//------------------------------// // A Final Moment Averted // Story: The one where Rainbow Dash is weird // by Brosif1357 //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash pushed in vain against the bars of the cage. Damn that abomination of nature to the depths of Tartarus! She was a fool to ever think Discord could be trusted! The mere sight of Fluttershy's tear-stained face was enough to ignite an inferno of hatred in the mare. The ground trembled. Tirek had arrived. "You gathered up all of them?" came the rough voice of the centaur. "And her little dragon too!" Discord held his finger to Spike's face mockingly. The dragon snapped his jaws, but Discord pulled away too quickly. What Rainbow Dash wouldn't give to see that finger bitten off... "Why are you doing this?" cried Fluttershy. Applejack held the pegasus as sobs wracked her body. "I thought we were friends!" Discord just scoffed. "Oh we were. But Tirek offered me so much more than just teaparties! Surely you saw this coming?" "I didn't," she buried herself in Applejack's shoulder. "I really didn't!" I did, Rainbow Dash thought. The cage was suddenly surrounded in a golden aura. It trembled and was lifted off the ground. Rainbow Dash gulped as she came face to face with Tirek himself. His jaws opened wide and Rainbow Dash cried out in pain as her very essence was torn from her. For the first time in decades, her wings failed her. This feeling... it was awful. Some intangible thing she had lived with her whole life was missing. Rainbow Dash felt like a fish suddenly pulled from the ocean. She was choking. She barely felt it as the cage was dropped carelessly to the floor. Through half-closed eyes, Rainbow Dash could see her friends all in similar states of silent agony. Tirek grew taller, now towering over even the tallest buildings of Ponyville. He clenched his fists, testing the limits of his new strength. Turning to address Discord, Tirek began to speak. "You really think she'd do anything for-," Tirek began, only to collapse as a scream of pain and terror was ripped from him. The noise only worsened when a distorted rainbow image of the centaur fell forward. Another image reeled backwards, falling to the ground with a thud. Flashes of rainbow light arced out around the multiple forms, each of them tortured by the impossibility of their own existence. One cried molten tears and the other spun around wildly, only causing more probabilities to be violently split apart then merged together only seconds later. The imprisoned mares watched in horror at the visceral display. Applejack and Spike were struck by a sick fascination while Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had all closed their eyes in a desperate attempt to block it all out. Even Discord seemed disturbed. Rainbow Dash paled with each light. That was her magic doing this to Tirek. It was a harrowing thought to know that she might suffer the same fate one day. "What's happening to me?!" One Tirek managed to cry. He watched as his hands shimmered and glitched back and forth. But somepony must have heard the centaur's pleas, because the screams were mercifully cut short. Seeing the frozen expressions of her friends, it wasn't hard to tell what happened. But she wasn't the only thing still moving through the stutter. A rainbow glow leaked out of the many Tireks. In his frozen state, he no longer had the ability to force his will over an energy that obeyed it's own law of time. As the stutter collapsed and as her friends began to move again, Rainbow Dash found herself no longer feeling that lethargic choking sensation. She gave her wings a few quick flaps and felt the familiar pull to the sky. Now we're talking! She could bust out of this cage and save her friends while Tirek was still incapacitated! But to her surprise, Tirek stood before them like nothing had changed. "You really think she'd do anything for them?" Tirek said to Discord. The draconequus looked at Tirek like he'd grown a second head. And this was coming from the Chaos God himself, who regularly did grow a second head. "Are... are you alright?" Discord asked after a long pause. The imprisoned mares exchanged confused looks. Tirek was scrambling around in pain only a few seconds ago, so what changed? "Any ideas Dashie?" Rarity whispered, eyeing the centaur cautiously. Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Don't look at me, I'm just as confused as you are." They turned back to watch the two villains exchange words. "What are you talking about? I'm fine!" Tirek growled. "Now answer my question!" Discord looked unsure, but he complied. "If Twilight has magic to give, it will be yours." "Then it would seem I no longer have a use for you." "Excuse me?" Discord said in a small voice. He was plucked off the ground and held in place before Tirek's waiting jaws. "You helped me grow strong! You provided the means by which I can obtain Princess Twilight's magic!" Tirek's voice lowered to a menacing whisper. "And now you are no longer of any use to me." His jaws opened and a surge of unnatural energy was drawn from Discord. The draconequus wriggled desperately as his magic was forcefully drained from him. When he was finished, Tirek let the limp form of his once-ally drop to the ground unceremoniously. Sweet Celestia... Rainbow Dash though she'd find more gratification in seeing the traitor brought low. But that was real pain on Discord's face. Betrayal cut deep. Rainbow Dash knew that in a way only the Element of Loyalty could. Discord held out his medallion weakly. "But you said this was a sign of your gratitude and loyalty! A gift, from someone close to you." Poor Discord. Creatures like Tirek had no loyalty. Rainbow Dash looked that centaur in the eyes and all she saw was a single-minded desire to devour everything. Such a creature was incapable of seeing the worth in others beyond what others could provide for them. And Discord was no longer capable of providing. "My brother who betrayed me," Tirek turned to give Discord one last hateful stare. "It is as worthless as he is." Tirek left Discord to wallow in the dirt, not even sparing a backwards glance. "Surely you saw this coming?" Applejack asked. Discord looked back with woeful eyes. "I didn't. I really didn't." Applejack stepped back from the cage wall. "On three! One... Two... Three!" The five ponies and dragon all charged forward, only to bounce back off the iron bars. Rainbow Dash growled in frustration. This was getting them nowhere! Twilight was out fighting that magic-devouring monster and they were stuck in here helpless! "Alright, let's try one more time!" Applejack encouraged. "One... Two... Three!" They charged once more, to no avail. Applejack was sent sprawling into Rarity who fell down onto Pinkie Pie. Spike and Fluttershy were exhausted and Rainbow Dash herself had a nasty bruise on her snout. Even with her magic this was impossible. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash was hovering up in the air. She leapt back instinctively, only to find herself pressing back into the soft surface of a bubble. Far beneath her, Twilight stood defiantly before Tirek with devastated land surrounding them. Cold fear clutched at the heart of the pegasus. Up here, Tirek made her alicorn friend look like an ant. "How about a trade, Princess Twilight? Their release, for all the alicorn magic in Equestria!" Twilight gasped. Her eyes met each of them in turn. Ignoring their protests, Twilight gulped and approached Tirek. "No, don't do it Twilight!" Rainbow Dash ordered. "We aren't worth it!" Fluttershy said, silently pleading for Twilight to stop. The sounds of her friends faded around Rainbow Dash. All that mattered right now was that she convey to Twilight how bad of an idea this was. If Tirek had that magic, he'd be unstoppable. Equestria would fall. Please Twilight, don't choose us over Equestria. "Enough!" Tirek shouted, silencing them all. "I want an answer and I want it now!" Twilight paused, then glared up at the centaur. "I will give you my magic, in exchange for my friends!" Damn it! Why Twilight? Equestria needs you more than it needs us! "As you wish," Tirek sneered. He clicked his fingers, releasing the five mares and baby dragon. They fell to the ground with a thump. Seeing Discord still floating in the air, Twilight's eyes narrowed. "All my friends!" "After the way he has betrayed you, you still call him a friend?" "Release him!" she ordered. Tirek shrugged. "As you wish." Discord landed roughly on the ground. He looked up at Twilight, not believing his eyes. "Thank you, Twilight," And with a remorseful look, he turned to Fluttershy. "I'm sorry." "I know," Fluttershy whispered. Those words were touching, but Rainbow Dash could only look on in mounting dread as Tirek looked down at Twilight with a hungry glint in his eye. "Your turn!" They could only watch as Twilight's magic was forcefully siphoned away. The poor mare struggled instinctively, but soon there was nothing more she could give. Twilight fell to the ground, no longer having the strength to even stay upright. Tirek screamed his triumph to the heavens as his body swelled with magic. Even the mountains were dwarfed by the centaur now. Rainbow Dash galloped over, feeling completely useless. She couldn't do a damn thing to stop Tirek now. "Twilight, what were you thinking!" Spike cried, helping the alicorn back to her feet. Hope seemed to have abandoned the seven friends. They shared a silent mourning, now that Tirek's victory seemed all but guaranteed. But they were interrupted by the arrival of another. "Tirek tricked me into believing he could offer me something more valuable than friendship," Discord hung his head low. "But there is nothing worth more. I see that now. He lied when he said this medallion was given as a sign of gratitude and loyalty," He looked up, and Rainbow Dash could see the depths of remorse in his eyes. "But when I say that it is a sign of our true friendship, I'm telling the truth." He hung the necklace over Twilight. She looked down at it, her eyes widening in realisation. "You think that might be the last one we need?" Applejack gestured to the necklace with an uncertain look. "We have to get to the chest!" Was Twilight's only reply. But just as the group began to gallop off, they were interrupted by a booming voice. "I really hate to spoil this precious moment," Tirek spoke from high above them. Looking up at the way the centaur now seemed to dominate the sky itself, Rainbow Dash could only feel terror. Her pupils dilated in fear as arcs of orange energy raced up Tirek's horns. A ball of energy brighter than the sun appeared , glowing brightly against the red sky. With a snarl, Tirek fired a blinding beam of energy straight towards Twilight. "DIE!" Time seemed to slow as the beam approached. Perhaps it did, at least for Rainbow Dash. There would be no dodging this attack. She didn't have enough time to even save herself, let alone anyone else. As far as Rainbow Dash was concerned, this would be the end of her and the friends she loved like a family. And yet she instinctively knew she could do something. There was a strange energy simmering just beneath her flesh. It had always been there, but only after having it taken away did Rainbow Dash realise it existed. There wasn't enough time to save her friends... but perhaps that could be changed? She reached deep inside to coax this energy to the surface and in a burst of colour her wings began to shimmer with strange rainbow light. Though they glitched and shifted through time, it brought no pain to Rainbow Dash. The deathly beam of energy was now close enough to feel it's heat. Rainbow Dash gathered the energy to the tips of her wings. In her mind, all she wanted was to save her friends. The rest was instinct. She leapt into the sky and flexed her wings against the weight of time, sending a pulse of rainbow light out across the battlefield. Time resumed. The eight friends clutched each other tightly, wanting to spend their final moment together before they were all vaporised into nothing. But when the fiery inferno never arrived, they cautiously opened their eyes. Only to leap back in fright. The great beam of energy was mere metres from them, surrounded in a rainbow bubble of frozen time. "Wow..." Twilight breathed out, staring up at the halted fireball in awe. "What happened?" Applejack asked, looking between her friends. But even Discord looked confused. Far above them, Tirek's face was petrified in an expression of triumphant glee. He was completely and utterly frozen. But Rainbow Dash had little energy left to enjoy victory. Exhaustion set in, causing her legs to fail beneath her. She teetered, only to be caught by Fluttershy. Meanwhile, the rest of the Mane 6 looked at the blue pegasus with varying looks of disbelief. "I... I think Rainbow Dash froze Tirek," Twilight said after a long pause. Pinkie Pie raised a hoof to the bubble, but Rarity pulled her away. "Well I suggest we get out from underneath the deadly beam of energy," Rarity suggested. "I don't think this bubble will last." As if to prove her point, the fireball twitched a few centimetres closer. Staring it down, Applejack gulped. "Good idea. Let's head to the castle before Tirek starts trying to kill us again." Rainbow Dash was carried between Applejack and Fluttershy as they galloped off. Only a few metres into the safety of the Everfree Forest, they all had to duck when a tremendous shockwave exploded out across the land. Twilight gave a cautious look backwards, only to see a mushroom cloud hovering over the spot they'd been mere minutes ago. This key better work.