//------------------------------//
// M. U. R. D. E. R. E. R. 
// Story: The True Dark Daughter of the Crystal Empire 
// by Silver Shadows 
//------------------------------//

Spectrum's POV
I stand up quickly and I quickly shake my mane to cover up the scar. Pinkie sees the word anyways, probably breaking the fourth wall as she does so. I flap my wings and bolt out of the place, choosing flight over fight for once in my life. Pinkie looks at me and from her bouncing hooves, I know that she's going to appear where I fly to. I land down, knowing to never bet with Pinkie Pie. I glance around before looking in front of me. The pink pony is already bouncing in front of me, getting closer to my face. My wings ruffle but I don't flee this time. 

Pinkie flips me over, "Specty! Wanna play hide and seek again? I win!" Specty? I squirm in her firm grip, even though her hooves seems like jelly at times. 

I gasp, "Pinkie. Too. Tight." 

She gets off of me quickly, "Oops, sorry." My mane falls out of my left cheek and the worst thing is that the scar is bleeding once more. It's painful but I don't say anything. If I try to teleport, Pinkie will only follow me. Although that pony isn't the brightest bulb, she is a really bad secret keeper. 

Pinkie looks at me closely, "Did you pour red paint on your cheek 'cause that thing looks a little red."

She gasps before I can do anything, "Those are letters. M is for Maze. U is for Urgent. R is for Race. D is for Day. E is for Eggs. R is for Rain. E is for Equestria and the R is for Rainbow."

I sigh, "This isn't an acronym, Pinkie."

She bounces, "Oooh... Let me guess. Let me guess! It's another way to say PBFs but in ancient times."

"No."

"Another way to bake a cake?" How does she pull out that from the word, 'Murderer'?

"No." I am starting to wonder when I'm going to snap. Sometimes, she really sounds like she's only playing dumb, like now.

"Does it mean Rainbow in Spectradurian?"

I think out loud, "What in Equestria is Spectradurian?" Maybe asking Pinkie that particular question isn't the best idea but it slips out of my mouth without a second thought. Within five seconds, she grabs me and stares at me as if I have gone insane. Have I? I've been tortured for what seemed to be eons, I killed and murdered, I basically took on my best friend's personality... Who am I?

Pinkie says, "No wonder you don't know. I just made it up." She releases me and I take a few quick breaths, happy about the fact that my lungs have not been squashed apart into pieces.

She chuckles, "Spectradurian is a language that you make up, silly filly. You're Specty and you're making up a language. Duh. Sometimes, I wonder how much Twilight has rubbed on to you." 

"Twilight rubbing on me? Pinkie..."

"No silly. It's still you Rainbow, you silly filly. You can't be something for so long and then completely go back to you. You're still Dashie but even better because you're Spectrum." With that, she bounces away to bug the mare who is selling cotton candy. Meanwhile, I flap my blue wings and my hooves lifts off from the ground. Almost out of habit, I use my mane to cover the scar again, although I do glance at Pinkie for another moment. I want some time alone, to think that I used to. Is Pinkie right? Do I no longer have the real me in me? 

"Hey Rainbow Dash! You're a really cool flyer," Scootaloo said years ago.

"Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!" The crowds cheered my name after I saved ponies.

"I'll let you on to a little secret Scootaloo," I had said when I revealed my secret about nightmares.

"Go Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cheered when I was practicing.

I did enjoy it a long time ago. Will I ever be able to again, but with my real name? I glance around, my eyes darting around as I check my surroundings. Everypony is still looking at me as if I am a deadly murderer, which I was. I flap my wings and go back to the palace, not allowing the guards to notice my, lest I draw attention to myself. I disappear into my room and trot around, my hooves clapping against the crystal floor.

Kill... Murder... Torture...

The voice echoes in my mind as I trot around. 

Be free to kill and to torture. Remember how much fun we had?

I mentally slap the voice in my head and shout, "Shut up!" Immediately, the door to my room opens up and Twilight rushes in. 

She asks quickly, "Is everypony okay? Rain-Spectrum, who are you talking to?" She asks the latter question after noticing that I am the only pony there. 

Applejack trots in behind her, "Howdy Twilight. Ah heard a shout here. Need somethin'?"

Fluttershy crawls in, her mane covering most of her face, "I'm so sorry for interrupting but I heard something here. Is everyone intact?"

Rarity trots in, face looking very annoyed, "I was just going a very important meeting, darlings, and I would appreciate it if I was not to be disturbed. Twilight, did you need something?"

Twilight says, "No, I don't but Rainbow here does."

I say, sounding annoyed, "I am Spectrum."

She hesitates before sighing in defeat, "I mean Spectrum." 

"It's nothing, Twi."

Pinkie pops up from absolutely nowhere, holding a large cotton candy stick, "It's not nothing, silly filly. I bet that you cheek is hurting lots right now! Want some cotton candy?" 

Rarity steps forwards, "Darling, does your cheek hurt?" 

Fluttershy rushes forwards with a kit and she quickly began taking out bottles of medicine, "Quick, Spectrum. Where does it hurt? Can I help?" 

I put a hoof up, "Everypony, my cheek does not hurt. Pinkie's only exaggerating a little bit." 

Applejack moves closer and glances at my face, "Wait for a gosh darn moment, Spect. Is that blood on your cheek or am Ah wrong about it?" She pulls my mane aside and they all see the scar and that it's bleeding, if only slightly. Fluttershy began to clean the cut, sending pain through my body.

I shout, "Enough! Fluttershy, I don't need any help. The rest of you have no trust in me and if you could just stop either looking at me like a timberwolf or a wounded bunny, then I would be happy! I'm out of here." 

Twilight holds a hoof up, before blocking the windows, "Rain-Spectrum, you don't know what you're doing." With my mind clouded by anger, I use my wings and blow her away from the window before flying away. 

As I fly, I think a lot. Am I right to shout at them when they have been standing by me the whole time? Even though I've been lying to them ever since I've met them, they still treat me kindly. My scar on my cheek throbs once more and I look down before seeing that I'm dripping blood down.

Twilight's POV
I watch Spectrum fly away and I flap my wings, ready to chase her. I didn't care that she knocked me down to the floor but if she dared hurt a single fur on a pony, it is my responsibility to stop her. It hurts me with how little trust I give her but for the sake of Equestria, I must. Still, she is my friend and no matter what she says or looks like, she is still one of my best friends. Rainb-Spectrum is still the most loyal pony I know and she will do anything for her friends, if we are even that right now. If I let her go, she might as well as be gone forever.

I use my magic to open the windows all the way and prepare to fly through it to catch up, when Fluttershy whispers, "Stop." Out of everypony, she is the one taking this the hardest, yet she is still one of the ponies who are the most accepting of Spectrum. Against my conscience, I stop and look down, waiting for a reason. 

Fluttershy says, "Twilight, I know that you are taking this rather hard but please, we aren't giving her any room. She needs to accept this part too. She's been hiding for so long but I know that she can do it. Let's just give her a little room and time, okay?"

Applejack throws her hat down, "Fluttershy, Ah think that you are wrong. Ah've seen when that darn pony gets angry and that is something we don't need for the Empire. She could be out there torturing and we ain't thinking about it? Ah agree with Twilight. We should do somethin'."

Fluttershy takes a deep breath, "I know that you want everypony to be safe, Applejack, and I do too but when we gave Discord some space and time, look how much he has improved."

I say, "Actually, we had a fail save thing back then with the elements, even if you did refuse to use yours. There was always an alternative option during those events."

"Why is she the element of loyalty then?" I am not listening. I can still see some of Spectrum's dark tail from this place and this is my last chance to catch up to her. I flap my wings and leap out of the window. Fluttershy didn't even try to grab me but a pull from my tail stops me. I look behind and I see Applejack pulling on my tail with her mouth. I look at the skies and scowl at the blue sky. Spectrum slipped away and I lost my only chance of catching up to her. Applejack pulls me back into the room and Rarity uses her magic to close the windows.

Applejack releases my tail, "What was that all about? Ya know that ya can't catch up to her, right?"

I sigh, "I-I know but-"

Fluttershy takes a deep breath, "Twilight, the problem is that you... I warned you to not go. She needs to cool off."

"That's not Rain-"

"I know that's not Rainbow," she half-shouts, sounding like a normal pony instead of her whispery voice, "I know! But is it possible to hide her personality and her heart for that long! No! It isn't!"

"I-"

"No, I need to finish. You are only caring about your own curiosity in these matters."

Pinkie squeals, "Ooh, that reminds me. Remember the teeny tiny scar she has?"

Fluttershy takes a deep breath, "Sorry Twilight."

I shake my head, "I deserve it. Remind me to apologize to her after."

Rarity replies to Pinkie Pie, "Of course I do. I can only imagine how the red stands out in her magnificent coat."

Pinkie asks, "What does M, U, R, D, E, R, E, R, stand for? I know that it's an acronym of some sort."

I snap to attention, "An acronym? I seriously doubt it. Those letters spell murderer and she would never carve that onto herself for sure. Unless it was a style back then... I wish that there are more books about the past. The Crystal Library only covers so much and nopony wants to talk about their pasts. They say that it brings back too many unwanted memories."

"Oooh. Murderer! You are so smart Twilight."

"Did someone say murderer?" A regal voice asks from the door. I turn around to see Cadence. 

Before I can stop Pinkie, she quickly explains, "So you know how Specty has a scar on her cheek and wouldn't let us see it for random reasons that I can not remember. Actually I do remember that I forgot to take the cake out of the oven from Sugar Cube Corner but this is waaay more important so this is first. Anyways there is a scar that says murderer and we are trying to figure it out."

My sister in law turns to me, "Twilight?"

I sigh, "Long story short, there's a small scar on Rain-Spectrum's cheek that has the word Murderer on it. Cadence, why are you here?"

She gulps, "The remains of King Sombra has been found. Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"He's starting to reform."