//------------------------------//
// The Story 
// Story: Her Eyes Reflect The Stars 
// by Lynwood 
//------------------------------//

It takes a little while for Dash to calm down.

"No! No, that's— that can't be true. You're wrong."

Turns out, Nothing knows a lot more about her than I do.

"I'm sorry. That's how it is with Elements. You're a Rainbow Dash now."

"No, that's not how it works. I'm me! My friends are my friends! There can't be more than—! I don't understand!"

I stand off to the side myself, rubbing a hoof on my foreleg and flittering my good wing. 

"You— you and your friends— you come, one at a time, and then go again. Nopony knows how, nopony knows why. If there's some way to tell when or where an Element will appear, nopony's figured it out yet."

"No! No, I just, I only have to find Twilight. She'll know what to do! She'll figure this out, this— this spell, or curse or whatever. She has the magic to undo it, she's a princess!" 

She finally stops rambling after stripping off her winter clothes and flying in circles for a quarter-hour straight. We're caught by surprise; she's talking and flying on and on and then she just... stops. In an instant, just like that, she stops and falls to the ground with a resolute thump.

"Rainbow!" Nothing cries. I try to shout, but my chest seizes, and I cough so badly that I have to sit down. While I catch my breath, Nothing limps to her side and helps her sit up. Dash slumps in her forelegs and her wings hang limply at her sides. It even seems like some of the vibrant color has drained from her brilliant mane.

Everypony is silent for a moment while Dash stares at the ceiling.

"...they're gone," she whispers after a long while. "My friends are gone. We're trapped, and I'm alone." Tears gather in the corners of her eyes and I swallow the lump in my throat.

Nothing doesn't say anything, but she wraps the limp mare in a tight hug. I pull off my last sweater and sit down beside them. 

"Hey, Dash." She's motionless. "We've met before, you know." Her magenta stare flicks to mine. "Before all this, when I was little, changelings were new to Equestria... ponies didn't exactly trust us. It wasn't easy." I stop to cough. Nothing gives me a worried look.

"But one day, wouldn't you believe it, the Wonderbolts performed at my hometown. When I saw them fly, with you leading the formation. It was incredible." I can't help but smile and wave my hoof in the air. "After the show, my parents took me to meet you. Do you remember? A couple and their excited little nymph."

Rainbow barely nods.

"I told you how I wished I could be a Wonderbolt, and you kneeled down and asked, 'what's stopping you, kid?' And I pointed out that I was a changeling, and there were no changelings in the Wonderbolts. Do you remember what you said to me?"

She doesn't move.

"You said, 'well then you'll just have to be the first, won't you?' Just like that." I chuckle at her twitched smile. "Obviously that didn't happen, but believe me, if it weren't for everything, you'd have seen me in that uniform."

My smile fades, but I hold her stare. "If there's anypony who has a chance of figuring out who did this and why, it's you, Rainbow Dash," I say, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "I believe that." 

"Heh," She croaks and sits up. "Thanks, Membrane."

I cough and give her a grin. "My pleasure."