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// 6.The Finale 
// Story: The Factory 
// by The Dashie 
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	Rainbow Dash and I went as fast as we could to the Canterlot city gates and told the guards that we needed to see Princess Celestia and that it was of grave importance that we did. They said she had been expecting me. The Princess was expecting me? How…cool and coincidental. We sped straight to the castle and into the throne room where there sat the ruler of Equestria: Princess Celestia and on a second chair sat Princess Luna. They were the sun and moon in Equestria, but they ruled with compassion and grace. “It is a good thing you were able to make it, Dash. My sister has foreseen the events that are currently happening because of the alignment in the stars. They foretell of great bloodshed and death, which was what was happening in Cloudsdale. The only reason we didn’t enforce anything was that they had Rainbow Dash, as well as hundreds of innocent ponies. Now we have Rainbow Dash as well as you to help us in our plight. I know that some ponies will die in this, but it will be less than if this was to continue. Dash, will you be my leading general in this war? We need your leadership and experience in battle. In Equestria, we don’t have wars, so one of your race will be the perfect general in this war. I would like to give you this.” She used her horn to move a little trinket to me. It looked like a little model of a galaxy but on a necklace. “What is this Princess?” She smiled. “It is your equivalent of a horn. It will allow you to use magic on the field and all you have to do is think it, but it will only work once, so use it to destroy Discord.” I thought of how I could use the spell another way, and then I told Princess Celestia and she just said, “That seems like a very good use of a spell, but I think that I could do that.”		
Her horn started to glow as well as Luna’s and after a awhile, there was a small dome, and then a flash and there stood my 5 friends. They looked dazed but once they looked around they started freaking out. Then they saw me and they ran towards me and gave me one huge bear hug. “Dash, you son of a gun, where were you man? We were worried sick.” “Dash please don’t do that again. I wouldn’t want you to be hurt.” “Well at least you’re ok. Oh I would have been in a better attire if I knew I was going to see you again.” “Well all the formalities aside where are we and by what are we here?” They all looked happy, but I needed them to be at my side in war. “Ok you guys you all need to focus through what I am going to say. Can you promise me you’ll listen through everything?” “Yes, now get on with it!” they all said almost in unison, even Malisty. “Ok” and I proceeded to tell them pretty much everything. I told them about coming here and meeting all the Mane 6. I told them of how Reingo was really Rainbow Dash, who I then pointed to, and she said, “What’s up?” They all waved at her then refocused on me. I told them about the Rainbow Factory and what happened here and what I had experienced. I finished with the fact that Discord was coming with an army of deranged pegasi and that I needed their help. It was silent for a moment then Pineh stepped up and said, “Then what are we doing here? Let’s get ready to rumble!” and all the others yelled in agreement. I couldn’t help smiling. “Thank you guys. There’s no one I would rather fight with.” “Except your little crush, Mr. Dash.” I smacked Pineh’s head for that comment. He just laughed. “Ok let’s go meet up with Scootaloo in Ponyville. Princess Celestia, do we need to run all the way back to Ponyville?” “No I think I can handle that.” Her horn lit up and the next thing I know we are all smack dab in the middle of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash’s friends started to rush towards both me and Rainbow Dash. They were hugging us and talking to us when they started seeing my friends and my friends were seeing them. They went closer to each other and then as if they knew each other, my friends met with the pony they represented: Jack met with Applejack, Twymond met with Twilight, Raferty met Rarity, Pineh met with Pinkie Pie, and Malisty met with Fluttershy. They started talking about where they’re from and the whole inter-species communication things then it went to individual stuff, such as the specific things each pair might want to talk about. Me, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were planning while they were doing this. I asked Scootaloo to go find Spike, and as she flew away I got all my friends together and told my plans to them. They all agreed and went to work doing what needed to be done but I held back Twilight and Twymond, because I needed Twilight to teach me how to use magic even though I wasn’t a unicorn. She told me to look deep inside myself for a great will and let it course through a point in my body that the will could escape from. I chose my finger and pointed it at the sky. Nothing was happening then Twilight whispered something to Rainbow Dash, and then she told me to try again. I tried again, but in the middle of it, Rainbow Dash hugged me, and then I felt it. This great will. It was that I wanted to keep everyone, especially Rainbow Dash, safe. It filled me and I had to let it go. I felt it move to my finger, and my finger started to glow very bright with some sort of sparks coming out of it. I pointed at the sky and I just let go all of that pressure. I didn’t see what happened,but it sounded awesome because it felt like a blast of energy like the ones you see in anime shows, but this was one that was unfocused. It was almost like a fire torrent rushing towards the sky and it was not too hot to touch, but if I didn’t like you then it was like lava: able to burn you to nothing but a memory. Once all the built up energy left me, Twilight came up to me in awe. “I’ve never seen anything like that. Even when I couldn’t control myself during my entrance exam into Princess Celestia’s school, I didn’t do anything as powerful as that. If it was possible, you could maybe, just maybe, become Celestia’s equal as a unicorn.” It was about that time that Scootaloo arrived with Spike. I asked Spike if he would be up to the task of helping me communicate with Princess Celestia. He said, “Well I’ve been doing it for Twilight for about 7 years now, so one day isn’t too bad. Sure.” I thanked him and then I looked out and saw that Cloudsdale had turned a deep red. No doubt Discord had something to do with it. I told Rainbow Dash that I was going to use my spell on my trinket to make it where I could fly, that way she would have more fighting ability. She nodded and I thought of me flying and the trinket flashed and broke into pieces. I knew I was on my own magic now, but thanks to Twilight, I can use it by thinking about my friends here. It was about that time that Spike got a letter from Celestia and he handed it to me. It read,	
“Dash, my guards are waiting for your signal again, which was the rainbow colored flare. I will be in my castle giving out orders, but I will be with you in heart. All of Equestria is with you. P.C.”
I thought that she might be stressed due to the war effort, but I had to try. I looked inside myself and looked for that will I had before. I found it, but it was different. It was not only Rainbow Dash anymore; it was everypony in Equestria calling out to me to show they had my support. It was amazing. I channeled that energy to my finger and let off the rainbow flare. It was then that me, Rainbow Dash and about two hundred other brave pegasi that had escaped Cloudsdale got armored up. I couldn’t put Fluttershy in a position to fight, so I let her stay with Malisty. We all got suited up and got weapons that Celestia had recently brought there. I grabbed a bat because if I wanted to show peace as a general, I needed to make sure I didn’t kill anyone but Discord. I told Rainbow Dash to get Twilight for me. She zoomed off and a few moments later, Twilight came. I asked her to help me get the Elements of Harmony to each of our friends. She said she couldn’t get them because they were in a vault in Canterlot castle. I asked Spike to send a letter to Celestia to ask that she sent the Elements. He sent it and not two seconds later, I get a letter and a package containing all six Elements. Twilight said that we could get it to them faster if we split up. I took Rainbow Dash’s, Fluttershy’s and Applejack’s necklace and Twilight put her tiara on and took Rarity’s and Pinkie Pie’s. I got to Applejack first because she wanted to get a weapon too. I gave her hers and told her to use it when I drew Discord close enough. I went on to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy because they were talking to the other pegasi. I gave Fluttershy hers and I put Rainbow Dash’s on for her. She smiled and hugged me. “So what does the Great General Dash have planned for today?” I couldn’t help chuckling. “Oh nothing, just save Equestria from a monster.” I used my magic to send off a sound of a trumpet in a manner that it meant, “CHARGE!” All of us fliers made a straight course for Cloudsdale. I told them don’t kill anyone unless necessary and that challenging Discord was prohibited. I then winked at Rainbow Dash and she nudged me a little. We neared Cloudsdale and their meeting parade.	
We were about to clash right at them when about 10 to 12 pegasi in golden armor came rushing in and beat us to the punch. Now I wasn’t gonna let my guys not have any fun, so we just joined in the party. The next thirty minutes or so blur in my memory. I was whacking heads here and saving other ponies there and rushing to Rainbow Dash’s side to make sure she was ok. It took a toll on everyone fighting because, thanks to BraveWing, all of the Factory’s weapons had ‘mysteriously’ disappeared and they were fighting with bare hooves. However they had more ferocity than that of the pegasi from Ponyville so they had more fighting strength. It was not necessarily a bloody battle but it was a painful one. It was like a small scale war but I still saw pain and suffering. Some of the factory pegasi had gotten some of our weapons and were using them against us. I may have seen movies like this and I know some battles were worse than this, but it was horrible: Bats being used to bash skulls in. I used a bat, but I only used it to knock ponies out, never to bash ones skull in. The factory workers also had little pen things that they would put in a hole they would make in their victim. Out of the pens came a certain liquid I had hoped to forget: Spectra. They were harvesting even on the battlefield! I got so mad I couldn’t control my magical abilities and I just let loose a rainbow flare on them. What happened to the factory pegasi was both beautiful and scary. The bodies of these pegasi split in two and formed a good and bad version of them. The bad form was obliterated and the good form remained and became the new version of that pegasi. It was then I gave the order to retreat, except for Rainbow Dash. I tried to gather all my energy together, and in a very familiar way, I was able to gather energy from those who were supporting me and counting on me. I took all this energy and released it into what I call a Mega Rainbow Flare. It went straight towards the factory pegasi and the same process happened again. After the separation was done they all fled to either Ponyville or Canterlot. “NO! YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT DASH!” Discord came out of Cloudsdale like a cloud of smoke and formed right in front of me and Rainbow Dash. Well knowing that just shooting a rainbow flare at him wouldn’t really rid us of the problem. He would just vanish in a cloud of smoke, and then come back again. If we wanted to stop this, we would need to lead Discord into Ponyville and get the elements to turn him to stone. Then I could rainbow flare him. I told Rainbow Dash my plan and as soon as I finished we raced towards Ponyville. Like a fly to a trap, he followed us. “YOU THINK THIS LITTLE CHASE WILL CHANGE ANYTHING? I WILL END YOU DASH. STOP DELAYING THE INEVIDABLE!”
As soon as we got close to Ponyville I yelled,” Come forth Harbingers of Harmony! I acquire your aid to vanquish Discord!” My friends rode in on the ponies they most embodied. We all gathered together and I felt for that will. It came as soon as I looked for it. For the duration of the time I was doing the enchantment for the elements, I could only see white. I’m guessing that meant my eyes were glowing, but the thing I could see was Discord, looking shocked. He tried to leave, but then Celestia and about twenty of her guard put up a magical boundary around him so that he couldn’t escape the justice that was due to him. I focused all our energies upon him and I felt us at the same time release the awesome power of the elements going to entomb Discord. All I heard afterward was yelling and then complete silence. I could see right after a while, and I saw Discord’s stone format lying on the ground. I then looked for the Rainbow Flare and as if by coincidence, it came as soon as I looked. I aimed right at Discord’s petrified body and it broke into a million tiny shards. Everypony was cheering and screaming, when I heard his voice in a ghostly tone. “You may have killed me, but if I must fall, then I’ll take you down with me!” The following seconds are still blurry to me. I see a spear made out of the shards coming at me at a very fast speed, Rainbow Dash screaming, “NO!” a powerful shove and a blood-curdling scream.	 I looked around and I noticed I was still alive, but everypony was screaming and crying. Why is everyone crying? I was still alive, but that was before I looked around and found that in his last assault, his attack had made its mark. A rend at her side and a faint look in her eyes, Rainbow Dash had taken the bullet for me. I ran to her side and in a soft voice, she said “Hehe. Looks like you needed me more than you thought. Too bad I can’t safe your butt any more, huh?” “No. I won’t let you die Rainbow Dash. I will give my arms and legs just so you can live. I can’t live know that my hero died for me.” She looked surprised. “Me, your hero?” She stared crying. By this time, everyone was gathering around and watching this ordeal go down. “Well then heroes can be heroes for each other, because, Dash: You’re my hero.” It was then that she closed her eyes and went to where I guess ponies called Heaven. “No, Rainbow Dash, don’t leave me. Please. No. RAINBOW DASH!” I was so mad with Discord for killing the one inspiration I had in my life, for killing the one entity I could share reference with. I was mad at myself for allowing Rainbow Dash to take the bullet for me. I was mad because of that stupid wish, because, even though she would be Discord’s prisoner, she would still be alive if only I hadn’t come to Equestria. The angrier I got the more I started to lose control of the magic. I guess I started to show it when everypony was running and screaming things like, “He’s going to destroy the town” and “The town? He might end up destroying Equestria at this rate.” Even Princess Celestia seemed to flee. Then I heard a voice of conscience. “Dash, I know you’re hurting. We all are, but would Rainbow Dash want you to become this angry? If you don’t stop you’ll hurt innocent ponies that had nothing to do with her death. Please, let it go.” Let it go? How could I let that go?! I rejected the thought, but I had a crazy idea. I shouted, “No I will not let it go” Everyone seemed to cower at this. Then I finished, “Because I won’t have to!” This put a concerned look on everyone’s face, even Celestia’s. I focused my anger towards the power of life and focused it on one particular pony: Rainbow Dash. I called upon all my anger and all my strength to bring Rainbow Dash back. While I was doing this, I went to where I guessed was heaven and I saw Rainbow Dash there. “What are you doing here, Dash? Can you literally not live without me?” I explained how I was there and why I was there. She smiled and teared up. “Well, I wouldn’t want you crying over me being gone.” Even while she’s dead, she had a lively aspect of cockiness. I told her to take my hand and she did graciously. We seemed to almost float back down to the ground and I saw myself and Rainbow Dash’s body and we both flew into my body. I opened my eyes and sent Rainbow Dash back into her body. It must have looked amazing because even though I couldn’t see it, everyone was wooing of how it looked. After that, I couldn’t feel everything and I blacked out.
I woke up after what felt like a long sleep. I was in what looked like a hospital. The first thing a wondered was whether the whole ordeal in Equestria was just a dream. Then everyone except Rainbow Dash came in, which then shattered my dream theory. “Hey man, that was some awesome magic out there.” “I agree. I may be the best in Ponyville, but after what you did, I think even Celestia gives you respect for what you did.” Everyone was coming up and hugging me and smiling at me. I could only think of one thing. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?” “She’s in room 214, but the doc told us to…” I didn’t let them finish and I didn’t give them time to react. I was out of that bed and running down to room 214. I opened the door ever so slowly, and she seemed to be asleep. I tiptoed in right beside her and she looked ok. I looked at where she had gotten hit and it seemed all patched up, not with stitches but by some other cause. It must have been a side effect to my spell. She woke up after a while. I looked into her eyes and she looked into mine. She smiled and we hugged a good hug. The others came up and good old Pineh just had to say, “Well hello Mr. and Mrs. Dash!” It caught both of us by surprise and when we looked around everyone was crowding around us and laughing. Me and Rainbow Dash looked at each other looked at each other and it was almost as if we had the same idea. I picked her up and flew out of the window in her room. “Hey, that’s not cool man.” I just laughed and Rainbow Dash followed suite. “So, now that you’ve kidnapped me, what happens now?” I couldn’t think about it. As both me and Rainbow Dash knew, nothing special could happen between us besides a hug. I couldn’t kiss her because it would be an awkward ordeal for obvious reasons. I was trumped. I had a crazy idea, but I would need help for it. I told her to wait here for a second. She went along with it and she waited there. I then rushed back to the hospital. As soon as I was in sight, everyone was either absolutely furious with me or impressed, but I told that I had a crazy idea for Rainbow Dash’s happiness, and that quieted everyone. I told Rarity that I would need clothes just like mine that would fit Rainbow Dash’s personality. She asked where to meet when she had finished and I told her in Ponyville. Raferty went along so that he could help and before he left, I told him to tell Rarity how to make girl’s clothes. He nodded and went to catch up with Rarity.  I asked Twilight to accompany Rarity and go to Ponyville and wait for my return. She nodded and her and Twymond went out. I told everyone else to just meet in Ponyville, and one by one they all left to ponder what I had planned. I asked Spike, however to take a note to send to the Princess. He gladly stopped and pulled out paper and quill. I told Spike to write, “Dear Princess Celestia, I would be most honored if you were to assist me in a magical endeavor by meeting in Ponyville where you, Twilight Sparkle and myself may overcome this endeavor. Your Human General, Dash.” As soon as I finished, Spike asked me what exactly this endeavor was. I told him it was a surprise. A letter came from Celestia saying she would be there momentarily. I was so excited that I screamed with joy and did a flip in midair. I then flew off to retrieve Rainbow Dash. As soon as I got there, she had a question for me. “Ok, so I wait here and then you fly off and I see my friends and your friends head towards Ponyville. What is going on here, Dash?” I could only smile and ask her to take my hand. She did and we flew towards Ponyville and all I could do was smile at her. She smiled back, but I know for a fact that she wasn’t smiling as big as me. We arrived in Ponyville and everyone was there. Rarity and Raferty had the clothes ready, Twilight and Princess Celestia were ready to help me and everyone was there. I led Rainbow Dash to the center of it all. I whispered in both Twilight’s and Celestia’s ears. “Are you sure it will work Dash?” said Twilight. Celestia only smiled and said, “Well I think it’s very admirable to attempt such a thing. Though I will miss her, she will be very happy.” I start to focus on Rainbow Dash and Twilight and Celestia joined in. I could see Rainbow Dash being lifted up. “Hey. What’s going on Dash?” I smiled and told her,” Do you love me?” “Well ya, but what’s going on?” I smiled my biggest smile and said, “We are trying to turn you human.” Everyone gasped and looked surprised except Rainbow Dash who just closed her eyes and said,” Then make me beautiful.” I started focusing again and now instead of just Twilight and Celestia, every unicorn in Ponyville began to chime in. It was amazing. The will of every unicorn in Ponyville made the spell look like a first grade lesson. My mind turned into a basic assembly factory where I could choose what I wanted her to look like and what I wanted her to be able to do.  I wanted her to have her hair: rainbow colored. I wanted her to retain her flying ability, which I knew we could hide with a nice jacket. I wanted her to be athletic and independent. I kept her personality in check but I just poured that into a human body. I put wings on the body so she could fly. Then came the part of showing her what I put. She accepted and then the magic started. I didn’t get to see it, but from what I heard my friends saying, I knew the transformation was taking place. I heard magical whirring and sounds of that sort of nature, and then I heard it come to a rest. I opened my eyes and I saw my friends dressing Rainbow Dash, careful not to invade any personal areas that didn’t need to be touched. When she was dressed, I went over to her. She looked beautiful. Her hair was rainbow hued, her legs were strong, her wings looked majestic, even more so than her other wings. She opened her eyes and looked around. She stared right at me and asked in one of the calmest voices I heard her speak in, “Dash, did it work?” “Yes, yes it did” and I did the thing both her and myself longed for: we kissed. Everything seemed to melt away and it was just me and her. When we finally separated, everyone was crying with joy and just crowding around me patting me on the back and hugging me and everything of the sort. I then helped Rainbow Dash up and knowing she had had some practice walking on two legs, she only needed the firm ground by which to get up.	
Celestia came up to us and said, “Today you both can finally can be happy, and I will miss you both. I want you both to have one of these” and she brought out two little trinkets. “These will allow you to come to Equestria whenever you want to visit and I will be sending with you a device that can send letters back and forth between Earth and myself. Spike, take a note.” He got out his stuff and Celestia decreed, “I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the humans Dash and Rainbow Dash are under the protection of the Rulers of Equestria, and anyone who tries to ruin their happiness will be punished for attempting to break the bond they share.” Me and Rainbow Dash thanked her for this, and then the sad part about leaving came: the good-byes. All of Rainbow Dash’s friends were gathering around her and saying good-bye wouldn’t be forever and that she would come back to visit. I gathered my friends after they said good-bye and I told everypony, “We will be sure to come back and visit. Tell Spike to send any letters you need to me, just don’t overwork him please.” And with that I thought of home and that we wanted to go there. I took one last look around and then we were off. We landed right in front of my house, and after saying our good-byes I took Rainbow Dash into my house. My parents came up to me and looked downright furious. They were asking where I had been and why didn’t I tell them where I was going, but then they saw Rainbow Dash and asked who she was. I already had a lie made up about that and told them that she was a friend from school who needed a home because her parents had left her behind. They pitied her and said she could stay here for as long as she liked. Me and her went upstairs and saw the device that Celestia had talked about. I didn’t really feel like using it at the moment because of the fact that I still had so much to teach Rainbow Dash. I had to teach her how to do things such as read and write English and how to do math and all sorts of stuff she would need to know. It was through that time we really found our relationship. We felt like even though we had seen a lot and Rainbow Dash was indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of ponies that she was still the loyal caring pony, now person underneath. I knew that I would get a lot of questions from school like “Where were you, man?” and “What were you doing?”, but the one I thought I would hear the most would be “Dude, who’s that new hot chick?” I could tell them it was Rainbow Dash and then tell my whole story, but then either no one would believe me and think that Rainbow Dash was just a new girl who happened to suddenly like me or everyone would believe me and people would spread it around and who knows? Maybe the government will want to take her and experiment on her. I didn’t know or care for that matter. I was just happy to be with Rainbow Dash. 
After a few months, Rainbow Dash and I were chilling in my room during summer break, when we both looked at the device Princess Celestia had sent for us so that we can give letters to and from Equestria. I knew Princess Celestia would want to hear from us and I thought I would test it and started writing a letter about how I had survived the Rainbow Factory, where my dreams and happiness came true and where three single souls got through. When I finished I put it in a slot, pushed a button, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Me and Rainbow Dash just waited around to see what the Princess would write back, and when we finally got a letter back, it was a very big surprise. In the letter, she described how, apparently, after me and Rainbow Dash had left, Scootaloo had gone missing. Nopony knew where she had gone, not even Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. They had looked everywhere and even thought she might have come back to Earth with us, but she wrote that we would have already noticed. She wrote that not even her and Luna could find her, even with the guards looking for her 24/7. They even looked in Cloudsdale, but avoided the Rainbow Factory, due to the fact it was under investigation. She told us that we needed to come back to Equestria, because, through us, Scootaloo might reveal her whereabouts, and come out to see us. She told us to bring anybody we needed to help us.	
As soon as I finished reciting the letter, Rainbow Dash looked stern and said, “Classic Scootaloo; always causing trouble.” I got to thinking why it was that Scootaloo might go missing, and to a greater extent, why wouldn’t she come out after a while. It seemed crazier and crazier the more I thought about it. One thing was clear though: we needed to go back, but I also needed to tell my parents the truth about everything. I took Rainbow Dash’s hand and we went down to the living room. I told her my plan before we got downstairs, and midway, she stopped me, looked at me with a pitiful face and said, “Wait. What if they don’t approve of me when you tell them I used to be a pegasus?” “Then you and I can start a new life somewhere else.” I hugged her, making sure not to crush her wings, and we walked downstairs and I told my parents everything and I mean everything. They seemed confused at first, but they simply gave us their blessing in all we had to do. After that ordeal was over I ran right upstairs got my phone and started calling all my friends. Being my friends, I knew they would be willing to help. I needed them to help me in the effort of finding Scootaloo in what I would later call The Pegasearch.