Rainbow Dash ran up the ramparts of the Crystal Walls of the Castle of Friendship. Friendship. What a joke! Rainbow thought as she maneuvered effortlessly around the magical mines that were set in place. If I find her in there I’m going to wring her stupid neck! After what she did to Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, and Futtlershy, She’s going to pay!
Seeing the balcony doors open, the cyan pegasus opted to crash through the stained glass window instead, they were probably booby trapped anyway. As she felt her hooves start to shatter the brilliant work of art, an unseen force grabbed her from behind, and flung her in a wide arch, slamming her against the adjacent wall, before throwing her against the balcony floor. Rainbow felt the wind drive out of her body as she was then dragged through the open doors, into the semi darkness inside and then tossed, to land in her own crystalline throne at the map table.
“I was wondering when you’d come.” Twilight’s soft voice sounded distorted, as if she was one of many Twilight’s who all spoke at the same time.
Rainbow Dash, still trying to catch her breath scanned the room, shifting painfully into a sitting position so she could pounce in any direction if needed. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness of the castle. If the sky outside was clear, she’d have no problem finding Twilight in the room, after all it was wide open; but, the storm that was brewing slowly outside was one she’d never seen before, it’s dark purple and blue clouds casting a twilight state outside, and thus a near dark inside the castle itself.
For a long moment, Rainbow just sat in silence, trying to detect her once friend by sound, but nothing moved. The mute room seemed to thrum upon her ears, making her long for something to shatter it. Each second felt like an hour, and each minute an eternity. For a brief, horrifying moment, Rainbow thought that time had stopped, and the world had ended. If Twilight succeeded in her efforts, the world might as well end now, before the suffering started again. It was after ten minutes of this unbearable hush that it was broken by a soft ‘hhmm’.
“You seem to have much to say Dash,” Twilight’s multi voice whispered, now much closer than Rainbow remembered it to be when she first heard it in the room. “Why don’t you just tell me? After all, a true friend can speak her mind.”
True friend? Rainbow felt heat rise in her face, her ears swiveling to pinpoint the location of the Alicorn, so she could use her hooves to do the talking.
“I have nothing to say to you!” She spat out.
“Don’t be like that Dashie.” Twilight murmured.
Rainbow stood where she sat, planting a hoof on the table for support as she scanned the gloomy room again. “Only friends call me Dashie.” She saw a shadow of moment by one of the chairs across the table. Snapping her wings open, she growled, “And you’re not friend!”
Launching herself forward, Rainbow Dash flapped her powerful wings once before bracing herself for impact. It wasn’t until she counted to three that she realized there was nothing there, fanning out her wings to stop herself from running into the wall of the room, though she never knew it. Turning about, she felt vulnerable, knowing that she was at Twilight’s disposal. Yet, she lowered herself, readying for another lunge.
“Very well, Rainbow.” Twilight’s voice held no emotion, though there were flecks of hurt in the echoing. “But I need you to know my side of things first. Doesn’t our past friendship grant me that?”
I need her to talk more. Rainbow thought as her ears swiveled to find the origin of the voice. The longer she talks, the better chance I have of finding her.
“Fine!” Rainbow snapped. “But that’s as far as our past goes between us. You have a lot to answer for Twilight Sparkle! And I intend to make sure you do!”
The room seemed to breath as Rainbow finished her threatening. It almost seemed like the gloom lifted a shade, and a sense of relief could be felt.
“That’s all I ask,” Twilight’s many voices seemed to be happy about something. “You remember how all this began, right?”
Rainbow subconsciously nodded. “You found the hidden history of the Alicorns and Draconequus.”
“Yes!” Twilight’s voices seemed to bubble like a merry brook. “You had no idea how shocked I was that Celestia and Luna had hid it for all those years. And hid it from me, no less!”
Rainbow pivoted her ears to the right. It seemed like Twilight’s voice was coming that direction.
“I can’t tell you how sad it made me when I found their races had ended with an all out war between each other. In fact, if it weren’t for Celestia taking her sister and running, then the Alicorn race would be completely extinct! It’s truly sad.”
Even though she was talking about the end of one of the greatest races of the world of Equus, Twilight sounded like she had just been given a book on her birthday. Typical Twilight. Rainbow Dash thought, almost certain she had found her former friend in the gloom. When Twilight didn’t continue, Rainbow continued the story, hoping to keep Twilight talking just a little bit more.
“I remember that you went out and found one of their ruins,” Rainbow added sadly. “You weren’t the same when you came back.”
“I figured out how to bring them back while I was there.” Twilight’s voices stated to swell, as if the idea was enough to be joyfully over alone. “I found the answer! I can bring them all back!”
“And what?” Rainbow snapped, letting her own anger cloud her judgment. “Let them fight again? Let their war ruin the world like before? There’s a reason why they’re forgotten Twilight! I thought you’d be smarter than that.”
There was a pregnant pause as the Alicorn in the room seemed to chew the pegasus’s words for a moment.
“You really think I’m stupid?”
Funny. Rainbow bit back a snort. She almost sounds like her feelings are hurt.
“You think I didn’t make a plan for that?” Twilight demanded, her many voices bristling like an angry mob of Twilights. “I’ve put up barriers for that.”
“Is that why?” Rainbow asked quietly. “Is that why you tried killing us?”
“No, no, no, no!” The gloom started to rise more for some reason. “Not kill you! I was, I mean, errr, it’s….complicated.”
Rainbow started looking about, seeing the crystalline wall behind her. In front of her, could see shadows of the cutie map, and the chairs surrounding it.
“I wouldn’t kill you...Well, not exactly kill you, but trust me, it was important! For a good reason!”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what she felt stronger. Rage that Twilight didn’t see what she was doing was wrong and had cost the life of her closes friends, or satisfaction that her question seemed to put the Alicorn in distress.
“It’s called murder Twilight,” Rainbow stated flatly, a plan formulating in her mind. “That’s when one pony kills another, regardless the reason.”
“I didn’t murder them!” Twilight snapped suddenly. “They had a purpose! I needed their Elements! It’s not my fault that the Elements of Harmony reside in the soul of a pony.”
Rainbow blinked. “Soul of a pony?” Feeling the blood run from her face, she stood up from her aggressive stance, suddenly feeling more like flying as far away as fast as she could. “Celestia, what did you do Twilight?”
“The soul of a pony can only be accessed once a pony has expired.” Twilight explained, though the sound of clopping hooves told Rainbow she was pacing, something she usually did when she was unsure about something she was talking about. “The Elements of Harmony are bound to the soul of a pony, which is why only that pony can use them in the first place.”
Rainbow swallowed hard. “S-so, you killed them, and ate their soul?”
The hoof clops stopped. “Silly Dashie, I didn’t eat them,” Twilight seemed to giggle. “I simple ripped the Element of Harmony they held and bound them to my soul.”
Rainbow sat down hard. “R-ripped them?”
Twilight must have noticed there was something wrong with her statement, because there was a long, heavy pause before she responded. “That’s what I said.”
“Twilight! Don’t you see what you’re doing?!” Rainbow felt panic rise up in her, but even more, she felt the sudden horror of what was really happening crash down on her.
“But the Elements can help me bring back two dead races, in a way where they’ll be peaceful. Is that not good?” The gloom seemed to dissolve, and Rainbow found she was sitting with Twilight nose to nose with her. Twilight’s eyes were a swirling mix of pink, yellow, orange and purple. Her mane was floating, as if static charged, and her body seemed gaunt, like she hadn’t eaten in weeks. Upon her neck was a black spider broach that seemed to be glowing a faint purple.
“Ahhh!” Rainbow fell back and scooted away from Twilight until she was pressed up against the rough crystal wall, trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and the thing before her.
Twilight’s face was puzzled. “Rainbow?” The spider at her neck seemed to twitch it’s legs, reverberating Twilight’s voice. “Is something wrong?” The gaunt pony put a hoof out to touch her friend, to tell her that it was all okay.
“Don’t touch me!” Dash shrieked, pulling away from the hoof as much as she could.
Twilight froze, her face crumbling into sadness. “Dashie, please. Don’t be like that.” She tried to reach out again, but Rainbow flailed, kicking out with her hind hooves while twisting to find another way out. One of her hooves collided with the Spider broach on Twilight’s chest.
Twilight stumbled back, her own hooves going to where she was kicked, while a small gurgling squeal rang out. Something felt taunt in Twilight’s chest, causing her to grimace. Then, it snapped, and she cried out in pain, the spider amulet falling to the ground, where it’s legs squirmed, till it shriveled, laying still.
Rainbow Dash was halfway across the room, ready to leap off the table to soar through the high widow when she heard a heavy thud from where Twilight was. Trying to stop mid jump caused her to crash to the floor, where her vision went fuzzy for a few moments. When it cleared, she heard crying. Anguish sobs rang off the walls of the crystal room. Rainbow struggled painfully to her hooves and saw Twilight, her wings wrapped around herself where she lay on the ground. Powerful sobs wracked her body, as she wept openly. Unsure of what had happened, Rainbow saw the spider amulet on the ground, it’s little legs curled into itself. Confused, she took a step towards Twilight, this sudden change of demeanor making her second guess herself.
After a half hour of indecision, Rainbow closed the gap, touching a hoof to the shoulder of the wailing Alicorn. Twilight seemed to notice, because her cries died down enough for her to talk some.
“T-they’re g-gone aren’t they?” Her voice heaved. “I-I really...”
“Yes.” Rainbow answered, finding her throat closing up with emotion.
“...Celestia...what have I done?”