Rarity had been focusing on the same set of dresses for the past week or so. She decided to make a dress each for Princesses Celestia and Luna, and give it to them when they next visited Ponyville. She wanted them to be perfect - absolutely perfect.
She reached for the embroidery thread, only to find it had ran out. She sighed lazily, and got up to get some more. It had been two whole years since Tirek had been defeated and Rarity was still making dresses. She liked it, but there was no variety; she was bored. Using her magic, she pulled open the drawer and looked for the thread. Rarity found the correct colour thread and closed it.
She was walking back to her workbench when she felt a powerful energy surge rush through her. It hit her like a train, and she dropped to the floor. It was so overwhelming she was almost sweating, and couldn't even get to her feet. It was amazing, unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She took a few deep breaths and slowed her heart rate. She looked for the energy using her magic, and found the source was within Canterlot Castle; along with it were Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and all three of the alicorn princesses. She could feel that the unidentified energy was completely malicious. Rarity mustered up enough strength to get to her feet. She composed herself, and contemplated what to do. She decided it would be best to gather Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. She set down her needle and thread. The dresses could wait. She cantered to the door and pulled it open a bit too excitedly.
"Hi!" Rarity jumped back, shocked to see her fluffy pink friend standing right their.
"DAMMIT PINKIE, WHAT THE HELL!"
"Hey... language."
"Suck a di-" Pinkie shoved a hand onto Rarity's face.
"Come on, let's go get Fluttershy and AJ." Rarity stood there, utterly speechless.
"I- how did you know??" Her question remained unanswered as Pinkie hopped away toward Sweet Apple Acres.
Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity were all running at full speed toward Canterlot. Fluttershy was actually a bit ahead. Rarity sensed the energy getting even stronger; they had to stop it. They dashed through a crowd of ponies running away from Canterlot Castle.
"Damn it, things are getting outta hand fast. What do we do?" Applejack commented. Canterlot Castle came into view, and there was a grey coloured pegasus floating in the air, shooting beams at innocent bystanders. And it was utterly merciless. As far as Rarity could tell, it was only killing the ponies who were running away; that's why it hadn't fired at them yet. Fluttershy was quivering, but she was still in control.
"Look everypony, it's using magic without a horn." Rarity had to chime in.
"No, it isn’t. That's not magic; I don't know what it is yet, but it definitely isn't magic." The evil pegasus stopped firing, and turned to face them. Everypony's blood froze instantly. It smiled, wide eyed, psychotic.
"What’s the matter, aren’t you afraid?" No one dared to move an inch. "It's ok you know. You can feel it can't you; the quaking in your knees, the creeping chill running down your spine, and the soul crushing anticipation of your immanent death!" She drew back a hand, and a ball of energy formed in front of it. She pushed her hand forward, and the ball flew toward them. It got about halfway to the four ponies when a beam of yellow energy collided with it from the side. It flew away and instead hit an empty building.
"OMEGAAAA!!!" Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy all looked toward the entrance of the Castle. Standing in it was Rainbow Dash. She looked extremely angry. She dropped her hand to her side, and uttered one sentence.
"Don't... hit my friends!" She flew up into the sky, and punched Omega square in the face. She reeled from the impact and even though the punch drew blood, it clearly didn't hurt; she was smiling. She raised her hand and wiped her mouth.
"Good. A challenge, finally." Omega flew forward, and tried to kick Rainbow Dash in the stomach; she moved to the side and returned with a smash, knocking Omega downward. She grunted a bit and threw an energy ball at Rainbow Dash, who powered up, so that the energy ball disintegrated as it touched her aura. Omega smiled at her opponent's quick thinking. She vanished and reappeared directly in front of Rainbow Dash, then launched a barrage of kicks, all of which were either blocked or dodged. Everypony down below was astonished by this display of strength. Just yesterday, Rainbow Dash could barely perform two sonic rainbooms at a time, yet now she was moving faster than the eye could see with minimal effort.
"What could've possibly happened to cause this?" Rarity was curious as ever. "Not that I can see much of it, but what I can looks rather fascinating." She was referring to the shockwaves and sudden flares of auras appearing in front of them. Twilight came out of the Castle now too.
"I believe I can help with that one." She came down the steps and joined the group.
"Well?" Applejack began. "Explain." Twilight inhaled deeply before she spoke.
"Wow. Where d'ya think they came from Twilight?"
"That all sounded pretty scary."
"Oh my, that sounds rather dreadful dear." The responses Twilight got were fair enough in her mind. The only one who didn't respond was Pinkie, who was surprisingly quiet.
Rainbow Dash and Omega were still battling it out. They had moved around a bit, destroying a few buildings in the process. Rainbow Dash reappeared in front of the group on the ground. She was grazed and bleeding all over, and she was out of breath. Omega leapt up from the rubble a few seconds later. She was fatigued as well, but nowhere near as much as her opponent. Rainbow Dash raised her hand, ready to fire another energy ball; she wasn't giving up yet! Omega was bored of the fight though. She vanished, and reappeared right in front of Rainbow Dash. She punched her hard in the kidney, and she fell to her knees. Omega looked down pitifully at her counterpart.
"You did well, but you're not ready." She turned and walked to the edge of what had become a cliff. "And don't fight me again until you are." A light red aura surrounded her, and she flew off into the distance.
Rainbow Dash awoke to nothing but blackness. She looked around, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly a bright yellow light appeared in front of her; it startled her so much that she fell onto her back! She sat herself up as it shot past her. It faded away, and more beams appeared and fired. She realised they looked like the energy beams she and Omega could use. She developed a sharp migraine as more knowledge forced its way into her mind. Specifically, one word.
"Ki." Rainbow Dash said it as soon as she knew the word. She turned around to see a large blue ki beam heading straight toward her. There was nothing she could do, and the blast engulfed her.
Rainbow Dash jolted awake in a soft, warm bed, which Fluttershy was sitting adjacent to. She jumped up the instant her friend awoke.
"Oh my gosh. Rainbow Dash, I hope you're ok... TWILIGHT!!" Twilight ran in as soon as she heard Fluttershy call.
"Ugh. Hey Twilight." Rainbow Dash began. "What time is it?" Twilight quickly looked out the window and gauged the sun's position.
"About... eight." Rainbow Dash was surprised at how little she slept for.
"A.m.?" Twilight nodded. "Huh; that's not so bad. That means it tomorrow now, right?"
Nopony replied. Rainbow Dash was confused now.
"What's wrong? It's Thursday, I got knocked out by Omega on Wednesday; that means it's been a day."
"Ummm." Twilight stuttered slightly. "It's uh, it's been eight days."
"Wait. What?!!" Rainbow Dash jumped out of the bed. "I wasn't asleep; I was in a coma!" She calmed herself down, and focused.
"Speaking of Omega, do we know where she is?"
"No. Honestly, I think it's for the best; you're nowhere near strong enough to beat her, none of us are." Twilight was speaking truthfully. She was right. Rainbow Dash got to her feet and stretched until she heard a few good clicks from her spine.
"Where is everypony?"
"Downstairs," Twilight said. "Waiting to see if you're alright! You really need to learn when to quit." Her point was acknowledged, and Rainbow headed down the curved staircase.
The moment everypony noticed Rainbow Dash was walking down the stairs, they all rushed to hug her. She was overwhelmed by the weight of everypony piled onto her, so she thought she'd try something. She vanished briefly, then reappeared behind all her friends. Pinkie was the first to notice she was gone.
"I-What happened? She disappeared! Or was she never there in the first place..." somehow ominous music played in the background.
"I'm over here." Rainbow Dash finally spoke, after partly enjoying her friend's bewilderment for a bit. Pinkie tried to continue, but Rainbow Dash put a stop to it.
"Before you ask, I'll explain later. We have bigger fish..." Rainbow randomly stopped mid sentence.
"Uuuh." Twilight interrupted, zoning her blue friend back in.
"Sorry, kinda hungry. Oh yeah, we have bigger problems to deal with. I need to ask something of you, all of you." Rainbow Dash paused and focused. She took a deep breath, and began. "Omega is the strongest adversary we've ever seen, and currently we stand no chance; and as much as I hate to admit it, I can't do this alone. But, after I teach you all how to utilise ki, and we train for a while, we should all be able to beat Omega together. I think I know who can train us, but I'm not telling you, I'm asking you. If you don't want to, there's no shame in walking away now." Rainbow Dash waited for a response. Applejack was first to come forward.
"Rainbow Dash, we've had our differences in the past but we understand each other perfectly, and I know that you hardly ever ask for help; so now you must really need it, and I'm not gonna say no to a friend, now am I?." Fluttershy then followed suit.
"Rainbow Dash, I'm here to help in any way I can, whether I end up strong enough to fight alongside you or not. Besides, I owe you this much for being so kind and welcoming to me, that's why I try and return the favour to all of you." Next was Rarity.
"Darling please, you never even had to ask; I was already on board. And I get to make weighted training clothes for all of us." She could hardly contain her excitement at the prospect. Pinkie Pie then hopped forward.
"I'm happy to help RD! Ooh, this is gonna be so much fun!! Oh I know... WE'LL BREAK HER LEGS!!!" Pinkie's rant continued on in her head. Last to step forward was Twilight.
"Rainbow Dash. I was with you whether you asked me or not. I'll help you defeat Omega, even if it means sacrificing my own life." Twilight had said many meaningful things before, but this was by far the most heartfelt. Rainbow Dash smiled.
"Good," She said. "I just needed to make sure you were truly willing to help." She thought to herself quickly, and began to leave the castle.
"Rainbow? Where are you going?" Rainbow stopped in her tracks, and turned around.
"To find somepony who can train us. Come on!" She yelled as she kept walking. "We're going back to Canterlot!"