Pain.
That was the last thing Rainbow Dash remembered. Her memories were scattered and broken, much like a shattered mirror. Bits and pieces lay around the back of her mind, trying to fit itself together, but falling apart mere seconds later. There were screams and shouts. And...and tears. Slowly, a face appeared in her thoughts. A pink pony with a dark pink mane. Strands straight and flowing down the side of her face.
Pinkie Pie! That was the trigger. The memories assembled themselves within moments and Rainbow’s eyes shot open. She attempted to shoot upright from her laying position, but a sharp and sudden stab of pain in her left wing quickly sent her back down to the bed with a scream.
“Rainbow! Don’t get up!” A somber tone screamed from just beside her. Rainbow immediately placed the voice to the pony that was stuck in her mind.
“P-Pinkie Pie,” Dash weakly muttered out. She opened her eyes slowly, letting her vision focus until Pinkie’s face came into view. Her expression was as bleak as ever with her mouth drawn to her usual frown. However, this time, Rainbow could tell that was something different. It wasn’t just pain and sadness that she usually showed. This time, it was concern...and fear. “You alright?”
Pinkie gave two small nods of her head as she reached out for a small brown bottle that sat on the bedside table. She lightly unscrewed the cap and poured the solution onto a napkin before setting it back down beside the candle.
Rainbow scanned the room. The cobblestone walls and floor no doubt meant that they were in Canterlot. More specifically: Canterlot Castle. Small candles had been scattered throughout the room, their soft lights illuminating the area near them, but little else. What she could see was the ornate carpet that laid beside her bed. Bright red with gold trimmings and the coat of arms for Equestria sewn on the front, it was no doubt once a symbol of royal status. But now, it was simply a home for dust and bugs. Tapestries depicting beautiful artwork hung torn and tattered on several walls. Each of them depicted a time of peace, one where ponies lived in harmony. One where songs and mirth filled the streets. However, it was nothing more than a dream... or a memory. Rainbow found it hard to separate the two after a few years.
"Rainbow Dash." Pinkie spoke in a hushed tone. Her voice shook as she spoke, much like her hoof. In fact, her entire form was trembling immensely. It appeared as if she was terribly frightened about something, but Rainbow couldn't put her hoof on what it was. "W-what do you recall?"
Rainbow played through the last moments she remembered back in her mind. She was with the forces of Celestia at the Battle of the Serene Valley. As usual, she led the attack, taking down as many of Sombra’s forces as she could. Maud and Pinkie, her two most trusted friends, were supporting her every step of the way. The battle on the green plains was going well and despite the heavy downpour and bolts of lightning, they were thinning the relentless forces. However, when she turned around to check if they were holding up okay, her eyes locked onto several small shards of black crystals, no doubt sent by Sombra himself, about to rain down on them. Her body reacted immediately and her wings soared her through the air, just in time to hug the two sisters. After that, there was a rush of pain, followed by darkness.
A soft sting of pain snapped Rainbow out of her recollection as Pinkie pressed the napkin into her left wing. But something felt… off. The air was heavy and oddly silent. “P-Pinkie?” She muttered in a pained breath.
A soft sob echoed from behind her. “I-I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. W-we tried. We really did.”
The words struck fear into the heart of the pegasus. In a fit of panic, she bent her head to see her left wing. It has to be okay. It has to— A metallic shape had taken the place of where her wing once was. It resembled her appendage, but the foreign texture and built only served to intensify her worry. She attempted to flap it, but all it did was merely twitch.
Her heart shattered.
Rainbow didn’t move for quite a while. She didn’t know how long exactly, but she couldn’t care less. The devastation she felt had frozen her solid while the cocktail of emotions rendered her speechless.
“P-please Rainbow, say something!” Pinkie begged, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t know what else to do! This is my fault...it’s all my fault.”
Rainbow pushed herself off the bed. The pain, though intense, didn’t even slow her. She limped and moved to the mirror, her eyes focused intensely on the metal wing that she wore. “Pinkie, are you alright?”
The question shocked the crying mare. She stuttered, “y-yes. But you aren’t!”
The anger, the sadness that festered in Rainbow’s heart threatened to reduce her to tears. One of the most important things in her life had been forcefully taken away, but it wasn’t the most important. However, even that thought provided little comfort for her. With a stoic voice, she replied, “no, I’m alright.”
The room fell silent. Both ponies knew that that was a lie, yet neither dared to admit or challenge it.
“I’m alright. As long as you’re okay, I’m alright.” Rainbow repeated once more, eyes locked onto the other scars she had received in the war. Each one told a different story, and brought back memories she’d rather not remember. The scar on her left eye was due to her arrogance at Crystal Gulch, when a metal claw she thought she could stop swiped over her face. The chip in her ear, a painful reminder of the Cloudsdale War. In the midst of protecting the citizens she cared for so, she neglected to protect herself. One sharp crystal wooshed over her, sending her to the ground with such intense pain, she swore she could still feel it every time she saw the wound. Rainbow turned her gaze away from the pony in the mirror. “I don’t have time to not be alright.”
Pinkie stood from the bed. “Rainbow,” She moved towards her friend, setting a hoof on her shoulder. “I know you feel sadness. Anger. You don’t have to act unbreakable.”
“I’m the captain of Celestia’s elite breaker force,” Rainbow shut her eyes tight, trying to ignore the thumping pain in her left wing. “When ponies go out there, they depend on me to lead them. They depend on me to be the unyielding force on the battlefield.” She trotted towards the window of the room, gazing out of Canterlot Castle and onto the torn streets below. “Yes, I’m sad, I’m devastated, that the very thing which allowed me to protect these ponies is now-” Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut. A lump in her throat stopped her words. She took a breath and gathered all the strength she could. “Is now gone. But I can’t mope and cry in this room.” Her eyes caught sight of a pony galloping on the streets, dressed in dirty old rags. He scooped up a piece of bread from a stall, nodding to the shopkeeper before slinking away. “Because we can’t linger on what I feel. It’s not interesting. It’s not important.”
Rainbow paused for just a second before continuing, “it doesn’t matter.”
“Rainbow,” Pinkie started, but she hadn't thought of what to say. What could she even say? She was never good at making another pony happy or even smile. So she simply stared at Rainbow as she turned away from the window and moved towards the centre of the room. And Pinkie swore, that just for a moment, she saw a tear trailing down her face.
“Let’s go.”
Let’s go? Pinkie was startled at Rainbow’s words. “What do you mean ‘let’s go’? You’re hurt! You can barely trot without limping! And that’s not even considering your inability to use that wing!” Her voice raised to an rare volume, bordering on screaming at her friend.
“We don’t have time to argue, Pinkie! Every moment I spend here is a moment I’m not in the field making sure we win!” Rainbow shouted back.
“That's not all that matters!” Pinkie argued, though now, her tone was more frightened than angry. Rainbow attempted to take a step forward, but was stopped by Pinkie, who darted in front of her path. "Don't walk away from me alright!? Stop acting like you can do everything, like nothing else matters! You're in pain!"
“I can fight through the pain!” Rainbow rebutted loudly, though her next words were whispered, as if it was a thought she had accidentally spoken out loud, “that’s all I’m good for anyway. Fighting.”
“Excuse me, Pinkie Pie?” A stallion spoke, poking his head into the room.
“Yes?” Pinkie spoke with a frown.
“Princess Celestia wants to speak to you,” the stallion continued.
Rainbow trotted towards the door. “No more arguing Pinkie, the Princess wants to see us.”
The stallion stood in front of Rainbow Dash, staring at her with a cold gaze. “Princess Celestia specifically asked for Pinkie Pie alone.”
The pegasus scowled, returning the stallion’s look with a piercing one of her own. “Look, I’ve had a bad day. You’re more than welcome to try to stop me, but Pinkie’s a friend and I’m going with her. Whatever Celestia has to say to her, she can say with me there too.” A tense few seconds passed, with both Rainbow and the guard staring intently at each other. But the latter soon relented, stepping aside. Rainbow spun back around, staring the pink mare. “Pinkie. Let’s go.”
The Queen’s chambers sat at the very top of the castle. The entrance consisted of two ornate double doors, held shut by four large guards. Upon seeing the two ponies approaching, they silently pushed it open in unison, allowing Pinkie and Rainbow to take their first steps into the large, but mostly empty, chambers.
“Rainbow Dash, why do you insist on coming? I asked for Pinkie Pie alone,” Celestia questioned. Though she was seated at the other end of the hall, her voice echoed with such force that it appeared that she was standing right in front of the pony in question.
“Because you never call for somepony alone unless it’s bad news. And if it’s for Pinkie, then it’s for me too,” Rainbow answered without a moment’s hesitation. Pinkie remained quiet, not wanting to accidentally say something that might stoke the argument any further.
Celestia stood up, moving down the steps of her throne until she was in front of her two subjects. “...Maud’s been captured.”
“What!?” Rainbow gasped. She turned to Pinkie, whose usual pink face had been washed over with a ghostly shade of white.
“N-no…” Tears grew in her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. Her hooves had begun to tremble and fear had gripped her heart like a vice. It was clear to Rainbow Dash that those three words had struck Pinkie Pie like death itself. All of them knew what happened to Sombra’s captives. Everypony that had gone missing eventually turned up in a battle sooner or later, donning the Crystal Empires’ armor, brainwashed to fight their friends. And there was no cure.
“How?” Rainbow asked through gritted teeth.
Celestia turned away from her. “I sent her out for a mis—”
“You know we work as a team, Celestia!” Rainbow interrupted, stomping her hoof to the floor. “You don’t send one of us out without the others!”
“She agreed!” Celestia stomped her hoof in retaliation, swinging back around to meet Rainbow face to face. “I had to Rainbow Dash! You were out for a week and our defences are falling all around us! We didn’t even know if you were going to wake!”
The words had struck Rainbow Dash like an arrow. She took a step back, her mouth opened to speak, but no words came. Her eyes moved rapidly, hoping to find some place to rest on. Any place except Celestia and Pinkie.
“I had no choice, Rainbow Dash.”
Your fault. It’s always your fault. The words repeated themselves endlessly, chipping away at her composure bit by bit. It eroded her confidence and stole her voice, but the one in her mind only seemed to get louder. She glimpsed as Pinkie, watching the mare break down into horrible sobs. The sight made her sick. Everything you do will always fail. A flood of past memories filled her mind. Her past regrets, the grave mistakes she has made. The screaming, the pain, the yelling. They depended on her. So many of them, and she let them all down.
Now Pinkie Pie too?
Rainbow mustered all the strength she could, extending her only good wing around Pinkie and pulling her close. She shot her head back up, glaring back at Celestia with an unwavering gaze. Celestia stared back at her magenta pupils, knowing full well what that look meant. “Rainbow Dash. You are not going out there to rescue her!”
“You make it sound like you have a say in this,” Dash turned around and started limping towards the gigantic main doors.
“I’m sorry she was captured, but she knew the risk, we all did! I’m not going to risk losing my best captain as well!” Celestia bellowed out, her voice shaking the very walls of the room. “You are not going and that’s an order!”
Rainbow’s ears focused, listening for whatever Pinkie might’ve been saying. The broken mare had begun begging under her breath for Maud to be okay, her mind having clearly been lost to the sadness. “Celestia.” She turned to face the Princess. “I’ve been a part of many battles. I’ve also been fighting for you since Sombra took over, and listening to your every order. But I’ve watched too many of my friends get taken by him. I’ve fought too many of them.” She tilted the sobbing mare’s head into her shoulder. “I’ve won too many.” Her gaze returned to the Princess. “Mark me as a traitor if you want, but that’s an order I can’t obey. Because if we don’t take risks, Princess. If we don’t get back Maud. Then we might as well just surrender.”
“I can’t spare any forces. Not for something as foolish as assault on the Crystal Pony dungeons. It’s a suicide mission, one that will end in our defeat.” Celestia held her head high as she spoke.
Rainbow had begun to trot towards the door, wing still softly around Pinkie Pie. Celestia’s proud stance fell in a blink, her eyes wide with fear.
“We’ll lose everything!” Celestia shouted, desperate to stop Rainbow.
At the doorway, Rainbow paused, turning her head slightly to catch a glimpse of Princess Celestia’s desperate pleas. “You got it backwards Princess.” Her eyes darted down to her metal wing. Rainbow summoned all her effort but, once again, all it could manage was a slight twitch. The doors slowly closed behind them. Just before they were shut tight, one sentence echoed through the chambers of Celestia.
“For Pinkie and I? We have nothing left to lose.”