A Friendship Torn Apart

The silence between the cyan and lavender mare wasn't a pleasant one. Twilight was glancing at anything but Rainbow Dash's magenta eyes, which were scanning her blank expression. 'She seems pretty off. Also I need to get my ears checked next time I visit the hospital. Wait... How are the doctors handling the fact that one of their patients is gone? Eh, whatever. I don't want to bother the egghead now, though. Time for a Daring Do marathon! I'm sure I have enough time before my next meeting with Luna.' Twilight began awkwardly brushing her hair with the brush she lifted with her horn's magical aura, even though her hair didn't have a single strand out of place. Rainbow Dash rolled over to the other side of her bed, slightly hurting her wing and attempting not to wince in pain. She picked up the first Daring Do book from the piles upon piles of other cool Daring Do books stacked on her bedside table.' Time to get some awesomeness into my life. Hmm, I wonder what Daring Do has been doing lately. She's absent from her writing career I guess. Oh, probably doing hero stuff. Heh. Can't wait to see what new adventures are in store. She probably needs some more time. She hasn't announced when the new book is coming out though and I literally just can't wait!' She was just about to open the adventure novel when Twilight spoke up.

"So, you don't want to hear what I have to say?"- Twilight levitated the brush and placed it on the porcelain, polished vanity that was currently in the room. Rainbow Dash closed her book and carefully placed it on her bedside table. She felt the enthusiasm about her reading marathon slowly washing off, quickly reminding herself that Twilight probably had something really important and bizarre she wanted to tell her. Before she could open her mouth to utter a word, she was interrupted by Twilight again.

"Forget it, this is stupid. I shouldn't tell anypony about this, either way."- the alicorn flew up to the door and placed her hoof on the doorknob. She looked back at Dash, hoping for a response, her eyes filled with... guilt or regret. Rainbow Dash sighed, she didn't have a choice. This was going to be beneficial, right? She did want to talk to somepony she could hopefully relate to in this matter. She did mention dreams, right? There was nothing to lose except for some quality reading time. Even though it felt safer to discuss the topic only with Luna, Dash decided to roll with it. Twilight would probably lose her respect for her even further if she didn't listen, which didn't really matter at the moment, but still, it didn't feel good. She remembered it like yesterday: Her friends gossiping about her behind her back. She remembered how they looked: with those smug smiles on their faces while laughing about her. Back then, she felt like dirt. As if she was just a joke. As if everything they've been through was just some big joke. As if their friendship was a joke. Did anything matter anymore? They were just masking their true colors. They were only giving their best to show some sympathy towards her just so they could have a good name and reputation. Was it all a lie? A dream? A facade? But, even when she knew that they thought of her as trash, her loyal self always had to give in, didn't it? How pathetic.
She got out of her comfy foam mattress bed, instantly feeling sore in the back afterwards, trying her best to keep a small, crooked smile, and walked over to Twilight, who now removed her hoof from the door gently.

"Alright, Twilight, of course I want to hear what you have to say, but you just surprised me, that's all."- just as those words escaped Dash's mouth, Twilight embraced her tightly, almost squeezing out the pegasus's ability to breath. This took the pegasus by surprise, and she choked a few times, definitely not flattered by the alicorn's action.

"Twilight..... I didn't know you're Pinkie's twin when it comes to hugs."- Twilight let go of Dash and blushed a crimson red. Was she really that excited? Dash sensed Twilight was humiliated at that moment. Just as humiliated as she felt when her own friends replaced her as Ponyville's hero.... Boasting in front of her of how good a job they did as Mare Do Well. Their true intentions were clear to her now. They wanted to crush her, and make it seem harmless. But that surely did not work. After regaining her senses, she exhaled deeply and looked into Twilight's eyes.

"Right, so..... I really wanted to tell somepony.... About the dreams. Not only the dreams but..... A voice in my head that forced me to do things I wasn't accustomed to. I felt like I was obliged to obey the voice's command. And I could actually talk to him when I was dreaming, making my dreams very unpractical and unusual."- Twilight explained. Rainbow Dash's expression turned into a curious one, she was intrigued. She sensed something very familiar about this. Right when she heard the word dreams, though, she felt a pit in her stomach. This 'him' Twilight was referring to sounded dangerous. Someone that contained a huge force of power to... mind control someone? Entering dreams was one thing, but mind control? Wait, why did she even believe what Twilight was saying? But, as usual, her curious side gave in.

"Wait.... Hold up. So you're telling me this dude is in control of your mind whenever he wants or something?"- Twilight nodded, and resumed her explanation. She sounded so..... calm. As if this was completely ordinary. What Rainbow thought of this was just.... Something from a different universe. Yes, extremely powerful magic in Equestria did exist, but this was way too over the top. Again, Twilight could be lying. If only she had an Apple Jack here with her. Apple Jack, who turned her back against her, just like her other friends.... Rainbow let that sink in. What if the mare in her dream was telling the truth. That she shouldn't trust any of her friends?

"Well... I didn't want to listen to his commands all the time. He just sounded pretty wise and I couldn't resist....It was as if I was obeying against my will, but it felt like the right choice. In the beginning it started off with small things. Like one or two insults but then.... It evolved to something so much more and got out of hand. According to Princess Celestia, he was telling the truth, and that I should listen to everything he says, since one of the only things I informed her about is of him predicting danger in Equestria. But, I didn't tell her the part about him saying that one of my friends is going to betray me. And the insults I have said in the past. He didn't say anypony in particular about the betrayal part, but I gained some trust issues afterwards. It could be anypony. You, Rarity.... You get it, right? Even if I'm anxious about telling this to you, I just felt a huge weight being lifted up from my shoulders..."- Twilight stated. 'Trust issues. Those...... Sound familiar......'- Rainbow thought.

"Twilight. This is downright outrageous.... How do you know you can believe this guy?"- Dash said. Now that she thought about it..... She wasn't sure who to listen to anymore. There was the mare, Luna..... And herself. She wanted to trust her friends. But, she couldn't. Not now.

"I believe he was right in some ocassions, though, Rainbow. Celestia confirmed that Equestria is in danger, and he warned me about it in detail. She thinks he is my guide to success in defeating the villain, even if some of his statements sound uncanny. Dash, I'm so scared. Maybe, just maybe, what if he is right? Will someone betray us? It could be you, or any of our friends!"

"Twilight........."

"Now that I'm digging deeper into this, I'm the only pony that can solve everything! Because I have even larger clues that I've already delved deep into, and have an idea about who the betrayer might be....."- the alicorn merely started talking to herself.

"Twilight."

"Think, think, think.... Ah, yes! It's pretty weird that somepony in particular was staying mute the entire time, avoiding conversation because she always had somewhere to be, and was eerily happy."- Twilight continued, completely forgetting about the presence of the pegasus, and levitated an obese book from her saddlebag. She positioned it in front of her face and fiercely started flicking it's pages, until she finally stopped in a halt.

"Ha! I've got you there, little liar! I'll find you out now -"

"TWILIGHT!"

"Pinkie Pie..................."- as soon as Twilight said that, she noticed she was indeed, not alone. She blushed yet again, covering her face with her wing in humiliation. Rainbow Dash looked at her with stern eyes ( just like the one and only Spitfire had taught her) and gently placed a hoof on Twilight's back, slowly regaining her peaceful posture. Something triggered her to go talk to Twilight. Make things right. Maybe, just maybe, they could sort this out. No matter what they did to her in the past..... She needed to let go of those memories and make new ones. And at the moment, what she needed to do was solve this entire thing. But first, she needed to calm down Twilight, of course. She sounded like a madmare when she said Pinkie Pie was the culprit. Wait, now that she thought about it..... Pinkie Pie didn't really seem to talk much the past few days.....Nah, that was nonsense.

"Alright, take deep breaths. That's right, just like that, inhale and exhale. Now, we'll stop with the accusations.... And you'd better sit down 'cause I've got a long story for you."- Dash motioned for Twilight to sit on her bed, and Rainbow herself decided she needed to make dramatic movements with her hooves throughout her story like most narrators did, and for a better effect she needed to be standing up. She wanted to look cool when she explained to Twilight everything. Well, except for one thing.......
She needed somepony else. Somepony useful. And following Luna's advice probably wasn't going to be such a bad idea, after all. Rainbow left all of her feelings of fury and anger towards Twilight slip by, and started.

Pitch black. There was an eerie tranquility piercing throughout the dark space. She felt something harsh. Something rough, ragged and sharp beneath her skin. She wasn't aware of the small amount of blood trickling down her skin, painting her coat a crimson red, as she lied against a tiny, yet very harmful shard of crystal. After regaining her consciousness, she suddenly felt a huge shot of pain in her hoof. She rolled sideways, a tear trickling down her face and dripping onto the floor. A few sweet, melodic tunes from nightingales would occur from the outside world every now and then. She knew she wasn't that far away. Even though the warm sunshine didn't caress her mane, even though the summer breeze didn't sweep by her tail, creating a flowing illusion. Even though she couldn't breathe in the sweet, fresh air. The essence of life wasn't near her. She was weak now. Meaningless. She tried to muffle a few of her cries, but she only kept a ginormous amount of her tears inside. They increased in size, and she burst out crying, the barricade she tried to keep secure cracking open. No matter how loud she screamed, nopony would hear her. No matter how much she prayed, all was useless. She wasn't sure where she was. The darkness surrounding her was eternal, not a single form or shape of life seemed to be around. She tried. She tried to break free, to allow her strength to take over. She banged her hooves on the dark walls, even more crystals piercing her flesh, but she didn't seem to care. The cuts were minor and didn't hurt, even for somepony as gentle as her. Her friends have gotten far worse bruises. She brushed the shards off and resumed her attempts to escape. She tried. She tried her best. That's what her teachers told her in flight school. She tried her best. But in the end, it didn't matter. Failure, after failure, after failure. It was always that way. Cast behind everypony's shadow. She wasn't good enough. Not smart enough. Not strong enough. Not fast enough.

She realized the situation she was in and snapped out of it. No, she wasn't going to let anypony take advantage of her. Everypony had their strengths and their weaknesses. Perfection wasn't the answer. She kept reminding herself. She wasn't that far away. Everything was going to go back to normal.
Her friends will notice. They care. She could trust them with her life. She always has. They weren't going to let her down. They were going to be the heroes they always had been. Equestria needed them.
A ray of hope shined in the mare's eyes.
' We won't let Equestria down.'