Shadow Dash

by Wr1tingN3rd

Chapter 2: The Talk

Author's Note:

After multiple, multiple rewrites of this chapter, I finally got past writer's block! If you haven't read my recent blog post, then, great news! I already have the rest of this story planned out and ready to write, so the rest should be easy sailing. Key word should. Anyways, wish me luck and enjoy the chapter!

Note: This chapter was a pain in the ass to write, it probably isn't the best and could go with some revisions, but I want to get SOMETHING out, so this is what I got written out in a few hours. Enjoy!

As Rainbow approached the library, she couldn't shake the moment from earlier that day from her head. It stuck in there, mocked her. I hope Gilda's okay... Then, her eyes snapped to reality when a tree branch came out of seemingly nowhere, slamming her face straight into it. She fell onto the grass, thankfully not sustaining too much damage, as being a pegasus had its perks. Including crash resistance.

She stumbled inside the library with a twig still stuck in her hair, before shaking it out and viewing her surroundings. There sat her friends, all sitting around a coffee table, and a very worried looking Twilight. She was crying earlier and now this? What's going on? Twilight thought to herself, deciding that questions should wait until later. There were more important things to discuss.

Twilight cleared her throat. "Alright, now that everypony is here, we can finally talk about why I dragged you all here today. And it's not going to be pleasant," she began. "Yesterday, I was asked to see Princess Celestia regarding urgent matters, and after an important discussion, she decided that we will be venturing out towards the Crystal Empire!"

When she was met with confused looks from her friends, she clarified, "You all probably haven't heard of the Crystal Empire. And neither did I when I asked the princess. And, if you tried to look up what the Crystal Empire is through books and scrolls, you'd find nothing, because the city's been gone for over a thousand years."

"Say what now?" Applejack said, confused. "What do ya mean gone? A city doesn't just up an' vanish," she asked. Murmurs of agreement were heard from the others.

"I was getting to that," Twilight said before continuing, "Over a thousand years ago, there was the Crystal Empire. A thriving city filled with crystal ponies who lived happily and peacefully. In fact, the city worked almost like a projector, projecting the citizens' happiness across all of Equestria." She was met with a long 'ooooh' from Pinkie Pie. "However, one day, a unicorn by the name of Sombra used dark magic to take over the kingdom, putting the kingdom into peril where he held them as slaves for his personal use." She was then met with a long 'awwwww' from Pinkie.

Rainbow felt a shiver run up her spine. S-Sombra? She thought to herself. No, it can't be possible. It couldn't be possible. She wouldn't believe it.

"Thankfully, the princesses took down Sombra and sealed him away into the ice of the frozen north. However, he was so powerful that he took the empire with him, and it's been gone ever since. Up until now. Since the princesses can no longer wield the elements of harmony, she has sent us on a mission to the Crystal Empire to stop Sombra," Twilight finished her retelling of the story, leaving her friends in fear.

This did not help at all with Rainbow's thoughts. No, no no no no... I can't fight my dad! What if he recognizes me? He'll throw me in the dungeons! I can't let him see me! I'll have to stay here. Rainbow panicked internally, her breath quickening in pace. But I have to go, Equestria needs us. I'll find some way around it, I always do. She calmed herself and manually slowed her breathing.

"Any questions?" Twilight's asked everyone. Pinkie raised a hoof.

"Yes, Pinkie?"

"Do they have any desert places? Or, or any cool new candies to try?! I mean, the empire's been sealed away for so long! There's bound to be something new and cool there! Do you think that mean old King Sombra will even let us try them? He's a big McMeanie Pants, so I don't know. But you can't say no to desert. Nopony says no to desert! Plus, all the ponies would have been gone for over a thousand years! They must be starving, I'm sure there can't be too much food there. If there's not enough food then they starve, and if you starve, you can't turn down desert! Do you think if we give Mr. Sombra desert that he would be nice again and stop ruling the kingdom? I think it could work. And if that doesn't work then I could throw him one big surprise party! I think he would like that! That would surely cheer him right up!" Pinkie rambled on and on about some stuff that no one was listening to.

Twilight face-hoofed. "We're not going to throw King Sombra a party, Pinkie," she said to which she received another 'awww' from the pink party pony. "Any other relevant questions?" This time Rarity raised a hoof.

"Twilight, dear, you said that this King Sombra uses dark magic right? What exactly is dark magic?" Rarity asked.

"Um, I'm not entirely sure, although Princess Celestia said it was pretty dangerous-" she was cut off short.

"Dark magic is a form of magic similar to the type that Twilight uses, just more dangerous. When somepony like Twilight uses her magic, she taps into positive feelings and focus in order to transform it into whatever she desires. However, because she's using positive feelings, it has restrictions. For example, it'd be extremely hard for Twilight to cast a spell that would kill because she's thinking happy thoughts."

"However, let's say you, I don't know, take that restriction away? Use negative emotions for a change. That's what dark magic is," Rainbow explained. Then she immediately shut up, realizing what she just said. How can I be so stupid?

Everyone in the room stared at her, jaw agape. Twilight was the first to speak, "How do you... know all of this?"

All eyes were on Dash. She sweat profusely. "Um well, you see.." She came up with a bullshit excuse on the spot. In surprising speed, impressing even herself. "My parents worked in the magic industry. They studied stuff like this and told me about it from time to time." Hopefully they believe that. Rainbow thought to herself worriedly. They seemed to buy it.

"Uh huh. Well, thanks for the important knowledge! Any other questions?" Twilight asked. No one moved. "Good! Now we can get out of here and start packing." Chatter began and everyone began to clear out. Rainbow just sat there uncomfortably. Uh, I should probably head out. She was stopped when Twilight walked up to her.

"Hey, Dash," Twilight said softly, blushing as she sat besides her. "You never told me you had parents who worked in the magic industry. You should introduce them to me sometime. I think we'd have a great time talking all about magic," she joked.

She didn't get much reaction out of her pegasus friend. "Yeah," she muttered, clearly in thought.

Twilight frowned a little bit before having a more sympathetic look. "Hey, you okay? Are you still thinking about earlier?" Dash nodded slowly. "You want to talk about it? It'll help you feel better."

"I..." she hesitated. I can't tell you. "It's nothing," she measly responded.

Twilight reached her hoof over to Rainbow's, causing her to look over. They locked eyes for a moment. "Rainbow. You know you can trust me, right?" Dash nodded once more. "Then talk to me."

Rainbow looked down to the floor, thinking heavily to herself. I shouldn't tell her.

You can't keep her in the dark forever.

I don't want her to worry about me. Plus, won't she find out that Sombra's my dad if I tell her? Then she'll hate me. Probably lock me up in Celestia's personal dungeon...

You know that's not true. She's your friend. Plus, if you don't tell her, she'll just worry more.

... I can't.

Not saying anything will only make it worse. For both you and her. Plus, Twilight's one of your closest friends. She wouldn't lock you up. She'd hear you out, I'm sure of it.

She looked back up at her purple friend, who still held a sympathetic smile. Fine. "Promise me you won't think I'm uncool for this?" Rainbow asked. She got a nod from her friend. She gave a heavy sigh, preparing herself for what was to come. "It's about my dad."

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise. Rainbow continued.

"To make a long story short... We don't have good history. He's always been a bitch to me. Bringing me down, telling me that my dreams have no chance of coming true. Locking me away in a room whenever our opinions didn't match. He was the worst." Glints of tears came to her eyes. She looked at Twilight with fearful eyes. "A-and... I think I'm starting to become like him," her voice cracked, tears finally shedding, freely pouring down her cheeks.

"What?!" Twilight practically yelled. Then she stopped herself and repeated it at a much smaller volume. "I mean, what? Come on Rainbow, you're probably one of the nicest ponies I know. You're not like your dad." She scooted closer to her friend, wrapping a hoof around her. She was pushed away.

"What do you know?! You haven't even met him before!" she argued and stood up from her chair. "You didn't even see what happened earlier today!"

Twilight argued back, also standing up from her chair. "Well, I know enough! I know that you're always there for us, taking others as priority over yourself, sacrificing so much for our safety! You're kind, giving, and have a loving heart!"

"Oh yeah? What about what happened today?! Did you know that Gilda came over to my place today? That she was there to apologize? And instead of accepting her apology, do you know what I did?! I hurt her! I made her scared of me! Do you know what it takes to make someone scared of you? It takes a lot! And it was Gilda, too!" Dash yelled.

She was too stunned to even speak. Rainbow wouldn't do something like that, would she?

"I didn't even get a chance to say sorry because she ran away from me!" Rainbow cried. Her legs gave out underneath her as she fell to the floor sobbing. "I'm a horrible pony."

Silence fell upon the two, only filled by Rainbow's sobs. Great. Now she probably hates me. And she's going to tell everypony else and then they're going to hate me to. Then I'll be alone again. They'll probably cast me out. Throw me into the everfree forest-

She was interrupted as she saw purple hooves wrap around her body, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Don't say that, Rainbow. Don't ever say that. You're a good pony. A loving pony who cares for others. You care for Scootaloo like a sister. You're loyal to all your friends. And you have ponies who care for you. So don't you dare say that you're a horrible pony, because you're not," she cried into her shoulder.

What? Rainbow was confused. How- why doesn't she hate me?

Because she's your friend.

She looked at the mare who had a bear-tight grip around her waist and cried. Twilight cared for her. Overwhelmed with the feeling of being able to talk to someone, she returned the hug, crying harder into Twilight's shoulder. They sat there in each other's embrace as minutes passed. Rainbow didn't budge until her cries became sniffles. Eventually, she pulled away.

"T-Thanks, Twi, I really needed that," she wiped her eyes with a hoof. "Sorry, I messed up your coat..."

"It's okay, I was going to take a shower anyways," Twilight quickly replied, relieved to see her friend was feeling better. "Are you going to be okay? I can stay here longer if you need me to."

She shook her head. "Nah, I'll be okay. Do you mind if I use your shower though? I don't want anypony seeing me like this... Totally uncool."

"It's not 'uncool' to show your feelings, Rainbow. And yes, you can use my shower. You can go first if you want," Twilight offered.

"Wha- really? I don't want to stop you from taking a shower or anything, you can go first," Rainbow refused.

"No, I insist. Really, it's fine," Twilight insisted.

"Alright, if you're sure," Rainbow took up the offer this time, standing up to head over to the bathroom. "Thanks again, Twi. For everything."

"It's no problem. Anytime," Twilight smiled warmly at her as she headed off to take a shower.

That shower was probably the best shower that she'd ever taken in her life. For once, she felt free, relieved. And for the first time in months, she got a decent night of sleep, waking up feeling fully refreshed with no nightmares. And as she sat on the train with her friends, on her way to the Crystal Empire, she sat ever so slightly closer to Twilight. Things were going to be okay. For the first time in forever, she felt that everything would be alright.

Comments

[Solar Rocker]

Loving the story so far. To be honest, I always love the fics these sorts of fic that involve Rainbow’s insecurities, and I found it sort of cute how Twilight was so concerned for Rainbow right there.

Just something that occurred to me when I thought about this which is that, maybe once you’ve finish this fic, you could do a bonus chapter where Discord admits to have actually known that Rainbow was Sombra’s daughter from the very start, and thus he was actually extremely careful when he corrupted her because he didn’t want to risk Rainbow using dark magic to try to overthrow him. Just a suggestion.

[Wr1tingN3rd]

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Thanks for the feedback! Honestly, I was really afraid of screwing up that scene, as it was REALLY difficult to pull off. Glad you enjoyed it!

Also, that's a great idea! Might actually write that one day. When this is finished, of course.