Under The Light of Dusk

by applejackofalltrades

Snap Out Of It

This is bad. This is really bad.

Rainbow stood in the middle of her friends. The dust settled around her which allowed her to see again. The cuts on her cheek stung, but they didn't bother her. She made sure that the ponies surrounding her were okay before glaring at Twilight and her army.

"Why are you doing this Twilight?" Rainbow grimaced through her question. She knew it was futile, but she needed to buy time somehow.

Twilight bared her teeth in a growl. "How many times do I have to say it? It's not Twilight anymore. I'm Dusk Sparkle!" She shot off another beam of magic at the group. This time, Rainbow braced herself, but the shot stopped short of them.

She opened her eyes to see a glowing teal barrier in front of everypony as Starlight stood at the front. Rainbow’s eyes widened at her quick reaction and she shot her a nod which Starlight mirrored once the barrier fell again. They all turned their gaze to Dusk Sparkle who glared angrily at the group. The ponies surrounding her seemed to exchange a wordless compromise as they closed in on the group. They were nearly evenly matched in numbers, but Rainbow Dash knew that the other side had the upper hoof. How are we going to get out of this one?

Dusk Sparkle let out a loud cackle. "There's no point in fighting back! You're outmatched," she announced with a grin. The lighting made her appear even more sinister.

Pinkie Pie bounded over to Rainbow Dash with a frown. “Dashie, do you see Maud? I don’t see her.”

Rainbow Dash swallowed dryly and looked at the ponies that were actively closing in on the group. She shook her head at Pinkie, who trotted away with tears brimming in her eyes to ask somepony else. Rainbow glanced back at the ponies in front of them. They all had dimly glowing red eyes like the other princesses. She frowned, unsure of what to do. I can't hurt my friends, even if they're trying to hurt me.

She was in a moral dilemma. Either she could let herself get clobbered by the opposition, or she could fight back but risk hurting her friends. It seemed that both options were equally disconcerting. In the end, though, she didn't have a choice, and she knew it. The only way to save her friends was to stop Dusk Sparkle, and the only way to do that would be to fight her friends. Maybe she could delay fighting them long enough to figure out another solution, though.

"Don't hurt them! They're our friends, even if they're not acting like it right now," Rainbow commanded to the ponies that stood by her side. She looked at them to make sure they understood.

"Are ya sure? They ain’t gonna go easy on us," Applejack pointed out. "Besides, how are we gonna stop 'em if we can't fight 'em?"

Rainbow Dash jumped out of the way of a lesser magical beam. "Just dodge their attacks and tire them out or something!" She snorted in exasperation. "I don't know! Just don't hurt them!"

Everypony nodded nervously as they broke apart, forcing Dusk Sparkle's forces to separate as well. Rainbow took to the sky, trying to get a good view of everything. She kept an eye on Dusk Sparkle, who laughed maniacally again.

"You know, when I said that there's no point in fighting back, I didn't think you'd actually take it to heart!" She shot a beam at Rarity, who put up a shield haphazardly, barely enough to stop it so she could move out of the way before the shield broke. "Oh well, you won't see me complaining. You're just making this easier for me!" She narrowed her eyes as she nodded to the princesses flanking her.

The three princesses formed a line in front of Dusk Sparkle, and the four of them flapped their wings in unison. They all looked up to the sky, their horns beginning to glow and shoot a beam into the sky where their colours combined and formed a dome around the area. The dome glowed magenta and crept in on itself slowly.

"I'd say you have about half an hour until the dome reaches the center point," Twilight warned as she broke apart from the other princesses. "If it touches you… Well, let's just say you won't have a problem with fighting your friends anymore." She cackled coldly.

Rainbow Dash watched in panic as she saw the glowing dome moving in slowly. Everypony was forced closer together, but still far apart enough to keep engaging in one on one combat. Rainbow wasn't sure how long that'd last, though. She flew to the floor after deciding that she'd be of more use on the ground to help her friends if need be. She looked around wildly, unsure of what to do. Rarity was dodging fast punches from a flying Soarin, as Starlight faced a similar issue against Thunderlane who sat on a dark cloud several meters above the unicorn and shot lightning down where she stood.

Everypony around her was engaged in combat, and Rainbow was overwhelmed. She heard somepony land behind her clumsily, uneven hoofsteps filling the air. She felt her muscles tighten as she turned around slowly. Rainbow's magenta eyes met cross-eyed yellow ones that dimly glowed red. She felt herself freeze in the presence of her friend. If only for a moment of pause, the gray pegasus smiled at her, and then lunged forward with uncharacteristic grace and threw a punch at Rainbow, who was too bewildered to dodge it.

She stumbled backwards, confused and dazed by the strength of the punch. She shook her head and did a double-take. She was… strangely strong. Rainbow flexed her jaw, rubbing it with a hoof. "Ditzy?"

Ditzy giggled blankly. "Hi, Rainbow Dash. It's so nice to see you, I was actually thinking about you recently." She took a step forward, Rainbow took a step back. "I was thinking about how you're still in the dark. I want to help you, you need to come into the light." She punctuated her sentence with a too-wide smile.

Rainbow felt shivers go down her spine. This was extremely wrong. "I don't want to hurt you, Ditzy." She contemplated taking off into the sky, but the only ponies in the sky were all of the princesses, and she figured she'd rather take her chances with Ditzy. "You gotta snap out of it!"

Ditzy threw another punch, the smile on her face not disappearing as she laughed softly. Rainbow managed to dodge it this time, but Ditzy was unfazed. "But I don't want to. I don't know how to explain it, but Dusk Sparkle has allowed me to make so many friends," she told her, putting emphasis on the last word.

Rainbow Dash frowned. "You were already friends with everypony here!" She jumped out of the way of a beam of magic from Dusk Sparkle. "What Twil—Dusk Sparkle is doing is wrong. She's brainwashing you!"

Ditzy stumbled as she took a step forward. "She's going to show all of Equestria her light! She will be the saviour!"

Rainbow Dash shook her head wildly. "What?" She just about yelled the word as she stood her ground. "What the buck are you talking about?" She took a step closer to Ditzy, who took a step back, her face flashing confusion.

Rainbow took another step forward. Ditzy's mouth was closed in a tight line, edging on a frown. The blue pegasus inched closer. "Ditzy, please you gotta snap out of it." She looked down at her friend who stared at the floor. "You're the best mailpony Ponyville could ask for! You're super nice and you make sure to have a chat with everypony you deliver the mail to." She put a hoof on Ditzy's shoulder. "You have to snap out of it. For us?"

Ditzy shuddered for a second and looked up to Rainbow Dash. Her eyes flickered, turning their normal colour. "Rainbow Dash?" She blinked forcefully and brought a hoof to her head and shook it. When she opened her eyes, they glowed red again. She stood up quickly and pushed Rainbow Dash back. "No! You won't ruin everything Dusk Sparkle has done for me!" She took a step back from Rainbow and turned away.

The sky blue pegasus gasped softly. What just happened? She replayed the events in her head, even though they just happened. She talked to Ditzy, and she seemed to momentarily snap out of it. Progress was made, and suddenly Rainbow Dash realized that she found the alternative answer she was looking for.

But first, she had to make sure it actually worked. She trotted over to Ditzy who scowled at her. It was strange to see that expression from the gray pegasus, but Rainbow hoped it wouldn't be for long. She stood in front of her path resolutely. "Come on, aren't you supposed to fight me?"

Ditzy's mouth twitched. She rammed in Rainbow's direction, but Rainbow swiftly stepped aside. "Come on, Derpy. You can do better than that!" She grinned, putting her plan into action. Remind her of her training. She loved it.

Rainbow clapped her hooves together once, catching Ditzy's attention. "Too slow," she stated. "Try it again, but faster." She stood in front of Ditzy, a challenge flashing in her eyes.

Ditzy inhaled sharply and ran forward again, but as Rainbow dodged, she changed directions to where Rainbow moved and caught her off guard. With an oof, Rainbow staggered back. "Nice job! You're getting it!" She regained her hoofing and shot a proud smile at Ditzy.

Ditzy's face twitched again, but this time a smile found its way onto her face. She blinked and her eyes became normal again. With a confused expression replacing her previous proud one, Ditzy cocked her head. "What? Rainbow Dash? Where am I?" She raised a hoof to her head and rubbed her mane. "Oh goodness, did I crash again? I really need to get better at flying," she muttered to herself.

Rainbow would have laughed. Really, she would have. But she was too busy blinking tears out of her eyes for an astonishing couple of short moments. She finally shot forward and grabbed Ditzy by the shoulders with her hooves. "Ditzy! You're back!"

Ditzy blinked, her face not changing from the smile she nearly always had. "Huh? What do you mean?" The smile, of course, was demonstrative of Ditzy's confusion. Well, at least Rainbow knew she was back to normal. "I didn't go anywhere. At least, I don't think I did."

Rainbow shook her head, still smiling. "Long story, but you were captured by Dusk Sparkle." She chuckled awkwardly. "But you're back now! And I need your help."

Ditzy nodded, seemingly unbothered by the previous revelation. "Okay! So what are we doing?" She looked around, her eyes widening at the scene developing around them. "Wow, that doesn't look good."

“It isn’t. Our friends are brainwashed, we need to make them come back.” She nodded towards Ditzy. “I wasn’t sure how to do it at first, but then I got you out of it.” She led the yellow maned mare to cover behind a pile of rubble. “I think if you can remind them of who they really are, then they’ll come around,” she pointed out. “I’m not completely sure, but it’s worth a shot. I know you're friends with everypony here. You have to help me. I know you can."

Ditzy nodded as her smile softened. "Okay! I'll do my best!" She hoof bumped Rainbow who grinned, instilled with a newfound confidence and for the first time in a long time, real hope. Ditzy trotted off, and judging by the lack of fire from Dusk Sparkle, successfully tricked everypony into thinking she was still brainwashed. As long as her friends knew it was her, it would be fine.

Rainbow allowed Ditzy to make a getaway before she'd have to blow her cover. Ditzy ran up to Rarity and Soarin and for a second, Rarity's face flashed with panic, but Ditzy said some words to her. Rarity looked over quickly at Rainbow Dash, who nodded. Rarity dodged one of Soarin's attacks and stood next to Ditzy, her mouth opening and closing with words Rainbow couldn't hear. Soarin didn't seem to let up much, though.

Rainbow ran over, hoping she could help bring Soarin back. She jumped out of the way of some rubble from another explosion that Dusk Sparkle caused. Up close, Rarity looked a lot more defeated than she did from afar. She conjured up another sloppy shield, barely deflecting Dusk Sparkle's beam. Rainbow Dash knew that Rarity’s magic was never really the type for fighting, and despite her best efforts, even a simple shield proved difficult for the seamstress. It seemed Soarin knew that as well and took it as an opportunity to swoop in.

Before he could get to Rarity, though, Rainbow flew in like a flash, knocking Soarin out of the sky. He was definitely a much more formidable opponent than Ditzy was, and it took all of her concentration to keep him on the floor. He writhed furiously under her, spitting like a rabid animal. Rainbow winced and tried to keep him from hurting himself.

"Soarin, come on. You gotta snap out of it," Rainbow pleaded. "We need your help to make everything normal again." Rainbow was much more tired this time than with Ditzy. She had a feeling it'd be a lot more difficult to break Soarin out of whatever spell he was under than it had been to free Ditzy.

The gray mare stood next to Rarity for support as she rubbed her head, her horn smoking at the tip. Rarity didn't usually use her magic for anything more than multitasking, and even after all the training that she'd done, this was definitely more than she was accustomed to. The white pony looked completely exhausted and Rainbow couldn't help but feel bad. She turned her attention back to Soarin who, with a burst of strength and capitalizing on Rainbow's distraction, pushed her off and bucked her in the chest with his hind hooves.

Rainbow grunted and it took everything she had to keep herself from falling backwards. She automatically held a hoof up to her chest and winced, the breath completely escaped her body and left her wheezing for a few moments. Through the pain of catching her breath, she barely registered Soarin flying above her until it was too late. He dropped on her back, sending her to the floor in a painful heap. She fought back every urge to cry out in pain, not wanting to call any attention to them.

"Soarin, please," she wheezed. She lifted her head and spat out dirt. "I know you're still in there. You're one of the most loyal ponies I've met." She gasped as she felt her knees buckle under her in an attempt to get up. "And that's saying a lot coming from me," she joked with the faintest smile she could muster up.

Soarin paused his assault for a moment. Rainbow used this to the best of her advantage and took the opportunity to stand up despite her wobbling legs. In her peripheral vision, she saw Ditzy and Rarity pushing back against Pinkie Pie, who seemed to have been fighting them. Rainbow let out a silent scream, realizing that the only explanation was that Pinkie had been hit by one of Dusk Sparkle's beams or walked into the dome.

Any hope that Rainbow held was shattered. The pieces fell on the metaphorical floor inside her body, and she didn't have time to clean them up. Instead, she swept them up into a mental dustpan and put them to the side, deeming them a problem for later. She blinked tears out of her eyes and lifted her head to Soarin, who was still motionless in front of her. He shivered for a second, his eyes glowing completely red.

"You may have saved Ditzy, but you can't save everypony." Soarin grinned widely as the voice of Dusk Sparkle came out of his body. He cocked his head toward Pinkie, who lunged at Rarity and Ditzy with a ferocity that Rainbow seldom saw. Rarity shot up a weak shield which only held Pinkie back momentarily. Eventually, the pink pony barrelled both Ditzy and Rarity over and started trying to bite them.

In a dignified fit of panic and confusion, Rarity's horn glowed blue and Pinkie was shot back, sliding on the floor on her back for a few hoof lengths before getting up and shaking her head. She wiped her bloody snout and grinned at the ponies she called friends.

Rainbow couldn't hold back her anger. "What did you do to her?" Her voice was shrill and directed directly up to Dusk Sparkle, who hovered above her. Her eyes glowed red like Soarin's, and then she blinked and they faded to their normal state. Soarin gasped in front of Rainbow and fell over. Above her, Dusk Sparkle looked down with a victorious glint in her eyes as she lowered herself to Rainbow's level on the ground.

"I showed her the light," she spat. "She didn't have a choice, and soon, neither will you." Her eyes flicked to the direction of Rarity and Ditzy. "You may have saved the gray one, but she was useless to me anyway."

Rainbow growled. "Ditzy is not useless," she spat.

Dusk Sparkle bared her teeth. "It doesn't matter. I have somepony more competent now. That loud pink one will be of good use to me." Her ear flicked. "Even if her thoughts are extremely loud," she muttered, although Rainbow still heard. It almost made her chuckle, if it wasn't for the circumstances. It was at that moment that she knew that Twilight was still in there somewhere.

"That's Pinkie for ya," she joked, hoping that it would spark some memory in Dusk Sparkle's head. "She's such a great friend," she promised while ignoring the grunts of fighting in the background.

Dusk Sparkle chuckled dryly and looked behind Rainbow Dash. "Are you sure?" Her voice was cold, unlike when she made an almost funny joke just moments prior.

Rainbow looked behind her to see Pinkie standing over Ditzy, who laid on the floor with her hooves over her head, and Rarity who stood defiantly in front of Pinkie. She seemed to be crying, which brought tears to Rainbow's eyes all over again. She became aware of all of the noises around her. She heard the twinkling noises of magic and the grunts of physical altercation. She heard her friends pleading for their other friends to stop. She heard Starlight asking Trixie to stop. Applejack asking Big Mac to stop. Fluttershy asking—

No. This had to stop.

"I've gotten so many of your friends." Dusk Sparkle grinned slyly. "Oh, how the tables have turned. I told you you could never stop me." She smiled wickedly as she faced Rainbow Dash, her horn charging up with a magenta glow.

Rainbow flicked her eyes to the side towards Pinkie, Ditzy, and Rarity. Time seemed to slow down as Rainbow inhaled deeply. Ditzy was on her hooves again, holding back Pinkie as best as she could while Rarity caught her breath. She turned her gaze to her other side where Applejack took a step back as Big Mac took a hard step forward. She turned her head back to Dusk Sparkle, whose horn shimmered with the unreleased magical energy.

"But I will." All within the same moment as time returned back to normal, Rainbow sped to Rarity and Ditzy and shoved them with her wings, dragging them along with her to a small clearing in the impromptu battlefield. In the same short moment, the magic that Dusk Sparkle set off hit the floor and created a small crater. She looked surprised at the streak of rainbow that the blue pegasus left behind her as it disappeared in front of her eyes.

Rainbow took in a quick deep breath. "Everypony to me!" Her voice, while scratchy, was loud enough to be heard, and within moments, all of her friends surrounded her. Of course, this meant that so did the ponies trying to kill them.

Starlight Glimmer stepped forward next to Rainbow Dash and looked at her with an assuring smile. "I got this.” Her horn lit up with a teal aura, and she pressed her eyes together as a large dome emerged from her horn, pushing back only the ponies that were infiltrated with dark magic. She gritted her teeth as she held it, the ponies outside the protection already beginning to bang on the small translucent dome that separated them. "Shields aren’t really my specialty. I can't hold this for long. Whatever you're planning on doing, do it already," she growled through gritted teeth.

Now, Rainbow didn't exactly have a plan other than talking to the ponies attacking them. She wasn't sure how that would sound to her friends, though. But it was worth a shot, although there was nothing really she could do quickly. What if she said she had no plan? Everything she'd worked for would disappear. The respect, the leadership, the trust. She needed a solid plan, something that would actually make sense, and she had to think of it quickly.

Not only because of the inevitable deterioration of the shield but because Dusk Sparkle's dome was closing in on them. She gritted her teeth, trying to come up with a solution. Rarity seemed to notice her hesitation and ran next to Starlight, her own horn glowing light blue as the dome seemed to fortify a little bit, now glowing with their combined colours as the mare added her magical energy to the mix. Rarity nodded to Starlight, who returned the gesture with a thankful smile.

Rainbow felt a bit elated by the generous action. She shook her head and decided to be honest. "Okay, here's the deal. The only way I think we can reverse the effect is to remind our friends of who they were." She shot a glance at Ditzy who smiled blankly. "That's how I got Derpy back, I reminded her of her friends and of who she is."

The grey pegasus nodded and stepped next to Rainbow. "I don't really remember anything, to be honest… Uh… But I do remember Rainbow Dash telling me a lot of nice things, and then I was back! And here I am now." The remaining ponies looked at each other and nodded.

Applejack cleared her throat. "I reckon we also oughta make sure that nopony gets hit with one of uh… Dusk Sparkle's magic beam things." As she gave her suggestion one of the aforementioned bursts of magic hit the top of the dome, causing it to shake. "I think that's how she gets 'em on her side but even if that ain’t the case, it’d probably still hurt."

Fluttershy nodded, nervously trying to get everypony's attention. "That's how she got Zecora, I think." She took a step back and crouched in an attempt to hide away from everypony's eyes.

Eager to draw the attention away from Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as another beam hit the dome. "We have to make sure we do this right. We only have one chance. As soon as this dome goes down, we need to secure the win or else we’re all screwed."

Everypony shuffled nervously at Rainbow's words, and for a moment, she regretted her wording. But she knew that she had to be honest with her friends, it was a dire situation and she couldn't instill false hopes. If she sugar-coated it, it would benefit exactly zero ponies.

A loud thud sound came from above them. Rainbow looked up to see Dusk Sparkle standing on the top of the dome. "Stop dawdling!" She contorted her face as she shot at the shield. "You can't get out of this!"

Rarity and Starlight grunted with the effort to keep the dome intact. “We simply cannot hold this longer, darling. I hope you’re all ready,” Rarity spoke through gritted teeth.

After a moment, the dome exploded backwards, pushing everypony that was pounding on it back several hoof lengths, including Dusk Sparkle who seemed increasingly annoyed. Now everypony was uncovered, and Rainbow hoped nothing worse would happen. Dusk Sparkle flew back up, Luna, Celestia, and Cadance at her side. They all began to shoot colourful bursts of magic at everypony, who was managing to dodge them. Rainbow focused her attention first on Pinkie, who was hopping back to them with a genuine smile.

“Heya Dashie!” Pinkie Pie stopped in front of Rainbow Dash, who took a step back. “You will not believe what just happened to me! So there I was, trying to save our friends when bam! Meanie Sparkle shoots me with this magic beam and all of a sudden I’m trying to kill our friends instead.” She giggled as if what she said was something that could be found humorous at all. “But then I heard your speech through the bubble, which by the way is not delicious at all, and I got so giddy and happy that I didn’t want to kill you anymore!”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw hung open. “So you’re back to normal?” Pinkie nodded in response. “But I didn’t even… I was gonna… I was gonna go save you now!” Rainbow shook her head in disbelief.

Pinkie just scoffed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Don’t be silly. It didn’t take much for me to remember that you’re all my very best friends ever and that I shouldn’t be trying to hurt you! Besides, whatever magic that Meanie Sparkle is using is no match for my love for my friends!” She stepped forward and hugged Rainbow Dash. “Now come on, before she notices that I’m not being mind-controlled anymore.” She gestured to Dusk with her head.

“Well, there’s no time like the present! Let’s start reminding our friends who they are!” Rainbow ran in the opposite direction of Pinkie toward Fluttershy and Zecora. If there was anypony they needed now, it was Zecora. She was the healer, of course.

Rainbow took a deep inhale as she ran up to them, trying to drown out the other sounds of struggle around her. She had almost forgotten about the blood trickling down the cut on her muzzle. That didn’t matter now, though. They all needed her, and she had to decide who to save first, but she’d leave herself for last if it meant everypony else was okay.

Author's Note:

So like, this is the start of the fight chapters. I’m not particularly proud of these but I hope they will work out!

ANYWAY i keep forgetting that LMAO I need to update this story lol

Comments

[Silver Mint]

I totally didn't tear up when I read Pinkie snapped out of it from Dash's speech, nope.

[applejackofalltrades]

10941445
Ahahaha omg

[Papel2017]

10941466
Can i ask you something?

[applejackofalltrades]

10941544
Yeah for sure. Did you want to dm me?

[Matthais Unidostres]

Maybe...
With what little power you have left...
You can SAVE something else...
Cue "SAVE The World"

[applejackofalltrades]

10941831
ah, do i spot an undertale fan?

[Papel2017]

10941555
How exacly did Twilight became dusk Sparkle?

[applejackofalltrades]

10942534
I am pretty sure I covered it in one of the earlier chapters. Long story short, there was a cursed book she read that infected her with the will of the author, who was not a good pony. The more she read it, the deeper she fell into that state and the less control she had over herself. Thing is, since she came in contact with the book, it's meant to draw you in, so she kept clinging to it and yknow, things got worse.

[Matthais Unidostres]

10941850
*You tell the Lost Soul that they're the best mail mare Ponyville ever had.
"No! You won't ruin everything Dusk Sparkle has done for me!"
*You tell the Lost Soul that they can do better than that.
"(Inhales sharply)"
*You tell the Lost Soul that they're getting it now.
*Suddenly, memories come flooding back!
"Oh goodness, did I crash again? I really need to get better at flying,"
Ditzy (SAVED)