Author's note
When the music starts, use your own judgment for when it should end. I'd tell you myself, but that'll break the rhythm of the story.
The day following the night when the Harmony Rangers gathered in the library and found the “History of the Pony Rangers” book, all ten Rangers were gathered once again, this time in Canterlot and accompanied by Princesses Celestia and Luna.
“Are you absolutely certain you want to follow through with this, Rainbow Dash?” Princess Celestia asked. “You do not have to face Derpy alone.”
“Yes I do,” Rainbow replied with a serious expression. “If what that book said is true, and Derpy really doesn't have very much time left, then it has to be me who either saves her… or finishes her.”
“It won't just be you saving her,” Twilight said while shaking her head. “While you're gone, we're going to try to find something that can help save her. I don't know what we'll do, but we're going to see what we can find.”
“Thanks everypony,” Rainbow said with a smile. She then looked down. “So I guess it's time…”
“Don't worry, Rainbow Dash,” Snowdrop said. “If you could handle me whenever we battled, I doubt you'll have any trouble with Derpy.”
“It's different this time, though,” Rainbow replied with a sigh. “I've fought her before, but it's a duel to the end this time around.”
“If that's the case, then your end is on the line as well,” Princess Luna said. “And I highly doubt Derpy will hesitate to deliver the finishing blow if you allow her. You must be prepared to deliver the finishing blow yourself if you wish to survive.”
Rainbow sighed, but said nothing. It was here that Twilight walked up to her. “Rainbow… I think I know what you're going through,” the unicorn said. “You're afraid to take another pony's life. I've already had to twice. Let me tell you that it doesn't sit well after the fact, but if it's necessary for the protection of Equestria, you have to be able to live with it.”
“How is that supposed to help me?” Rainbow asked.
“By assuring you that if the time comes and you're forced to make that decision, you aren't going to be judged,” Twilight replied. “No matter what happens, you have to trust that you know what the right decision is. For you, for your friends, and for Equestria.”
Rainbow was silent for a moment before looking up at Twilight and smiling a little. “Actually, when I think about it the right way, that does make me feel a little better,” the pegasus said. “Thanks Twilight.”
“You're welcome, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight replied.
“It's almost time,” Princess Celestia said while walking up to Rainbow Dash. “Derpy will be expecting you at Ponyville in less than ten minutes. Are you ready?”
“I have to be,” Rainbow Dash replied with a nod. She then turned to everypony else. “Don't worry, everypony. I promise I'll come back.”
“We know you will,” Fluttershy said.
“We'll be right there with ya in spirit,” Applejack added.
“And we'll be ready to help Derpy however we can if you bring her back,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Even if we can't be there with you, we've got your back,” Twilight finished. “Just… don't mess up, okay?”
“Heh, I won't,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. She then turned around and was about to leave, but the pegasus stopped at the door and turned around. “Guys… it's been great fighting alongside all of you. Even if I've spent less time with some of you than others, it's been an honor to know you all as Rangers.”
“The feeling's mutual,” Twilight said with a smile, and everypony else nodded in agreement.
“Right then…” Rainbow said with a long exhale. Without another word, she turned around and flew off.
The was a moment's pause in which the air in the room was completely still. This only lasted a moment, however, before Twilight turned around and donned a serious expression. “Alright everypony,” she said, “Rainbow's doing her part, so it's time for us to do ours. Button Mash, Sweetie Belle, Snowdrop, and Spike, you four are in charge of getting us the information we need on your Ranger powers. You might be on the side of Harmony now, but you've still got traces of Chaos energy in your morphers, and that's exactly what we need at the moment. Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, you three make your way to the Zords' hangars and get whatever data you can from their memory banks. Surely there'll be something there that'll give us some insight into Derpy's power. Rarity, the Princesses, and I are going on book duty. We're scanning the Canterlot Library and the main computer system for anything we can find Ranger-related that'll give us the insight we need. Everypony clear?” Nopony said anything. “Alright, now let's get moving. We won't have much time, so let's get to work!” With a collective nod of acknowledgment, everypony ran off to where they were all expected to be. Meanwhile, Princess Celestia walked up to Twilight.
“Very impressive, my student,” the princess complimented. “You took charge of that situation very well.”
“Thanks, Princess,” Twilight replied with a sigh. “For a moment, I wasn't sure I'd pulled that off right.”
“Do not worry,” Princess Celestia said. “I'm sure everypony sees you as a competent enough leader.” With a smile, she added, “I certainly do.”
Twilight returned the smile, but didn't say anything more. Instead, she turned to Rarity. “You stay here with Princess Luna and go over the data in the computer system. Princess Celestia and I will handle the library.”
“Alright,” Rarity said with a nod. With that, Twilight and Celestia galloped out of the room towards the library while Rarity and Luna manned the primary consoles.
Meanwhile, a little above Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was flying and searching for Derpy. “Come on, Derpy…” she said under her breath as she searched. She was about to lose hope when she heard a whistling sound from above her. Rainbow looked up to see a familiar gray face that wore Derpy's now signature cross-eyed glare. The latter mare gestured for her rival to come up and join her before disappearing into the cloud she was on. “This is it…” Rainbow thought out loud before flying up to meet Derpy.
“Don't know why I expected you to be late,” Derpy said to Rainbow Dash as Rainbow arrived atop the cloud. “Guess I should apologize for that up-front.”
“Derpy, I know you're not going to listen to me, but I have to at least try to tell you something,” Rainbow said, her expression declining into a pleading sadness. “You don't have to do this. We don't have to fight. If you surrender now and come with me back to Canterlot, I promise that we'll find a way to save you. Me, Twilight, the Princesses… everypony's hard at work right now, as we speak, to find some way to save you. If we fight, one or both of us will die. But if you come with me, we can both live. You don't even have to join the Harmony Rangers. Just let us help you, let us free you, and then we never even have to speak ever again.”
Derpy was silent for a moment before looking down at her hooves and chuckling. “That's just like you, Rainbow Dash…” Derpy said. “Always looking to end things fast.” Derpy then looked back up at Rainbow Dash, her expression becoming serious again. “I appreciate the sentiment. I really, truly do. But I'm afraid this story isn't going to have the 'sunshine and rainbows' ending you're hoping for. No, we're going to fight. You can try to talk and mercy me all you want, but neither of us will walk away happy with that kind of fight, now will we? You're itching to go though with this final duel just as much as I am.” Derpy then pulled out her Thunder Coin. “Tell me I'm wrong. I dare you.”
Rainbow Dash sighed before donning her Element of Harmony and looking up at Derpy while returning the intense expression. “I tried to give you the easy way out, Derpy,” she said. “I tried to save you. But now… I won't be held responsible for my actions.”
“That's just what I like to hear,” Derpy said with a smile. “Now then… may I have this final dance?”
In an instant, the cloud the two ponies were standing atop exploded in a flash of red and green light. Startled ponies in the vicinity looked up to see the Red Harmony Ranger and Green Chaos Ranger in the epicenter, both of them hanging in the air, both with their blades drawn, and both staring each other down. A massive aura of energy could be felt by earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi alike as they all either looked on in amazement, or retreated until they felt they were far enough away to do the same safely.
”This is it…” Rainbow thought to herself.
[Battle Theme]
Derpy was eager to start things off by charging forward at high speed and deliver a lateral slash. Rainbow dropped altitude quickly in order to avoid the attack before delivering a slash attack to Derpy's underside. Derpy fell back a bit, but was right back on the offensive by charging downward and attacking with an overhead slash. Rainbow blocked this with her own sword, but Derpy read the block and quickly flipped into a kick to Rainbow's chest with both hind legs, sending the red-clad Ranger down in altitude even more. Realizing that they'll likely run out of altitude soon at this rate, Rainbow dash charged upwards and got back to Derpy's level before taking the offensive and going in for a slash that Derpy was just barely too slow to dodge, causing the attack to clip her ear. Derpy either didn't feel this attack or didn't care as she unflinchingly turned around and delivered a powerful slash attack that struck Rainbow Dash square in the chest, causing her to stumble back a bit. Derpy saw her opening and charged forward to deliver a trio of slashes kept Rainbow off-balance. Derpy then prepared to finish her combo with a powerful uppercut that sent Rainbow into the air, where she came back down right into the path of a final charged slash from Derpy. However, Rainbow Dash regained her balance just in time to block this attack with her sword, giving her the opportunity to counterattack. Rainbow lunged forward and gave Derpy a full-force punch to the face, followed by a quick uppercut slash, a hilt smash to the chest, and a powerful 360 degree slash that sent Derpy flying backwards. The green-clad mare quickly regained balance, however.
“You're gonna have to try harder than that!” Derpy shouted before lunging forward and delivering a powerful slash that Rainbow tried blocking. However, the force of Derpy's attack was too great, and Rainbow's guard faltered, causing her to suffer most, though not all, of the force from Derpy's attack. Rainbow quickly dodged backwards so as to avoid a follow-up attack, but Derpy read this and charged forward to deliver a powerful tackle that caught Rainbow off-guard. Derpy then kicked off of Rainbow and sent her falling before charging downward and delivering a powerful meteor slash that sent Rainbow hurdling towards the ground. Rainbow righted herself before she crashed in the abandoned warehouse district of Ponyville, but Derpy caught up to her quickly and delivered another tackle that caused them both to impact on the ground below, creating a small crater. Derpy saw her chance for a finishing move with Rainbow pinned below her and was about to deliver the final strike with her sword. However, Rainbow was able to quickly kick Derpy off of her before getting up and charging forward with her sword at the ready.
“Just because I tried to show you mercy before…” Rainbow shouted as she struck Derpy with her sword twice, “DOESN'T MEAN I'LL MAKE IT THAT EASY!” Rainbow finished her combo, and her sentence, with a powerful uppercut slash that knocked Derpy into the air. Rainbow then got airborne after Derpy and delivered a powerful mule kick that sent Derpy hurdling at high speed into the wall of a warehouse, through which she flew before crashing out through the wall on the other end. However, it was at this point that she regained her balance and flew over the warehouse, where Rainbow had tried to follow her. Their blades clashed, but Rainbow was caught more off-guard by this sudden attack and lost balance, allowing Derpy to deliver a powerful strike to Rainbow's sword hoof, knocking the Harmony Blade out of its owner's hoof and sending it flying clear across the battlefield. “Uh oh…” Rainbow commented as she suddenly found herself at a one-sword disadvantage. Derpy took full use of this opportunity and lunged forward to try to attack Rainbow while she was vulnerable. However, Rainbow was far from helpless. She dodged Derpy's attack and delivered a solid punch to her foe's side, followed by a flip kick and a double-hoofed downward smash that sent Derpy into the ground. Derpy quickly got up so as to avoid any follow-ups, but instead of attacking, she found Rainbow Dash flying away quickly, likely to try to find her Harmony Blade again so the battle was even once more.
“Not happening!” Derpy shouted as she began to give chase. She kept sight of Rainbow Dash and somehow managed to maintain a constant proximity to her foe. Derpy's speed and agility legitimately caught Rainbow Dash by surprise as she stayed low to the ground and flew through the warehouses, twisting and turning everywhere she could, even flying through the inside of some of them. Inside of one warehouse, Derpy managed to get ahead of Rainbow Dash and tried to deliver a slash attack while the Red Ranger was surprised. This attack connected and evidently dealt a decent amount of damage, but Rainbow didn't let herself flinch. Instead, she took the hit, then attacked Derpy with a double punch right to the chest, sending the Green Ranger backwards and onto her back. Rainbow took this opportunity to fly away quickly, but Derpy got back up and continued the chase with ease.
“Grr… where is it!?” Rainbow shouted as she continuously scanned the area for her sword, all the while doing her best to keep Derpy at a safe distance away. “And for that matter, how is Derpy able to fly so fast?” Deciding to shake this question off for the time being, Rainbow continued flying in the general direction she saw her sword fly away. At last, however, she found her sword impaled on the ground right on the outskirts of the abandoned warehouse district. With one last burst of speed, Rainbow charged forward, grabbed the sword right out of the ground, and turned around to meet the attack Derpy had been trying so hard to land. However, Derpy's high-speed slash was blocked by Rainbow's own sword. The force of this attack knocked both mares back a few paces, but they both were eager to charge forward and press on the attack. Rainbow Dash went in for an overhead slash, but Derpy blocked this and tried to deliver a punch to Rainbow's chest while she was off-balance. The only problem was that Rainbow wasn't off-balance. She reached up with her hind legs, wrapped them around Derpy's foreleg, and threw Derpy over her head and onto the ground below. Rainbow then went in for another high-speed slash that Derpy tried to block, but the force of Rainbow's attack was so great, Derpy's sword shattered and became nothing but a cloud of dark smoke that quickly dissipated.
“That's not supposed to happen…” Derpy said to herself in an almost panicked tone. “Not yet!”
“Don't worry,” Rainbow said as she flew back a few paces and impaled her sword in the ground. “Unlike you, I'm game for a fair fight.”
”So that's the game, huh?” Rainbow thought. ”I didn't put nearly as much force in that blow as I could have. That means Derpy's losing steam fast. I just have to outlast her, and I can get her back to Canterlot in one piece once she's out of juice.” With a gulp, she added, ”I hope.”
With a shout, Derpy charged forward to deliver a powerful punch right to Rainbow's face. Rainbow blocked this attack with both her hooves, spun around to Derpy's side, and delivered a low sweep that knocked Derpy back to the ground. However, the latter pegasus was far from helpless in this position. She reached up, grabbed Rainbow's hind leg, and yanked it out from under her, causing her to fall to the ground herself, where Derpy quickly got on top of her and tried to deliver a powerful double-hoofed smash right to Rainbow's head. Rainbow moved her head out of the way quickly, causing Derpy to hit solid ground with enough force to create a small crack. Realizing that Derpy knew she was at her end as well and was pulling out all the stops to finish Rainbow, the polychrome pegasus kicked Derpy off of her and flew up into the air at high speed.
“I'M NOT LETTING YOU GET AWAY!” Derpy shouted at the top of her lungs as she took off at full speed after Rainbow Dash.
”This ends in the clouds,” Rainbow thought to herself with a determined expression. ”If she does something stupid, it'll do less damage above Cloudsdale than it'll do right on-level with Ponyville.”
And so the two flew at high speed, neither one able to shrink or widen the gap between them for more than half a second. They passed Cloudsdale quickly, but flew on for a long time after that. Eventually, the skies around the two began growing dark, the temperature descended into a biting cold, and the air began to grow thin. But neither one was going to stop. Derpy was determined to catch Rainbow, and Rainbow was determined to tire Derpy out. They were both ready to follow through with this plan, even if they had to chase each other right up to the moon.
“Give up now, Derpy!” Rainbow called. “I can handle this environment, but you won't survive!”
“You're not fooling me with that!” Derpy shouted back. “I'm not letting you run away from-”
Snap!
The sound should have been rather quiet, and even less perceptible to either mare with the air so thin, but both of them knew exactly what had happened. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as Rainbow Dash slowed down and turned around to see Derpy's wings lock up in an awkward position just before she demorphed. With her Ranger armor gone, her expression was clear to Rainbow Dash. A horrifying combination of shock, pain, and fear.
”No…” Rainbow thought to herself as she and Derpy hung in the air, suspended in that moment in time. ”No! Derpy, why? Why did you push yourself so far!?”
”I couldn't do it…” Derpy thought, as though she were answering Rainbow's question. ”I… didn't have enough time…” Despite the unfathomable pain coming from her wings, Derpy smiled and mouthed the words “I'm sorry.”
As suddenly as the moment started, it stopped. Time flowed once again, and time saw Derpy fall backwards before beginning a plummet head-first towards the ground miles below
“NO!” Rainbow shouted as she took off after Derpy, who was accelerating so fast, Rainbow was having a hard time making sure she could both keep up with Derpy and catch her without hurting her. This decision ultimately started costing Rainbow as Derpy began quickly falling out of sight. What was coming back into sight, however, was Cloudsdale below, and Rainbow knew the ground wasn't very far after that at the rate the two were falling. “YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE AS LONG AS I CAN SAVE YOU, DERPY!” Rainbow shouted as she quickly accelerated, noticing a cone of energy beginning to form around her. ”Will that be too much?” Rainbow thought to herself. ”I could kill her with my own speed if I do this wrong. But if I don't do it at all… I WON'T RISK IT!” With a sudden surge of determination and one final burst of speed, an explosion of color occurred, sending a rainbow-colored shock wave out in all directions from where Rainbow Dash suddenly accelerated to twice her speed not two seconds ago, leaving behind an almost solid rainbow trail. A Sonic Rainboom. With this new speed, Rainbow flew right through Cloudsdale after Derpy, grabbing her mere yards from the ground before doing a 90 degree turn and flying forward just above Ponyville. But the speed was too great. Rainbow wasn't able to stop herself. She just had to ride her Rainboom out, but that meant weaving through numerous roofs and pegasus passersby. Eventually she was out of Ponyville and heading into the Everfree Forest, where even Rainbow was unable to dodge and weave through the branches and brambles. Each branch, leaf, and plant chipped away at Rainbow's speed and stamina before at last, she was unable to maintain a steady flight and felt herself demorph before she fell to the ground, both her and Derpy rolling forward several more yards before finally coming to a stop in an unknown part of the forest.
Both pegasi lay where they landed, unmoving, for several minutes before Rainbow Dash was finally able to bring herself to move again. She got up slowly, every one of her muscles aching from the ordeal she'd just gone through, but she was more concerned with Derpy's condition. Rainbow slowly walked up to Derpy, and immediately noticed several things. For one, her fur was singed in several areas, likely from the friction of re-entering the atmosphere. This led to her second observation: the fact that not only was Derpy unconscious, but she'd lost consciousness sometime between when she started falling and before they got to the Everfree Forest. Otherwise, she'd have been reacting more to her fur being singed – or worse – as she was falling.
Finally, Rainbow Dash moved to the observation she'd been dreading: Derpy's wings. Rainbow didn't need to be very close to know that they were broken. Upon closer inspection, Rainbow could see the stress and fatigue Derpy's wings had suffered before they finally gave way. Derpy was already falling apart before the battle started, but this… this was Derpy's fatal mistake.
“Oh Derpy…” Rainbow said as tears began welling up. “Why wouldn't you just let me save you?” She sat down beside Derpy and, knowing nopony was around to see the scene, began crying softly for her fallen adversary. Rainbow was crying for a short while before she heard something that caught her attention.
“Because that would have meant you won.”
Rainbow looked up just in time to see Derpy suddenly spring to life and try futility to punch her. Rainbow got up and dodged out of the way, causing Derpy to fall flat on her face and cry out in pain.
“Derpy! You're alive?” Rainbow asked. “But… but you were…”
“Not about to admit defeat,” Derpy finished as she looked up, though the strain was evident in her eyes. “You never did understand me, did you Rainbow Dash?'
“I knew you'd been corrupted by chaos magic,” Rainbow replied. “And that made you fight me. My friends and I tried to help you, but-”
“You never knew the whole story, though, did you?” Derpy asked. With a pained grunt, Derpy heaved herself off the ground in a sitting position. She winced in pain as she mistakenly tried to move her broken wing.
“Here, I might be able to do something about that,” Rainbow said as she approached Derpy, ready to try to help as best she could. (Twilight had forced her and the other Rangers to learn some basic survival skills in the event any of them were stuck in the Everfree, including how to bandage a broken wing using natural materials. Sure Rainbow slept through most of the lesson, but she picked some things up.)
“Don't bother,” Derpy said, gesturing for Rainbow to stay back. “It's beyond help, like the rest of me. All you're gonna do is sit there and listen to my story.”
With an unsure expression, Rainbow nodded slightly and sat down in front of Derpy. “Fine…” Rainbow said. “Tell your story, but I won't promise to just leave you here after you're done.”
“Tch,” Derpy grunted as her gaze wandered in the other direction. “A few minutes ago you were just as ready to kill me as I was to kill you.”
“I wasn't,” Rainbow replied while shaking her head. “I was going to try to save you no matter what from the start.”
“Are you playing the 'Surprise Derpy' game?” Derpy asked sarcastically. “Because you've been our worst contestant so far.”
“Didn't you have a story to tell?” Rainbow asked.
With a roll of her eyes, (and another wince of pain), Derpy spoke. “Fine, I'll tell you. Many moons ago, I was an ordinary mare, just like you. Then one day, that all changed. And it wasn't the day you'd expect…”
It was around the evening hours at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie had thrown her first party to celebrate the Pony Rangers' first victory against Nightmare Moon. I was there helping Pinkie Pie alongside my then-coltfriend Time Turner. (Though looking back on it, the relationship had started to feel one-sided around that point in time.) Of course, back then, I was quite klutzy, and I'd dropped a lot of trays of food and such. But both me and Time Turner noticed something was particularly off about me that day.
“Hey, are you feeling alright?” Time Turner asked me after I'd spilt a shake on myself. “You're not usually this clumsy.”
"I just don't know what went wrong,” I said, as was apparently my catch phrase at the time. “I just don't feel like myself today. I think I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something.”
“Hmm…” Time Turner hummed as he stroked his chin. “Maybe you should go home and lay down. That might do you some good.”
“Okay,” I said with a nod. I told Pinkie Pie I wasn't feeling well, and she sent me home. I wasn't feeling up to flying for a little while, so I walked around town a little. However, once I got a little further away from Sugarcube Corner, I suddenly felt better. And I mean “able to do midair flips” better. I couldn't believe it. I rushed back to Sugarcube Corner to tell Pinkie Pie and Time Turner the good news, but as I approached, I started feeling off again. I had no idea what was going on. I left, and I felt better again. At the time, I thought maybe I'd developed an allergy to cupcakes or something.
The next morning, I had practically shrugged off whatever had happened the day before. I went to Sugarcube Corner for my morning muffin, a ritual I had for as long as I could remember. (And when I say “ritual,” I mean I got violent whenever someone tried to mess with my muffin. Though as you may remember, that was out of character for me at the time.) So I was enjoying my muffin when all of a sudden, I was approached by Trixie. When she tried to steal me away from my muffin, I barred my fangs, as the saying goes. However, she offered me something I couldn't refuse: many muffins. Naturally, I accepted her offer, not knowing what was coming my way.
It all happened so fast. I was teleported to the moon, I was tied to a table, I was placed in a chamber, the chamber filled up with a strange green gas, and before I knew it, I had become a different pony. I suddenly had all these emotions I'd never experienced before. Anger, hatred, resentment… everything Nightmare Moon wanted in her Green Ranger. But I also felt something Nightmare probably didn't have in mind. A little feeling in the back of my mind. A feeling of dread. I'd suddenly started dreading something subconsciously. Of course, I didn't know this at the time, nor did I care. One other thing that was new to me was a loyalty to Nightmare Moon, and that overwrote everything else.
Soon, the time came for me to fight you and the other Harmony Rangers. I couldn't believe the abilities the Thunder Coin had bestowed upon me. It felt… incredible. But aside from that feeling, all the while I was around you five, I couldn't help but suffer from this little ice cream headache. It didn't impair my fighting skills, and it went away when I left your company, but that feeling of dread never quite went away.
More and more times we fought, and each and every time, I felt that ice cream headache. Eventually, when Twilight “killed” me, and I was separated from the Thunder Coin, I stopped having that headache. It was then that I drew a conclusion: whatever that headache was, it was caused by you Harmony Rangers. Or so I thought. Plus, without the Thunder Coin, I no longer felt like myself. I was incomplete. And that feeling of dread… it never left me.
Once Twilight lost her Ranger powers and I was able to reunite myself with the Thunder Coin, I was back to feeling 100 percent. I bode my time before reappearing, however. I wasn't about to go back under Nightmare Moon's command. Not when she thought I was dead. Plus, now I'd started feeling that ice cream headache all the time. It never went away, and it got worse whenever I morphed. Despite this, I knew my one opportunity to return when it came, and ready or not, I was returning. Around a grand total of eight Rangers, however, the headache was worse than ever before. It was still tolerable, however, and I bore with it. When I was on the moon base, the headache was more tame, which struck me as odd. Especially since, while I wasn't on the moon but still in the company of the other Chaos Rangers, the headache would return.
It wasn't until some time later – around after Twilight became the White Ranger – when I started having a recurring dream. I dreamt that I was Twilight… only I wasn't. I was sitting by a river, practicing some kind of deception, when you five would show up. We'd go on about some other villains I never knew before I suddenly become myself, realize that this was during the time I was “dead,” then the world began to slowly dissolve into an odd glowing orange powder before flying up into the sky, myself following suit. I'd then jolt awake, sweating and panting. Then I'd notice that some part of me in real life was slightly transparent right up until the point when I took notice of it, then I'd go back to normal. When it started happening repeatedly, I realized that something was legitimately wrong.
My fears were finalized about a week ago, when the other Chaos Rangers devised their plan to finish you seven, which ultimately failed. I was legitimately beginning to fall apart spiritually. My Ranger powers were taking their toll on my body and mind, and soon, I was going to fade away into nothingness.
After finishing her story, Derpy fell silent for a long time. That was when Rainbow Dash spoke up. “But you weren't about to go quietly, were you?” she asked.
“Hm?” Derpy asked, looking up at Rainbow quizzically. “What do you mean by that?”
“You wanted to do something big before you disappeared,” Rainbow continued. “So that nopony would forget you. And what better way to make your mark than defeating the Red Harmony Ranger?”
“Don't flatter yourself,” Derpy said angrily while looking away. “I could have killed any other Ranger – Fluttershy, Spike, Snowdrop – and it would have been just as memorable.”
Rainbow was silent for a moment before cracking a slight smile. “But what did you see in me that made you pursue me?” she asked.
Derpy looked down. “I guess…” she started, “I guess I always had a fascination with you, Rainbow Dash. Ever since I was young, I couldn't think about anything but you. I always strived to be like you, despite my… impairments.”
Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Well, no offense, but that's not much of a reason,” she said. “Who wouldn't wanna strive to be me?”
“You don't understand!” Derpy shouted, stomping her hoof and subsequently wincing in pain from her broken wings. “It was more than the fact that I strived to be like you. I… you… you became such an important figure in my life. You became everything to me. But Nightmare Moon turned that… fascination… into a sheer hatred. So instead of wanting to be with you, she made me want to fight with you.”
“'Be with' me?” Rainbow asked.
“And I never knew how to come back from that,” Derpy continued, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Even when I was freed from Nightmare's grasp, I couldn't communicate what I truly felt any longer. I kept fighting you. I didn't want to, but I didn't know what else to do. And once I realized what the true endgame had to be, I needed to make sure I could find a way to tell you. And the only way for me to be able to do that…” Derpy gestured towards her wings, “…was for you to utterly break me. Destroy the last shreds of the me that Nightmare Moon created, hoping that the real me would be able to poke through.”
“So you never even planned to win,” Rainbow said. “And that's why you refused mercy, too. Because you were afraid we wouldn't be able to find the old you without destroying this you.”
“And now you've done it,” Derpy said with a weak smile. “I don't know how much longer I can hold on at this rate, though. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you, Dashie, for being such an important part of my life, for saving me from what Nightmare Moon turned me into, for… ngh…” Before Derpy could finish what she was saying, she suddenly felt herself become incredibly weak before falling to the ground slightly. Rainbow quickly rushed up to Derpy's side and caught her before she fell to the ground.
“I'm still going to help you, Derpy,” Rainbow said as she looked down at Derpy, whose eyes were starting to glaze over. “All of us, we're going to help you. Just stay with me, Derpy!”
Derpy mouthed something, but Rainbow couldn't hear it. The latter pegasus leaned in closer to try to hear Derpy. Rainbow still couldn't hear exactly what Derpy said at this point, but she didn't need to. All she needed was the feeling of a soft peck on the cheek before her expression turned surprised and her ears perked up. She was about to say something, but when she turned back to where she was facing Derpy, the gray pegasus had already closed her eyes and was wearing a content smile.
“Derpy…” Rainbow whispered. She smiled slightly before donning a serious expression. “Don't you die on me yet, Derpy! I'm going to get you help!” Rainbow then picked up Derpy, who was evidently now unconscious or… worse, before taking off at top speed towards Canterlot. “Just hold on, Derpy. Just hold on…”
...
”What happened out there!? We lost…”
…
“…thought I was the only one who got those…”
…
“…stabilized, but we still don't know if…”
…
“…get some sleep. I'll stay here and…”
…
“…to Sugarcube Corner, and fast! We only…”
…
“…morning tradition. She never missed…”
…
“…has to work. It just… has to…”
…
“…one last minute with her…”
…
“Are you sure about that, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked as Rainbow sat next to Derpy, who lay now evidently beyond unconscious in a hospital bed in Canterlot Castle, an uneaten muffin on the table beside her.
“Yes,” Rainbow replied. “I really appreciate everything you did for her, but… I have to make sure I say my piece before we close the book on Derpy. Tell the others they can come back in two minutes.”
Twilight was silent for a moment before nodding. “I'm really sorry I couldn't do more,” she said before turning and walking out of the room, leaving Rainbow behind.
“Well…” Rainbow said as she turned back around to face Derpy. “Here we are. End of the story. Sorry I couldn't give you a better ending, though. I guess that's just how things go sometimes. Sometimes, happy endings just don't exist. You do everything you can, but even when things seem to work out for you, one or more of your friends wind up suffering. I beat you, I found the old you, I got you here, I helped you all I could, we helped you all we could… so why are we both still hurt? I guess life's just a salty little witch, that's all.” Rainbow sighed before a memory came back to her. “Hey… remember a long time ago, near the start of our little Ranger journey, when you were feeling sick, and I came to visit you?” Rainbow chuckled. “I really don't expect you to remember anything, It was barely a footnote compared to everything else, but… I remember it. I sat by your bed, talked to you, tried to comfort you… and neither of us wanted to kill each other. It was then that I really knew that there was still some kind of good in you. It was then that I really started trying to save you.” Rainbow paused for a moment, trying to re-stabilize her voice, which was starting to grow shaky. “Every day after that, you were back to being evil, like you didn't remember that day at all, but I still knew that this wasn't really you.” For a little while, Rainbow fell silent, likely because she didn't know what else to say. After a while, she reached up and took Derpy's hoof in her own. “I'm sorry we couldn't save you, Derpy, but I'm glad I could at least help you get to the point where you found your old self.” Rainbow then stroked the top of Derpy's hoof before falling silent once again. “Heh… Derpy? If you're planning on one of those twist happy endings where you suddenly open your eyes, reply to everything I just said with a smile, then we both hug, now would be a real good time to wake up…”
…
“Yeah… didn't think so…” Rainbow said as her face sunk and she let go of Derpy's hoof. She then got up and started walking out of the room, where Twilight was waiting.
“Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?” the unicorn asked.
Rainbow sighed. “Thank you, Twilight,” she said without looking up before walking off.
Twilight's ears drooped as she watched Rainbow Dash walk off. “I'm sorry…” she whispered to herself.