The old false-armor bit! Sonata possessed the armor Fleetfoot was wearing to make it look as though the latter wasn’t present, to allow the far defter Fleetfoot to be the one to approach. If anything, Dust was angrier at herself for falling for a classic misdirection than whatever amount of betrayal Fleetfoot was up to.
At least she didn’t need to feel ashamed about being outrun by Sonata anymore.
“Okay, what the crow is going on here?” Dust leaned into her hoof, pressing Fleetfoot down. “Why are you helping those ghosts?!”
“They’re not with Crater Cemetery,” Fleetfoot said. “Pay attention to Sonata next time. Her chains are gone.”
“Cool? Should I care for some reason? A ghost is a ghost. And that one just put a death curse on me, answer my question for real this time or I go back to smashing you.”
“They’re not after us. Sonata already undid the death curse.”
True nothing bad had happened in a little while. But Dust’s psychic perception wasn’t good enough to tell that for sure.
“Those two have their own mission here.” Fleetfoot managed to get out from under Dust’s loosening grip. “That’s not important. What’s important is that this summoning spell is ripping the world apart far more than any of us thought it would. It needs to be stopped immediately and this was the only way to force Flash Bang to come out here to help.”
Lightning Dust frowned and glanced backward. Behind her Sonata flew through a wall screaming. That pony with a flaming sword still chasing her. Flash was being unusually cautious today. Scratch that, she was always too cautious for Dust.
“Come on.” Fleetfoot put a hoof on Dust’s shoulder. “I know you’re a real pegasus. You don’t want to shy away from a fight like this any more than I do. But we need Flash if we’re going to win. Starlight has to fight through seven demons before she can try to stop the ritual. If we can take out one or two of them for her…”
Dust knew that pony was just saying what she thought would get Dust to go along. She wasn’t as dumb as everypony seemed to think.
Instead, she took a moment to think about it from her vantage point. Could she kill one of those big demons by herself? It’d be nice to know where she stood. And if Dust could pull it off maybe she’d finally get some respect.
On the other hoof, as much as she hated Sonata Dusk, Lightning Dust would hardly get bragging rights for that one. She’d probably get a chance to kill that banshee later, anyway.
“Maybe.” Dust smiled, sly. “But I want a chance to fight one of those demons you mentioned alone.”
“I don’t think,” Fleetfoot began but realized the futility of her objection. “Alright, whatever. When Flash gets here, tell her I chased the banshee here alongside you.”
Fleetfoot led them to the hole in the Phoenix King left by the airship ramming into it. A testament to the construction of this thing, the hole was much smaller than Dust expected.
Looking out there made Dust glad she came over during the mosquito phase of things. The current one left a maze of tendrils hanging off the ship and reaching off for what must have been over a mile. The lines of violet light would form into boxes and attempt to crush whatever was inside of them.
Through this, Dust could indirectly tell where Flash Bang was. No other pony Dust knew could have dodged that many attempted crushings in a row. An explosion that forced a particularly threatening array of tendrils back made Dust even more certain it was her.
Flash Bang with Spitfire behind her landed on the edge of the hole. It seemed everypony who could have made it through was here. From off in the distance, the rest of the team began bombarding those tendrils on the off chance that would hurt the monster it was connected to.
“Flash! We already dealt with the banshee,” Fleetfoot lied with a salute. “Starlight’s only defeated one of the demon generals so far. If we take out one or two of them, we can help her get through this faster.”
Flash looked to Dust for confirmation who nodded.
“No sense in delaying now.” Dust smacked her forehooves together. “We’ll go above deck and attack those demons right away.”
And Flash still kept silent a moment longer, perhaps trying to think of any possible objection. But there was none.
“I’m worried about what these ghosts might be after,” said Flash. “There was another one here, wasn’t there? I want to know what they’re after.”
“I think we have bigger concerns here!” Spitfire shot back.
“We can’t be sure. Crater Cemetery is just as dangerous.” Flash Bang walked deeper into the ship. Upon noticing nopony else was following, she turned back briefly. “You have my word we’ll go above deck once we find their target.”
Flash and Spitfire had a stare-down. Neither could make another push without revealing their hand completely. In the end, they agreed to that silent compromise.
The bluff was continued on both sides. Honestly, Dust had no idea what to expect heading down. One of them was about to be in a much worse position in a second.
Before reaching it, Sonata’s ‘battle’ with that other pony interrupted them. The wall melted. Sonata was nowhere to be seen but Starlight’s follower came charring out, looking confused at first as Sonata must have just given him the slip.
He turned to find Flash Bang and the others. A thrill of panic as he took a step back. Flash was much faster with her spear. The Longinus appeared at her side. One of its powers was the ability to be thrown yet remain in your hooves, a mere temporary copy projecting itself forward.
Flash merely pointed the spear and the ephemeral copy appeared, piercing the leg of the stallion. And he was lucky, as it could have just as easily been his neck. Flash must have wanted to use this pony to announce their presence.
The spear vanished and they retreated.
Now nothing would be between them and their target. It didn’t take much searching before they found it either.
Dust had to take a moment to pause. Standing in the room just next to them was that same armor they had just fought! She assured herself it couldn’t be Nightmare Moon controlling it again. Nailbat managed to take possession of it and that sickening aura was gone.
It had to be some spook under his command. That explained everything.
Flash readied her spear. The ghost in the armor faced them but made no move. That gave the pegasi time to study the room. Behind Fluttershy were multiple ponies, and prisoners, wrapped in purple ribbons of some kind. Of them, Dust recognized two. Rainbow Dash and Trixie.
The armor spoke. Possessing an object distorted the ghost’s voice so even if Dust had met them before she wouldn’t have recognized it through this added graveliness.
“Wait!” The armor called to them. “I don’t want to fight you. I’ll merely take Rainbow Dash and leave.”
“Why?”
The armor didn’t respond.
“Dash is no matter to you, is she?” It at last asked.
“I’d rather not take the chance,” Flash said flatly. “These ponies are clearly of strategic value to somepony be it Starlight or you. I say we get rid of all these prisoners and the ghost.”
Spitfire swallowed her horror and stepped forward.
“We can’t just kill Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire objected.
“Why? Even this ghost says she’s no matter to us.”
Spitfire balked for a moment before responding.
“Because we don’t have time for this! You gave us your word we’d join the fight! The ghost isn’t after us so we need to leave. Now.”
“I’ll be the one doing most of the fighting up there. And I can spare one of you. Dust.” Flash turned to her. “You take care of these ghosts… and the prisoners.”
Probably another attempt at slowing things down. Yet Dust couldn’t help but smile.
This victory could mean a lot. Taking out a witch and Rainbow Dash both. Even under these conditions, it’d propel her reputation beyond anything it had been. Despite word getting out Dash was a fake, the truth would never be 100% out there. Ponies would always wonder. Yet if Dust could say she was the one who took her down.
Dust smiled at the prospect.
“Alright,” said Dust, cracking her neck. “I’ll catch up with the three of you when I’m done.”
Fleetfoot had to stop a horrified look from overtaking her face, instead turning to Spitfire to see her reaction. Spitfire remained still, trying to remain stone-faced as she weighed her options. Rainbow Dash had no strategic value to them. Not enough to risk losing everything, to endanger so many lives including their own.
She wasn’t about to put her neck on the line for any of these ponies.
So in the end, Spitfire gave only a slightly apologetic look towards the ghost before heading off with Flash Bang.
Dust stepped forward.
“Don’t do this!” The ghost put up a wall of ice between them. “There’s no reason for us to fight!”
Dust flew forward and nearly slammed through the wall with one punch.
“No!” Sonata decided to return just then, coming out of the ground to take a swipe at Dust. It practically looked like she missed on purpose.
“Hurry up! I can’t keep this up much longer!” Sonata screamed through the barrier of ice, doing her best to stall as long as possible.
She couldn’t actually attack Dust. Just annoy her enough to remain the target then dodge.
Fluttershy looked over the scene, unsure of what to do. She had no idea what kind of cage this was. Her only clue was that the ponies held by the ribbons were very still as if in some manner of stasis. She also remembered Rainbow Dash had been badly injured.
Instead, her eyes turned to Trixie. She wasn’t visibly injured. That gear that was on her, the TCU, had been partially removed but hunks of metal still hung off her. Maybe that was the better option to try and free first? Trixie would regenerate from nearly any wound and potentially know what was going on.
Fluttershy put her hoof on the ribbon suspending Trixie. She felt magic coursing through it and into her on contact. It was trying to do something to her, but the adamantium of her doll refused to change. Almost no spell could have any direct effect on this armor, Fluttershy decided. As long as it wasn’t targeting the ghost within.
Still unsure of herself, Fluttershy grabbed two points and tugged them in hopes of breaking a small chunk off. It worked better than she hoped. Not only did the ribbon snap but it appeared unstable when incomplete, dissolving away in an instant.
Trixie stumbled back into motion, convulsing and spasming on the floor. But as Fluttershy hoped, she began to recover from whatever horrible condition she was in. Just more slowly than normal. She looked up at Nightmare Moon’s armor only half awake.
“It’s me, Fluttershy,” she whispered to Trixie. “I’m getting you and Rainbow Dash out of here.”
Trixie looked over to Dash with a hungover look. Another moment of rubbing her head and Trixie was ready to stand up.
“I remember now. It was good you freed me first,” said Trixie. “Starlight nearly killed the Rainbow Dash. These temporal distortion ribbons were the only thing keeping her alive. Make it hard to free her, you know?”
“They were the only thing?”
Trixie scratched her chin, looking Dash over.
“I saw some things before the end. That filly Starlight keeps with her, the one who’s apparently friends with Applebloom’s sidekick?”
Fluttershy shook her head, unable to remember anypony like that in the heat of the moment.
“Well she seemed conflicted on the whole killing Rainbow Dash thing. I saw her use some kind of magic on Dash Starlight wasn’t looking. Healing magic isn’t easy. But if my guess is right…”
Trixie trotted over to Dash and looked her over carefully. Knowing nothing about magic, Fluttershy could hardly follow. But it was good to note that somepony on Starlight’s side weren’t completely hostile to them. Maybe Scootaloo, wherever she was, managed to convince them to save Dash?
At last, Trixie found what she was looking for and smirked at her own brilliance.
“I see now! Yes, with a little work, I can finish spreading the injury across her whole body so she won’t be dead or completely paralyzed.” Trixie struck a pose, ready to commence with the magic. “Watch as Trixie–”
Became enveloped by such an intense electric current that her body glowed white and lit up the room. She was left with scorch marks and missing fur when it was done, but those healed before Fluttershy’s eyes.
Trixie let out a cough, then put a hoof on her collar.
“It seems the TCU wasn’t entirely removed.” Trixie winced. Another attempt at magic left her shocked again. “But Trixie can make do! I don’t want to admit it, but… I do owe Rainbow Dash.”
Trixie braced herself and made a second attempt at magic. This one lit her up again, but Trixie clenched her teeth and bore the pain. The electricity that coursed through her would have been enough to fry a pony completely already, Trixie only surviving thanks to her regeneration. Yet even that didn’t hold. The voltage ate through her body just slightly faster than she could regrow it.
Still, Trixie pressed on, desperately trying to complete the spell placed on Rainbow Dash.
It seemed an immense undertaking for Trixie to turn her eyes to Fluttershy who got the message. She ran up to the ribbon and ripped it open. Dash fell to the ground. A sudden flash threw Trixie back against the wall. Fluttershy quickly averted her gaze from how burnt up Trixie had become, knowing she’d be fine again soon.
Instead, Fluttershy turned her attention to Dash, gasping repeatedly with her eyes wide open.
“I can’t…” Dash panted staring up at the ceiling.
“It’s me, Fluttershy!” Fluttershy reassured Dash. “Please. Try lifting one of your legs.”
Dash remained dazed for a minute, but the request registered in her brain. With some effort, she raised a rear leg just slightly.
Good. That meant she hadn’t been left paralyzed.
“How bad is she?” Fluttershy turned to Trixie.
“I’m not sure what kind of powers that child has but my best guess is this spread the damage of a lethal injury across her body,” said Trixie. “She’s not in good shape but I don’t think…”
The ice wall shattered. Sonata Dusk came spinning into the room, reeling from a punch. Lightning Dust soon followed her.
A large chunk of Sonata’s ghostly form was missing now, almost an entire leg and much of her torso. The edges of the missing chunks were like frayed cloths, thread-like whisps of light dangling off them and floating in the air.
Fluttershy had seen ghosts injured before. They began to ‘unravel’ like this. The missing chunks of their bodies would recover, as long as they didn’t cross a lethal threshold.
“I can’t lose much more,” Sonata warned. “But for you, I’ll gladly die!”
“That won’t be necessary.” Trixie stepped forward. “Even like this and without a spellbook I bet I can crush that pony!”
Trixie declared. She tried moving her neck in a complete circle but got shocked again.
“Why did it go off that time?!” Trixie whined.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Lightning Dust. “Even if you are a witch, I can take you out in this shape.”
“Oh yeah?” Trixie stepped forward.
“Um! Wait!” Fluttershy stopped her and whispered to Trixie. “I’m supposed to be giving peace a chance.”
Trixie turned a narrow gaze to Dust, then back to Fluttershy.
“Is now really a good time for that?”
“I promised an evil god I would be a pacifist or else. Maybe you can just… distract her a little?”
“You what?!”
Dust pounced on Trixie, slamming her hooves into Trixie.
“Gah! Why does it have to be electricity with her too?!”
Dust began wailing on her with a fury few ponies would have withstood, eventually pinning Trixie against a wall and slamming her electrified fists into Trixie’s chest. Trixie was the world’s greatest punching bag! She could hold out for days. Maybe.
“We need to think of a way to get out of here,” Fluttershy said to Dash.
“Why?”
Fluttershy paused, looking down at Dash.
“W-why?” Fluttershy asked. “Because um. This isn’t a good place? Somepony’s doing this apocalypse summoning spell and…”
“No. Why me? Why…? Why did you bother coming here?” Dash managed to reach a hoof to her face and whip away the tears Fluttershy had until now hoped were from physical pain. “You could have gone to help Rarity or- or Twilight or… or anypony who mattered! Just any random pony but me.”
Fluttershy looked only briefly back at Trixie who had at least managed to get away from the wall and was now trying out spells to misdirect Dust. She’d have to keep it up a while longer.
This was the real problem Fluttershy had to deal with. Even more than the demons, than those pegasi. Fluttershy would not let the pony who saved her talk like this.
Feeling Fluttershy’s concern, Sonata drifted close, watching the specter carefully.
“Because we need you, Rainbow Dash,” said Fluttershy.
“For what?! I haven’t done anything but grift off other ponies and make everything worse! Everything went horribly wrong because I stirred up too much shit that I never had any ability to deal with. I’m the least important member of the team so why the crow are you here?!” Somewhere Dash found the strength to at least sit up. But no more than that.
“That’s not true. You’re the most important member of our team.”
“Fluttershy! My only power is to turn into a bunch of crows and run away. I’m only slightly useful and only because of that claw blade that Twilight gave me!”
“That claw blade you had?” Sonata asked. “You were dodging things all over the place back then. What does that have to do with it?”
“It had mind fibers in it.” Dash rubbed her eyes. “Without that, I’m dead weight.”
“Is that all you’re worried about? I bet Starlight hid it somewhere in the ship!” Sonata declared. “I’ll find it right away! And then Fluttershy can be happy again!”
Before Fluttershy could stop her, Sonata was off.
“Why is Sonata? She’s just as responsible for!” Dash rubbed her face, then fell on her back. Then, with great effort got back into a sitting position. “Whatever. Now’s not a good time to talk about my stupid feelings. Let’s just… just back on the ground and then you can–”
“Get told that’s not a good time either?”
“Fluttershy, didn’t you just say it’s like the apocalypse out there?” Rainbow Dash weakly flailed a leg about. “And I don’t even know where the crow all this stuff about demons came from. I can’t do anything about this or…”
“That’s exactly right.” Fluttershy huffed. “We’re not going to stop this one, Rainbow Dash. Either Starlight wins or that’s it. And if the planet is about to explode then I don’t want you to die like this.”
“Why would that matter?”
“Because you matter. You’re the most important pony to me, Dash. You’re the one who changed my life.”
“Twilight’s the one who beat up Rattlesnake or whatever the fuck his name was.”
“You’re the one who brought her there and you’re the one who took me with you. And…” Fluttershy cast her head down. “You’re the one who made me swear to never make the same mistakes I did back then. Seeing you stand up to them for me even after I… I left you to die. That’s what inspired me to change my life.”
Fluttershy put a hoof on her heart and carefully watched Dash. The pegasus shook her head, and grit her teeth in some kind of pain or other.
“Okay! Fine.” Dash rolled her eyes. “I’m not a total fuckup. Do you feel better now? Can we leave already? I’m sure Trixie would appreciate that.”
Dash tried dragging herself towards the door. She wouldn’t be able to leave on her own in this condition. Fluttershy took a deep breath in.
“No.”
Why couldn’t Fluttershy just stop pushing Dash?! She didn’t want to talk about all this! Not now, not ever!
Fluttershy didn’t get it, did she? Nopony understood. Dash had been holding back so much.
Well if Fluttershy wanted the truth then so be it. She’d been conning everypony from the start, even her ‘friends’.
“Shut up!” Dash stood. The pain seemed nothing now. “The reason I set out to do all this wasn’t because I’m some noble pony who wanted to change the world. I didn’t give a buck about ghost rights or any of that! I only cared about myself. I wanted money and fame for me and I didn’t give a buck what happened to Twilight, okay?! If I could have killed her that night I would have done so without hesitation! That’s who I am!”
“No it’s–”
“You know why I suggested we go out and kill all the other witches? It’s because I wanted to be rich. I wanted to be a hero. I wasn’t thinking about any of you. I just took whatever I could get. And if that’s you then fine!” Dash was just so pissed off at everything. Fluttershy still wasn’t getting it! She knew exactly what to say to hurt Fluttershy the most! And the temptation was too much. “You don’t think I would have killed a specter for clout? I used to dream of that sort of thing growing up.”
Finally, she got a pause from Fluttershy. Finally, she got through to her and pushed her away for a moment. Dash panted, feeling her weakness again.
But it didn’t last. Fluttershy resolved herself and shook her head furiously.
“You used to,” Fluttershy affirmed.
“Fluttershy!”
“Would you now?”
“That doesn’t matter!”
“Ponies can change. Rainbow Dash, when you found me, I was a coward too scared to lift a single hoof to help you. You put your neck out on the line for me and I just sat there and covered my eyes when you were about to die right in front of me, remember? I could have stopped it so easily but I was just too scared. And you never once looked down on me for that.”
“That’s completely different.”
“You’re right. Did you manage to go outside and buy groceries? Did you finish high school? Then congratulations, you’ve never been as ‘pathetic’ as me. And did you ever look down at me? When I was hiding from random whisps?”
“Look at you! You’re like some kind of god talking to me like that!” Dash barely managed to lift a foreleg to Fluttershy, standing in her indestructible body, towering above Dash. “You really don’t get it, do you? Nopony ever wanted me. Not my parents, not any of the ponies my age. They all abandoned me because I’m bucking worthless. Do you think it’s a coincidence that I suddenly get ‘friends’ the second I attached myself to Twilight like a leech? This great hero you’re imagining me to be?! That’s all a lie! That’s not who I am!”
Fluttershy knew this wasn’t a good idea. ZoD specifically warned her against revealing her presence. But there was no other way. She had to be her real self, not this… thing.
Fluttershy flew out of the armor. Dust, who had been getting uncomfortably close, paused a moment upon noticing the massive aura flooding the ship. Everypony knew Fluttershy was here now.
But Fluttershy only cared that this included Dash. She’d pay any consequence for just that.
Dash paused to look up at Fluttershy’s much weaker form.
“That isn’t… who I am either, Rainbow Dash. I was just pretending, too.” Fluttershy looked at Nightmare Moon’s armor. “Neither of us are like that. We’re both worthless. I can’t see your worthlessness. You can’t see mine. But everypony else does. You keep saying I’m a specter like that’s a good thing but Dust, even your past self, saw me as just something to be exterminated for that…”
“Fluttershy…” Dash’s eyes teared up as she looked into the much softer eyes of an actual pony.
“I believe you, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy shook her head. “Maybe you are worthless and selfish and… and just as horrible as you think you are. Just like I was.”
Finally, she was getting past mere anger. Both of them had tear-filled eyes as they continued to stare down at one another.
“But if that’s true. That’s why…” Fluttershy held back tears, she needed to just for a moment. “That’s why I don’t care if you’re still horrible or selfish even now. I don’t care if these injuries leave you disabled. I still love you! I know you can keep changing. I know you can be a hero. I know you can find some way no matter what!”
Dash trembled.
“I don’t… know if I can…” Dash looked down.
“Me neither.” Fluttershy smiled through her tears. “But. If we don’t figure it out, can we be worthless together?”
Dash tried to open her mouth. Nothing came out. Tears ran down her cheeks.
And at last, Rainbow Dash fell forward and cried.
Dash cried and cried uncontrollably. She had no idea how long for. Fluttershy stayed right by her no matter how long it was.
Having just one pony acknowledge her worthlessness but still stay…
She couldn’t even describe it. It had always been so incomprehensible to her. In that moment, Fluttershy was worth more than anything in the world. Dash really wouldn’t give this up for anything, any amount of money or fame.
Still, Dash shook her head slightly after recovering. Maybe Fluttershy would keep her around forever but… it was hard for Dash to think of anything she could do at this point. Fluttershy might accept her even as she was worthless… but what worth did she see in Dash?
What could Dash…?
Trixie collapsed on the floor, bleeding horribly from her chest.
“Listen! I know you two think I’m invincible but if she rips out my heart, I’m dead!” Trixie yelled as Dust pulled her back. “And I think she’s getting close to figuring it out!”
What was even going on here, again? Dash’s mind slowly returned to reality.
“What’s going on?” Dash asked Fluttershy.
And Fluttershy gave a brief explanation about ZoD, the summoning ritual, Flash Bang.
“I’m still lost. Why do you even want to kill Trixie?” Dash asked Dust.
“Pfft! Why do I want to kill a witch?” Dust chuckled at the question. “Asks the pony whose entire claim to fame comes from making everypony believe she beat the shit out of this exact witch! Oh, why would I want to do the thing you owe all of your success to?”
Dash froze.
“Oh, what? You want to moralize to me?” Dust held Trixie up by the mane. “Trixie committed a million crimes. She deserves death.”
“She’s not entirely wrong,” Trixie admitted.
“A lot of ponies are pissed off at you, you know!” Dust pointed at Dash. “Letting the pony who wronged them get off so easy? I’ll be the one who killed Trixie and avenged all of her crimes! They’ll love me a hundred times more than they ever did you!”
And then… everypony would love her?
Dash trembled and fell back to the ground, covering her eyes.
Everypony would love Dash. If. If. If.
If she got her act together, her mother would come back. If she got to the top of her class, her father would stop ignoring her. If she could defeat the terror swarm, Soarin would like her. If she could get stronger her classmates would respect her. If she could defeat Twilight… If she could get Twilight to defeat the other witches for her…
Then everypony would love her.
None of that was true.
“No.” Dash shook her head. “No. No.”
She looked back up at Fluttershy. The only thing that had ever gotten anypony to care about her was…
“No?” Dust and Trixie silently agreed to a short truce so they could both stare at Dash in utter confusion.
Dash knew! She understood Lightning Dust. If she understood Dust, then she could know exactly what to do now.
“Listen to me!” Dash summoned strength that didn’t exist to rise to her feet. Just standing there was a struggle, but she needed to look Dust in the eyes. “Neither Sonata nor Trixie attacked you for real, did they?”
“It’s not my problem if–”
“It’s because they can’t!” Dash hit the symbol on Fluttershy’s chest. “That zebra… guy. He made it so they can’t fight back.”
“But that death curse,” Lightning Dust said.
“We purposely went out of our way to try and keep anypony from getting hurt by that,” said Fluttershy. “It was just you… I hope.”
Dust scrunched her nose offended at the idea that she was finally so close to defeating a witch but couldn’t fight her for real. Yeah. Dash saw everything so clearly now. Beating her with a handicap was one thing but a handicap where she couldn’t even fight back was too much.
Just like…
Dash breathed heavily, struggling to stay on her feet as she stared Lightning Dust down.
“So what?!” Dust concluded. “If I kill you all, I can still say I killed a witch, a specter, and the famous Rainbow Dash. That’s not too different from what all of you did. Flash would back me up. Do you have any idea what kind of clout I’d get?”
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Dash shook her head. “Yeah! I know. I literally had that, remember?! Sure, it felt cool for a few days but… but it doesn’t make any of it go away.”
Dust smirked and threw Trixie aside, turning her full attention to Dash.
“Make what go away? Was poor little Rainbow Trash bullied in high school or something?” Dust laughed and looked to the side as if expecting somepony to hear her joke.
“I saw you back when you saw me…” Dash had to sit down. “In that vision.”
Dust grew silent.
“What did you see?” Dust asked, her laughter suddenly giving way to a sneer.
Dash breathed heavily, needing another moment.
“I said what did you see?!” Dust stormed up to her to be muzzle-to-muzzle with Dash.
“I know.” Dash looked her in the eyes. “I know how much it hurts.”
Dust winced. She stepped back. She shook her head and clenched her teeth. For a moment a tear came to her eyes, but she shook that away.
“Don’t fuck with me!”
“We weren’t that different…”
“You were weak and lazy, and I wasn’t! That’s the difference! I never relied on anypony else. I started low but I worked hard to make my life something!”
“To make your life what?” Dash looked up at her, finally getting a moment of pause, something other than aggression. “You’re not wrong. I’m an idiot. It took me so long to realize that this… this wasn’t going to get me what I wanted.”
Dust’s eye twitched. She picked Dash up and threw her against the wall. It would have hurt more if Dash weren’t already so numb. Trixie and Fluttershy both stepped forward, but Dash held up a hoof to stave them off.
Once more, Dust trotted up to Dash and held up by the collar, staring death into her eyes.
“You won’t do it,” Dash said with as much confidence as she could. “It won’t change anything. I know.”
“Oh, I won’t?”
Dust pulled a hoof back and slammed it into one of Dash’s wings, likely breaking it. Dash was already a mixture of numbness and pain all over so she bore it well if that was what happened.
Dash opened her eyes to stare back at an even more enraged Dust.
She didn’t.
Dash panted as Dust’s grip tightened and teeth clenched harder. Dash knew that frustration.
“Fine!” Dust dropped Dash to the floor. “You’re a bunch of pathetic babies. Killing you isn’t worth anything. I’m leaving. Just get out of here.”
Trixie watched in amazement as Dust began to storm off. But that wasn’t enough.
“Wait.” Dash struggled just to sit up. “Dust…”
Dust stopped and let out a long sigh.
“I just said I’d spare your worthless life!” Dust spat back in her direction. “Is that not enough for you?!”
“It’s not! I just got done telling you I know what it’s like. Do you think I want to leave you like this?” Dash held out her hoof to Dust.
“Leave me like–” Dust’s face twitched with annoyance. But Dash knew. She would have killed for something like this back when she was alone. “Just quit while you’re ahead, Trash.”
Dust flew away before Dash could say anything else.
Dash fell onto her side, exhausted.
Trixie shifted her eyes from Dash to the hall Dust just left from, then back again.
“How do you keep getting away with this?” Trixie closed her eyes and sighed.
Dash managed to roll onto her back and laugh.
“But we really should get out of here now,” Fluttershy at last said. She flew back into Nightmare Moon’s armor and lifted Dash onto her back.
“No.” Dash shook her head weakly on Fluttershy’s back. “We’re… you were all saying something about that demon-summoning guy?”
“It looks pretty bad,” said Fluttershy. “But. Just look at you. We should retreat for now.”
“No. Not yet.”
“Weren’t you just crying about how we couldn’t do anything?” Trixie asked. “Even with somepony as powerful as–”
A stray volt stunned Trixie for a second.
“Trixie isn’t exactly up to it at the moment!” Trixie shouted. “Do you even have a plan?”
“Not exactly,” Dash admitted. “But that hasn’t stopped me yet. Let’s go.”
“That’s the Dash I remember,” Fluttershy said.
Sonata flew back into the room with an excited smile, holding something behind her back. Not that she could hide it being translucent.
“Mmhmhm!” She held back a laugh. “Guess what? I found where they were hiding that claw blade thingy!”
Sonata held it out towards Dash with an excited smile, but she looked more toward Fluttershy.
“See? Now you have value as a person again! Problem solved! And if you’re happy then Fluttershy is happy and then uh… I guess I’m happy!” Sonata leaned forward with the boot.
Dash brushed it aside.
“I don’t need it.”
Sonata slowly lowered the boot in abject confusion. That got another smile out of Dash who pointed forward, commanding Fluttershy to move out.
They walked past Sonata who continued to blink while Trixie watched with a calmer expression.
“Yeah, but hold onto it anyway,” Trixie whispered before following.