A musical Intro:

As the music plays a black line is drawn over a white background, the line takes a vague form, like part of an outline of a person. From the corner, just out of sight, a figure in shadows moves to align itself with that mark. The lights come up on the figure, unavailing that it is Discord.

“Good evening, tonight’s tale is one of flying high and reaching farther than one dared dream, or what was even imaginable. One would go far with such a spirit, but in going too far a spirit becomes a curse. When our young, raising star falls, does she, in turn, fall all other stars as she ascends again?

“A storm is coming, one that will shatter all we know, and in this we find this story of…”

Track 07: Last Chance to Fly

The blue sky stretched far beyond even the best sight, truly a vision of the wonders of the world that the ponies shared. The sun shined brightly, giving the land below a heavenly glow that was hindered slightly by a few stray clouds. The Pegasi were busy cleaning up these rogues, leaving only a few choice ones to make the ceiling of the world like a skilled painting. The sky, the responsibility of the Pegasus was kept well and beautiful for all their friends below.

Moments like these were few and growing rarer since Discord’s coming, and though Fluttershy was missing and the rest of the Elements of Harmony barer were active in keeping up with protecting Equestria, it was also important to take time to keep from getting too caught up in a fight. Some looked to the time beyond now, and Rainbow Dash was one such mare. She did not let too much keep her down, and she was using her time off to push her limits so when the battle was done she would be ready to pick up where she left off.

Below, observing the daring of such a tame-less and bold daredevil, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle are in awe at her display and skill. Applejack was not much to care for Rainbow’s showing off, and she also had the Zap Apple Harvest to worry about. The remaining three were here to show their support, but it was growing to concern with the risks that the mare was taking. They all were stressed, and found means to ease it, and this was Rainbows, and it was becoming more reckless as her stress seemed to peak. Rainbow banked hard, and twisted in ways that seemed impossible. Sharp turns, and deep dives, she was proving that she was better than any other.

“Rainbow!” Twilight called out, hoping to reign in her friend. “This is getting dangerous, don’t you think?”

Rarity added her own concern, though with a bit more support in her words. “You look spectacular darling, yet it does seem a bit careless how you are taking those impressive turns. Perhaps you should take it easy, and rest a bit?”

Pinkie Pie was just watching, twisting and contorting in ways impossible for anypony else as she kept eyes on her friend.

High above them, Rainbow heard every word, and was not halted, but driven even harder. She did not hear them speak, but there was another in her mind who was saying these things to her now. The voice was one who had inspired her, yet discouraged her all the same. “I’ll beat you one day, and everypony will remember the great-” She focused more on her thoughts than moves, and in the redirection she lost control of herself. She had turned and moved her wing the wrong way to be caught by the strong winds, and it twisted her appendage violently, sending her into an unavoidable tailspin. The air rushed around her, and mixed with her own screams as she rocketed to meet the ground.

Rainbow Dash left an impressive trail in her crash, a long trail of disheveled earth that tried to grabber her as momentum dragged her along. Pain surged through her broken body, and a ringing in her ears combined to muffle out the cried of her friends as they rushed to her. Shadows, blurry shadows stood over her, was what she saw just before the world was swallowed in darkness.

Beeping, hums, and that stench of sterilization, single use containers and the white walls of a hospital was what awaited Rainbow’s first clear vision. She did not know how she got here, or how long the coma had her, but she was here just the same. She scanned the room as she put her thoughts together, and only found herself in occupancy of the room. “Oh mare…” She sighed, as a soft pain started to return to her, filling in some gaps in her memory. “I screwed it again…”

The sound of rushing hooves echoed through the hall outside the room, and the the voice of another sternly ordering the other to stop their running. Rainbow attempted to sit up, but the distant pain caught her fast, and she found too much to try doing anything but lie there. She took a quick stock of herself again, with a busted wing in a cast, and many placed around her person bound up, she knew that her crash was a lot worse than any she had ever had before. She settled for looking less like a victim, and more of just a pony relaxing by the time the rule breaker busted through the door.

Unmistakably the filly who charged in was Scootaloo, but the orange blue, with a purple mane. “Rainbow Dash, you’re awake!” the little filly did not stop until she was at the older mare’s side. “And I wasn’t here… damn”

“Hey Scoot” Rainbow said weakly, and with a difficulty that came from being silent for a few days. It almost felt like ages since she had said anything, and she set to righting her voice by clearing her throat.

“I’m so sorry! I wanted to be here, and never leave your side, but I had to pee, and those stupid doctors wouldn’t let me use a bed pan” She looked extremely upset by this failure in some self imposed duty, and Rainbow looked around the floor to see some wrappers that hinted that food was being brought to her.

Reaching out, fighting any protest by her stagnate body, she patted the filly on the head with a smile. “S’ok kid, I totally just woke up as you came in” She lied, but she knew that it would mean to world to the pony so devoted to her. “Didn’t miss much”

Scootaloo looked like she had won the lottery, and was so much more excited than before in her idol being back. She pulled a chair close, and sat beside the mare. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit” Was her first though, but did not want to worry the filly too much. “Been better” She rested her head back and turned to look straight up. “I can barely feel my wing under this cast, like the weight is there, but not much more than that” Though Scootaloo said nothing, she did look away, and Rainbow could see this just inside her peripheral vision. “What?” She asked, looking with her eyes only at the filly.

Hesitant to say, the filly struggled to speak the knowledge she held. “Th-they said… said that your wing… is crippled…”

“What?!” Rainbow shot up with immediate regret, then slammed back down to even more agony, though not nearly as much as that diagnosis. “Shit!” She did not have the focus to restrain herself now. “Crippled?” She groaned, that turned into a roar and became another exclamation “Shit!!!”

A nurse, now aware of the mare’s status, came into the room. “I see you are awaken now, and clearly informed of the situation” She moved closer, looking over the chart at the end of the bed, and some readouts on the machines. “I would say you are handling it better than your friends said you would, but you did suffer a great trauma, miss Dash, you could have lost much more than a wing”

“May as well have been my legs, my body, my life!” She snapped back, the pain the only thing keeping her at bay. “Without my wings… I’m nothing…” Her anger was strong, but a sorrow was flowing under it.

“Terribly sorry, but there is only so much legal medicines can do” The nurse turned away. “Somepony will be in to check on you in a little bit” Facing away, neither of the ponies could see a grin upon the nurse, with a single, long fang poking out.

******

A few days into her stint, Rainbow Dash was growing to the end of her limits of patience. She had seen a few ponies come and go, nurses mostly, and at least one roommate that seemed worse off than her. He was so bound up that he could not speak, serving no reprieve from her own suffering. She learned of the things going on beyond her room, mostly from Scootaloo when she had to take leave for errands, or just nature’s call. There were rare times friends had stopped by, Pinkie Pie had been one, doing her best to bring up the mare’s spirit, but nothing could fix her wing, and much less, Rainbow’s mood.

When more days passed, and no pony else of her supposed friends visited her, she was feeling abandoned. The only friend she had was Scootaloo, and when the parade of doctors, experts, and miracle workers ended, that was all she had to contend with her solitude.

“I’m so damn bored” She groaned to her single companion.

Scootaloo offered. “The doctors said you can leave soon, probably now, and you could-”

The days not being kind to her, Rainbow was growing unkind to others. She cut the filly off, and snapped. “And what? Trot around like some Earth pony? My body is still in pain, I couldn’t even move around at a prance, let alone a gallop to at least feel some wind in my mane again!”

The little pony looked down, not fairing much better in the situation, knowing she could do nothing to help her one care in the world she had left. “Sorry…”

Recovering a bit of her old self, Rainbow sighed in frustration in her actions at the other pony, and attempted to fix her mistake. “You’ve done all you can do kid, better than any other pony that has. If your concern was magic, I’d be flying again” She put on a smile, meant all for Scootaloo, but in her eyes was still the defeat and frustration of her life. “Say, maybe there is a game or something we can play?”

“Yeah!” She became the excited Scootaloo Rainbow preferred, and darted out the room. “Don’t worry, I’ll find something, and solve this!” She did not get far out, before crashing into another pony. The stallion was sickly looking, not unusual for a hospital, but he seemed to be a mixture of different features a pony could have, most notably was his big and little eye brows, and the long fang sticking out of his closed mouth. “Uh…” She was distracted by his appearance. “Sorry dude”

Rainbow could hear commotion just outside, but figured it was another of the staff just reprimanding Scootaloo for her galloping through the halls. She did not care much beyond this, and when the filly returned not long after she did not even ask. It was strange that she was now carrying a book, and that became the subject.

“Look at this cool book a weird dude gave me” She glanced back. “He might be dying, he looked really weird and sick”

“Cool?” Rainbow responded, find the sentence hard to understand. “They seem similar, but ‘cool’ and ‘book’ don’t go together” The filly put it on the bed so Rainbow could see it, and she looked at the cover. “Forbidden and Forgotten Legends of Equestria” That moment she became taken by the book, like a spell had made it all she wanted to do. “Well… at risk of becoming an Egghead, I’ll give it a look. What else do I got?”

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo took turns reading through the book, some times it was Rainbow reading to the filly, and more days seem to go by without either caring about anything besides the tome. No news of more enemies, or what happened to the royalty of Equestria itself mattered. It would not be until one day that the two even spoke to another pony, a day that would change their course forever.

******

Into the room trotted a stallion neither of the ponies had ever seen before, but he carried himself with an authority. He was dressed in a lab coat, not like those of the doctors here; it seemed more scientific than medicine. A crimson stallion, with a black mane, the glasses one expected of one dressed so. He spoke with a voice that was learned, with tones of superiority. “Miss Dash, I was informed of your tragic status, and to your side I have come”

With a heavy scowl, Rainbow looked at him in contempt. Something of this pony reminded her of Twilight in her worst form of know-it-all, and annoying nerdy arrogance. Given the sense of abandonment, reminders of her old friends were not welcome. “Yeah? Just who are you?” She met him with distance, and defense.

“Dr. Atmosphere,” He responded, very proud of himself by the sound of it. “and though you neglected to ask, I am a scientist who seeks to push Pegasus to their greatest potential. Upon hearing of how one of our greatest rising stars falling so low, it should be felt by all our kind as a tragedy”

Rolling her head away, her interest fading fast, not that she had much to offer. “Nothing can be done about that, so thanks for stopping by and reminding me how much my life sucks”

He moved closer, taking sight of her readouts and charts. For display, and to gain her attention, he slapped the clipboard with his powerful wing. Rainbow watched it skitter across the floor. “These foals know nothing, being in concord with convention, they will not look past or beyond! Such is the limited scope of these ground ponies”

“I’ve had Pegasus doctors say my wing is shit, so what does that have to do with anything?”

Grinning, a knowing and frightening grin, he clarified. “Magick, dark magick” She moved her head enough to look at him questionably. “I know, the Unicorns have proven little better than than the Earth ponies, yet I have an associate who shares in the visions of our glorious race, and with them we can ascend higher”

Scootaloo trotted into the room, hearing only the very last few words. “Ascend?” She looked at the stallion, not sure just where he came from in the brief time she was away.

Dr. Atmosphere turned to glare at the intruder, and was about to order her out but Rainbow Dash spoke first. “Scootaloo, come her” As the filly did so, the mare explained what she had understood. “This guy thinks his friend can do some magick spell and I’ll no longer be crippled” Her tone was not one of belief or confidence, and openly mocking the idea of it all sounding too good. “Not even Twilight Sparkle could do anything, and she’s as good as it gets”

“Good? Hmm, I see” Now he was mocking her. “That is the problem, the limitations. Princess Celestia and Luna were good, but wore the bridle of righteousness, and no matter how one chomps that bit, their greatness is hindered. Nothing more than a show pony”

Rainbow groaned and sat up, no longer bound to the bed and trapped to a life on her back. “You’re saying a lot, but not meaning much. So what ever you are selling, no”

He dared a laugh at her, something in another time no pony would do without repercussion. She was ignorant and simple to what he was saying. “Oh such limited understanding, though I suppose our kind is not known for wisdom; better suited to action than thinking. I offer you a great chance, one better than even your old life offered, and you can not even comprehend it. Your friend, these so called ‘doctors’, and nearly any other pony who claims to be authority or leaders, lack the freedom to use means that can go truly great things for those most deserving”

Rainbow looked at Scootaloo, both a bit lost on how pompous he was, and long winded. “I thought Twilight was bad” Rainbow said.

Ignoring them, he carried on his speech. “Dark Magick is forbidden, and given a negative opinion, simply because the cost that often comes with the reward, ponies fear the charge” He was starting to ascend in his energy and near madness, as his dialog went. “My associate is willing to spend whatever is needed, to ensure that the best become legends!” He pointed at her, a fire in his eyes that was enhanced by the glasses he wore. “You could rule the Pegasus Empire, but here you lie, grounded because you dared to be better! You are better, the best… or you were” He turned away, lowering his voice. “You paid a price, and lost the treasure. That is not fair, not for you. We can change that,” He turned again, nearly upon her bed. “Will you be willing to reclaim your rightful place, and climb higher than the stars, no matter the cost?”

Rainbow stared at him for awhile, feeling a fire inside she had not know for far too long now. She was not completely sold, and looked away to see the book on the table, and recalling one story in it. “The Rainbow Factory…” She thought, and spoke internally. “Sacrificing the unfit and weak for the greater good of the flock…” Returning the conversation outward, she asked. “Just what is this cost, and how can their magick do what no other spell could?”

“Simple, take the wings of another” The twisted Doctor said, so casual, it seemed routine to him. It was clearly no matter of concern to him, but Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were of a different mind. They were repulsed by the idea, though it did seem Scootaloo was less so. “A natural reaction, for one so accustom to life with these Ground Trotters, however the sacrificed do not have need of their wings” He began trotted about the room. “These are the lowest of our kind, of any pony. Being born with such great gifts, only to choose life on the ground, or worse, readily choose not to even fly! They are failures, degenerates who shame us all, providing nothing to our glory”

Scootaloo was stung deep by these words, feeling that she was in that lot, being born with such limp wings. Rainbow Dash was quick to her defense. “Hey, Dr. Asshole-sphere, not all Pegasus who have bad wings, or choose to live down here are bad! Scootaloo would fly if she could, and she is just as awesome as any pony I’ve known” This soothed the filly, and filled her with such pride that she felt she was flying. “My friend Fluttershy was fucked up by jerks like you, and chose a better life down here. You want me to take the wings from another pony, just because they got a messed up deal? Fuck you!”

Dr. Atmosphere was not yet beat, and knew a new approach was needed. He studied the filly, under Rainbow’s heavy gaze. “Hmm, yes. Another case of a Pegasus who was kept from full potential. It is not her fault that her wings are stunted, she is more in your lot than the others I spoke of. This Fluttershy, she was claimed by the same poison that spreads to our weaker members. We all face trials in life, and yet the best of us do not just hide away. What would Pegasus kind be, if we all let the words and actions of others hold us back? Where would ponies be if we all hide from trouble and suffering? We should give up our wings now, the Unicorns their alicorns, and Earth ponies their very legs. We would become just worms, wriggling in the muck of the world, fodder for those who dominate us” He paused a moment, letting the two catch up. “Earth ponies and Unicorns do loose their claims to fame, and are able to live a happy enough life, but Pegasi, we loose our wings and we become nothing. That is how those who do not fly by choice, shame us! They flaunt that their flight is a choice, where proud, legendary ponies like you two are forced! There is a choice now, and you both have it, if you are willing”

Neither seemed ready to make a choice in either direction, everything was making sense, but also it seemed wrong just the same. The Doctor was not yet done in his course, and took their silence to go on. “How does it feel, Rainbow Dash, daredevil, and greatest flyer, that you are stuck now, striped of those titles, and a pony like that Fluttershy chooses to hug the ground? Scootaloo, how do you feel that you were never given the chance to be up there, and there are Pegasi not fit to have the wings they bare, can saunter around the sky at any time, but you can only jump into it to be drawn right back down to the ground they choose to be married too? One day, when all Pegasus kind understand the importance of our glory, they will look back at the pioneers who made them all appreciate the gifts we were bestowed, and praise them from changing the Flock for the better. Will you be those ponies, become those legends?”

Hesitantly, Rainbow Dash finally spoke. “How does it work?”

The hook was in, and by his smirk, Dr. Atmosphere knew all he needed to do was reel her in. “With my associate’s magick, we enhance or replace the wing with that of another. The colour does not matter, for it can be easily changed. There is a slight risk, but mainly for the ‘donor’, otherwise it is really very simple”

“Risk?” Rainbow did not like the sound of that. “Could I die from this, or what?”

“Well… possibly, as this will be the first attempt to go from Pegasus to Pegasus. We did try on an Earth pony, a fellow who had the passion of a Pegasus, but not our anatomy. We would have had the same success on gluing them to cardboard”

The procedure no longer was sounding too good to Rainbow, hearing that it had not be attempted in success. She had no use in her wing now, but she did not want to be mangled with some other poor pony’s wing. Scootaloo was of another mind, and quickly filled the silence. “Try it on me!” They both looked at her, surprised by her sudden willingness. “My wings suck, I don’t loose anything, but can gain flight. If it doesn’t work, we can figure it out and get it right for Rainbow Dash”

“Oh brave and noble little Sky Sister, you are to become a legend for this, and are truly worthy to soar with us!” He praised her, but came to a pause, not even knowing who she was. “Are you an attendant here, or something?”

“She’s my sister” Rainbow said fast and proudly. She long had noted the filly’s devotion to her, and in the past days, had been closer to her than any other. No friend, no family, not a single soul had been so devoted to her, and stayed with her in her lowest place. She could imagine nopony better to have as a real sister. Rainbow turned her attention on the stallion. “You better hope nothing happens to her either, or my busted wing and all the damage from my accident, will be a loose feather to the pain I’ll bring on you and this ‘associate’ or yours”

******

Finally leaving the hospital, Rainbow Dash was greeted with a different world, one that no longer held the bright, hopeful air that had even been still present before her accident. She did not much care though, for she was on a path to change things for herself, and Scootaloo. Dr. Atmosphere had taken the two too a distant place, to meet a the associate he had spoke of so often. She did not know what to expect in this Unicorn, but was still surprised by the sight of the mare. She was tall, white, with short, military style gray-white mane and tail. She wore a three-piece suit, though the jacket was replaced by a lab coat, she kept on the bow tie. She had deeply intelligent blue eyes, that also held a cruelty of those who chose logic over compassion.

Within the cambers of the place that looked more like a butchery, the group came upon two very strange tables, and beyond all the equipment, several cages; two holding bond and gagged Pegasi. They struggled when they saw Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, hoping for some rescue, but the associate trotted over with sharp zaps of her magick, silenced their fleeting hope. “You are shame, worth only the wings you neglect with your debaucherous lifestyles. Do not fight this one chance you have to do something good, this opportunity to redeem yourselves”

Both Rainbow and Scootaloo stopped, having some doubts about all of this, now seeing the two who would be sacrificing themselves for their benefit. Neither could speak against it though, now feeling they owed the other to continue. “This could be the only chance Scootaloo can fly,” Rainbow thought. “This is wrong… but… why should grounded ponies keep what Scoot never had a choice to have? After all she has done for me, I can’t take this from her”

The filly was going over similar thoughts. “I don’t like this, I don’t know those two, but I do know Rainbow Dash. This could be her last chance to fly, I can’t turn back now. She’d probably hate me if I did…”

The unicorn trotted away from the cages and to the pair, she was looking every elated. “I cannot express my delight in the chance to transfer wings from these failures to two such stunning and proud members of the Pegasus race!”

“Failures? A little harsh, don’t you think?” Rainbow asked, trying to hide her doubts.

Waving it off, the Unicorn laughed at this. “Hardly a term could fit better. They’ve failed to live up to the potential of Pegasus kind in every way. Failed flight school, dropped out of regular school, no real jobs or families, and worst of it all, they dwell on the ground, not even a cloud home!” None of these reasons did much to sooth their minds. “You both are sympathetic ponies, a good quality in most cases, but do not waste your minds upon this trash, when it can be better served for all of us”

The path was set, and moving forward. Secretly the reluctant volunteers had hoped that the other would back out, but neither wanted to be a disappointment. With nothing to stop them, the plan went ahead. Scootaloo was first, lying on one of the strange beds face down. It supported her well, but also restrained her to it, keeping her wings spread and easily reached.

The Unicorn came around to explain to the filly. “Now, brave little sister, I will warn that this will hurt. I will be removing your wings from your body, so to reconstruct them. They will be bigger, more functional, and I will solve any fault or flaw I find, before reattaching them; this too will be uncomfortable. After the initial removal, the return will not be as bad. Do try your best not to move, even though your body will surely demand it. Relax, think happy thoughts, and you will be flying in no time… after recovery, of course” Not giving another moment, as Scootaloo stifled a whimper, the Unicorn’s alicorn illuminated. She focused upon the spell, and the very delicate work ahead.

Scootaloo remained in place, trying all she could to ignore what pain was ahead. “For Rainbow Dash” She told herself, over and over, as a tingling sensation started in her wings. The feeling was like that when a limb started to fall asleep, it shortly turned to a warm feeling, then burning like hot metal on flesh. Gritting her teeth on the bit placed before her, she continued her chant in growing intensity. “For Rainbow DaaaAAAAAAHHH!!!” As much as she fought it, she screamed out as her tendons, ligaments, veins, and anything else that was going from body to wing was flayed off her. She could feel magick around every connection, keeping them from being lost in her body, or bleeding her dry. The agony was not yet done, until the bones were pulled from their joints. She looked up, seeing the concern on Rainbow Dash’s face, and it worked like an anesthesia that faded her pain. “For my sister” she softly said.

Next to her, the Pegasus donor could hear, and see some of what was going on. They trashed against their restraints, but it proved to be useless. Their effort only encouraged the twisted unicorn, who delighted her as she watched the futile tries. Without the same slow, careful pace, she tore into the Pegasus with a surgeon’s skill, but a butcher’s concern. There was not bit for the sacrificed, and no clamping for the severed arteries, as the wings were removed only carefully enough to not damage them. Now two sets floated above their owners, though one would never get them back. They grew dizzy and faint as they bled out, likely to be dead before their wings were offered up.

Too focused on keeping herself together, Scootaloo did not notice the death beside her, or the display above. Rainbow Dash and Dr. Atmosphere watched on, amazed at the sight so skillfully executed. The two pairs seem to explode into several pieces, and the Unicorn set to work sorting. She moved pieces around, and in the hypnotic display it was done before the observers even thought it possible to be. When done, they were much bigger than Scootaloo’s original set, bigger than a filly’s should be, but otherwise they were perfect.

“She is beyond any other” Dr. Atmosphere remarked. “I’ve seen her do this with living creatures, break them apart and put them back together. A few died in the early attempts, but as she grasped the process, she was able to keep them alive after. This is why I had every confidence in her being able to manage a simple set of wings”

“Scootaloo is going to be fine then?” Rainbow asked, as it was her prime concern at this moment.

“It is all on that filly now, that is the only chance that this will fail. Her will is admirable, beyond even some of the most harden soldiers. I do admit, when she cried out, I was starting to worry, but she looks to be in a kind of trance. This pony will be a legend of our kind one day”

Rainbow Dash felt pride in his words, that such a pony so long had been so devoted to her, and wanting to be just like her. At this point, Rainbow was hoping that she would not disappoint the filly, and show the same strength that she had.

The operation was a success, both reassembly and attachment. The size difference was notable now, and the Unicorn explained. “Going from a full stallion to a filly I could only adjust size so much, without compromising structure or functions. You will grow into them, but first you will need to recover” She drew forth wrapping and supports to wrap the wings up to allow them to set and heal without risk. “A couple days, maybe weeks, you will be able to use them. It will take some time for them to graft, and synchronize with your mental relays and body. Thanks to my magick therapy, it will not be months” The final note was said with a smug pride, in a self promoting tone.

Releasing Scootaloo from the straps and helping her to the floor, the filly could feel the weight of the new wings so much bigger than her old pair. She struggled to stand, both under them, and the exhaustion of the procedure. “I… can’t wait to make use of them, to make the Pegasus proud” She looked at Rainbow Dash with such fiery passion it took the mare by surprise. “To make my sister proud” Scootaloo looked back at the Unicorn. “Thank you, Dr…” She realized she never got the mare’s name.

“Dr. Hufa Gruber” The pony smiled greatly, as one did when full of themselves, and having another praise them. It was a bloated ego, made only worse by each success, and Rainbow Dash would be her next, and likely the one to send her into legendary status.

When Rainbow Dash’s time came, Dr. Gruber offered to do a full replacement like she had with Scootaloo, but the Pegasus felt it would be unnecessary, given that only one wing was ruined. She only needed some minor work in her body, with most all of the damage being in the wing and the nerves.

Scootaloo, against the suggestion by the doctors, remain to be there for Rainbow Dash. She fought passing out a number of times, with Dr. Atmosphere helping her stay up. The devotion would be a great help to Rainbow during the process, and she hoped to always be as steadfast in being there for the filly as she had all this time.

The pain was intense, more than even Scootaloo had faced, given that Dr. Gruber had to cut into the body much deeper to remove dead or broken connections. She worked right to the spine and muscle. Rainbow Dash felt it all, even when parts of her spine needed replacing. She did not understand any of the magick behind it, only that it was worse than any pain she had ever known. Rainbow felt that she would have been paralyzed, yet she only felt more sensations as repairs were made. When Dr. Atmosphere had said the story of the animals being torn apart and put back together, she doubted the truth of it, but as she became a living puzzle, the doubt was being destroyed. One could not deny how skilled this pony was, only the requirements for these miracles were high.

When it was done, Rainbow Dash had gone through the worst experience of her life, worse than when she thought it was all over from her crash. For all of this, she felt fine, everything she lost from the crash was restored, and she could feel her wings again. She was whole again.

The pair of Pegasi recovered at about the same rate, and had been changed forever by their experiences. They now understood what they had lost, when they had gained, and what some choose to let go to waste. They first resisted the experimentation on “failures”, only to find that they did not deserve what they neglected, or to be treated like anything less than fodder for the processes to make Pegasus kind great again. They were an injustice to those who never got the gifts that they wasted, and needed to be removed or repurposed.

A musical outro:

“Interesting how we can suffer so much and desire to spread that pain to others” Discord stood in a suit against a black wall. “In a moment we can loose it all, and find something far worse to desire.

As Rainbow Dash readies to change the world, we begin to see the changes of hearts and minds. Last chance to fly, or last chance for hope? We shale see…”

Author's Note

Forbidden and Forgotten Legends of Equestria

Contents:

1. Snow-Blind
   The lost tribes of Ponies who remained in the old lands
   
2. The Lunar Republic
   The Bat Ponies and their war for Nightmare Moon
   
3. Fallen Star
   Starlight, and his transformation from Alicorn Prince of the Night, to Starshadows, betrayer of Equestria.
   
4. Light Bringer and Crimson Thunder
   Last Champions of the first Royal Age.
   
5. The Shadow Cult
   The wicked court of ponies seeking to fallow in Nightmare Moon's hoof steps
   
6. The First Flight
   The Pegasus extremist, that nearly tore Equestria apart
   
7. The Gryphon and Dragon War
   How troubled neighbors threatened Equestria
   
8. Diamond Dog Days Afternoon
   How 10 minutes, became 4 to 8 to 12 Hours, then History
   
9. Greed under Canterlot Mountain
   Lost Treasures of the royal gem of Equestria
   
10. The Second Flight
    A new generation of Pegasus extremist
    
11. Broken Horn
    Unicorn revolt for the supremacy of Equestria
    
12. From Good to Bad Lands
    How the Bad Lands became uninhabitable
    
13. Rainbow Factory
    Creating Rainbows and Colour was not always such a pleasant task
    
14. Get your Goat
    How the goat population in Equestria was decreased
    
15. 500 years of the Mare in the Moon
    The many changes in Equestria since Princess Luna's banishment