The End of the Rainbow

by JTH

Chapter 9

Rainbow Dash stayed behind at the castle of Canterlot, mainly to rest and then to continue to practice learning to better handle the powerful magic transfers. Meanwhile, the rest of the Mane Six went about Canterlot together. They did this for two reasons: the first was to allow Rainbow Dash to relax and focus practicing on what she wished to do, believing that the company of them would only stress her and put her under more pressure to do so. The second was to see if they could find any further information on this Raindoom phenomenon.

The Canterlot Library they were certain could lead them to something that Twilight was unable to find back home. After several hours however, it seemed clear they would have no better luck in the libraries of Canterlot than they did at Twilight's own. It was thought that perhaps the Royal Library at the castle could find an answer, but Twilight knew that any book of history or elemental magic at the castle, she herself either already have, already read, or would have done retrieved such book to research before now. It was evident, they would have no more luck here than before. It seemed that an answer was just not meant to be found, this was a task they would just have to learn once it came.

After the hours of zero progress, the day of hope to find any intel turned bleak. All the ponies also were becoming very hungry as well. So Pinkie Pie and Rarity recommended a restaurant they had recently visited on a recent trip to the downtown Canterlot location. A small diner called "The Tasty Treat" located on "Restaurant Row", with a name as tasty as the food they made. After the help of the two mares, business had boomed for their owners, so whenever the tandem of Pinkie and/or Rarity graced them, the food would be on the house. The presence of the Princess of Friendship would also be a welcome sight as well. Owners Coriander Cumin and Saffron Masala offered a private dining room to allow the five mares to eat in peace from the public, but also to allow the said guests to converse with the owners themselves.

The food was brought by the plenty, and the Mane Five mares all enjoyed the food very much so as Saffron brought another delicious plate of cuisine. Throughout the conversations that had been spoken amongst the visiting dining mares, when young Saffron became quite engaged in talks with her guests.

"If you don't mind my saying, please give my support to Miss Dash when you return to the Royal Castle." Saffron told them all. "I only wish she could have been here so I could thank her personally. It is very heroic to go the lengths she is willing to."

Several of the Mane Six partially forced down what they were eating in a bit of concern. Looking to one another in confusion as to how the plan was discovered so hastefully. Twilight turned to the diner's owner in puzzlement. "How did you know what was going on?"

Saffron partially blushed from embarrassment, she didn't appear the mares would be sensitive to the comment, but rather pleasure and ease. She explained herself. "Oh, forgive me my friends." She said approaching them. "But the threat to Equestria became learned of very quickly. It was also learned of the "Rainbow Pegasus" who was attempting to do away with the weatherly fiend. All of you are known amongst Canterlot and beyond, so many realized quickly that the rainbow pegasus was your friend. I hope you're not upset that so many other ponies know..."

The ponies continued to glance back and forth to one another. Nopony really knew what to say or how to respond. They believed the stress that Rainbow put on herself just from trying to save the land, but now knowing that everypony already was aware would certainly not help any matters. Needless to say, it was a perfect way to make a perfectly tasty meal turn sour...

***

The ponies after a tasty meal, left "The Tasty Treat". The food certainly lived up to it's name, but food was the last thing the girls were thinking about. As they walked, nothing was said for quite some time, until Fluttershy finally broke the silence.

"I don't think I feel so good now." She quietly told, getting a nod from the others.

"Yeah, that curry was a lot hotter than the last time..." Pinkie proclaimed, but the response received a half witted stare from the others. "Oh, not what you meant..." Drooping her head now as well.

"Dash looked more stressed than me on the first day of Cider season..." Applejack admitted to the others. "And that's when only we knew...if she finds out everypony knows..." The mere thought made the pony of honesty gulp the saliva in her mouth. Pinkie Pie however, always the pony of optimism went to assure her friends of the best.

"Don't worry everypony, Rainbow Dash can handle anything. Everything is gonna be fine..." Continuing to walk along the others with the utmost confidence.

***

"IT'S HOPELESS!!!" Rainbow Dash cried out, nearly half fainting in front of her friends to see. The ponies around their friend then once more stared at Pinkie Pie, who may have just "broke the golden rule".

"Uh, scratch that thought..." Pinkie sadly stated, knowing that her vote of confidence was an incorrect guess. Meanwhile Rainbow got back up in a panic, freaking out, hovering in the air with her front hooves over her head in a state of stress.

"What am I gonna do!? I practiced all day with the Princesses, and the same thing kept happening. I-I'm not getting any better! Wh-What if I can't do this!? WHAT DO I DO!?!?"

It looked as if Rainbow Dash was going into some state of emotional panic, almost so intense to the point where she would forget to even breathe. Making her take quick inhales and just as fast exhales. The girls tried to calm her, but their hovering only increased the issues. Dash then shot up over them in a ditch to keep her distance. "Can't talk anymore! Gotta keep trying! Gotta keep training! I'M RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!!"

With as quick as the conversation started, Dash zipped away in a colorful rainbow stream. It ended so abruptly, the mares didn't even get an opportunity to even discuss anything that had transpired or say goodbye. They didn't even know if they should follow to check on any improvement that may or may not have happened. The only one who would know for sure would be Twilight, who was still needed to be the other Royals when further magic transfers would be attempted. But by the looks, it was still a long journey ahead...

By the end of the day, all the mares except Rainbow and Twilight remained at the castle as the others needed to head back home. Each pony individually gave their farewells to Dash, who could only give a quick goodbye back for she continued to train very hard even into the outskirts of the night. Rainbow had to keep going, several more transfers were done and still no improvement was made; truth be told if anything, her progress was regressing. So Rainbow had to keep going, train harder...and harder...and harder. Everypony was counting on her.

She couldn't let everypony down...

***

Into the late hours of the night, the two royal princesses remained in the main chamber. The young rainbow mare informed them that she wished to attempt one final magical transfer before calling it a night. Celestia and Luna both were becoming concerned for the young one's well-being. The continued stress and strain of repeated transfers of magic looked to take a toll on young Rainbow as the day went on. After nearly an hour of waiting, Rainbow Dash still had not arrived to meet the Princesses, and they decided find the mare instead of vis versa.

Looking through most the castle proved unsuccessful, from the mare's quarters to the hallways heading to the chambers found no glimpse of the mare in question. Celestia and Luna then chose to split up to further the search. After a while longer, the Princess of the Night would be the one to locate Rainbow Dash. She was in the Royal Guard's training facility, but Luna noticed that she was no longer training. In fact, she was no longer even awake. The poor mare had and worked and trained herself to the point of exhaustion, even where she lay asleep looked like she had attempted to do more exercises from the pull up bar located above her.

Using what little magic Luna had in reserve, she floated Dash to not disturb her, though it appeared clear that there would be no further transfers attempted tonight. Rainbow was taken to her designated room for a much needed good night's sleep. But little did the ponies in the castle know, that it would be far from a sleep Rainbow Dash was hoping for...

***

In a heavy downpour, Rainbow Dash looked up to the sky to see their nemesis before her and all Equestria, Raindoom. But luckily for all the ponies, Rainbow Dash had the great equalizer, all the magic from the Princesses to assist her in battle. And with great confidence, Dash flew with a rainbow blaze trail to turn the tables on Raindoom.

The battle was long and grueling, neither side seeming to gain the upper hoof. Dash landed to the surface, panting heavy as the rain continued to fall. Raindoom also used all the tactics he could to end the struggle in his own favor. The two foes stared each other down, knowing that one would eventually fall.

Dash proceeded to soar for the sky again, beginning to try and use the source of the Alicorn magic within her to turn the tides in her favor. "The time is now Raindoom! You're going down!!!" Said the rainbow mare who began to glow with sparks emitting from her wings. But the remark only gained a laugh from her nemesis.

"I wouldn't be so sure young filly..." The monstrous cloud retorted from high above.

"Oh yeah? Why not?" Dash responded back, glowing brighter and brighter before them. The brightness of her own hoof though soon caught her attention, as it appeared that the essence of magic seemed to be floating away. Almost like the power of the Alicorn magic was flowing out of her body. Then when Rainbow glanced back down to the surface below, she saw what was causing it...

It was three ponies...three Princesses in fact. Luna, Celestia, and her friend Twilight Sparkle. All three were taking back the magic they gave to help Rainbow Dash save the day. Dash gasped at the sight and flew down to find out what was going on.

"Twilight! Princesses! What are you doing?" She cried out to them, as the magic continued to be extracted back to their respective users.

"You can't do this! You're just going to fail!" Twilight answered in a slow monotoned voice. The response was received with a look of dismay, Dash couldn't believe her friend what do this to her.

"We cannot give our magic to a pony who will fail..." Princess Luna followed alongside both Twilight and Celestia, giving the same erie tone to her voice as the Princess of Friendship did before her. Dash just shook her head in fear and regret, then looking to the elder royal, who just looked straight ahead with a sense of disappointment.

"You are a failure Rainbow Dash!" Princess Celestia then continued the agreeing consensus of the other Princesses. The statements from her friends and peers could only make Rainbow Dash give a betrayed "No..." in response. But it only seemed to get worse, for now more and more scores of her friends and other ponies emerged from the shadows and corners of her sights, none of whom looked very happy either. Dash landed to the ground now, having had now all of the Princesses' Alicorn Magic taking away from her, as all the ponies began to surround her. She was now powerless, and helpless; she felt like she couldn't even move, let only fly to defeat Raindoom still hovering above.

"All you will do is FAIL!!!" Came a uniform yell from all the ponies. The words made Rainbow Dash scream, dropping to the ground, putting her hooves over her head in shame.

"NO!!!" She yelled out, hoping they would stop. But they didn't, it only continued. A continued, repeated chant of "You're a failure!" echoed over her head and mane, all the ponies of Equestria surrounding around in a circle. Finally in a last ditch effort, Dash gave a frantic cry for help, begging for an act of forgiveness of why she failed all the ponies of Equestria.

Then suddenly, when Dash looked around her, all her friends were gone. No Celestia, no Luna, no Twilight, no pony at all. This all left her confused, where did they all go so quickly, as the air around her began to turn red a voice from above then could be heard as clear as a crystal from the same named empire.

"Is it beginning to sink in that you will never succeed?"

Rainbow looked up, and there the dark red cloud known as Raindoom remained present high in sky.

"My friends wouldn't take back their magic and then abandon me...this is just a dream Rainbow Dash. I have to be dreaming..."

Suddenly, the laughter above Rainbow Dash seized. The surrounding air felt as stale as a moldy piece of bread, when the massive figure hovering spoke.

"This may be a dream young child, but the feelings in it are as real as I am..."

The words made Rainbow stop and tremble. How was that possible? She slowly looked up to the figure that resembled Raindoom, which had stopped the precipritation. This couldn't be Raindoom? But even the rain she had felt had a realness to it also...but...this was a dream. Wasn't it?

"How do you know my feelings?" She called above. "And how can you really be here? This is a dream!"

Just then, Raindoom's eyes glowed a bright blue, and on cue Rainbow Dash began to rise into the air, without even using her wings. Almost as if this weather phenomenal wanted to see the mare eye to eye.

The surroundings soon changed, showing the land of Equestria, is a similar state like now. There Rainbow saw something. A much young Princess Luna and Celestia facing the might of Raindoom above them. Without saying a word to her, Dash knew what this was. A glimpse from the past, perhaps this would answer the questions she sought.

She saw the moment when both Luna and Celestia used their combined strength and magic to blast Raindoom away from the land, thousands of miles into the far reaches of space, a place few ponies knew existed. The attack the Princesses gave made both fall to the land in a very weakened state, but they had accomplished their goal; they had defeated Raindoom and destroyed him...or so they thought.

Hundreds of thousands of miles away from the land, the essence of Raindoom still radiating from the powerful blasts of Luna and Celestia began to reform and take in the magic from the Princesses. Allowing him to not only regenerate his form but absorb their powerful magic.

"The magic used in my creation gave me the ability to absorb all forms of magic." As Raindoom explained to the mare below. "Over time, I slowly absorbed the power of your Princesses, adapting to alike magic and recovering over the millennium, and becoming stronger." The visual of what Dash saw showed Raindoom then beginning to journey back to the place of it's creation, Equestria; to attempt to finally do what it was created for, destroy the land. "And with their power and magic, also came their abilities. Since the Princess you know as Luna has the power to enter one's dreams...I became able to do the same."

A sharp gasp came from Rainbow Dash, piecing the puzzle of what was happening to together. "Wait, so this IS real!?"

"It is as real as I choose to make it." Raindoom answered, almost in a voice that felt like a stern warning. "You are indeed a brave young filly. Unfortunately for you, your bravery will only prolong the end of your world."

Slowly, Raindoom began to grow, bigger as well as darker. Dash shook her head in a bit of denial and shock as Raindoom finished his threat. "I was created for one purpose and one alone. And try as you might, you will NOT prevent it!"

"You're wrong! I'll stop you!" Dash stomped a hoof down with passion and fury, spreading her wings simultaneously. She proved able to brake free from being held by the restrictive force Raindoom had her in, and zipped back into the sky to attack, but Raindoom fired a direct shot of water with the pressure of Rainbow Falls that blasted Dash back to the ground below. The power of the rain and water prevented Rainbow from even being able to move, like being frozen solid.

The rain came down so quickly, that the ground Dash was pressed to was being to flood. She realized the trouble at hand, for if this dream was as real life, Rainbow could potentially drown. Certainly not way she would want to go out. Dash struggled and struggled, but she was too weak to move out from the continued pressure of water drenched down upon her. The only thing louder than the thunderous force of waterfall rain careening down on her body, was the continued voices of her friends..."You're a failure...You're a failure..."

"No...No! I'm sorry! What was I thinking I could do this on my own..." As the water level rose around Rainbow Dash, rising higher and higher, Dash was fearing for certain. Being a Pegasus, she wasn't the greatest swimmer, so Dash knew she had to try everything she could to keep her head above the surface. Even if this was a dream, Raindoom's manipulation of the dream made it unsure if the events were real or not and the panicking rainbow mare began splashing, sloshing, and struggling. Dash could barely keep her head above the rapidly rising water when she heard a faint voice call out to her in the distance of her mind.

"...Dash! Rainbow Dash!! Rainbow Dash!!!" The voice growing louder with each call. It made Dash realize that despite what was happening, she had to wake up. Rainbow tried and struggled to end this nightmare, and as the tide of water submerged over completely. Suddenly, she saw in the gleaming light through the rising water level, what appeared to be a phased out hoof, reaching out for her to grab. With all her courage and might, Dash reached out a hoof to touch the other extended out to her, and when they connected the surroundings became so bright, Dash could no longer see anything or anypony.

And then without warning, everything went black...

***

"AHHHH!!!!" Dash let out a deathly scream. She clinched herself as tightly as possible to control her anxiety, breathing deep and in a panic, almost gasping for air rather than taking a normal inhale. Before she could calm herself, the familiar voice from her dream she recognized caught her attention in the dark. "I am relieved you heard my call."

Rainbow Dash paused and turned to her left to see The Princess of the Night standing next to her with a smile. "Princess Luna?" Dash responded. It was rare to earn a visit from the Princess, even if being in the Canterlot Castle; so this seemed like an unusual privilege to be greeted and amongst royalty so often. Luna placed a hoof of calmness on the bedside to ease the stress of the mare.

"It's alright little one, you were having a nightmare...but it's over now." The calming voice gave further relief to Rainbow that perhaps the peril was over.

"I-I don't understand. Why didn't you just come into my dream?" Rainbow Dash asked. She had witnessed her power and ability to do so before, thus her lack of appearance made her concerned.

"I'm afraid with having to use my magic to keep the invisibility spell lasting with my sister, I do not have enough strength to maintain my monitoring of the Dream Realm as I once did."

It appeared to be true to the eye; Luna's magic illuminating from her horn did not have the brightness or energy that was accustomed to her presence. It did then make sense as what was explained to why their magic could not be entirely transferred to Dash earlier in the day, for the spell seemed to be taking it's toll on the princess.

"Oh...That would explain why you haven't been able to help with all these nightmares I'm having." Dash moaned at the realization of the matter.

"I have only been able to see them briefly, and I sensed his presence in your dream, but I don't have the magic or ability to be able to help within the realm at my current state. Fortunately, your presence in the castle allowed me to be able to help in pony...this time."

"Well...thank you." Came kind words from Rainbow Dash. Though magic was a specialty, Luna had other methods of strength. Mostly her ability to seek a solution to one's problems. Her past helped her realize of the terrible mistakes she had made and thus made her stronger in helping to guide a pony back on the right track.

"Now that I am here, is there anything you wish to talk about? Having nightmares so frequently is usually an indication that something is troubling you." She asked her temporary pupil.

"I'm scared Princess Luna...I'm scared I'm going to let everypony down. I don't know what to do!" Rainbow stuttering over her words and thoughts, "I-I mean, hundreds of Rainbow Pegasi plus you weren't able to stop him, and now ever stronger! H-How can do this all by myself!?" Rainbow was about to continue but Luna stopped her with a soothing shush, slowly Dash did so and listened close.

"I understand your fear Rainbow Dash." She spoke. "But I believe the answer you seek is much easier to find than you think." Rainbow didn't quite understand, she tried to think what the Princess meant, but she just couldn't. She was just so weak right now, that... Or maybe that was the point, looking back to Princess, who gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. "The reason why you were not improving was because you were pushing yourself to the brink of exhaustion. Everypony is truly grateful for the efforts and care you wish to take, but it will be futile if you fail to take care of yourself first."

It was indeed a good lesson to remember, Dash for the first time in while gave a big smile to the Princess. "Thank you, I feel better already." Getting back under the giant covers given to her, the Princess of the Night returned a kind smile in like, but needed to remind the young one of the future.

"Save your thanks for now little one, all you should be focused on now is getting a good night's sleep. I'm sure you have much you want to practice tomorrow."

To assure the mare's rest, Luna decided to remain outside the room's quarters so the young Rainbow Dash would not feel unsure about being able to rest. And now, free of fear and worry Rainbow slowly closed her eyes and tried to sleep comfortably for the first time in what felt like moons. Only now, with Luna's guiding, Dash was confident that she would have a sleep and a next day to look forward to.