She lifted her rear in the air, were a paper bag rested. "Rainbow icing, it tastes really good! I really like rainbows, they're all pretty and sparkly and make me go 'ooh! Ahh!'"

"Pinkie Pie, seriou-"

"But they don't taste good, not like my icing. Remember when I actually drank some of that rainbow in Cloudsdale? I was like 'AHHH!' and my face turned all different colors, it was super funny!"

"PINKIE PIE!" Rainbow Dash screamed at the top of her lungs, it was the only way to get the pink party pony to shut up.

"Yes, Dashie?" The earth pony smiled and bounced in place.

"Do you...wanna.." She cursed herself silently for doing this. "Hang out or something?" The party pony gasped loudly in response.

"YES! of course I wanna hang out with you! I mean, I always wanna hang out with you! Your cool and fast and go 'zoom! zoom!' everywhere! It's the coolest thing ever!"

Rainbow Dash immediately regretted this decision.

Prelude to a Nightmare

Hanging out with Pinkie Pie was always...interesting. Pinkie and Rainbow were now at Sugarcube Corner, eating cupcakes and talking. Dash was hesitantly picking at her cupcakes while Pinkie gulped down tasty morsel after tasty morsel. The cyan mare never truly cared for cupcakes, the icing was always too sweet for her.

"Something wrong, Dashie?" Dash smiled slightly, she liked when Pinkie called her that. It was just another thing that Pinkie did that was out of the ordinary.

"No, I'm good Pinkie...just...thinking." The pink mare finished another cupcake, but did not pick up another. Instead, she licked the icing ring from around her mouth.

"About Soarin?" Her tongue was fighting the impossible as it tried to get the last bit of icing from the tip of her nose, Pinkie started going cross eyed from staring at the sweet dollop that rested upon her snout.

"Yeah..." Dash replied dreamily as she reached over the table and got the icing off of her friends muzzle. Pinkie then licked the icing off of her hoof, which in turn made Dash shiver and blush. She absolutely hated when ponies touched her hooves.

"I don't know if he's the colt for you, Dashie. I mean, he's all famous and stuff. What if he's like that Prince Bluestuff that Rarity liked?" Pinkie propped her head up on her forehooves, almost as if her train of thought needed the extra support.

"You mean Blueblood?" The party pony nodded. "I don't think he's like that, I mean, He wasn't at the wedding, he actually seemed nervous.." Dash looked down at the table, then back up, only to see Pinkie puffing on a bubblegum cigar. "Where-" She thought it would be better NOT to question her pink friends abilities of randomness.

The pink cigar started disappearing slowly as Pinkie had a look of contemplation on her face, something rare for the rarely serious mare. "Well.." As she spoke, bright pink bubbles escaped her mouth. "Rarity thought Bluebull was a real gentlecolt, but look what happened there." Dash nodded, her friend had a point.

"I'll make sure to be careful Pinkie, I promise." The mares blue eyes seemed to stare into her soul.

"Do you Pinkie Promise?"

Dash sighed and did the little rhyme with all of the motions, making sure not to poke her eye out at the end of it.

"Hey Dashie?" The cigar was now gone from her friend's mouth and she seemed awfully interested in the stains on the table.

"Yeah, Pinks?" The nickname brought a small smile to her friend's face.

"I-I...need to tell you something." Pinkie's voice started to shake, and her confidence obviously started to falter. Dash just nodded for her to go on. "Well, you see, I was going through all of my friends in my head one day and how much I like them.."

"RAINBOW DASH!"

Dash turned her head and saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle standing in the doorway of Sugarcube Corner, they both looked scared and like they had been crying. "And I came to you, and I finally figured out.." Pinkie was still talking.

"Yeah, Yeah Pinkie. Cool. Friends. Got it." She turned to the 66% of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "What's wrong girls?"

"Scootaloo! She fell in a ravine in Whitetail Woods!" Pinkie's head hit the table with a resounding thud, her plan was ruined because a chicken fell in a ditch. Why wasn't she surprised?

"Well, come on girls! We don't have time to lose!" Rainbow Dash hopped up out of her seat and sped out of the bakery with the CMC behind her.

Pinkie didn't even lift her head to speak. "I really like you, Dashie..."

--

"Soarin?" Spitfire was in her bedroom, laying on her bed. She had tossed away her goggles and washed her mane, letting it drape around her shoulders in a tangle of wet flames. She was laying rather provocatively as well. If she was going to finally tell Soarin about her feelings for him, it would be with a bang...not literally, she reminded herself sadly.

"Yeah Spitfire?" He sounded distracted, knowing him he was trying to make the perfect pie, he was always looking for that perfect pie ever since the Grand Galloping Gala.

"Can you come in here for a second? I need to show you something." She added a little hint of pleading in her voice. An aggravated groan came from the kitchen.

"Can it wait? I'm....busy!" A clatter of something metal against the floor resounded through the house. "Really, Really, busy! AUGH! Darn it!" The sound of glass shattering came to the yellow mare's ears. She immediately let go of her plan and hopped out of bed.

"What was that. Soarin?" She put her ear to her door and heard scraping.

"Nothing! Nothing! Don't come out here!" Now she had to see. She pushed open the door and trotted over to the kitchen to see Soarin on the floor trying to clean up a myriad of rainbow colored Chili Peppers.

"Soarin....are those..?"

"Cloudsdale Rainbow Peppers? Yep." They were her absolute most favorite food in the world. She had grown up in Cloudsdale, and to have such a delicacy anywhere but there was quite the treat.

"Oh Soarin, you shouldn't have!" She finally felt like the colt was reciprocating her feeling for him, she finally felt complete. Or perhaps she was getting ahead of herself...either way, he had her favorite food.

"You think so? I thought Rainbow Dash might like them...but I wasn't too sure." In those last seconds, it felt like her very heart was torn out of her chest, and apparently her face didn't betray that. "Spitfire..? You okay?" She felt tears welling up, and she knew she couldn't stop them. Without a second thought, she galloped to the door and left in a flurry of fiery sadness.

The colt stood there, stunned. He shrugged it off almost instantaneously. "Ugh..mares: Can't live with 'em, Can't live without 'em." Soarin went back to cleaning up his Chili Peppers and thinking about his upcoming date.

--

Rarity's head poked from around a mannequin wearing a shimmering green dress, her senses on high alert. She sniffed the air and narrowed her eyes.

"I smell drama..." So off she went, ignoring her work. She had more important and juicy things to discover and tend to.

--

Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner, a certain pink mare was becoming depressed...dangerously so, in fact.

The Worst Date Ever, of All Time

Two days had come and went, Thursday was here and some of Ponyvile's mares were preparing for the big day ahead of them.

--

Rainbow Dash and Rarity were inside Carousel Boutique; The former was standing in front of a large purple concealing curtain, while the latter was behind said curtain.

"Introducing, the latest, the greatest, the most fabulous, formal, yet informal dress I have ever created!" Rarity's voice boomed from wall mounted speakers, It was no doubt she had them installed them for occasions such as these. Egomaniac.. thought the blue mare with her own fan club. The curtain became enveloped in a shimmering blue aura and was withdrawn into the walls. On the mannequin behind it was a simple green dress, it flowed along the body, yet hugged every curve. The fabric shimmered in the light, making it look beautiful in any kind of light.

"Wow...Rarity. It's...awesome." Dash smiled, while the fashionista frowned.

"Just 'awesome'...?"

"I like it! Seriously." Rainbow trotted up to the mannequin and stated to remove the dress with her teeth, which elicited a gasp from Rarity.

"What are you doing?!" The blue glow of Rarity's magic levitated Dash away from the dress. "Do not touch this dress with your teeth! You will not be taking off this dress with your teeth...that is your date's job." Rarity grinned as Rainbow Dash blushed so deep you could mistake her face for a cherry. Rarity set Dash on the carpeted floor and started removing the dress with magic."Now, see here dear. I've made reservations at Restaurant Chic for you and your date. The reservation is for 5, don't be late, don't be early. I had to pull some strings to get you there."

Rainbow Dash stood there. Stunned. "Th-Thanks Rarity...but really, you didn't have to do that.."

The unicorn waved her off. "Yes I did, it's your first date. I couldn't simply let you go to your house...or Celestia forbid, Sugarcube Corner." Rarity shivered in disgust. "Such a place isn't meant for a first date with a world class athlete."

--

"Oh dear, Sugarcube Corner isn't fit for a date, pish posh, cheerio and all that." A pink mare mocked Rarity in a fake Canterlot accent. She was watching the pegasus and unicorn through one of the windows. "I simply can't let that meanie head Soarin go there..." Her fake accent faded with every word, at the end, her voice still wasn't normal. It held something more sinister in it. Aside from that, she also looked different. Her usually poofy mane was as straight as a line, and not even the slight wind could move it. Her coat, usually a vibrant pink, was now a darker shade of rose, and her eyes...once bright blue orbs of joy, now they were icy blue.

"At least she looks pretty in her dress." She looked to the ground, where Gummy was sitting. "It's green. I like green." The little alligator talked without opening his mouth, not that this bothered Pinkie any.

"It is a pretty dress..." Her eyes seemed to soften when she focused on Dashie.

"You should take it and keep it safe for her, we wouldn't want her to mess it up, would we?" Pinkie's face grew unsure.

"I don't know, Gummy. She seems to really like that dress. I don't want to make her sad.." The former party pony looked down at her pet, who only blinked.

"But Pinkie, don't you want to make her even more happy? Make sure the dress doesn't get messed up, it will make her like you more." The baby gator started to chew on his own tail playfully.

"Hey, yeah! You're right Gummy!" The pony picked up her pet and put him on her head.

--

Rarity decided that she needed to teach Dash how to properly eat at a fancy restaurant, so she led the pegasus over to the dining area. If the duo had been more attentive, they would have seen the baby alligator tied to a stick come through the window, clamp its jaws around the dress and get pulled back out the window.

"Now Rainbow Dash, I must teach you how to dine like a lady." Rainbow Dash groaned, this was going to be long and boring.

--

Pinkie trotted away from Carousel Boutique at a very quick pace. She knew she was doing this for Rainbow Dash, but she doubted Rarity would understand this labor of love. She made it back to her room above the bakery fairly quickly, she locked the door behind her and made her way over to her bed.

"She was going to wear that for Soarin.." Gummy jumped off of her head and waddled over to his ball of yarn.

"Well..yeah. So?" Pinkie took the dress off of her back and set it on he bed gently.

"Not for you, it was especially made to impress Soarin." The reptile started rolling around with the ball between his scaly feet.

"Y-Yeah..." Pinkie scowled at the dress.

"Why does he get special treatment?"

"Yeah!"

"Why doesn't she wear that for you?"

"It's not fair!" The pink mare shouted as she batted the dress off of the bed. "I like her just as much! I deserve her!" She stomped on the dress angrily.

"No it's not! In fact, why should they get to have the fun date? It should be you." The Gator took the end of the yarn in his mouth and dragged the now unraveling ball around the room.

"I deserve this date...not some...Wonderbolt." She stamped on the dress one more time, adding a tear in it in addition to all of the dirty hoofprints.

"Then go get it.."

--

Dash and Rarity had spent an agonizing thirty minutes going over proper etiquette and table manners before Rarity had to excuse herself. It had only been a couple of seconds of Dash tapping her hoof against the table when Rarity rushed back in.

"The dress is gone!" Dash sat up, eyes wide.

"What?! What do you mean, it's 'gone'?" Dash got out of her seat and flared her wings in anger.

"I went in there, and it's not where I left it! I don't know what happened to it.....oh dear, oh dear...this is not good." The unicorn started pacing, a frightened look in her eye.

"Rarity, calm down. I know we can find it.." She was keeping herself from getting angry so she could be there for her friend. "I'm sure you just thought you put it there, it's not like the dress just got up and walked away. Plus, we have time." Then the doorbell rang.

--

Soarin had been flying around Ponyville for about 45 minutes looking for Rainbow Dash, but he had found neither hide nor tail of his date. He had looked in the local library, in a cottage near the forest, in a cloud house in the sky that had Rainbow waterfalls(He guessed that was Rainbow Dash's house), and it wasn't until a nice pink mare at the local bakery told him where Rainbow Dash was that he actually had an inkling of what he was doing.

He was now standing outside of what could only be described as a giant carousel. He wasn't sure of whether or not Rainbow Dash was actually here or not, but, it was a place he hadn't checked yet. So, he strode up, looked down at his Wonderbolt uniform to make sure it was still unwrinkled, and knocked on the fuchsia colored door. As he stood there, he could here yelling and scrambling from inside...and he couldn't decide whether or not that was a good thing.

A white unicorn opened the door, but just enough so that her head could poke through. "Yes, Hello. Hi. I'm Rarity, how may I help you today" She took a good long look at him "S-S-Soarin...." She immediately moved back and slammed the door. Some more hushed conversation and scrambling for something could be heard from behind the closed door. Eventually the door opened again and a naked, blushing Rainbow Dash was pushed out.

"H-hey Soarin.." She looked down, draping her mane over her face nervously.

"Hey there Rainbow Dash." He looked her over. "Now I feel overdressed." He chuckled at his own joke, which made Dash blush even harder.

"Sorry, I had this dress that Rarity made me...but...well..we lost it.." The mare kicked at the ground nervously.

Soarin raised an eyebrow. "You lost a dress?"

"Well, not really lost...more like, misplaced. We put it down, then we went to go...umm..eat. When we came back, it was gone." Soarin was about to say something but Dash cut him off. "Hey, can we just get going?" The colt nodded and they started off.

"So, where we headed?" Soarin looked around the quaint little hamlet known as Ponyville. It was simplistic, the thatched roof houses and farmer's markets gave a very fresh feeling to the town. Better than most cities in Equestria.

"Oh, I was thinking we could, y'know, maybe go to Sugarcube Corner first, then walk around, talk, then-" She was cut short when her date was tackled into a doorway by three blurs.

--

Pinkie had said that a strange colt had been looking for Rainbow Dash. Now, usually this wouldn't upset the three little fillies known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But seeing as how Rainbow Dash had saved Scootaloo's life and earned the title of "Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader", they felt the need to take this upon themselves.

They had started their search with a resounding "Cutie Mark Crusader Interrogators!" and started galloping all over town in search of the couple. They had searched high, low, far and wide. From The Everfree Forest to the train station, and still, nothing. They were just about to give up when they spotted them.

"There they are!" Sweetie Belle hollered. Applebloom immediately silenced her squeaky friend with a hoof .

"Shh! They might hear ya! We have ta get him away from Rainbow Dash ta question 'im." The farm filly took her hoof from Sweetie's mouth.

"And how do we do that?" The rust colored pegasus saw no such opportunity.

"Ain't that your house over there, Scootaloo?" Applebloom pointed to a small cottage down the street from the meandering couple. The purple maned filly nodded. "Looks like your brother left the door open again, too."

"Ugh, stupid Thunderlane..."

"Why don't we just tackle him in there and shut the door?" She looked at the other two Crusaders, who nodded and got in position.

When the time was right, they all three charged and tackled the colt into the open doorway. When they tumbled inside, and while the colt was still dazed, Applebloom bucked the door shut and locked it, while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood on the colt. The latter lit up her horn and focused the light on the blue pony's face.

"Who are you?"

"Why were you looking for Rainbow Dash?"

"Why are you wearing a Wonderbolt's Uniform?"

The fillies barraged the famous flier with questions, who looked at them all through squinted eyes.

"Girls! Girls! Calm down!" The fillies just glared at him. "My name is Soarin, I'm on a date with Rainbow Dash, and I'm a Wonderbolt." Scootaloo gasped.

"Ohmygosh! You're THE Soarin!" She quickly booted off Sweetie with a swift kick to the flank, then hopped off herself. "A real life Wonderbolt, and you're....wait....did you say date?"

"Rainbow Dash dating a colt? My sister always said that she didn't like colts like that." Sweetie Belle looked back at the window, which Rainbow Dash was looking through...and she didn't look happy.

"WHAT?!" The cyan pegasus banged on the windows and yelled some words that the fillies shouldn't have heard.

The pale blue pegasus raised his eyebrow at the comment the unicorn filly made. He shrugged it off and went to unlock the door, when he did, the door was pulled open and he was promptly dragged out by a raging Rainbow Dash.

"Did we get our Cutie Marks?" Asked Applebloom. All three fillies looked at their flanks, only to be met with the same blankness that made them start this group. "Darn...guess we're not interrogators. Say, what do y'all reckon those words that Rainbow Dash said mean?" The other two shrugged. "Let's find out!"

All three raised their hooves to the air. "Cutie Mark Crusader Word Finder-Outers!"

--

"I'm SO sorry about that, Soarin. They're just looking for their cutie marks, they didn't mean any harm." Dash quickly brushed the dirt off of Soarin with her tail as they walked.

"It's okay Rainbow Dash. Really. They're just fillies, I understand." He laughed and helped clean himself off.

"This has been the worst date ever, hasn't it..?" the mare stopped walking and just looked down, sulking.

"Not the worst, no.." Dash looked up and smiled a little. "Not exactly the best either." She looked back down. "But hey, I'm having fun. That's what matters." He used his hoof to raise her chin so she was looking him in the eyes again. "Okay?"

Dash stared into his emerald eyes, she felt as though she could become lost in them. They were just so perfect. "O-Okay..." She blushed and started to look away, but couldn't. She closed her eyes, she could feel his hot breath upon her muzzle, drawing closer to her.

"Hey Rainbow Dash! Hey Soarin!"

Both pegasi jolted and opened their eyes, quickly separated, looking equally embarrassed. They both looked to the source of the voice.

"Spitfire?" Soarin asked his teammate, which had intruded upon a very intimate moment.

"Hey you two! I was just on my way to get something to eat, wanna come with?" Dash and Soarin looked at each other awkwardly.

"Well...actually Spitfire, We have dinner reservations for later.." Dash felt bad for telling her idol this, it made her feel like a bad fan.

"Oh cool, I'll join you. I'm sure they can add one more to your reservation, I am a Wonderbolt after all." She smiled and walked in between the two ponies who were trying to have a date.

"O-kay.." Soarin sighed and resigned himself to silently cursing his friend.

"We'll have a great night, i'm sure of it!" Spitfire smiled even wider and put a wing around each of them.

Fifty Shades of Pink

A light sobbing echoed throughout the upper-level of Sugarcube Corner, it would ave been worrying to hear, if anypony was there to hear it. Which no one was. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were out of town for a baking seminar in Las Pegasus, they had taken the twins with them, and all of Pinkie's friends were busy. Which left her to despair on her own. She had been in her room the whole night, crying into a torn and dirty green dress.

"I'm so sorry, Dashie.." By now though, the tears had dried up, but her guilt hadn't. "I just wanted a chance.." She sniffed and buried her face in the dress once more, taking in the scent of her hopeless crush.

She had put up blackout curtains yesterday after she had closed up shop, the room was cast in darkness and she was lucky to even see the dress in front of her..the dress. It mocked her. It ridiculed her. It was the monument to her sins. It was the thing that hours ago made her come to her senses. She had ruined her friend's date and she knew it...she had even made sure of it.

--

The straight maned mare sat in the bushes outside of Restaurant Chic, watching the trio dine. Just a few hours ago, she had told the female Wonderbolt where and when to find the couple, even where they were going to dinner. Pinkie didn't know at the time that the flame maned pegasus had a soft spot for her teammate, she just gave her the details. But now, she saw the way Spitfire looked at Soarin, the dreamy look that she herself knew all too well.

Then she saw Dashie. She looked so disappointed and sad, Pinkie couldn't stand seeing her like this. That's when she realized how much she screwed up. Stealing the dress, sending the Cutie Mark Crusaders after them, then having Spitfire ruin their date. It made her feel terrible. She watched as Dash excused herself from the table, as she did, Spitfire reached over and held Soarin's hoof in her own. The colt looked up and smiled at his teammate. Though, Pinkie didn't care about that. She cared about the look of extreme hurt in her love's eyes.

"What have I done..?" Tears were forming at the edges of her icy blue eyes. "Dashie..I'm so sorry.." A single tear rolled down her cheek, the first of many. She backed out of the bushes, turned tail, and ran home, crying all the way.

--

"I...I have to fix this.." She stared at the dress sadly, longing for the mare who it belonged to.

"Fix it? She's heartbroken! Go comfort her, she can be all yours.finally." She looked at her pet Alligator, who seemed to speak without actually talking.

"But Gummy, I'm the one who hurt her! I broke her heart...." She nuzzled the dress ever so gently and sighed.

"She doesn't know that, and she doesn't have to either." The gator climbed up on the bed with great struggle.

"I-I guess..." Pinkie was still unsure of her pet's plan. The last one didn't go over so well, it only left her feeling guilty and  depressed. "Okay, I'll go see her.." She put the dress back on her bed. She was going to fix it later, she wanted it perfect.

"She'll be in the park, that's where she always goes when she's sad." The alligator curled up on the dress and closed his eyes. "I'll be here, sleeping." Pinkie nodded and patted the small reptile on the head. "Oh, and for Celestia's sake, fix your appearance before you go. You look like a serial killer." Pinkie sighed and trotted off to her bathroom to fix her appearance.

She looked in the mirror. She looked terrible. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, her mane was still straight as a board and it made her look downright terrifying. She stared into her icy blue eyes, they weren't her eyes, they were the eyes of a jealous monster. She sighed, right now she wasn't Pinkie Pie the Party Pony, she was Pinkamina Diane Pie, the jealous, hateful, pony-hurter.

She grabbed her various shampoos and creams and started to get to work.

--

Rainbow Dash was laying in her favorite tree in the park, she often came here to sleep or just think. Today was a thinkin' day. She thought about the date yesterday, how bad everything went, and what she did wrong. Last night had been a mess, first her dress had disappeared, then the CMC interrogated her date, then Spitfire showed up. Spitfire...she was the worst of it. She had come in and been the intrusive third wheel trying to take her spot. Then...at the restaurant, she saw them holding hooves and smiling. That had hurt the most.

She had left the restaurant through the kitchen after that, too hurt to go on. Immediately, she wanted to head to her home, lock the door and just...just...well, she didn't know what she wanted to do. She didn't exactly want to cry, she never really cried, but she was close last night.

She sighed into her napping pillow, what did she ever do wrong to deserve this? She was a good pony, never hurt anypony, was good and loyal to her friends. She at least deserved some love.

"Dashie!" A familiar voice came to her ears from the bottom of the tree. The pegasus sighed.

"What is it Pinkie? I'm...busy." Busy sulking, maybe. She turned her head and looked at her friend. She noticed right off the bat that something was...off with Pinkie Pie. She looked normal, but she wasn't smiling and she wasn't bouncing around like normal.

"Are you okay, Dashie? You seem sad." The pink mare looked up at her with pleasing eyes.

"You don't seem all that happy either, Pinks." The nickname brought a smile to Pinkie's face.

"Yesterday wasn't a good day for me..."

"You too?" Dash rolled off of her branch, spreading her wings as she fell and landed lightly on the ground.

"Yeah...You wanna head over to Sugarcube Corner? it's closed, but I can make us something." She trotted over to Dash hesitantly.

"Sure..that sounds good to me." Dash smiled softly and nuzzled Pinkie. "I just need a friend right now, is all."

Pinkie shivered when Dash nuzzled her, it was pure elation, bliss. Recognition from Dash was the best feeling she ever had. "O-Okay..You can always count on me Dashie. I'll never let you down.." Her inner voice prodded at her conscience Too bad you already have...

It was a short walk back to the bakery: the pair strolled in silence, Dash out of worry, Pinkie out of bliss. When they got to the eatery, Pinkie unlocked the door and went in. Dash immediately went to her favorite booth and sat down.

"So, what do you want to eat, Dashie?" Pinkie was already behind the counter, getting out assorted sweet treats.

"Got any soda back there?" The pink mare nodded. "Some of that please." Pinkie went to work getting the proper items and turning on the soda machine. "Hey Pinkie..?" Blue eyes turned away from their work and looked at her. "What did I do wrong? I had this date....and everything that could go wrong, went wrong." The eyes turned nervously back to their work, but Dash was too interested in her own hooves. "First my dress went missing, then the CMC came along and interrogated my date, and finally, this other mare showed up....." Pinkie just nodded in response. "What did I do to deserve this? Does somepony out there hate me?"

That last statement stuck Pinkie like a knife to the heart. Her will was breaking, her confidence was shattering. She was going to cave.

"Oh man, I didn't realize how long I had been out there, Pinks. Can I use your bathroom?" Dash stood up and started looking around, she had been in here alot over her years in Ponyville, but never had to use the bathroom.

"Sure..upstairs. Third door on the right." Dash nodded and headed for the stairs. When she reached the top, she was surprised to see that the upper level of Sugarcube Corner looked as normal as any other house in Ponyville, Not as chaotic and colorful as the downstairs. She passed the first door on the right: The twins room. The room across from it was the Cakes' room. Then she passed the second door on the right: That's when she spotted an awfully familiar green color laying on the bed.

The Death of Subtlety

(Alright, I need to preface this chapter with something. I had a dream that my story was getting terrible reviews, so I took that as a hint and decided against a purely Soarin/Spitfire chapter, at least for now. I'll start off with the continuation of the last chapter, also....this WILL be a SoarinxDash fic. I'm sorry if I disappointed any you for suggesting otherwise.)

--

"Hey!" Pinkie heard the yell from downstairs, where she was sitting at the booth with two cream sodas. Her head shot up immediately. The dress was still in her room! Which was opened! She rushed up the stairs in a pink blur. She was prepared to beg and cry for her friend's forgiveness, she wanted anything but to lose their friendship.

However when she reached the room, she didn't see a vengeful and furious Rainbow Dash staring down at the torn, dirty dress with bloodshot eyes. Instead, she saw Rainbow Dash smiling and petting Gummy, who was on the bed, that didn't surprise her as much as the lack of torn green dress. It was nowhere to be seen, and that scared her greatly. She looked to Gummy, who just rolled over onto his back in order to obtain tummy rubs from the pegasus.

"Oh, hey Pinks." Dash looked up at the gaping earth pony. "I saw Gummy in here and I had to say hi, hope you don't mind." She smiled and lifted her hoof away, causing Gummy to bite at her hoof. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry." She patted the reptile's head gently and went back to petting him.

"Yeah...I understand Dashie. It's..no problem." Pinkie trotted over to the bed cautiously. "You..didn't happen to see anything strange when you came in here, right?"

"No, and considering this is your room, that surprised me." She smiled and picked up the baby gator, which was attempting to latch onto her mane.

"Check my nest." The pony's eyes went wide as she heard that voice. She looked around, but eventually her eyes locked with her pet's bright purple ones. Pinkie glanced at the closet where she kept Gummy's nest, she only went in there to feed the tiny gator. She looked at Dash, who was preoccupied with trying to get Gummy off of her mane, so Pinkie trotted over to the closet and poked her head in. Laying there, right in the nest, was Rainbow Dash's dress. Safe from the pegasus' eyes.

"Ugh, Pinkie! Help me here! Gummy....won't....let...go!" On the last word the gator was sent flying into a pile of stuffed animals by the frustrated mare.

--

Soarin was, for lack of a better word, blitzed out of his mind. He picked up a couple of cases of Sweet Apple Hard Cider after his failed date, and hadn't stopped drinking since since he got home. He wasn't even bothering to pour it in a glass anymore, he was just picking up the jugs and chugging. He was on his fourth...or was it fifth? He had lost count 2 jugs ago.

"Shtupid...Rainbow dash.." His words were slurred, his thoughts were muddled, and frankly, Spitfire was mad at him. Said mare was sitting on the other side of the couch, glaring at her teammate. She had dealt with the drunken and disorderly colt for hours, she didn't even get any sleep overnight because of his incessant yelling and cursing.

"Just snap out of it, Soarin! Forget about her. She's not worth it, okay?" She leaned over and jabbed her hoof into his side. she just wanted her Soarin to be back to normal and forget about that Rainbow Dash.

"Shnap out of it..?" He turned his head lazily and glared at her, his green eyes hard and unforgiving. "I really liked her! I wanted to date her..!" He smacked her hoof away and jabbed his own into her chest. "And you....You screwed it up! You just had to come along."

"Soarin, I-" Spitfire started to apologize, but was cut off by the drunk.

"No, you nothing! You....You just don't want me to be happy. That's why you always turn down mares who apply to get into the Wonderbolts..." The Wonderbolts had a strict vetting system. If you got past all of the background checks and physical exams, then the team got to decide whether or not you join. The decision has to be unanimous though in order to ensure the team would be able to work together, and Spitfire always denied the female applicants, this included Rainbow Dash.

"Soarin, I'm do that for the team. You know that. We don't need any distractions.." She was lying to herself and she knew it, she didn't want to admit it to herself though.

"No, you do it for you! You don't do it for us!" Soarin stood up from the couch, barely keeping his hoofing. "You...you.." His alcohol addled mind couldn't come up with an adequate insult, so he simply growled at his teammate.

"You're right...but I'm doing this for us." She closed the gap between herself and Soarin, quickly capturing his mouth in a long awaited kiss, one filled with passion and desire. It felt so right.

--

Pinkie had gotten Gummy out of Dash's mane, put him in his nest and ushered the pegasus downstairs and into the booth. They were both now sipping their drinks, Dash with a straw, and Pinkie with a multi-colored crazy straw. Pinkie had been feeling much happier ever since she realized that she could actually get away with this, perhaps she might even convince Dash to go on a date with her,but for now she turned her attention back to her crush's story.

"So Thunderlane smashed straight into the windmill. He was stuck in there for hours, just going around and around until a unicorn finally got there to get him out!" Dash and Pinkie erupted in a myriad of giggles and snorts at the always funny mishaps of Thunderlane.

"So, wanna talk about your date?" Pinkie took a long sip out of her drink. She wanted to get on the topics of dates, just to break the ice.

Dash just sighed. "It was a disaster, can we leave it at that? First date was probably my worst...ugh.." The mare took out the straw and just picked up her mug and chugged.

"Well, why not just...forget about that date?" Pinkie pushed her drink aside. Her own bright blue eyes focused on Dash's solid magenta ones.

"Forget about a catastrophe like that? Are you crazy?" The rainbow maned mare pushed the now empty mug away from herself. "I'll be as likely to forget about something like that as my own name."

"Well..then just don't consider it a date. Just think of it as you and Soarin hung out for a couple of hours and his teammate joined you. Nothing special." She had been trying to regain her perky personality, and while it had been coming back gradually, she still couldn't act normal..well, normal for her. But she was getting there.

"Yeah...Yeah. We were just hanging out. Just..two flight enthusiasts hanging out." Dash nodded along with her own words, her words growing more and more confident. "Nothing special. Nothing special as all." Dash smiled wide, then it dropped all of a sudden. "But that means I still haven't had a date..."

"Well, a first date might happen sooner than you expect." The Party Pony lowered her head, trying to conceal her light blush.

"Yeah, maybe. Y'know, Diver has been acting nervous around me lately...maybe.." Pinkie's mood started to sink again.

"No, Dashie, I meant-" Pinkie's mind started to scramble, she needed to save this.

"But should I let him work up the courage, or should I ask?"

"Dashie, I-"

"What do you think, Pinkie?" That question held so much meaning in the earth pony's mind. It came with so much weight that Pinkie felt as though her mind would snap.

"I-I...I think.." She was going to try and beat around the bush again, maybe lure Dash into a situation about her own dating life. "I..." But being subtle hadn't worked before, what if it failed again? Just tell her, buck subtlety. You see what you want. Take it. Don't wait.

"I think I'm in love with you, Rainbow Dash."

Starry Night [Interlude]

Twilight Sparkle was riding on the train to Canterlot, as she did once a month. She put her head out the window and took in the fresh country air, it always exhilarated the mare to feel the wind in her mane and to hear the familiar soothing sounds of a  locomotive engine. Her eyes were drawn to the early evening stars, she just loved the way they twinkled in defiance of the sun's  weakened light. But, perhaps that was just the wonder talking.

She slowly drew her head back into the train car, her mane thoroughly tussled by the wind. The dull glow of the unicorn's magic fixed that problem rather quickly while her hooves opened the letter beside her. It had arrived early fairly early that morning and required her immediate and full attention. It read:

Dear Twilight,

While I know that you are quite busy with the assignment Princess Celestia has given you, I was hoping we could still have our collaboration meeting as per our usual social contract. I do hope i am not imposing.

With all due respect and reverence,

Star Shine

She always liked getting letters from her Canterlot Colleague, their collaboration meetings were always a pleasure. They discussed what they learned, what they thought, though Twilight enjoyed their philosophical discussions the most. Star Shine always brought up the most thought provoking questions and ideas, he was quite the intellectual.

She had met the colt a few months before she left Canterlot, he worked at the Royal Observatory and she had been curious about the cosmos at the time. They spent many nights together gazing at the stars and the constellations they made, He had told her everything there was to know about the stars and the space around them. Twilight had become quite fond of him during that time, as he had of her. The night before she left for Ponyville had been hard on him. He begged and pleaded that she not go, it wasn't until she explained that it was an assignment from the Princess herself that he caved. But, he made her promise to visit him every month for a little collaboration

So, every month for the past 2 and a half years, she had taken the train to Canterlot and visited him in the Observatory. Their meetings were usually at night, so they could gaze upon the stars as they used to do. Their had been a few occasions where the Princess of the night herself would join them in their discussions, those were truly fun times. There were other fun times without the regent of the night, the duo of scholars had even shared a kiss underneath the full moon. It had been Twilight's first kiss, and had made her heart grow fonder of the colt.

She had been lost in her thoughts when the whistle blew for her stop. The unicorn got out of her seat, grabbing the picnic basket she had packed with a meal along her way, and exited the train. There, waiting for her arrival, was Star Shine.

He was a handsome colt: His coat was akin to the early night sky, his mane was as white as the moon,and his eyes were a penetrating stone gray. The unicorn was around the same age as herself and his cutie mark was that of a Telescope in front of a field of stars.

"Ms. Twilight Sparkle, a pleasure to see you again." His voice was melodic, if not utterly hypnotizing. The colt was smiling softly at her, oh how she adored that smile.

"Mr. Star Shine, how are you on this fine evening?" Twilight trotted over to him and nuzzled the object of her adoration. He nuzzled back gently, his coat felt like the softest blanket ever made.

"I am quite alright, especially now that you're here." His horn glowed the same color as his eyes and lifted the picnic basket away from her, she let him, as she always did. "Shall we head to the observatory?"

"I think we shall." So away they trotted in the direction of the observatory. Along the way they made small talk. He asked her about her friends and how they were doing, she mentioned how strange two of them had been acting, and she asked him about his work. It was light, but it was much appreciated by each of them.

They reached the observatory in a little under half an hour, the usual time, then they made their way up to the top balcony where Star Shine had his own personal telescope. It was their spot. He sat the basket down and unpaked it: Blanket first, then the plates and sandwiches.

Twilight sat on the cushion that Star Shine had laid down prior to her arrival, as he always did, and turned her head towards the stars.Luna truly outdid herself tonight, the stars were brighter than Twilight had ever seen before, and they looked magnificent.

"So, Twilight, I do hope the short notice was of no inconvenience to you."  The astronomer sat across from her, waiting for her to take a bite before himself like a true gentlecolt.

"Oh no, Star Shine, it was fine. I do love having our meetings." Neither of them dared called them dates, for they weren't sure if they were quite ready to accept such an intimate stance on the other. "So, why did you call me up here?" She levitated the sandwich to her mouth and took a small bite.

"Well, I have some very exciting news from the Regent of the Night, herself. I figured that you would like to hear it before anypony else." The colt also took a bite of his sandwich.

"Princess Luna? What news would that be?"

"Well, she has ordered that an observatory be built in Ponyville." Twilight was quite surprised, though she didn't let it show on the outside, for that would be quite unbecoming of a lady.

"Oh? That is quite exciting. Now I will be able to gaze upon the stars properly." Twilight put took another bite of her delectable sandwich.

"That is only half of the story. She has chosen me to oversee the construction and the observatory itself once it is finished." Twilight was did her best from jumping up and enveloping her colleague in a long, and quite overdo hug. He would finally be close enough to see everyday, perhaps they could even drop the formalities and accept their feelings for one another.

"That is fantastic news, Star Shine! You'll finally have your own observatory like you always wanted!" She smiled brightly, but the colt only took another bite of his sandwich and nodded. "Aren't you excited?"

"Oh, I am. But, I was wondering if you know of a place in which I could stay while the observatory is being built. I would hate to trouble anypony with my sudden appearance in town"

"You can stay with me!" She quickly realized her outburst and covered her mouth. "Er, I mean...if you don't mind." Great She mentally chided herself. I'm starting to act like Fluttershy.

Star Shine only chuckled at the faux pas. "I would very much like that, yes." A very awkward silence followed,, it persisted for several minutes while the two ate their meal. When they were finally done, Twilight spoke.

"Star Shine..?" He raised his head and looked at her, his piercing gray gaze connecting with her own eyes. The look made her shiver, as it always did.

"Yes, Twilight?"

"Would..Well, i was wondering.." She was tripping over her words, and it made her angry at herself. She was usually so good with her words, but now they seemed to be failing her. "I was wondering if you would like to be my coltfriend.." She blushed at the last word, while Star Shine just raised her eyebrow.

"I was under the assumption I already was." His mouth drew into a slight smirk with every word, it grew even wider as Twilight's jaw dropped and her eyes got wider.

"W-What?"

"Well, we have these regular outings, we are affectionate at the start of each one, and we have kissed. I assumed that's when we started officially dating." His dark hoof reached over and pushed her jaw closed.

"B-But...why the formalities then? Why so..so..." She couldn't think of the right word, her mind was too rattled.

"Aloof? Because, Twilight, you were. I assumed that you wanted a strictly professional relationship. Nothing too serious."

"I-I..." Her brow furrowed and she smacked him playfully. "You mean colt. How dare you lead me along like that!"

Star Shine raised his hooves up in mock surrender as he chuckled. "I was just following your lead, my dear! I didn't mean to 'lead you along like that.'" Once she quit smacking him, he brushed off his coat. "I think you need to lighten up, Twilight."

She just glared at him, but she couldn't hold in the smile. "So, when are you moving to Ponyville?"

"Well, tomorrow actually."

"And you're just informing me now? What if I couldn't accommodate you?" She felt quite, well...used. Had he planned on just showing up on her doorstep tomorrow morning with all of his luggage and a smile?

"Don't be silly, Twilight. I knew you could accommodate me, even on such short notice." The colt stood up. "Now come here, I have something to show you." He trotted inside, leaving the mare to ponder his statements. It was true, she would have taken him in, whether or not she had the means or the time to do so, she just liked him that much. Deciding it was best not to dwell on it, she got up and followed him.

"Oh wait...it is back outside." She sighed, he always played these little games when he had a surprise for her, so she simply turned right back around and headed back onto the balcony along side him. "Oh, there it is." He pointed a hoof towards the sky. Twilight wondered what he could have possibly lost in the sky. When she looked up, her heart stopped and her eyes went wide.

Written in the sky with the stars themselves were four simple words.

'I love you Twilight.'

Those four words made the purple mare realize one thing, she wasn't afraid to love him back, she wasn't even hesitant.

"Like them? Princess Luna did them special, I had t-" He was cut short by hooves enveloping his form and lips meeting his own.

Twilight Sparkle was not a mare of action, but right now she was. As soon as she let all of her feelings sink in, she knew what she had to do. She spun around, pulled Star Shine into a hug, and kissed him. Though, this was not like the chaste kiss they had done before. This one was passionate, it was needed, it was reciprocated.

After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality had only been a minute, the kiss was broken and the two just held onto each other. Words were not needed, the embrace was enough for them both.

"Star Shine..?" She looked into the eyes of her coltfriend.

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle?" He smiled gently, though now his voice seemed all the more melodious.

"I love you too..."

--

Later that night, within the confines of Star Shine's room. (He had graciously let her use it, as he always did.) She started writing a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned a valuable lesson. Love is not something to be taken lightly, it is not a decision you can force or make for yourself. It just comes to you. You can't choose who you love any more than you can choose what you're good at. When you know, you know. At first,

I was afraid of embracing it, I was afraid of the commitment, of the implications. So, I guess I learned something else as well. Love conquers all fears, all doubts, and will leave you at peace.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

The unicorn smiled and nodded. she saw a bright future ahead for her and Star Shine. A very bright future indeed.

Backlash

Two mares sat in Sugarcube Corner in complete silence. One out of shock, and the other out of sheer embarrassment. If one were two walk into the eatery, they would feel the very possibly be crushed by the tension hanging between the two ponies.  While the pink mare was blushing deeply and looking at the table, while the blue mare looked as though she was asked about the meaning of life. Things were not looking good for the pink mare.

"W-What...?" Dash finally spoke, her voice was very unsure of itself, not surprising given the situation. Pinkie nodded very slowly, still not making eye contact. "Pinkie, you...you can't be serious. This is a prank, right? Just another Pinkie Pie joke, and a strange one at that..." Dash ran her hooves through her rainbow mane nervously.

"No...why would anypony joke about love?" Pinkie finally made eye contact with the mare across from her. The magenta eyes held a mixture of emotions: Confusion, sadness, but mostly fear. Fear, that made Pinkie herself afraid.

"I...I..." Dash laid her head on the table and sighed. "Pinkie, why'd you have to do that..?" She lifted her head up, just to let it drop to the table again with a thud. "Why...Why...Why..."

"Dashie, I-"

"Dash...call me Dash, Pinkie." Those words hit Pinkie like a whip, the very air around them crackled with pain and sadness. They hurt.

"I can't help it...I've liked you for a really long time." Dash covered her ears and started shaking her head. "It's been hard, being around you and not being able to say anything.."

"Pinkie...no." Pinkie stopped and hung her head sadly. "You..and me....It won't work. It will never work. I don't like mares..." Dash looked up at her, her eyes looked like they were on the brink of tears. "Why? Why did you have to go and do that?" Dash got up from the table and started towards the door. She turned around and shook her head at Pinkie, then left.

--

Soarin groaned, his head was pounding, his joints ached. He cracked open his eyes, only to be met with a blinding light that forced them shut again. He raised his hoof to the offending light to give his eyes some relief, he cracked them open again. Everything was blurry at first, but after a few minutes, his room came into focus.

He was in his bed, in his room. How he got there was anyone's guess. He could barely remember what day it was,let alone what happened the night before.

"Uhhhh....what happened last night...?" he was going to roll off of his bed and onto his hooves, but he was met with a rather solid object. It was yellow,funny, he didn't remember having a yellow wall in his room. Heck, his bed wasn't even against a wall. He poked it, it was too soft to be a wall. "What the...?"

"Having fun Soarin?" He looked up into the smirking visage of Spitfire, except, something was wrong with her face. She had a black eye. That's when the previous night started coming back to him.

--

Soarin pushed Spitfire away from him in the middle of the kiss. It had caught him off guard, but he was quick to react. He wiped his lips, a quite offending look came across his face. "Spitfire, what the hell?"

She didn't hear him, she was too lost in the taste. Alcohol and Soarin, a wonderful combination. Her hoof came up and touched her own lips, she sighed happily.

"Spitfire!" Soarin pushed the mare with his hoof.

"Hmm?" She looked into his deep green eyes and smiled.

"What the hell was that kiss for?" Spitfire's face formed a deep blush, that not even lowering her head could conceal.

"Soarin, I love you. I've always loved you since we were young." she stepped closer to her teammate, which made him take a step back. "I-I've never been able to tell you, I was always so afraid. I was afraid about how you would react, what you would think..." she leaned in and gave his side a short nuzzle.

"Spitfire...you're like a sister to me. I've known you since I was a little colt, we've been best friends for years. I love you too, but not like how you love me. I love you like a sister." Soarin watched as a series of emotions crossed over his hothead roommate's face: Rejection, sadness, hurt, anger....rage.

"What?! I..I bear my heart for you. I give up every single chance I had with a colt in hopes that one day you would love me too....and I get this?" She pushed the drunkard down to the floor, tears now forming in her eyes. "I can't believe you, Soarin! I gave you and the squad the best years of my life!" She kicked Soarin hard in the groin, causing the colt to writhe in pain and curse at her.

Once he got back up, a hoof fight ensued. It ended with Spitfire headbutting Soarin and knocking him out.

--

"Get out of my bed." The light blue colt growled through his teeth,

"Aww, but I liked watching you sleep." The mare rolled out of his bed and trotted out, swaying her flanks back and forth as she left. It just made Soarin shiver, something was seriously wrong with his friend.

--

Pinkie had went to her room after Dash had left, she didn't feel like opening up shop today. She had gone to the bathroom and washed her mane down, washed the temporary dyes out of her mane and coat and went back to looking like the pony grim reaper.

After her shower, the pink mare grabbed the dress from Gummy's nest, scrubbed it clean then sewed up the holes closed. It had taken her some time, but it was worth it. Now it was in the same condition she had found it in, and she loved it. It still had the faintest scent Rainbow Dash on it. The pink mare laid on her bed and brought the dress close to her chest.

"I don't get it...what did I do wrong..?" She started to tear up, but forced herself to squelch them.

"You did nothing wrong. How is love wrong?" Her pet stood on his back to legs and latched his jaws onto her tail.

"I just don't get why she's so mad at me, Gummy." Pinkie lifted her head from the dress.

"Maybe you should convince her you're worthy of her?" The gator climed up her board-like tail and onto the bed.

"Convince her?" Pinkie reached over and drew the gator close to her.

"Have you ever heard of Neightingale's Syndrome?"

Point of No Return

(First thing first: Exciting news. I will be participating in the National Pony Writing Month this August. That starts in 4 days. That means I will be devoting most of my time to the new story. I will still update this story, no doubt, just not as quickly and not as much. I am excited for this new story, it is entitled "Abroad At A Ship's Helm")

Rainbow Dash was tired, not physically but mentally. Pinkie confessing her love had put a lot of weight on Dash's mind. The idea that Pinkie had been in love with her for all this time, it was mind boggling. But why? Why did the simple earth pony have to find her so appealing? They could have stayed friends without it becoming awkward.

She decided a nice flight would calm her mind, so she spread her brilliant blue wings and took to the skies. Flying always calmed her down, she loved the feel of the wind between her feathers, the sound of the wind in her ears. it was simply marvelous. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and flew slowly through a cloud. The small 'poof' sound that clouds made when they dispersed brought a small smile to her face every time.

When she opened her eyes, something caught her attention. A crew of construction ponies were near the outside of town, they were lugging around metal beams and starting to erect a frame. It was strange, as captain of the weather patrol she was to be notified of all construction projects so the pegasi could plan accordingly. She descended and landed just outside of the site.

Dash quickly stopped a construction pony and asked, "What do you all think you're doing?"

The brawny looking  earth pony grunted and shrugged her off. "Listen lady, we gots a deadline. Yous needs to get outta here and lets us work ." He moved right past her and continued working. Dash had dealt with construction workers before and they were always a pain in her flank. She needed to find the foreman.

After trotting around the site, she saw a familiar purple unicorn looking over blueprints with a dark blue unicorn. "Twilight?" Dash cantered over to the pair, who waved her over.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, what are you here for?" The purple unicorn rolled up the blueprints and gave them to her friend.

"Well, for starters I'm the weather captain here. I am supposed to be told about any construction projects." She glared at the unicorn pair, obviously irate that she had been forgotten in the process.

"I am sorry Ms. Rainbow Dash." The colt spoke now, his stone grey eyes pierced into her own. She felt the need to hide from the gaze and never meet it again. This greatly contrasted his voice: Which was as smooth as silk, and just as inviting. "We did send somepony to tell you, but they notified us that you were not home, so we decided to get to work. Do not blame Twilight, it is my fault." He gave a polite bow.

"Um...sure?" The colt nodded and trotted off, softly speaking to some of the workers. At the first opportunity, Dash pulled the element of magic closer to her. "No offense or anything Twi, but...what's with the stiff?" The unicorn gave her a stern stare.

"The 'stiff' is Star Shine. He's a colleague of mine from Canterlot...and...well..." The purple pony blushed ever so lightly. "My coltfriend.." Dash's jaw nearly hit the ground.

"You have a coltfriend..? You. Out of all ponies who could get their first coltfriend before me...it had to be you." Twilight looked like she was going to say something, but Rainbow cut her off. "ugh, forget it. What are you two eggheads building here? A book factory?"

"Oh no, the closest paper mill is on the other side of Mt.Canterlot, it would be impractical and not very cost effective to make a book factory here." Dash just gave her the dead air. "Right...well, we're building an observatory under orders from Princess Luna herself." The unicorn stood proudly, as if every word was inflating her ego just a bit more.

"I'm building the observatory, my dear." Twilight's coltfriend trotted by, planting a kiss on her cheek and moving on. "You're giving me a place to stay." As he trotted away, Dash leaned over to Twilight.

"He's a little....flamboyant, don't you think?" Twilight shot her a sideways glance and Star Shine apparently heard her, for he responded.

"Says the mare with the Rainbow mane and the voice of a young colt." He turned to a worker and started giving him orders.

"Hey!"

--

Pinkie, after consulting with her alligator, had decided to tail Dashie for the rest of the day. She was a t a construction site now, talking to Twilight and some other unicorn with a really white mane. She wondered what they were talking about, then Rainbow Dash lifted off and flew towards the library.

The pink mare clambered out of the bush she had been hiding in and watched the exact flight pattern of the pegasus. She needed to study everything about her target. So, Pinkie followed. Into the center of town and to the library, where piles and piles of metal pipes were waiting and where Dash was loading up a wagon. It would take her a couple of trips to move it all, so Pinkie started devising a plan of attack.

--

Scootaloo was trotting through town looking for something to do, her friends were all busy. Applebloom had to help Big Mac and Applejack get the apples ready for market, and Sweetie Belle was out of town visiting her parents. Worst of all: Her brother Thunderlane had blown her off after promising to hang out with her today.

In her lament, she wasn't watching where she was going and hit a solid pink mass. "Oof! Sorry..." She looked up at the pony in front of her: Her mane was straight and stiff, same as her tail, her coat and mane were both darker than normal. The once jubilant blue eyes shone an icy blue, burrowing into Scootaloo's soul. "P-Pinkie...?"

"Well, hey there Scootaloo!" Pinkie grinned a grin that would make Nightmare Moon's blood go cold. "How are you? Still searching for that cutie mark?" Each of Pinkie's eyes blinked independently from each other, unsettling the little filly even further.

"Umm..yeah, I-"

"Need some help?" Before Scoots could answer, Pinkie picked the filly up and tossed her upon her strong, earth pony back. "Of coooourse you do! I bet weather is your specialty! Let's try that!" Pinkie sped off at full speed, leaving a pink blur where she used to be.

In ten seconds flat they were back at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie was searching through the shed attached to the side for something to help them/

"Um..Pinkie? I can't fly..how am I supposed to get my cutie mark in weather control if I can't fly?" The pegasus filly was peaking over the insane pony's head, trying to get a look at whatever it was she was getting.

"With my Super Awesome Bike-O-Copter, of course!" Pinkie grinned madly and pulled out a modified bicycle with propellers on it that looked way to long to fit in the shed. "I'll fly you up there, you get on a cloud and you try out some pegasus weather stuff! Simple!" Pinkie giggled insanely and got on the contraption. Scootaloo held on for dear life as the demented pony started pedaling and the vehicle started lifting off into the air.

Pegasi loved the feeling of flying, the sky was their home. Scootaloo was no exception.She closed her eyes and smiled as she relished in the feeling of the wind in her mane. She spread her tiny, flightless wings in a vain attempt to feel what it was really like to fly, if just for a second. It felt wonderful. The feeling abruptly stopped when Pinkie Pie quit ascending and just hovered.

"Okay! Time for little pegasuses to go cloud hopping!" Pinkie grabbed Scootaloo, who responded with a yelp, and threw her on a cloud.

Scootaloo landed on the fluffy structure softly. It was her first time on a cloud, and while her brother had told her how it felt, she never realized how truly amazing it was before now. She stood up slowly, feeling the cloud shift underneath her, it was soft, yet solid. She stared at it, trying to figure it out, but decided against it.

"So...what do I do...?" Pinkie was staring down at the ground, tracking something with her eyes.

"Well, jumping causes lightning and rain right? Try that!" Scootaloo was about to jump. "Not yet! NNnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnow!" On cue, Scootaloo bent her legs and jumped further skyward, when she landed she felt something in the cloud give and rain started to pour. The filly bent once more and took a bigger leap. This time when she landed, a bright light came from the cloud, accompanied by a ferocious boom.

--

Rainbow Dash was flying back to the observatory with the third load of metal pipes, it was arduous, but it was something to do. She was distracted when she saw rain up ahead. She knew it wasn't supposed to rain today, she knew all of the weather schedules. She flew underneath the rain cloud and looked up, that's when she saw a bright flash of light and heard a sharp boom. Before she could react, she felt her sides burning. Then the smell of burning feathers came to her nostrils as she started to fall, her mind in too much shock to realize what was happening. She was falling.

--

Pinkie grinned at the sight of her Dashie falling helplessly to the ground, the wagon falling after her. In fact, she could smell the burnt feathers from here. She started pedaling slower in order to descend and claim her prize, leaving a confused Scootaloo stuck on the cloud.

"Umm...Pinkie? Helloooo."

In Over Her Head

Pinkie paced around the first floor of Sugarcube Corner, she hadn't thought this all the way through obviously. After she had collected the fallen pegasus, she had carefully and stealthily moved the mare into the Sugarcube Corner basement and tied her to one of the supporting columns. Dash hadn't woken up...yet. When she does, Pinkie had no idea what to do.

"What if she freaks out and starts screaming? What if she gets even more mad at me?" Her own appearance seemed to turn more and more dim with each doubt. "What do I do, What do I do?" She plopped down onto her haunches and started looking around frantically. "Gummy, where are you?"

As if on cue, the little reptile plodded down the stairs with a pill bottle in his mouth. He often got into the cabinets, nopony knew quite how, and started playing with a pill bottle he acquired. Pinkie got up, trotted over, and picked the pill bottle away from him. The label on the bottle read:

Diazepam: Take 1 tablet every six hours.

It was a muscle relaxant, Mrs. Cake often used them to relieve her back pain. They would do perfectly for the Party pony's predicament. She unscrewed the cap with her mouth and popped one pill into her hoof.  It would do. The disturbed mare got a glass of water, and headed downstairs.

Dash did not look good at all, her wings were blackened and missing most of her feathers, she had bad burns down the entirety of her back,and she was having muscle spasms. A knot formed in Pinkie's throat, she wanted to help her love, but she was afraid to get closer.

"D-Dashie...?" She only got a pained groan in response. "I-I'm going to make you feel better.." Pinkie trotted over, too scared to make any kind of noise. Dash groaned when she got within a few inches, She reached a pink hoof towards the injured mare and pushed her jaw down. Pinkie looked down at the pill, She reminded herself it was for the best and put it on her love's tongue. "This will stop the pain, I promise.." Pinkie put the glass up to Dash's lips and tipped it up, the parched Dash gulped down the water and the pill.

--

A few hours later Dash cracked open her eyes, it hurt to think, she didn't even want to try moving. The mare's eyes were trying to focus on the environment around her to no avail, she could make out a few blurry shapes and that was about it.

"H-Hello..?" Her voice was hoarse from her extremely dry throat. She heard hoofsteps against wood, somepony was coming.

"Dashie, you're awake." She knew that voice, that voice made her want to scream and cry, if she couldn't muster up the strength to do such things.

"P-Pinkie..? I need help...I can't move.." Pinkie stepped closer, Dash could barely make out her pink silhouette.

"Don't worry, Dashie, I'm here to help you. I'm going to make everything all better." Dash, even in her state, could see the insane grin forming on her friend's face. "Those muscle relaxers I gave you earlier should be working.." Dash guessed that's why she couldn't move anything below her neck, she was too relaxed.

"W-What did you do, Pinkie..?' Dash blinked, her vision slowly coming back.

The pink mare stepped into the light, her eyes seemed to be even more beady than earlier, a permanent grin was etched onto her face. "I'm going to make you love me, Dashie."

--

Spitfire and Soarin were getting changed into their uniforms. Today was a practice day, specifically, Cloudsdale practice day. They had to fly all the way there and back on top of all the drills, It always made for their most exhausting practices.

Soarin hadn't talked to her since morning, he had gone out of his way just to make sure he didn't. he had even left for the stadium hours before practice even began.

"Hey Spitfire..?" Fleetfoot was standing beside her.

"hmm?" She had always like Fleetfoot, the mare had been one of the founding members of the Wonderbolts and was a famous filly-fooler, so Spitfire was just fine with her being on the team.

"Is Soarin okay? He seems a bit....off today." the silver maned mare drew her hood over her head, making sure not to screw up her mane while doing so.

"He's just hungover, he'll be fine." Spitfire put her reflective goggles on, mostly to hide the galnces she was throwing Soarin's way, and to hide her black eye.

"You two have a wild night last night?" The blue pegasus chuckled and nudged the Wonderbolt captain.

"I guess you could call it that.." She mumbled. "Right, everypony outside! We have a lot of work to do today!" Spitfire ushered her team outside, all except Soarin, who kept his distance.

--

"Pinkie,I..I..." She closed her eyes and tried to think. She had been struck by lightning, she remembered now! "I need a hospital!" She tried to look at her wings, only to find out she was tied to a rather large wooden column.

"I can take care of you Dashie, honest!" Pinkie stepped closer. "Just let me look at those wings.." Pinkie started undoing the bonds, Dash knew that as soon as she was free, she was going to make a break for it. "I'm sure you're fine, just some burns, nothing major." She felt the last knot go free, she sprung towards the stairs on the other side of the basement, only to find that her legs felt like jelly, she quickly faceplanted onto the hard, unforgiving cement. "Silly Dashie, you think I can't help you."

The rainbow maned mare craned her head to look at her back. What she saw shocked her. Her wings were nearly bald, a few blackened feathers held on. She ascertained the lightning strike hit her square between her wings, this was also where her skin looked the most charred. She needed a hospital for these injuries, and she needed to before they either got infected or just got worse.

"Those wings don't look to good, I think we have some burn ointment upstairs. Do you want it?" Dash whimpered and nodded, anything was better than leaving it completely untreated. "It'll cost ya~" Dash was just about to ask what she meant when Pinkie laid in front of Dash and puckered up. "One kiss" This, was going to be hell.

--

The Wonderbolts had already gone over their routine several times, getting some of the minor changes down. Soarin had been uncooperative and uncoordinated the whole time, which ground Spitfire's gears like no other, now the team was sitting in a park in Cloudsdale, it's where they went every practice for lunch.

"I just feel like we're missing something, y'know?" Rapidfire, the bright white colt with an orange and white mane commented as he ate. "We need something fresh."

"We need some new blood, most definitely." Fleetfoot took a drink of her rainbow soda.

"Well, how about that mare that saved us last year at the Best Young Flier Competition?"Thunderstruck, the completely white Wonderbolt suggested, Spitfire shot Thunderstruck a glare.

"Yeah, what was her name again?" Fleetfoot once again spoke up. "She had a rainbow mane, pretty little thing."

"Rainbow Dash." Soarin, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke.

"Right! She did that Sonic Rainboom. Man, we could so use that in our routine." Thunderstruck once again earned a glare from Spitfire.

"We are the best fliers in all of Equestria, I'm sure we could pull off a sonic rainboom if we tried!" Spitfire only got disheartened mumbles from her team.

"Yeah right, that takes some serious skills, you can't pull it off." Soarin sipped his drink and looked at Spitfire with a stern gaze.

"Wanna bet, small wings? I bet I can pull of a sonic rainboom faster than you!" A wave of 'ooooh's came from around the table.

"You're on."

--

Dash caved, she needed that ointment more than she needed to feel comfortable with her sexuality. So she gave the pink pony a small peck on the lips that had a surprising result. Pinkie's mane poofed up to it's usual ridiculous shape, and her color seemed to return. But, her eyes stayed the same cold, crazy blue they had been. The earth pony bounced away giggling.

"What have I done...?" She knew she had just opened the floodgates for whatever plans Pinkie had in store for her. She planted each of her hooves firmly on the concrete, she felt as though she could stand now, not make it up the stairs though. She raised her weakened body off of the floor. Her legs were still shaky, but she could stand.

She felt like a foal walking for the first time: she could take unsure steps, and as long as she took it slow she wouldn't fall. She eventually made it back to the pillar and rested against it. Whatever she had done in her life surely didn't warrant this experience, and it sure as hell didn't warrant being maimed. She sighed, all she had wanted was a simple date with her only crush, was that too much to ask?

"Dashie~!" The call came from the top of the stairs, Pinkie was standing there. The mare had a tube of ointment, some bandages, and another length of rope on her back. Dash did not want to even think what the rope was going to be used for.

The pink pony bounced down the stairs and over to the forsaken mare. First, the earth pony applied the burn ointment, The cool substance felt good against her seared flesh. Next, Pinkie wrapped almost all of Dash's torso in the bandages despite Dash's insistent that she didn't need to.

Finally, Dash figured out what the rope was for. Pinkie took the rope that had tied Dash at first and knotted around one of Dash's haunches. Then, she took the new rope, tied one end to the column and the other around Dash's neck. All of a sudden, Dash didn't feel too good about the situation at hoof.

Fun chapter. Anyways, I was wondering if any of you readers would be interested in making some proper cover art  for this story, message me if you're interested.

Get A Grip

Pinkie sat on the cold floor of the basement, she had been sitting there for hours just watching her captive love sleep. She didn't think anything, she didn't move, she didn't speak one word. The mare was content with just watching the blue side move up and down with every breath. It was soothing. Earlier in the evening Pinkie had reapplied the ointment and changed the bandages, all without Rainbow Dash saying a single word.

For the rest of the evening, the party pony had sat beside her love and watched over her silently. Pinkie just loved everything about Rainbow Dash: Her beautiful multi-colored mane, her smooth sky blue coat, her determined magenta eyes. Pinkie could just watch her all day, and she did.

Now though, Pinkie could feel herself nodding off, she could feel her sleep deprived mind aching for rest. The mare laid down right next to her captive. She could feel the warmth radiating from the body next to her, the steady breathing gently soothed her to sleep.

--

Pinkie woke up in a void, the infinite darkness seemed to be without direction. She was not standing on anything solid, she wasn't even sure she was standing. She felt as formless as the void she was in, her very consciousness seemed stripped down to its bare components.

"Hello?" her own voice emanated from the formless blob of thought she was stripped down to. "Is anypony here?" Her voice echoed off of invisible walls.

"Hi there!" She knew that voice, it was happy, bouncy. It was hers. Then she saw herself bouncing towards where she was floating. She was a vibrant pink, her eyes shining blue with joy, her mane and tail were as poofy as ever.

"W-Who...are you..?" She stood in awe of her doppelganger, who just responded happily.

"I'm you silly! Well, a mental representation of the positive aspects of your personality.....I think." The Positive Pinkie tapped her chin. "Or am I a mental representation of what you want to be? Or both? There are so many of us, I lose track. I mean wow, there are LOTS of us...me..you? What pronoun do I use here?" Pinkie realized for the first time how annoying she could be when she ranted on and on like that.

"So, you're me?" If Pinkie had an eyebrow to raise at the time, it would've almost reached her mane.

"Yepperooni, and I'm you!" The positive pony bounced around the formless original. "See, I'm all happy and stuff because I got all my friends to support me. I get to make them smile, which makes me smile and that's what matters!" The faux Pinkie produced balloons from nowhere and let them float into the void.

"But sometimes, I get sad..." Another, darker voice entered the mix. This form materialized from the darkness, it was how she looked right now in the real world. Her mane was a stiff as a board, her colors were dimmed, and her eyes looked like they could freeze lava.

"You're me too?" The formless blob of thought was grasping this...sorta. The dark Pinkie nodded.

"Pinkamina Diane Pie. Even though I confessed my love for Rainbow Dash, all I got was rejection...I isolated myself from  my friends and slipped deeper into depression." Pinkie guessed that Pinkamina represented her current state, her darker side. "I can hear the voices, telling me what to do. I follow them blindly because I have no one else to talk to." Tears came to the depressed representation's eyes. "I don't want to be rejected by them too.."

Pinkie Pie couldn't cry in her current state, heck she didn't even have a corporeal form in this state. But she connected with Pinkamina, heck it was her mind telling her this. But what was the message it was trying to deliver.

"Everyday you always try to be a supermare who tries to make everyone happy," The positive pony blew on a kazoo.

"Or a depressed wreck who hurts her friends and love..." Pinkamina was now holding onto a picture of Rainbow Dash.

"You can come back to me and be happy again!" Sugarcube Corner's front room all of a sudden materialized around the happy Pinkie, with a banner that said 'Welcome back Pinkie Pie!' hanging from the ceiling.

"Or you can stay with me.." The basement materialized around Pinkamina, She was standing next to a sleeping Rainbow Dash. "and Rainbow Dash. You can have her to yourself forever, you can care for her like a proper marefriend would." Pinkamina smiled sadly and ran a hoof through Dash's mane.

"So tell us" The two copies said together. "Who do you want to be?"

--

Rainbow Dash felt something shivering against her side. She immediately thought it was Tank, as he would usually lay with her on cold nights in order to keep himself warm. The pegasus wrapped a hoof around the creature, only to be met with a soft coat instead of a smooth shell. Rainbow opened her eyes, curled up to her was Pinkie Pie. The pink pony was shivering and whimpering in her sleep.

Now Dash was a pony who was loyal to her friends, heck, it was her element of harmony. But did this mare, who had maimed her, kidnapped her, and tied her to a post deserve her loyalty? But, like the kind of pony she was, Dash kept her hoof there and even pulled Pinkie a little closer.

"Hey....It's okay Pinkie. It's just a nightmare.." Pinkie seemed to calm with her words. "And...and...I forgive you. Even after all of this, I forgive you. I always will...not just because I'm the element of Loyalty, but because I love all my friends, no matter what they do. That includes you, Pinkie Pie." The mare seemed to completely calm, her face turned into a light smile.

--

Pinkie heard Rainbow Dash's words, even inside of her dream. She felt overjoyed, she felt enlightened. Sure, Rainbow Dash didn't love her like she loved Dash, but just friend love was good enough for her. She turned to her two copies and went over to the happier of the two.

"I want to be happy again."

--

Rainbow Dash had closed her eyes again, but if they had been opened, she would've seen Pinkie's mane return to its voluminous state, and her colors brighten.

A Bet's A Bet

This is going to be a short chapter. I don't particularly like writing these Spitfire/Soarin chapters, but it has to be done. This is purely a plot progression chapter. Quite frankly, Spitfire is a bitch and I hate writing for her.

Soarin and Spitfire had been at it for hours. They had gone into dives, broken the sound barrier over and over again, but still hadn't accomplished a Sonic Rainboom. After the hours of intense flying, both athletes were exhausted. Soarin was slumped on a cloud and Spitfire was barely hovering.

"O-Okay....I-I give up.." Soarin was out of breath and his voice was hoarse from dehydration. Spitfire blinked and landed on the cloud beneath her, as she did her legs threatened to buckle underneath her.

"Wait...does that mean..I win..?" Her mind raced with ideas about what she could make her prize be. An actual date with Soarin? A romantic evening? Her spine tingled at the implications of winning.

The colt nodded. "Y-You...win..." he let his head flop onto the cloud. He couldn't go on and he knew it, but Spitfire still looked ready to go. Soarin was beat, and worst of all, he was at the mercy of Spitfire.

Spitfire, although exhausted, held her head high and trotted over to Soarin victoriously. "Well, what do I win?" She was going to make him say it, she wanted to hear it.

"Whatever you want.." The colt rolled onto his back. "Just let me sleep, I'm exhausted." That's what she wanted to hear 'Whatever you want.' what a glorious sentence. But the question: What did she want? She had until Soarin woke up to decide

"Can you at least make it to the bunk room inside? We don't need somepony stealing you away before i get my prize." She poked at her teammate's stomach with her hoof.

"Sure....Whatever..." Soarin rolled onto his hooves and started trotting towards the innards of the Cloudiseum where the competition had been held. Spitfire followed closely after him, admiring her prize as she did so.

Once inside, the two laid on separate bunks. Soarin fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, Spitfire however wanted some thinking time. On one hoof, an actual date could lead to Soarin realizing his true feelings for her and openly loving him back. On the other hoof, it could end in another hoof fight. The other choice: A romantic evening alone held similar problems. It could lead to him falling in love with her body, and what she had to offer. But, It could also make him bitter at her for making him do that.

Spitfire sighed, perhaps a little sleep would do the trick to help her decide. She closed her eyes and floated off to dreamland.

--

Soarin was dreaming a wonderful dream. Apple pies as far as the eye could see, Apple Pie flowers, Apple Pie trees, Apple Pie streams, it was beautiful. Soarin galloped through the meadow, picking a pie flower and eating it whole. They tasted just like the pie from the Gala, they were perfect.

Then it all went to hell, pies started burning left in right, the streams dried up, the flowers were incinerated, and the trees were consumed in flames. A pony made of flames walked towards him, each step leaving the grass smoldering.

"Soarin..." Flames came out of her mouth with each breath, he started to run. But she was walking right along side him, he couldn't get away. "Soarin..." The pegasus could feel the heat on his face, he could feel his mane burning. "SOARIN!"

--

"AAH!" Soarin bolted upright, panting and sweating. He looked over and saw Spitfire standing over him. The colt smiled and blushed. "ehehe..what's up, Spitfire?"

"I've made my choice. I know what I want for the bet." Spitfire's face showed that she wasn't joking around. She was serious. It made Soarin gulp.

"Yeah..? What would that be?"

"I want you to go on a date...." Soarin interrupted her.

"Okay, I knew it. I'll set up a reservation at one of Canterlot's restaurants for some time next week." Soarin got up, irritated.

"Soarin, let me finish." She put a hoof on her partner's shoulder and pushed him down onto the bed. "I want you to go on a date with Rainbow Dash..."

Soarin sat there, silent. He didn't believe it. "What...?"  Spitfire was not a mare to give up what she thought was hers, he was no different.

"You heard me." The mare sighed and looked at the ground. "I..I know I screwed up, Soarin. I know that some of the stuff i've done cannot be forgiven...but I thought about it. And you know what they say 'If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, then it's truly yours.' So...if you are mine, you'll come to me. I should have saw this in the first place..." She smiled, albeit sadly, and trotted away. Soarin didn't stop her, he didn't want to.

He knew his friend would be alright, he trusted her that much. But for now, he had a mare in Ponyville to vist.

Crystal Clear [Interlude]

Star Shine was sitting in his incomplete observatory, he had told Twilight he was going to star gaze, to calm his nerves of course. While he loved watching the stars at night, that wasn't his prerogative this evening. He had something very special to attend to, so special that he had to lie to Twilight.

He looked up at the stars, now was the time. Star Shine closed his eyes and flashed his horn three times, the signal. He opened his eyes, and a pegasus was standing before him. This particular flying equine was wearing a black robe to conceal their appearance, such unsavory acts would not be appreciated. As to why he wasn't wearing the robes, he was a unicorn and had already cast a concealment spell. The pegasus didn't have the same skill.

"I have the item you requested, sire" The mystery pony bowed and  took a small box off of his back and placed it before Star Shine. Star Shine nodded in recognition.

"You have done well, Whelp. Perhaps you will be able to find solace in the forthcoming empire." Star Shine pulled the box closer and waved his cohort away. "Away with you, I have business to attend to." The pegasus simply flew up and into the sky, his robes flowing behind him.

Star Shine turned his gaze from the sky and to the box in front of him. This was it, this was the culmination of so much time and effort. He horn glowed the dull gray of his eyes, the box lid opened. It was filled with power, it held so much potential, it was his destiny, it was beautiful.

--

Three little fillies were sitting outside, they were attempting to get their cutie marks in stargazing. It was one of the few activities that the three had yet to try, and hey, they had vowed to try everything. So their they were right outside of Carousel Boutique with Twilight's telescope that they had...urm....borrowed.

Since Scootaloo had been trapped on a cloud all day until her brother found her, the Crusaders decided to make up for lost time that night, they often did that when one of them was away for a day. Sweetie Belle was currently using the telescope.

"I think that constellation is The Phoenix." The small unicorn chirped.

"Nu-uh, that's The Ram." Applebloom protested from behind the unircorn.

"No way, that' totally Canis Major." Scootaloo was sitting behind the other two Crusaders with Twilight's book on constellations.

"What do you know, you dodo?" Sweetie's insult started a torrent of insults and protests from the other two, which eventually lead to an all out filly brawl. Said brawl lasted until the ball of hooves and hair hit the telescope, knocking it to the ground.

"Uh oh.." Scootaloo, who was in the middle of almost chomping down on Sweetie's tail looked up. The three untangles themselves and trotted over to the fallen device hesitantly.  "If we broke this thing, we're in serious trouble.." The CMC worked together together to right the telescope.

After they did, Applebloom looked through it. "Well, it ain't broken." She looked around with it, but something across town caught her gaze. Three flashes came from the still under construction observatory. "Well, if that's not strange." The country filly commented. "There are some weird lights comin' from that new buildin'. I wonder what they could be.."

"Umm..Cutie Mark Crusader Mystery Solvers!" The other two nodded and they galloped off towards the new adventure.

--

Star Shine marveled at the gem in his hooves before him, it was as clear as the most perfect diamond. Yet if one looked into it, they could see every color in existence. Some even said one could see all of creation if the gem was looked into for long enough. Such a thing was not easy to acquire, nor was the process short.

Star Shine had sent his best men on the quest to find this artifact of power two years ago armed with all of the knowledge he had accrued from his and Twilight's 'study dates.' Oh how he loved the oblivious Element of Magic for her role in her own demise. She had just hooved over all of the knowledge on a silver platter.

But his luck didn't stop there, oh no. As of now, the Elements of Harmony were no longer of concern to him. he originally had a plan to get rid of each of them, well, all of them except Twilight, He wanted her to witness her defeat. Now though, Rainbow Dash was incapacitated in the hospital and most likely drugged out of her mind, and Pinkie Pie was in police custody awaiting trial for kidnapping. It was very fortunate for him.

"Hey, isn't that Twilight's coltfriend?" Star Shine's dull gray eyes shot open, the voice had came from behind him. He quickly and quietly put the gem in the box and closed the lid.

"Yeah, it is, maybe he can tell us what that constellation is. I think his special talent is lookin' at stars." Fillies, he knew the voices from their earlier visit from the library to get a book about stars. Twilight had called them the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders.' Or something to that effect. Star Shine put on the friendliest smile he could manage and got up, then turned around.

"Hello girls. What brings you out to this part of town so late at night?" The three fillies, one of each race, started to talk over each other, very loudly at that. "Slow down, one at a time.." The girls immediately stopped talking. What could he say? His voice was enchanting. Quite literally. Some time ago he had put a charm on his own vocal chords that made them resonate with a very weak unidentifiable hypnotic spell. Weaker minds, like these fillies, would succumb to it more easily than minds like Twilight Sparkle's.

"Well, we were outside of my sister's shop stargazing." The unicorn spoke first.

"But, we couldn't tell what one of the constellations was." The southern sounding earth pony chimed in.

"So we argued and knocked over our telescope, then we saw some lights flash from over here." The orange pegasus finished up. "Then on our way over here, we saw some pegasus land then fly away.." Star Shine struggled to keep his cool, these three fillies knew, they knew more than they should. He had to get rid of them. Now.

"Do you want me to show you what that pegasus gave me? It is a very special gem." He grinned with a hint of madness. he had the perfect subjects to test the brand new item on.

"Ooh! A gem? My sister really likes gems, maybe I can tell her about it." The unicorn filly squeaked out whilst grinning.

"Perhaps..." He trotted over to the box and opened it. The three adventurous fillies gathered around, wide-eyed at the gem before them.

"Wow.." All three commented at once.

"Do you know what this gem is?" The three shook their head, so Star Shine continued. "Thousands of years ago, before Nightmare Moon, before Discord's reign even, the royal pony sisters carved out their home in Mount Canterlot. In the center, to their surprise, rested this very gem. The two quickly realized its unique property...it could drain the very essence from any living being." the three fillies stumbled away from the gem, horrified. The colt grinned and continued, circling the fillies. "When Discord rose to power, they found a use for it, they drained almost every last drop of energy from the God of Chaos. Seeing as they were merciful and kind however, they left him just a small amount of power. This left him as nothing but stone for thousands of years." Star Shine went over to the box and lifted the gem out with a hoof. "Celestia then realized that the gem could never fall into hooves that would dare do them harm. So, Celestia tasked her student at the time, Cloudy Skies: My ancestor, with hiding the gem. And so he did. He went all across the world looking for a place to store the artifact. He finally found it deep within the crystal caves of Chimeran Wastelands, on the complete opposite side of the world. But now, I found it, and I have it." He let out a small chuckle as the fillies cowered in fright.

Star Shine's horn glowed with an ancient incantation that would power up the gem. The all powerful gem glowed brightly and hovered out of his hooves. It was ready.

The three fillies ran as soon as he finished his story, but nothing could escape the gem. Three multicolored, nearly translucent energy streams shot out of the gem and started after the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The streams, guided by Star Shine's will, quickly grabbed onto the fillies and pulled them back to the now glowering colt.

"Now I can't have you running off and telling somepony else, can I?" He felt his magic, melded with that of the gem's, enter the three fillies' very soul. It felt marvelous. Then he started squeezing the very essence out of them. Their souls flowed through the streams and into the gem. Their struggles started to die as their energy was absorbed into the crystal...bit now, he was going to do something Celestia never could.

The last inklings of energy trickled throughout the bodies of the adventurous little ones. The amount was so little that he could feel their bodies hardening into stone. but he wasn't going to allow that defense mechanism to kick in, oh no. He drew the last bits of spiritual energy into the crystal, taking their physical forms with it.

Star Shine's plan was so close to coming to fruition, but first, he had a hospitalized mare to visit.

(Man, I come back with a bucking boom, don't I?)

Threats and Consequences

A dark coated unicorn colt sauntered through the halls of the hospital, twilight Sparkle was at his side. Star Shine had told her that he wanted to visit Rainbow Dash in the afternoon in order to see if she was alright, so Twilight decided to tag along. He felt his mare's head nuzzle against his side, he smiled. He had the Element of Magic right where he wanted her.

"Have you heard anything about her condition, dear?" The evil colt inquired.

"Only that she has some pretty bad burns...Fluttershy didn't tell me anything else." The mare sighed and hung her head. Fluttershy had been the only one allowed in Dash's room yesterday due to the fact that she was the only pony on Rainbow's emergency contact list. She was Rainbow Dash's oldest friend after all.

"I do hope she's not hurt too bad." His feigned sympathy didn't go unnoticed by Twilight, who simply smiled softly and nuzzled his neck lovingly.

"You're too sweet, Star Shine." Twilight looked up. "Room 16. Here we are." The door had the name 'Rainbow Dash' on the card next to it, along with numerous flowers and balloons from guests yesterday. The residents of Ponyville were overly eager to give their condolences and hard earned bits to one of their own. In Star Shine's mind, it was a sign of weakness.

Twilight carefully opened the door. Laying on the bed was Rainbow Dash, she was laying on her stomach so her wrapped back and wings didn't come in contact with the bed beneath her.

The slow steady sound of a heart rate monitor and an IV drip filled the room. Twilight went to the chair next to her fallen friend and sat down, her hoof went to Dash's and stroked it.

"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight spoke softly, as if her voice could break her friend even more. "Rainbow Dash, it's me, Twilight. Star Shine and I are here to visit you." The pegasus' magenta eyes fluttered open.

"Ugh...Twilight..?" Every letter struggled to come out of Dash's mouth, her own drug addled mind made finding words nearly impossible.

"Yeah, it's me..." Twilight smiled widely. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired...these drugs are making me really sleepy.." Anypony could tell from her voice that they had her on quite a bit of morphine for the pain. Whether or not all of it was needed was still to be seen.

"Hold on, Dash...I need to go talk to your Doctor." Twilight got up, she obviously was going to scold the doctor and give him a piece of her mind. "Star Shine will keep you company, don't worry..." She gave her coltfriend a peck on the cheek and left the room.

Star Shine strode over to the chair and sat down, shutting the door with his magic along the way. He grinned at Dash. "Hello Rainbow Dash."

"Hey....you." The mare closed her eyes again. This made Star Shine frown, he wanted a captive audience. So his magic gripped the IV tube and stopped the drip. This caused the injured pegasus to grunt and frown.

"You are pathetic, you know that?" Star Shine snarled when the pegasus still kept her eyes closed. So, he raised his hoof and brought it down on her burned back, which caused Dash to cry out in pain. now that I have your attention.." He gripped her head with his magic and turned it to look at him. "You don't deserve the power you wield, you don't deserve to be an Element of Harmony." Star Shine dug out the gem from his saddlebag and immediately connected his magic to it. It was much easier than the night before.

"S-S..."Dash couldn't even get a sound out, the pain was excruciating from her back, and without the constant flow of painkillers, it started to worsen.

"In fact, i'm going to rid you of that little burden...and of your pain. Do not worry." he grinned as a translucent stream of magic emerged from the gem and snaked its way through the air and onto Rainbow Dash's forehead. "Goodbye, Rainbow Dash..."

--

Pinkie was sitting in a cell in the Ponyville Police Station. She had been charged with kidnapping, which had been enough to sour her mood. In her mind, she was just helping an injured friend, she told them that...but the cops didn't believe her.

She heard the door to the cell open. Her ears perked up and she raised her head. She didn't expect who she saw standing there, though. The white coat which usually shone was dull against the dim prison lights. Her piercing blue eyes glared daggers at the earth pony.

"Rarity..?" Out of all of the ponies that could have visited her, Rarity wasn't even in her top 10. "What are you doing here?" This was truly peculiar.

"Pinkie my dear, I want to give you a chance to explain yourself before this...snafu goes any further." Rarity was giving her a chance at redemption, and she wouldn't refuse that offer.

"Okay Rarity, what do you want to know?" Rarity's horn glowed once more and a piece of green fabric floated from her saddlebag. Pinkie immediately recognized it as Dash's dress. "I-I...Urm..." Pinkie wasn't quite sure what to say to that.

"I will ask how you acquired my dress later, but I have a much better question."  Rarity pointed to a spot where Pinkie sewed the torn dress. "Where did you learn to sew like this? There are very few earth ponies that can sew, let alone sew this well. Explain. Now." Pinkie had to contain a giggle. No matter how serious the situation could be, Rarity could always sniff out the most trivial problem and make it bigger than the one at hoof.

"I grew up in a place far away from any stores, Rarity. We had to learn to patch up what little clothes we had on our own." Pinkie's eyes seemed to stare off into a far off place, a place nopony should have to go. The pink mare shook her head and smiled. "Guess I still got it, huh?"

Rarity put the dress away. "Now, Pinkie Pie. Can you please tell me how this dress came to be in your possession?" Pinkie nodded.

"But you have to Promise not to tell anypony." Rarity went through the motions of the most sacred oath one could make. "Okay...well...I-I guess it all started because I have a crush on Rainbow Dash..."

--

Soarin strode through the hallway of the hospital with the utmost urgency. He had heard from a pony in town that Rainbow Dash was in the hospital from an injury. How severe, nopony would tell him. As soon as he had asked the nurse what room Dash was in he was pointed and told the way...being famous had its perks.

His head darted back in forth, he was looking for Rainbow Dash's room. Room 16 the nurse had said. He spotted it just up ahead. Soarin spread his wings and gave them a flap to launch himself over to it, he leaned against the door but found it resistant.

"What the..." He took a step back and looked at the door. Hospital rooms weren't supposed to be locked, heck, the door didn't even have a lock on it. He brought his shoulder down and lurched at the door, hitting it with a solid thud. It didn't budge. "C'mon!" Soarin rested his head against the door, which caused it to click open.

"Having fits, are we?" Soarin looked up and saw a smug looking unicorn standing in front of him. Soarin already didn't like this guy, he gave off a bad vibe. Why had he been in Rainbow Dash's room? Was he her friend...or something more?

"Yeah....I guess." Soarin trotted past the colt warily and sat at Rainbow Dash's bedside. The unicorn left the room rather quickly after that.

Rainbow Dash did not look good. Her back and beautiful blue wings were bandaged, and her overall colors seemed a bit less...bright. More than that, she just looked frail.

"Rainbow Dash...? Rainbow Dash, can you hear me?"

Divided Attention

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.."

[Takeover] Allow Me To Explain.

Hello, your faithful storyteller has come down with a rather tragic and completely unexpected case of pneumonia. Quite a Tragedy if you ask me. Since he is out I thought it would be fitting if you obtained some information from the deity who has seen it all.

That's right folks. It is I: The Deity of disharmony, the King of chaos, the Sultan of silly, the Punjabi of pranks! It truly is I! Discord! As for why I decided to take over, well, let's just say I have some personal stock in this tale. See, a long time ago, the two royal pony dorks used that gem to sap almost all of my power from me. (Yes that tale about Celestia using the Elements of Harmony on me is grade A bologna. I mean honestly, there are six pieces. how could she wield all six at the same time? it's not like she has five necks.) When almost all of the magic had been drained from me, my body's defense mechanism kicked in and turned me to stone to wait for my energy to return to me again.

I thought they would flub it all up and keep the gem in Celestia's room and I would be out in a couple of years tops. But no, Celestia had a special box made that would block out all magic from getting in or out of it. Then she gave it to her student at the time, Cloudy Skies(Actually won the award for 'Most Ironic Name For An Earth Pony once), he took it not just out of Canterlot, not just out of Equestria, but all the way across the world to the Chimeran Wastes.

Nice place actually, green as can be, just littered with Chimeras. I think they're cuddly, but maybe that's because I made them. Who knows.

Anyways, let's skip ahead a few thousand years, a few years after Luna's little... psychotic break.

That was quite entertaining by the way. She was like a foal throwing a temper tantrum, it was so cute.

This cult started up, it was a long name that I really don't want or care to pronounce. It had something to do with Alicorns and heavenly bodies. What i'm, trying to say is: nutjobs. They thought that the gem could drain the very power from the sun and moon. Oh, and go figure, the thing was started by Cloudy Skies' descendant Night Eternal...I know. Silly ponies with silly names.

So the head nutjob Night Eternal spends the rest of his life trying to  decipher the maps and riddles his ancestor left him. He got some of it...but let's just say that Night Eternal wasn't the brightest star in the sky, so he left it to his son...who left it to his son, who left it to his son, who left it to his son, who left it to his daughter, who left it to her best friend's brother in law, who left it to the daughter's great grandson, who is Star Shine.

Star Shine spent his whole childhood looking over all of the charts and formulas that his dear delusional ancestors left for him. He learned that they all eventually became star charts...so you see why he became an astronomer, but even with all of his 'vast' and 'legally obtained' knowledge, he still had some star charts he didn't even recognize, so he devised a plan to get to Celestia's stores of 'Priceless knowledge.'

Honestly, I could back it all obsolete with a snap of my claws.

Anyways, he decided to get to it through Celestia's pupil. That's right: The one, the only, the nerd, the shut-in, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! It was easy for him, he's charming and good looking, not as good looking as yours truly...but for a pony? I'll give him that much. So, he sent two of his goons out to get the infernal gem.

They got it...and the opened the box it came in. Wanna guess what that did? Set me free. It wasn't those adorable, chaotic little fillies, no. It was Star Shine's doing, I even gave him a personal visit upon my return. Turned him into a cute little Kitty Cat. Without claws and neutered of course.

So after I got sent back, I kept my stone ear close to his activities and what he was doing. Now though, he has two out of the six elements of harmony out of his way. I applaud him for that.

But, his little lovesick shut-in is on to him? How? Well let's just say a certain loud-mouth monarch saw his dirty dealings on her nightly patrols and did a little research on his bloodline.

Oooh! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see what happens next in this chaotic little slice of heaven! Hurry up you daft story-teller! Get better already, I did my part!

All the Wrong Places

(Discord's Note: Rejoice readers! He's back! Now, sit back, conjure up some cotton candy clouds and watch the drama unfold! Oh wait...only I can do that..)

Twilight Sparkle sat in front of her bed, she was watching her coltfriend sleep. The unicorn had just gotten the letter about not trusting him, and she wasn't taking it lightly. Luna may not know a lot of the modern ways, but she was more than qualified to spot treachery. So, Twilight had taken it upon herself to watch Star Shine.

Her eyes fell upon his saddlebag. He had barred her from ever looking in it, Twilight had respected his wishes as he had respected her request to not look in the chest in the far corner of the room. He didn't need to know about Smarty Pants. She may have promised not to look in his bag, but Luna's warning weighed heavily on her mind.

Her horn glowed with the purple magic she was accustomed to and the bag was gently pulled over to her. Twilight was hesitant what if she saw something she didn't want to see...then again, that was the point wasn't it? TO find something incriminating? To find something that would prove Luna right? A thought nagged at the back of her mind....did she want to find something to nail him as a traitor of her trust or the trust of the kingdom?

Twilight opened it with a flick of her hoof. Inside of the bag, nestled within the folds of a black cloak was a small wooden box with the words 'Potentia Absoluta' It was High Draconian, a very early dialect...perhaps even Pre-Discordian. Twilight knew some of the language from her studies in the Canterlot Royal Archives. These Specific words were used a lot in Draconian texts.

Absolute Power

Twilight didn't like the look of this.

--

Pinkie was laying on the plush velvet couch in the lobby of Carousel Boutique. Rarity had told the police that she would take her in and watch over her. Pinkie appreciated being out of the cell, it wasn't happy at all in there! Just gray, gray, and more gray. She did however like Carousel Boutique, its pastel walls and ceiling always made Pinkie smile. The mannequins weren't bad either, Pinkie often let her imagination run wild with thoughts of them coming to life when Rarity wasn't around and improving upon her designs. It was a silly thought, then again that's all Pinkie's head seemed to be filled with. Silly ideas.

The pink mare sighed and looked around the darkened store. The Mannequins weren't moving and designing like she had hoped they would. No sounds of three little fillies deciding how to get their cutie marks echoed throughout the building like she had wished. Worst of all, Dash wasn't out of her head...but secretly she was okay with that.

Rarity had said that she wanted to start daily 'therapy sessions' with Pinkie. While Pinkie enjoyed the thought of talking with Rarity more, she didn't like the thought of Rarity prying into her past or thoughts. Nopony needed to go there, not even Pinkie.

"Pinkie.." Pinkie looked up to see Rarity on the stairs. The unicorn was wearing a white robe with royal purple trim, she let out a rather ungraceful yawn. "What are you doing up this late? You were supposed to be asleep hours ago." It was true, Rarity was letting Pinkie stay here out of the pure generosity of her heart...but only with some rules. one such rule was a predetermined bed time.

"Sorry Rarity...I couldn't sleep." Pinkie sat up one the couch. "I guess I just have a lot on my mind.." The unicorn came down the stairs and over to the couch. "Don't worry, I didn't go outside." Rarity sat beside Pinkie.

"What's on your mind?" Rarity's horn glowed light blue as a brush was brought over to her and started to brush her mane.

"Just..stuff." Rarity made a motion for her to go on. "Do you ever wonder if the mannequins come alive when you're not around?" Pinkie was too busy looking at one of the still mannequins to see the look of bewilderment that Rarity gave her. "Like, what if they help you on your designs and you just don't know it?"

"I'm sure I would have seen evidence of sentient mannequins if there were such things." Rarity looked at the mannequin as well, they always creeped her out at night: The way the moonlight shone off of their off-white bodies just seemed unnatural. "What makes you think of such things, dear?"

"Well, back on the farm we didn't have many toys or anything to play with. So we had to use our imaginations..mine has always been more wild than most other ponies'." Pinkie hated talking about the farm, it always brought back bad memories.

"I've heard you mention this farm in your cutie mark story...want to talk about it?" Rarity was prying and she knew it, but the sooner she could get to the heart of Pinkie's problem, the sooner she could fix the earth pony and get her back out in the real world.

"It was a rock farm...just a little outside of The Badlands.." That was something new, Pinkie never said that in her original story. Rarity had only heard of The Badlands, it was a terrible place that no pony should ever go. No life could be sustained in the terrible lands...what was a family doing out there? "My family had been there for generations, a lot of the stone used to build Ponyville and Las Pegasus came from our farm. My great-great-great Granny Pie started it."

"So you grew up there?" Pinkie had opened up and Rarity wasn't going to let her stop.

"Yeah, sorta. My two sisters and I...Inky and Blinky..we worked in the fields all day. Moving rocks and stuff like that. Then after Dashie's Rainboom and I started throwing parties...my parents sent me here to live with the Cakes because I didn't work as hard.." Pinkie's overall visage started to fade from its usual bright colors.

"How are your sisters? Do you ever hear from them?"

"Inky lives up in Manehatten as some kind of mural painter and Blinky lives on the rock farm still. We haven't talked since I left.." This gave Rarity a brilliant idea.

--

Twilight had been staring at the box for minutes. She was hesitant to open it, the words on the lid had made sure of that. 'Words of Power' as they were known in High Draconian. Dangerous things.

"I must know.." Twilight cautiously opened the box with a hoof. Inside was the most beautiful gem Twilight had ever seen. It was clear, yet it shone with a myriad of different colors. It seemed so familiar, yet so distant. "Where have I seen this before...?"

"Oh, my dear nosy Twilight...You really should have listened to me." Twilight looked up to see Star Shine towering over her,his horn glowing. "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you..?" That's when Twilight felt a bolt of pure magic hit her chest.

Corrupts Absolutely

Twilight hit the wall behind her with a resounding thud. A bright light erupted from behind her eyes, and her ears rang louder than any sound she had ever heard. Her body hit the floor, she couldn't feel her legs, she could barely feel her head. Her vision swam, what she could see was doubled and blurry...but she guessed it was Star Shine picking up the gem.

"Believe it or not, I didn't want to kill you Twilight Sparkle." The colt stepped closer and his horn glowed moon white. "It's a shame, really. I thought you would see it my way and we could rule together...but I suppose with your power, I could be just as great." He stared at the gem intensely, a little too intensely. He didn't see Twilight's horn glow and launch her own spell at him.

"I-I don't know who you really are...or what you're planning.." Twilight got to her legs shakily, one of her eyes closed to keep the world from spinning around her. "But..I wont let you hurt any of my friends..." Star Shine had hit the bed, waking up Spike in the process.

"H-Huh...? W-What..?" The little dragon sat up straight, his little bed, startled. "Twilight? Star Shine? What's going on?" Star Shine got up and shook his head.

"Oh good, Spike's awake...I was waiting for a new pair of dragon-skin boots."

Something in Twilight snapped. Nopony threatened Spike, nopony! Her horn flared a blinding purple, all of her magic concentrated at its point.

"Oh...buck"

--

Rarity and Pinkie Pie were brought out of there discussion of a Pie family reunion from the sound of something crashing through a window not so far away. Both mares looked towards the door.

"What was that?" Pinkie's mind was racing with possibilities, most of them were ludicrous but Pinkie still thought of them.

"I'm not sure, probably just some hoodlums throwing rocks. Teenagers, you know." Rarity got up anyway, her mane was brushed straight,  not in its usual style. Nighttime talks didn't call for such things.

"aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The growing sound made the duo curious, that was until a dark coated figure crashed through the roof and impacted with the floor of the boutique. A large cloud of dust and dirt came up from the crashed figure. Rarity coughed while looking highly offended. Pinkie simply stared, unblinking even as her eyes were assaulted by debris.

"O-Oh my..." Rarity coughed and trotted carefully over to the crater. "I do hope they're alright.."

Mid-flight, Star Shine had enveloped himself in a bubble in order to absorb the impact. It had worked,of course, but it did leave him slightly jarred. He was still shaking away the impact when he heard a very elegant, very familiar voice. Rarity. He let the magic bubble dissipate.

"Oh...I'm quite alright.." His own voice was raspy, and had lost its hypnotic edge. The gem still levitated near him, he was going to start drawing power from it soon his own power was dwindling profusely. But, he needed to secure his magical future fast...and there was a unicorn right in front of him. "But you won't be.."

"Star Shine? What's wrong with your voice...are you alrigh-" The magical tendril had formed and launched at Rarity in a fraction of a second. It was becoming easier and easier to accomplish. "S-Star...Shine..?" The tendril had already started its process, draining the magic from the unicorn continuously.

(Discord's Note: Okay, no one...NO ONE is allowed to be this evil except me! One of these ponies need to take him out before I bust out of my stone and come kick his flank myself!)

"P-Pinkie..." Rarity fell to her knees, her magic was draining fast, stone started forming on her tail. "R-Run..." The stone covered her quickly. Star Shine was not showing mercy. He grinned and looked to the unicorn.

"HEY BOZO!" His internal gloating was brought to an end from a voice behind him. He turned around, his focus shifting from Rarity, stopping the drain. When he turned completely around, he was met with a large blue barrel at the end of his nose. At the other end of the cannon was a very irate looking Pinkie Pie. Her eyes were icy blue, and her mane was as straight as pegasus wing. "Nopony messes with my friends....nopony." Star Shine's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, were all of the mares in Ponyville capable of using heavy artillery? The mare pulled the rope, his whole world went bright.

--

Twilight had been trotting around Ponyville looking for Star Shine. AS far as she was concerned, he was extremely dangerous. She had even sent a letter to Celestia, requesting the aid of the Wonderbolts to cordon off the town's airspace. No chances were being taken in this matter.

Most of the town looked unharmed, except for the gaping hole in Carousel Boutique's roof. She took that as a pretty obvious clue as to where Star Shine landed. Twilight's horn glowed purple as she blasted the door off of its hinges, the unicorn's magic was still a little wild due to her anger.

"Star Shine-" She was about to issue a threat to her ex-coltfriend, but the scene before her pretty much stopped her dead in her tracks. Star Shine was tied to the top of a mannequin, while Pinkie sat on top of her party cannon which was aimed at Star Shine's head.

"Oh, Hi Twilight! Don't worry, I got 'im." Twilight was speechless. Not even her own magical power had been able to knock him out..but Pinkie managed to do it. Oh sweet enigma, thy name is Pinkie Pie.

"I don't know, and I don't wanna know." Twilight trotted over to the tied down colt and examined him. He didn't look all that hurt, well, except for the goose egg on his forehead. "Say, where's Rarity?" The fashionista should have been in here obsessing over the state of her store, because frankly...it was a mess.

"Oh.." Pinkie frowned and looked like she wanted to hide. "She's upstairs in bed..." Twilight didn't like the sound of that.

"I should go check on her, you watch Star Shine, okay?" Pinkie nodded and gave the tied down unicorn the stink-eye. Twilight headed up the stairs, she was well worried about Rarity. The diva had never been one to take damage of her property well. hopefully she just fainted and would be up in a couple of hours.

--

"Soarin. Soarin!" Soarin, who had been asleep in his chair with his head on Rainbow Dash's chest, was shaken awake.

"H-Huh...wha..?" Soarin's green eyes opened groggily, he lifted his head and wiped the drool from his mouth. "Spitfire...?" It was indeed his teammate and captain of the Wonderbolts: Spitifre. In full Wonderbolt attire.

"Yes, it's me. Get up. We have official Military business." Spitfire tossed threw his uniform at him. "How is she..?" her voice softened as she nodded at Dash.

"Well.." Soarin sighed and got up, stretching in the process. "The Doc doesn't know what's wrong with her...just that she's comatose and stable." Soarin put on his uniform, an action he had performed countless times before. "So, what's the mission this time, boss-lady?" The familiar name made Spitfire smile on the inside.

"We have to set up a perimeter around Ponyville. A dangerous individual is located somewhere within the town and is not allowed to leave." Soarin finished putting on his uniform, and pulled up his hood.

"Who is it?" Soarin grabbed the goggles that had been underneath the uniform and put them on.

"Star Shine is his name. Unicorn, Male, around 22 years of age, Dark blue coat, gray eyes, white mane-" Soarin knew the mental picture he had made. He had seen this pony before.

"Telescope for a cutie mark?" Spitfire nodded. "Oh no...He was in here with Rainbow Dash when I first came here." Soarin and Spitfire left the room with haste. Spitfire was on a mission, but for Soarin this was personal.

--

"What did he do to her?" Twilight sat next to Pinkie's Party Cannon, the stone Rarity had befuddled the nerdy unicorn. She had only seen something like that two other times...once with the Cockatrice, and again with Discord. Twilight knew the elements of harmony had nothing to do with this, since it was one of them who was stone. No Cockatrice had been seen by Twilight upon entering, so she guessed it wasn't that either.

"I just thought it was magic. That's what it looked like.." Pinkie's demeanor went from friendly conversationalist, to heavy artillery operator when she saw Star Shine open his eyes.

"Ugh...." Star Shine tried to move his legs, but found that each one was firmly tied to the mannequin he was on top of. "What the.." He was face to face with two extremely terrifying things. On his left, a cannon. On his right, a very angry Twilight.  He couldn't focus on those two things though, he needed to find the gem. Good thing he was connected with it magically, he found it at the bottom of his impact crater, it was still intact, thank the ancestors.

"Star Shine...you have some 'splainin to do." That pink foal had forgotten one major thing, he was a unicorn. He made his horn glow, the spell was priming.

"Umm...Pinkie? He's a unicorn." Twilight pointes at his glowing horn.

"Yeah..I'm not much of a planner..."

Star Shine disappeared in a flash of white light and reappeared in the impact crater, he picked up the gem with his mouth and teleported away again.

Twilight let out a heavy groan. "C'mon Pinkie...we have to go get him."

--

Soarin and Spitfire were floating high above Ponyville. Being the top members meant they had to keep and eye over the whole situation while the rest of the Wonderbolts were circling the perimeter.

"What was that?" Spitifre pointed to flashes of white light that kept appearing in the town.

"Teleportation Spell, cast by a class three unircorn." Soarin rattled it off like it was nothing. Being part of the Equestrian military meant being able to identify a variety of spells and the class of unicorn that cast it. Standard operating procedure. "Hold on..." Right behind the white flashes came purple ones. "Same spell, cast by a class...six unicorn." There was only one  class six unicorn in all of Equestria: Twilight Sparkle.

"Is Twilight chasing that class three?"

"Twilight is the last known associate of Star Shine.." Soarin muttered. That's when he remembered the color of Star Shine's glowing horn from the day before. "I'll go check it out..." Soarin dove after the white flashes, not even the fastest pegasus was a match for a teleporting unicorn, they were unpredictable.

He flew around buildings and through alleyways, dodging several obstacles along the way. He was going to catch Star Shine...he knew it. Then the trail vanished...nothing..no more flashes.

"No..no...no!" Soarin flew into the sky, trying to look down at the town, trying to catch any glimpse whatsoever of the teleporting fiend.

--

Rainbow Dash's body lay slowly breathing on the bed, the room was silent and the air was still. Peaceful. That's what the room was...well..until a bright light erupted in the room and a very exhausted Star Shine landed on the floor.

Star Shine had never done that many teleportation spells in succession before, he was sweating, his mane plastered to his face. He had ran out of his own magic and had to draw some from the gem on his last jump. That had most likely used part of the energy in the magic storing device.

He needed the rest of the energy from Rainbow Dash to top off his supply...then he would be off to the unfinished observatory to complete his master plan. His horn charged up weakly, his exhausted body couldn't make the connection at the moment. He was too weak.

"Luna dammit...." He sighed and took deep breaths. With some concentration, perhaps he could establish the link. His horn glowed with a pale white light, it was barely visible in the room. The gem responded with a soft pulse. He was connected. "Time to finish this..."

At The End Of All Things

"YOU!" Anypony in their right mind would be afraid of Pinkie Pie right now, her eyes burned with the hatred of one thousand suns, her very body language screamed murder. This was not looking good for Star Shine.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Sadly, Star Shine was not in his right mind. "Some puny earth pony with a crush, that's what you are. I am the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria! Then the most powerful being in all of Equestria!" Star Shine let out of laugh that would most likely make Nightmare Moon jealous. Like with most villains though, he wasn't truly paying attention to the object of his mockery.

Nopony saw Pinkie move, nopony saw her run next to Star Shine...probably because she didn't run, she disappeared and reappeared next to him. Then, her head firmly connected with his. For Star Shine, it felt like a brick wall him: The unicorn fell to the ground with some force.

"NOPONY HURTS MY DASHIE!" Twilight was in the background fairly stunned at the spectacle before her. Pinkies hoof came down on Star Shine's back. Earth Ponies were known for their astounding strength, unicorns were not. "Nopony..." Pinkie kept driving her hoof into his back, his vertebrae were straining to stay in place underneath the strong hoof. "Twilight...get the gem.." Twilight wasn't paying attention, she was too focused on Pinkie's hoof and her ex-coltfriend's pained expression. "TWILIGHT!"

Twilight stirred from her distraction and looked at Pinkie. "R-Right..." Her horn glowed purple and she lifted the gem from the ground and over to her. She focused on it instead of Star Shine, she still had some sympathy for the colt...she loved him after all. The gem was still beautiful, it shone with a myriad of colors...one she recognized as Rainbow Dash's eye color.

It sickened her mostly, the thought of absorbing ponies into this thing. Who all had he gotten? The colors she saw were all very common eye colors in Ponyville, it would be hard to determine who they were until the missing pony reports came in. Twilight kept the gem within her magic, it was her problem now.

CRACK

That sound brought Twilight out of her lament and thinking, Star Shine's screams mad her look up, and his broken back made her cringe. Twilight had read about this stuff in medical books, but she had always hoped she would never have to see it. But now she had, and she wanted it to stop.

"P-Pinkie..." Twilight was too scared to speak above a whisper.

"REVERSE IT!" Pinkie slammed her hoof onto his already broken back again.

"I-I can't..." Star Shine coughed up some blood. "I-I was so close...so...close.." Pinkie's hoof lifted her hoof from his back and put it on his horn.

"Reverse it."

"I-I can't...you foal.."

"When you release my Dashie, then you have my permission to die" Pinkie had spontaneously grown a metal mask that covered her mouth and portions of her head.

"W-What...?" She raised her hoof higher and prepared for it to drop.

"Pinkie, don't do-" Before Twilight could explain the severe ramifications of breaking a unicorn's horn, Pinkie brought her hoof down on Star Shine's, snapping it in half.

Unicorn's horns are of course manifestations of their magic. All of their magic all of the spells they ever cast are linked to it. breaking a horn will nullify any and all spells ever cast by the unicorn who cast them. This usually manifests itself in a class 12 magical disruption: This is on par with Celestia moving the sun itself.

So, needless to say, this caused one heck of a bang.

--

Within the confines of Carousel Boutique, in the master bedroom, something quite magical happened. A unicorn which had been previously encased in stone, shattered...well, the stone shattered. Leaving a dazed and confused Rarity in its wake.

--

Meanwhile, on the top level of the unfinished observatory, three adventurous fillies re-materialized on the cold metal.

--

The hospital room was still intact, but most of the occupants who had been in the room, were now firmly planted on the walls...well, except for Twilight, who was four hundred feet away through the hole in the wall that she herself had made. Miraculously though, two ponies were still near Star Shine.

Rainbow Dash lay on the bed and Spitfire lay on the ground, sans her uniform. Both were out cold, from the sudden magical expulsion that made them materialize or the concussive force of the blast. Nopony quite knew.

"Okay....not my smartest idea.." Pinkie groaned as she grabbed her own mane and peeled herself free of the wall, Which now had a Pinkie shaped indent in it. "Dashie!" The blue pegasus was laying in bed, Pinkie had never been happier to see Dash in all of her life.

Strangely, Pinkie felt that everything would be alright.

--

Two Weeks Later

Star Shine was laying in the Canterlot Dungeon. His broken back restricted him to the smallest of movements. he had been in there roughly a week after most of his magical recovery had been completed at Ponyville Hospital. But, Celestia had ordered that his back not be fully mended..as part of his punishment. As for the charges: High Treason and Conspiracy to Assassinate the Royal Pony Sisters. That alone earned him life in the dungeon.

"Hey! Where's my letter?!" His appearance was dismal. His coat was dirty and ragged, his mane was about the same. His once piercing white eyes had been reduced to dull gray pits.

"Hold on! You're lucky to even get this letter, scum." The white unicorn stallion that watched over him trotted up to the cell door and levitated a letter through the slot and in front of Star Shine's hoof. "Now shut up! Celestia is delivering her annual State Of The Kingdom address!"

My Dearest Cousin,

I am sorry to hear about your incarceration, it is my top priority to come see you.Alas, it is a long trip from Applewood to Canterlot, but I will get there. As for your hatred of Ponyville, I share it with you. Those six mares are the most troublesome..some day we will have our revenge. I must keep this correspondence short. Be well, my cousin.

Signed,

Trixie Lulamoon

--

Dash was resting on her cloud bed in her magnificent house in the sky. It felt nice to have a corporeal body again, Ever since Star Shine went away, life had been good. She had gone on a couple more dates with Soarin, she had an audition for the Wonderbolts next week, and Pinkie was back to being her friend. All seemed right with the world..

"Hey Dash, I think you've run out of hot water...sorry." Soarin trotted out of the bathroom connected to Dash's bedroom.

Scratch that, everything was perfect with the world.

--

"Ohh....Spitfire...that was amazing.." Spitfire re-emerged from underneath the covers, her usually styled mane was tussled and messy.

"You really think so...?" The captain of the Wonderbolts blushed profusely. "It was my first time..."

"Sure as hell doesn't seem like it..." A very satisfied Fleetfoot smiled and pulled Spitfire into a deep, passionate kiss.

--

Pinkie was sitting at a table in Sugarcube Corner. She had used her lunch break every day to sit at this table to wait...wait for a pony that always promised to meet her there, but never did. The unicorn diva would come over a few minutes after her break was finished and apologize profusely. Pinkie always accepted it, how could she not? After all...Pinkie would do anything for love.

(Bonus Chapter) About Damn Time

A few years down the road

"Did you have a good time at the wedding, dear?" Soarin sat in his cloud chair, as he always was whenever he was at home. It was a form of familiarity for Dash, she would come home from weather patrol and Soarin would be there waiting for her with sweet words and love in his heart.

"Yeah. Fluttershy looked beautiful in her dress, the groom looked handsome too." Rainbow Dash undid her earrings with her hooves and threw them on a nearby table. She had fun at her best friend's wedding: It had been a small, quiet event. The couple had decided to hold it at Fluttershy's Cottage, strings of lights had been hung between the branches of the trees, giving a very warm atmosphere to the event. Fluttershy's dress had been of course made by Rarity.

"I'm still sorry I couldn't be there, Dashie...you know Spitfire isn't taking her break-up with Fleetfoot well." Soarin raised himself from his chair as Dash shrugged off the familiar green dress she had worn to the wedding. "I've never seen so many tubs of ice cream at one time..." That made Dash giggle.

Frankly, anypony with eyes could have seen that the relationship was going to fall apart. Two headstrong mares were lucky to stay together as long as the two Wonderbolts did. Dash had witnessed their 'relationship' at the last Grand Galloping Gala...it was a mess. Spitfire was constantly getting on to Fleetfoot for even glancing at other mares, and Fleetfoot kept telling Spitfire that she needed to 'loosen up.' Then she would correct herself. 'Oh I forgot, you're so loose it's not even fun anymore.' Not a good foundation for a relationship.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. I saw her eyeing Fluer De Lis at the last Wonderbolts show in Canterlot. Now that her and Fancy Pants are divorced, I'm sure Spitfire will make a move." Rainbow Dash trotted over to her coltfriend and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Did Spitfire even show up for practice today?"

Soarin gave her a kiss back. "No.. neither did Flitter. I was sure she would, being a trainee doesn't allow many mistakes." Soarin smiled. "I'm sure you need a shower, dear. I'm going to finish this book and then i'll be right in." Dash cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you saying I stink, Soarin?" Usually, any sane colt would backpedal like madpony. But Soarin learned how to joke with Dash after two years of loving bliss.

"Yes I am, now shoo stinky. I don't want you ruining my book." He smiled and gave his love's flank a light smack. That made Dash blush and trot quickly into the bathroom to take a shower.

Soarin's purpose for sending his love off was more than a matter of simple hygiene. He had a surprise. He reached under his chair and produced a small velvet box. After two years of dating, Soarin was ready to take the plunge. he only hoped Dash was as well.

Soarin had decided to ask the question in the one place Dash loved almost as much as him. The rainbow waterfall coming off of her house. With a quick flap of his powerful wings, Soarin was out the door and into the early evening sky. He took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air: it was pure and exhilarating...or perhaps that was just his excitement talking.

Soarin quickly made his way over to the rainbow waterfall and pulled clumps of clouds up at the edge of the multicolored pool to make seats. He sat down on the one closest to the edge, he had to be ready after all. The pale blue pegasus sat the ring at his hooves.

A couple of minutes passed and Soarin heard the call of his love. "Soarin? You in here?" He loved that voice...it made every day worth while.

"Out by the waterfall, Dashie!" He called out. In a few seconds he saw his wet-maned mare standing outside of the door. "Hey there, beautiful."

"You thinking?" He usually did come out here to think or calm himself down. After his father died a couple of months back, he spent a whole night just staring into the rainbow pool, trying to calm his emotions. He had even built a small bridge further up the rainbow stream that he often liked to stand on and just admire the sky...and think.

"Yeah you could say that." He smiled at Dash and patted the seat next to him. "C'mon. Sit by me." The mare trotted over and sat on the cloud beside him.

"What are you thinking about?" She nuzzled his nose lightly.

"Well...mostly you...and I have a question." Dash nodded for him to continue. "Well...after two years of dating...I've finally decided on something..." He moved his hooves to show her the velvet box. "Rainbow Dash.." He opened it to reveal a small gold ring with a simple diamond in the middle. "Will you marry me?"

([This chapter is dedicated to my Grandparents Arthur Lee Roy Clark and Emma Jean Drummond. This chapter is based off of my grandfather's marriage proposal to my grandma, may they both rest in peace.)

The Sound Of Thunder [Alternate Version]

Star Shine felt the sweet energy enter his gem from the comatose pegasus in the bed. The gem, already having some of her life force in it, gulped the rest of it down greedily.This was what he needed, this was necessary. With two elements of harmony in his possession...he would be unstoppable!

The draining was taking its toll on the rainbow maned nuisance. Her hooves were beginning to turn to stone, as were the tips of her wings...soon, not even the fail safe could save her. She would be gone.

*Crash*

"Leave her alone, Star Shine!" The unicorn spun on his hooves, stopping the spell abruptly. How did this washed-up Wonderbolt find him? "I don't know what's going on here, but I'm going to stop you." Her ember eyes narrowed as she assumed an offensive stance and flared her nostrils.

Spitfire was not just here for Rainbow Dash, her number one fan who she had let down, but also for Soarin. Their relationship was on the proverbial ropes and she needed to salvage what she could Even if he would never love her like she loved him, the captain still wanted Soarin as a friend...and if saving Rainbow wouldn't help that, then nothing would.

"Really now?" Star Shine let out a low chuckle, his voice modulation spell cracked and faded with every word. Which gave the pale pony a very Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hide feel about him  With a hoof he pushed his white mane, which was plastered to his forehead from overexertion, out of his eyes. "Try it and see what happens..."

The pegasus launched herself at her foe, he let out a blast of magic straight at her face. Years and years of reflex training had prepared her for something like this. So with expert precision, she rolled to one side to avoid the blast. As soon as she was on her hooves again, she bolted at the pony.

Star Shine was cocky, too cocky. He was not expecting her to be this fast. With that surprise on her side, the Wonderbolt landed a hit straight across Star Shine's jaw, sending the unicorn to the ground.

"Saw what happened, and I gotta say...not impressed." Spitfire let a grin cross her face and a hint of cockiness enter her voice. She love putting down ponies like this, it always made her feel good. "Got anything else, glass jaw?"

Star Shine rubbed his jaw, the pain was absolutely excruciating! He had never been in a downright hoof fight before...but he was a quick study. So he turned his head, fire in his eyes. He was going to show this pegasus exactly how unicorns fought. "I have magic..." The look of realization on his enemy's face was priceless as she realized what she had just gotten herself into.

In an instant, Star Shine's magic gripped her around the barrel and lifted her into the air. She tried to flap her wings to escape, but his grip was absolute, it could not be moved or altered by anypony other than himself. Star Shine grinned, then drove his adversary straight into the wall with enough force to break a few bones quite audibly.

Spitfire could only scream. The pain was blinding in more ways than one. All of her nerves were overloaded, her vision swam, there was a ringing in her ears....she was at the hooves of a psychopath and it was not going to end well.

"That was nothing, my dear." Star Shine croaked out with his hoarse voice. "In fact, I think this little birdie needs her wings clipped...."

--

"W-Where did he go...?" Twilight was panting, she had never performed that many teleportation spells in a row, it had nearly drained her. "He..he has to be close..." She needed to stop Star Shine, she was the one that brought him here, it was her responsibility to end this now. It was her job to be the hero to his villain.

"What if he escaped?" Pinkie appeared next to her, seemingly out of thin air. Twilight was too worn out to scream or be surprised, heck at this point Pinkie popping in randomly was a normality. So, she simply gave the pink pony a sad look.

"Then we're doomed..." It was all she could decide. That unicorn with a gem that turned ponies to stone...it was way too dangerous. What if he got to the Princesses? Or her brother? He would be unstoppable...

"Twilight!" Both ponies looked up to see Soarin in full Wonderbolt attire. There was her air support. "We lost sight of Star Shine, Spitfire and I split up. She went towards the hospital to check on RD for me....he was with her alone the other day...I want her to be safe..." Twilight had never seen Soarin in such bad spirits, he was usually so chipper. And she should know, The Wonderbolts regularly had meals with the Princesses at the palace in Canterlot, she had seen them plenty of times.

"The hospital...Rainbow Dash..." Her mind went back to Rarity...if he truly wanted to do something evil he would need the elements out of the way. Rarity he caught by surprise, but the weakest link at the moment was...Rainbow. "We have to get there, now!"

The pale blue pegasus gave a nod andd raced off without a moment's notice. Twilight charged up her spell, they had a Star Shine to stop...

--

"And the Humerus is connected to the Ulna and Radius." With every mention of a bone, a crack came from the pegasus' wing. "Which connect to the Carpus and Metacarpus." Two cracks, Star Shine was not fully snapping the ones in her wings. He was simply inducing micro-fractures to the bone so that they may break easier in the future. Call it future-proofing his plans.

"S-Stop...please..." Spitfire was crying...she could not scream anymore. That part of her voice was all but gone now..she could only whimper with only crack. "P-please..." She was broken...the unicorn had done it. He had beaten her, then kicked her repeatedly while she was down...it was low, it was torture.

"Very well, since you said please." Star Shine let his grasp on the pegasus fade, as soon as he did so her wings fell to the ground with a thud. That only made her whimper more. "Plus, I was getting bored. Pegasus anatomy is so boring. Don't worry though, you won't feel the pain for very much longer."

Star Shine reached for the gem and immediately connected to it. This beaten down mare would be no challenge to drain. Her spirit was already savaged, it would be quick and relatively painless compared to what he had done to her. So that's what he did, within a minute only a torn Wonderbolt uniform was left on the ground. That was the only sign that Spitfire had ever existed...now for the reason he came here.

Rainbow had been slowly fading into the gem all throughout his encounter with the captain of the flying team. Most of her was already in the gem, and it was drawing what little was left in her corporeal form in. All he did was give it a little tug, and the element of loyalty faded out of existence. His victory was all but absolute at this point.

Just then, a portion of the wall exploded. Star Shine looked as soon as it happened...the sound had left his ears with a thunderous roar. His eyes connected with a pair of icy blue ones that were looking at the empty bed...in that brief moment between the wall's implosion and the debris settling...he could see hell.

The Sound Of Thunder

The Sound Of Thunder

By: Rhyme Reason

On a night

Many years ago

To the hospital

The villain did go

Over Rainbow he stood

Malice in his eyes

He powered up the gem

For the mare's demise

When all hope was lost

Victory, had the colt

The window broke

In came a Wonderbolt

Mane of fire

Eyes of ember

Spitfire was there

No one did send her

She was there for Soarin

To gain back his trust

She would be the savior

For her love, she must

Connected already

Star let out

A burst of magic

Right at her snout

The mare rolled

Dodged the shot

She wasn't going down

So they fought

Blasts of magic

And hooves flew

How long this lasted

Nopony knew

Eventually one fell

Her wings hit the ground

Star Shine stood up

He savored the sound

The villain stood tall

Another one to take

No one could stop him now

It was too late

That's what he thought

Of course he was wrong

Twilight was coming

It wouldn't be long

Star Shine drained them

The rainbow and the flame

Then the wall exploded

In Twilight came

Pinkie saw her love missing

This would not end well

Through the sound of thunder

One could see hell

Pinkie's Promise

Pinkie had awoken the next morning with a smile on her face, something she hadn't done in a few days. Then she figured out why she was smiling, Dashie had pulled her close and had wrapped her hoof around Pinkie's midsection. It felt so right, so she snuggled into the pegasus' chest and sighed happily.

"Pinks..? You're awake?" Pinkie's heart skipped a beat at the nickname, no matter if she was back to normal or not, she still loved hearing that nickname.

"Yeah...I'm awake." Pinkie moved away from the mare. "Dashie, I'm sorry for hurting you.." Pinkie had ben wanting to say that, and now it felt so good.

"You didn't hurt me, sure these ropes chafe a little, but they don't hurt." Dash smiled and stood up on her own, slowly.

"N-No...you don't understand..." Pinkie was struggling to stay positive. "I'm the one who made the lightning hit you..." Dash blinked and smiled lightly.

"Pinkie...I know. I kinda figures that out on my own." Dash pulled her friend into a hug. "I forgive you.." Those three words seemed to make everything better for Pinkie, well...almost everything.

"But, I broke my promise..." Pinkie hung her head. "My Pinkie Promise.."

"What promise would that be, Pinkie?"

--

Pinkie Pie, just a filly at the time, trotted away from the train station. She had been Sent to the small town of Ponyville by her parents to stay with her distant relatives the Cakes. They were supposed to meet her right when she got off of the train, but Pinkie hadn't seen them. Then again, she only had a photo of them from some years ago, so she might have saw them and not realized it.

She looked around the village, it was so big to her. Then again, she grew up on a rock farm, so anything was bigger than the shack she had lived in. But, the most exciting part was all the ponies. She had only grown up around same 4 ponies for the first years of her life, so the diversity was the most shocking about the town. It had unicorns, pegasi, and a pony for every color of the rainbow.

That's when her eyes were drawn to a walking rainbow. The blue pegasus filly was trotting around as if she was looking for somepony, but the most interesting feature of the filly was her rainbow mane and tail. It reminded Pinkie of the rainbow that earned her the cutie mark on her flank, and that made her smile.

The earth pony filly decided now was a good time to make her first ever friend, and why not with a pony that made her smile? So, she trotted over and tapped on her side. The pegasus turned and eyed her suspiciously.

"Umm..Hi..?" Her voice sounded a little raspy, almost as if she was doing a bad impersonation of a colt.

"Hi! I'm Pinkamina Diane Pie! Who are you?" Pinkie held out her hoof and put on her friendliest smile.

"Uh...wow. That's a long name...ever thought of shortening it?" The rainbow filly looked at Pinkie's hoof. "My name's Rainbow Dash" She gave the pink filly's hoof a firm shake.

"Shortening my name? Like to what? Diane?" She looked up quizically, trying to think of a shorter name.

"No, like to Pinkie or Pinks or something like that..." Dash's eyes were drawn to Pinkie's mane. "urm...you have a real bad case of bed mane there, Pinks." Dash leaned closer to Pinkie and poked her hoof at the earth pony's wild mane.

"My mane is always like that! Well...it used to be all straight and bleh, but then a big rainbow happened and I smiled and this happened." Pinkie rocked on her hooves as she ranted.

"Riiight...say, do you know where I can find a pony named Fluttershy?" After getting a blank stare, Dash elaborated. "A pegasus like me" She flared her small wings. "Yellow coat, pink mane, easily scared." pinkie just shook her head.

"I'm new in town actually...do you know where I can find Mr. and Mrs. Cake?" Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"I just came here to look for Fluttershy. This is my first time in this town." Pinkie had a brilliant idea

at that point.

"Ooh! I know, let's help each other. We'll look for the Cakes and Shutterfly together!" Pinkie bounced around her new found friend happily.

"It's Fluttershy, and can you stop that? You're making me busy." Dash shook her head to get the image of the bouncing Pinkie out of her head.

"Sure!" Pinkie stopped midair and just hung there. She wasn't quite sure how she did it, but she did.

"How...How are you...?" Dash let her jaw hang open.

"I don't know." The pink floating pony chirped happily, then dropped to the ground. "C'mon, let's go!" Pinkie bounced off, leaving Rainbow Dash to groan and trudge after her.

--

"Yeah, that was the first day we met, I remember that." Dash smiled at the memory. "I thought you were a madpony." Both mares laughed at the notion...one a little more nervously than the other. "But what does that have to do anything?"

"Dashie, you were my first friend. Ever. You've always been very special to me as a friend."  Dash blushed, she never knew she meant that much to Pinkie....well..beyond the whole 'I love you so much, I held you captive' thing. "I..I promised on that day, that I would never let you get hurt. No matter what...I broke that promise.." Pinkie let a single tear escape from her blue eye and fall to the floor.

Rainbow sighed, she knew what it meant when somepony broke a Pinkie Promise, but if Pinkie broke one. Not even she could imagine how much weight that put on the party pony's mind.

"Pinkie, you helped me. You may have injured me...but hurt is more than just physical pain. There has to be a mental aspect to it, and you...you didn't even let me feel the pain. As far as I'm concerned, you haven't broken your promise." Dash nuzzled Pinkie's side gently.

"And I can still keep it.." Pinkie rushed over to the column and started undoing the ropes, then she went to Rainbow Dash and undid the ropes around her neck and her haunch. She was going to make sure that Rainbow Dash wouldn't feel hurt, not by her. She was going to make it alright. "Dash, I'm taking you to the hospital." Rainbow could only nod and lean on Pinkie for support, but the earth mare had other plans. Pinkie dipped underneath Dash's midsection and stood up, making the pegsus lay across her back.

Now while earth ponies were known for their strength, pegasi were also known for how light they were. Pinkie had always enjoyed the feeling of pegasi, they were soft. If you were just holding onto one, you could have mistaken it for nothing but feathers and fur, that's how fluffy they were. Dash had explained that pegasus bones were hollow, which allowed them to fully achieve lift-off. For right now though, the lightness was working in Pinkie's favor.

Pinkie quickly but carefully trotted up the stairs and out of Sugarcube Corner. She had been to the Hospital a lot over the years, most recently for Dash's broken wing. She knew the way by heart. The mare ignored the stares from passing ponies and just kept going, she heard a few grunts and protests from Rainbow Dash, but she ignored those too. She had a mission.

When the duo finally got to the hospital, the nurses immediately took Rainbow Dash from her back and took her to one of the many operating wounds, then she heard a doctor mention calling the cops.....Pinkie knew one thing at that point. She had an awful lot of explaining to do.