Rainbow's POV (I'll be calling her Spectrum after this)
Spectrum... Unleash me. Don't be afraid of me anymore...
Voices. I always hear voices whenever I want revenge or if I didn't use my powers in a long time. Over time, I have learned to control them. Otherwise, I would turn into King Sombra, who couldn't resist the whispers of greed. I blink a few times and tell myself to calm down. My eyes turn back to their normal color and I am Rainbow once more. Not completely Rainbow but enough so I won't kill another pony.
Kill...
Twilight glances at me, "Look, Rain- I mean Spectrum. It's not too late to accept friendship. I will make sure that you are accepted here once more."
I say, annoyed, "Twilight, as much as you know about me, I am also Rainbow. I have long accepted friendship and even the Element of Loyalty has accepted me into your group of ponies." Actually, my element isn't from that. Loyalty has to run deep in order to show up. Simply refusing an offer to ponies to become a show pony in order to stop the most evil pony at that time is easy. For example, Applejack has proven to be loyal when she decided that her apple trees didn't even stand a chance to having Fluttershy as a friend. She also had given up her greatest thing (for her anyways) for her friend who wasn't herself at that time. No, my element came from something deeper. My brain tugs at me to remember and I do.
Flashback
King Sombra glowered at me, "What do you mean, you have a friend? Do you no longer understand me?" Pega and I had been friends for two years at this point. I had decided to reveal some facts to my father on this very day.
I stammered, "Y-Yes father. I have a friend, father. I don't understand why you would forcefully push them to be slave. He is the nicest pony around."
"None of my slaves are good to look at. You may have enough magic... Enough to rival mine, but you will never have my skills." With that, he blasted me with some magic (I found out that it was a walking memory spell, to see my memories) and found out that it was Pega. My father had used his magic to teleport Pega here and Pega stood up quickly. His green eyes found my pink ones and he saw father.
King Sombra laughed, "And now, Spectrum, let me show you what would happen if you ever have friends. I shall send him to limbo. Not just any kind but the type that he will feel forever. Every type of torture that you have ever used, every type that ponies have used shall be on there and he shall suffer through them all." His horn began to light at that moment and it grew brighter with each passing second. Pega already knew that there wasn't an escape from this never ending torture so he stood still, staring at Sombra. I couldn't just stand there. Just as he threw the powerful spell at Sombra, I flew and blocked the spell with my own body. His eyes widened in surprise and I turned to look at Pega. His green eyes were the last eyes I saw until I disappeared and felt my bones starting to crack.
Twilight hesitates, "Yes but Spectrum, you have never really accepted it. I must be driven to believe that you managed to fool the elements long enough. I am friends with Rainbow Dash, not Spectrum. Wait, did you replace her? Where is she?" I think that her mind is in denial. I am Rainbow, in a way, but my origin is Spectrum.
I replied, "I assure you that Rainbow Dash is just a figment of my imagination, a figure to replace me. A pony that I became. If you will excuse me, I am going to leave now."
Twilight said, "Wait. I have one more thing to ask of you."
"You have been asking a lot of questions. I reserve the right to not answer." I am making my voice as bland as I can.
"Wash off the paint and show me what you really look like." I freeze. I expect questions about the picture, the past, how I tortured ponies, and father. I never expect anypony to ask how I really look like. Should I though?
I reply, "No." I have spent years trying to avoid somepony that I can't run from. Myself. I have dyed my hair and painted my paint while enchanting it so I won't need to look at myself. I learned lost spells that let me block my memories from other ponies so they couldn't get stolen or read. I used spells to enchant myself.
Twilight unfurled her wings, "I hate to do this but as one of the Princesses of Equestria, I command you to reveal your true form."
"And I will, within time."
"Now." I see. She is afraid that I will never do it. Unfortunately for her, I am not afraid of her at all. Twilight will never hurt me, in fear that I am really Rainbow (which I am) and there is that fact where she will never hurt anypony intentionally.
Twilight twitches, "Please?" There is another part of me telling me to tell her. I owe a lot to her anyways. Twilight could've told the guards to hurt me before I was awake. Well, that would've ended in the guards' death but still. Also, Twilight is my friend, even if she sees differently. Besides, she is also very understanding and willing to accept them. One example will be Starlight. It is a good thing that I'm not the Princess of Friendship because I would've blasted her into oblivion.
I sigh, "Fine." Head high, I exit the room. Or try to anyways. There are rows of guards guarding the doors and they didn't make way for me.
You can finally unleash me now. They are blocking your path. You know that you are the true ruler of the Crystal Empire. They should be your guards. Kill them.
Never.
Instead, I fly over them. It feels good to be free again, even though I am in my room, which feels more like a prison. I look at myself and sigh. Maybe I could go somewhere else and disguise myself. What would I do if I was Rainbow? What would Pega do?
Rainbow isn't exactly from my pure imagination, if I am to be honest. When I am pretending to be Rainbow, talking about how cool and awesome something is, I remind myself of Pega. The way Pega is when I finally got him to open up to me. If Pega was here, then he would've told me to do it and then hope. I miss you Pega.
I scrape off the paint with a special roller I had created a few weeks ago. I see my dark blue fur that is bordering on black. My cutie mark was never painted on. The part of an identity I will always remember will be my cutie mark and how much I love to fly. I freeze when I finally got to my face. Fa-no Sombra did something to it when I was a little filly.
Flashback
I was flying around, grinning in the dark costume of mine. The guards made way for me. My dark blue wings were in their slots, beating as quick as a hummingbird. I loved flying but father never did. When he saw me flying, he stopped me and pulled me into a place.
Father hissed at me, "What did I say about flying? I told you that you would be punished. I always keep my promises." He levitated a knife from his desk and it floated slowly. I tried to back away but it was hard to back away when my back was already leaning onto a wall.
Father continued, "I'll make this small." The knife came closer and closer. It touched my cheek's far left side and it wrote something.
After I went back to my room, I looked at the mirror. He had written Murderer.
I gulp before closing my eyes and rolling the roller on my face. When I open them, I see my own face. It seems familiar yet so different at the same time. Now I have to do my mane. After some time, I finish scraping the paint off of my mane and I see the familiar black mane that drapes over to my left. It's smooth and down, very unlike me. I make sure that it hangs down to my left so my marking on my cheek will be hidden. There is no need for any of them to see it.
I trot out of bathroom before peeking outside. Many of the ponies don't know how I look without my costume so I should be safe. Or I can just teleport to the room. I teleport to the room with ease and surprise Twilight. She slams her book down and teleports the book out before I can make out the title.
Twilight examines me up and down, "You look very different from what I expected."
I ask, "What did you expect?"
She hesitates, "I don't know. The other girls and Sunburst are coming though. I asked the guards to get them here."
Perfect. You could kill all of them now.
I mentally kick the voice on the head.
The doors open and the girls step through. Immediately, I notice a few changes in them. Applejack is steaming, Fluttershy won't meet me in the eye, Rarity won't come close to me, Sunburst is outright staring at me, Starlight is looking down, and Pinkie Pie is blowing her party cannon everywhere. Wait, the last one is actually expected. At least somepony won't treat me differently in this place.
Pinkie blows her party cannon once more and smiles at me, "I'm almost done planning your party! I'm calling it the 'Rainbow-turns-out-to-not-be-Rainbow-but-Spectrum-and-she-is-cool' party."
Twilight put a hoof up, "Pinkie Pie. No parties yet."
Applejack says, "Actually, Ah think that a party is a great idea. Y'know, none of us are accepting Dash as Crystal." Did she just call me Crystal?
"No! Applejack, don't call her Crystal. Spectrum, please. She doesn't know about it." Crystal is reserved for Pega and Pega only. He's the one to call me that nickname. When Applejack did it, it gave me a shiver of fury,
Yes... Torture.
Maybe one simple spell won't kill her. Let me think... The bone breaking spell may hurt too much. The tongue twister will prevent her from speaking, which sounds perfect.
Applejack rolls her eyes, "What's the worst that the Pegasus can do to me?" That is the last straw for me.
I taunt, "What's the worst that an Earth Pony can do to me?"
"You're on."
Twilight's eyes widens and she teleports in between us, "No! Don't! You two are friends."
Applejack sneers, "Ah only see a pony who replaces mah friend."
"She is Rainbow as much as she is Spectrum."
"Ah don't believe it."
I interrupt Twilight, "If she doesn't believe it, then she doesn't. But this is my final warning. Do not call me Crystal." Remember how alicorns have royal voices? I do too, even though I'm not officially an alicorn. That may be because I'm still technically the ruler of the Crystal Empire or because I am trained in it.
Twilight pleads to Applejack, "Please just stop. You don't want to hit her. We are friends here."
Applejack sighs, "All right but Ah still don't accept it."
Twilight asks, "Who votes for a party?" Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity raises their hooves. Rarity probably just wants to attend a Crystal party.
Princess Cadence trots in, "I already heard about what is going on. I believe that your friend, Pinkie Pie, has already alerted ponies that there's a party in this castle." Everypony looks at Pinkie who nervously chuckles.
The princess continues, "I believe that is a great idea, although I don't want you to tell ponies that the Element of Loyalty is Spectrum. We will only pretend that it is for publicity for Flurry, who has matured more than last time. I need you to make sure that she doesn't cause massive trouble." Controlling a baby alicorn who has as much power as a powerful unicorn and as agile as Fleetfoot? I think that I may prefer to be known...