Refracted Heart

by Raynbow

3 ~ History Lesson

Luna dropped her gaze and frowned slightly. This was a question she was not prepared for.
"One can only guess, Rainbow Dash. But I quite honestly do not know why. There may not even be motive, there's always the off chance that it's just a deranged, psychopathic pony that gains his or her pleasure by watching others suffer."

Rainbow Dash couldn’t will herself to do anything but stare at a very grim Luna. While she did expect some form of explanation, this was completely uncalled for and caught her off guard, rendering her vulnerable to all sorts of emotional attacks and heartache. Tears beginning to well in her eyes, she ducked her head low and rubbed her hoof against the ground, lost and frustrated.

Seeing the state Rainbow Dash was in, Luna took it upon herself to try and comfort her new ally and friend. Putting her hoof around Rainbow Dash, she said in an unusually soft tone, “I know this must be excruciating for you, I can almost feel the pain you’re going through radiating off you. Now I do not normally do this for anypony, but would you like to fly to Canterlot with me? Or would you prefer a night to let your mind recuperate and just rest?”

Rainbow Dash lifted her head to face Luna, her eyes glittering in the sparkling night.
“Let’s do it. Go to Canterlot, I mean. The sooner we get started, the better, right? I mean, if I go sleep, how’s that going to help Pinkie? Nonono, I can’t do that, I have to protect her. I have to. I have to…” She said, her voice cracking. This was all too much for the pegasus. She could feel the negative emotions coursing through her nerves, all around her body. Much like depression, it was pulling her down, dragging her mind into the shadows. Her body was becoming numb and senseless, and her mind was floating, just about ready to give up. She felt ready to grasp the opportunity to just collapse onto the floor and bawl her eyes out, but Luna made sure this wouldn’t be so. Luna gently placed her hoof back over Rainbow Dash’s shoulder and helped the sky-blue coloured mare keep her balance.

Rainbow Dash turned to face Luna, her cheeks soaked with her own salty tears. She couldn’t speak; there was a lump in her throat that refused to depart, so instead shakily nodded in thanks. Luna gave a soft smile in return.

The pair stayed like this for fair amount of time, Luna comforting Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow Dash occasionally breaking down into tears. Soon, the sobs began to lessen, until she finally gained control of herself. Wiping her hoof across the damp fur on her face, she tilted her head towards Luna and spoke, stuttering over her words a fair few times.
“Lu… Princess, c-can we still go to Ca… Canterlot?”
“Of course we can, Rainbow.” Luna smiled, spreading her wings. Taking the hint, Rainbow Dash too let loose her wings, taking off into the vast, glittering skies, Luna following shortly after.

The cool breeze whipped across Rainbow Dash’s face, drying up the remainder of the tears that had been absorbed into her fur. She looked around, her pupils widening as she took in the landscape; the beautiful, shining, starry sky; Canterlot looming over the tall mountain it was perched on, the vast fields and forests Equestria was filled with. She normally wasn’t observant of all these things, but as she was beginning to come to terms with how these luxuries in life could now be very limited, she was admiring it while she could. “What have I been missing all these times? This is just… just amazingly awesome,” she thought. She made a mental note to travel down this route more frequently.

The pair soared through the skies; only the natural elements of the world could be heard. However, this didn’t last, as Luna had information she contained in her mind that she had to inform Rainbow Dash of, and now was the perfect time for it. Not hesitating, Luna spoke.
“Rainbow Dash,”
“Yeah?” she answered, turning to face Luna.
“I think it’s time we go over the specifics of what’s going to happen.”
“…Alright, that sounds like… uhh… needed.”
“It is. Okay, the first thing is, do you know why we’re actually travelling to Canterlot?”
“I… uhmm… no.”
“I’m going to show you my well-hidden, secret underground room of retained subconscious memories. That being where I store everypony’s dreams that are of interest to me, or, in this case, the welfare of another pony’s life. No one in the universe, apart from me, knows where this room is, so you must promise to not tell anypony, no, anything, of it’s whereabouts, no matter the circumstances. If you should, the consequences will be diiiire,” Luna said, adding a touch of light-hearted humour to lighten the solemn mood of the whole situation.

“I promise I won’t ever say anything about the room of… of whatever it was.”
“Retained subconscious memories.”
“That one.”
“Okay, good. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, I must address a highly dangerous issue that is undoubtedly the center of this whole mission. This will come as a shock to you, no question, but it must be said,

‘These dreams, as I’ve said, are messages. But I did not go too in depth into that at the time, just to spare you of added stress and agony. But now is the time. These Driae that you will have are not naturally linked to the world as such, but are actually being transmitted into your brain artificially.”

Rainbow Dash’s wings nearly failed her as she processed the meaning of what she’d just taken in. Somepony was intruding into the depths of her mind and submitting what was literally a message, only to played in the form of a dream. It was so outlandish, immoral and intrusive; she couldn’t believe it in the slightest.

“But that is not even the worst of it,” Luna continued, creasing her brow. An almost electrifying shock of silence, her only response, spurred the princess on.

“These transmissions are being controlled by an extremely powerful unicorn named Dissonance, who was once a student of Starswirl the Bearded. I know this because during your nap this evening, I intercepted the transmission waves and decoded them to reveal the DNA of the sender, in which is kept on a tightly guarded record.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, bemused.

“Anyhow, the fact that he has been alive since the time of Starswirl’s presence, if not before, means that not only does he carry the longevity abilities of an alicorn like myself, Princess Cadence and Princess Celestia, but is also highly skilled and lethal in the arts of sorcery. Like anypony else, he was once a normal, happy citizen. He would greet everyone with one of the most natural smiles; provide the homeless with needed supplies and shelter. Anything that a polite, respectful, loving Good Samaritan could do, he would do it. But alas, some minds cannot handle the strain of things, and whilst we do not know what caused him to snap in such a sudden manner, we do know one thing,

‘Starswirl’s death was not natural or coincidence. We know for a fact that it was Dissonance that killed Starswirl, who could have lived to be much more than three thousand years old. You see; the twenty fourth of June AD 1011 was the discovery and beginning of a new era – the finding of the magical ability that all unicorns possess. Starswirl, who only perfected and invented hundreds of new spells did not discover magic itself. However, without him, only the most basic levitation spells may have ever been known. For this reason, and this reason only, Starswirl was idolized and loved.

‘Most unicorns were overjoyed at the news of their hidden ability. Of course, it was overly difficult for them to even get their horns to spark, at first. But that aside, it so happened that there were a few ponies that disagreed or were indifferent with the finding of magic. Dissonance appeared to be one of the indifferent equines. But, when he was offered to be Starswirl’s assistant and pupil, he did not reject his chance but instead decided to attempt it. He must not have liked what he saw, however,

‘For on the first of May AD 1017, Dissonance ended the life of his teacher over an argument on the use of magic. Starswirl was, of course, for the unavoidable use of it, whereas Dissonance against. What had started as a petty debate escalated into a full-scale battle when his teacher had stood him up. The battle was said to have lasted hours on end, up until Dissonance had enough and ended it all with a forbidden spell that sapped all remaining life out of his mentor and transformed it into dark energy – energy that strengthens unicorns upon being absorbed. Dark energy is only found in your soul, your spirit. This dark energy can only be gained in one way, and that is by killing ponies. But that isn’t the reason why he murders,

‘Celestia and I have never known exactly why he kills innocent ponies, although we do know that it isn’t for the gain of dark energy. He loves to play games with us, so to this day; we’re still trying to figure out the means. But we know this much. Due to the amount of lives Dissonance has taken, he is extremely powerful. He has surpassed our level of power, which is one reason why we can’t stop him; only halt his progressions. After the death of Starswirl, Dissonance pleaded guilty to the charges of highly illegal use of magic, ponyslaughter and murder. But using his newfound unnaturally unobtainable magic ability, he managed to get away. But, he was caught by somepony you wouldn’t expect,

‘Cadence. At the time, she had been one of the most powerful alicorns in Equestria. She still is, but she had reduced the practising of magic after the incident until her ability locked itself away deep inside, only to be brought out in dire situations such as at her royal wedding. But to the point, Cadence was able the conjure an electrifying spell that works by sending electric impulses through the victim’s body until they slump into unconsciousness. It wasn’t the spell that was amazing, but the fact that she overcame her feelings, tracked him down and stopped him right in his tracks. This may not sound amazing to you yet, but what I’m about to tell you will change your mind.” Luna paused, letting Rainbow Dash have a short break.

“You see, Cadence used to be in love with Dissonance.”

Rainbow Dash gasped unwillingly, it just escaped past her lips without her consent. She didn’t really know why she found this surprising; after all, she would expect a pony to have had a few “love of their lives” after a good thousand years. But nonetheless, the whole point of Cadence falling for anypony other than Shining Armour sounded outlandish and impossible, even. Without letting Rainbow Dash inquire, Luna continued.

“They both had been at the time. And it wasn’t the sort of shallow “fake” love as such, but truly deep and meaningful. They had been together for two years, and they had seemed inseparable. But fate had other plans, because the moment the news of Starswirl’s death and the offender’s name reached poor Cadence’s ears, her heart practically shattered like glass. It was heartbreaking to watch her suffer as she had been. Before his trial, she spent nights on end sobbing in her bedroom, refusing to interact or socialize with anypony whatsoever. Her heart was fractured beyond repair,

‘And when Cadence discovered that Dissonance had escaped, you could almost see the fire in her eyes. They had flared up in rage and hatred for her former stallionfriend, unforgiving, unforgotten. She immediately set out in the route she suspected he would have taken – the direction of the desert. She hunted him for days, knowing that a pony like him would’ve chosen the most unlikely of hiding places, and she knew perfectly well that he was capable of surviving out in the dry heat for decades on end. It was her cunning that led to his capture and transportation, Celestia and I would have never figured out such a location, as only Cadence had known him well enough,

‘There was no escape when Cadence pounced on an unsuspecting and surprised Dissonance, who had thought he’d been secured from being located. Dissonance had begged for mercy, which Cadence showed none of, rightfully so. I remember her choking out six words that to this day, after several thousand years, is one of the most gut wrenching things I’d ever heard.” Luna paused, taking a deep, steadying breath in.

“I thought I mattered to you. That is what she said. Without further ado, so performed the spell that electrocuted Dissonance with tens of thousands of volts – enough to send him into a coma for a month. Once the deed was done, Dissonance unconscious, we had to make a decision on what should be done with the stallion. To this day, I regret not killing him right there and then when I had the chance, as an opportunity is yet to present itself since that fateful day. Sadly, no one voted for such an option because they’d dubbed it cruel and barbaric. The final decision was to transport him to land ten thousand kilometres away – a terrain that was rough, unforgiving and lifeless. This land was an ice-desert known as Antarctica,

‘Luckily for every single pony in Equestria, the formulae for the teleportation spell had not yet been discovered, meaning that the best he could do was walk or levitate himself to his destination. Should he have possessed the ability to teleport, we would never have located him, and many more ponies would be left dead in his path,

‘From there on in, it had been seven hundred years until we saw a sign of Dissonance’s return. Never did we see Dissonance himself, but the signs were blatantly obvious. His style of murder was unique, and no other pony would have the courage to even think of copying it,

‘We haven’t seen Dissonance himself for one thousand years – since his transportation and abandonment. But there have been signs of his presence since, the odd pony here and there being murdered and nailed to the town centres – that being his trademark kill. He’s always managed to escape completely unseen and undetected. He is, in all senses of the word, a true assassin.” Luna finished.

Rainbow Dash had completely forgotten she was flying as she had listened to the history of what is now her new nemesis. She was shocked, baffled and even scared of the blinding ability this despair-producing pony was said to possess. Her hopes of saving Pinkie were dropping from high to null with every word Luna had spoken, and now she was beginning to worry that her insecurity could get the best of her.

But it was another feeling that got the best of Rainbow Dash – one that had been bugging her all day. A flare a blind longing shot up inside of her, wishing that she could be with Pinkie, laugh with Pinkie, take in the Pink pony’s natural beauty. This leaving her feeling even more confused than before. But out of her flustered state, she knew one thing she was going to do.

No matter what happened, whether it meant torture or death, she would risk her life to protect Pinkie.

Comments

[Dusty Sage]

"I thought I mattered to you."

These six words indeed are a story unto themselves.

And maybe I'm wrong, but I have a feeling that the confrontation is going to play itself out like an early scene in Romeo and Juliet, with Pinkie Pie in the role of Mercutio: involved only because she wanted to help a friend, but a victim of collateral damage just the same. Certainly Rainbow Dash has enough brash heedlessness for half a dozen Romeos.

[Liamotfunk]

Nice job pardner. Ah caint wait ta read th' next chapter.

[The mike]

I enjoyed the first two chapters,
chapter three did a stange turn
and then I got a WTF chapter 4...

seriously?, an overpowered pony who kills for fun, and gets stronger for every kill?
and he even surpased celestia?

WTF? dude....

[Raynbow]

822850
That would imply that Celestia actually does anything. I'm not gonna bother explaining, if you don't like it, don't continue reading. He does have a motive and that will be explained around chapter 6/7. In fact, I never stated that he has no motive. Luna simply said that neither her or her sister knew of it. But as I said, if you don't like how it's going, don't bother.