Ruining Harmony

by Artaelian

Dash's Delusion part five

Author notes, PLEASE READ!!
Due to further feedback from Equestria Daily, there have been more changes that work in favour of the air of mystery that the story is attempting to portray.
As such, a large part of chapter one has been rewritten with a new opening. This is the FINAL changes for now that will be made to the story. Also, a point in this chapter will not make sense if you fail to re-read chapter one at the very least.

And now, on with the story.

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Rainbow Dash stared on in shock as her friends appeared in the throne room, the friends who left little gifts by her hospital bed. She had no idea where they had come from, one moment they weren’t there, and the next they were, as though they had teleported in. They bore the same black markings as Lyra and the other ponies she had seen did, and their eyes were now pure white, even Fluttershy, unlike any other pegasi.

“Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy… what happened to you?” Rainbow spoke in almost a whisper.

“How cute,” Twilight giggled, “you still call us by those names. But from here, call us by these names. I am Corrupted Element of Magic.” Twilight’s voice was soft, but held to its hostile undertone.

“I am Corrupted Element of Generosity.” Rarity said at her turn, not speaking in her usual upper class tone.

“I’m Corrupted Element of Laughter.” Pinkie Pie said next, her voice flat and devoid of any joy it normal had.

“I’m Corrupted Element of Honesty.” Applejack took her turn, her accent gone, words slurring slower.

“And I’m Corrupted Element of Kindness.” Fluttershy added last, sounding far more bold than the normal meek and quiet Pegasus she was.

“Come on, gals, you’re all still the wonderful friends that left all these get well soon stuff for me, I know it!” Rainbow begged, her voice jittery.

She flew to one side when Twilight sent a row of lightning bolts in her direction. Clearly, they had had enough of talking, and were now getting to the part where they killed her.

“Hold still, Element of Loyalty. This won’t hurt.” Applejack shouted, charging towards where Rainbow Dash had landed. As soon as Applejack was near, Rainbow took to the air again, causing Applejack to run through an open door. Acting rather than thinking, Rainbow Dash kicked the door closed.

And noticed Applejack couldn’t open it again, no matter how much she bucked at it. Rainbow had a moment of genius, as she looked around the room.

‘I don’t have to hurt them if I can just trick them!’ she said with hope to herself. Her sight landed on Fluttershy, who was flying close, and humming loudly as she got nearer, her corrupted white eyes closed. Through an open window, a flock of birds flew in, begun to circle around her, then went on a suicide dive towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow only just got out of the way, and turned back. What remained of the flock of birds wasn’t a pretty sight, all of their fragile little bodies had exploded on impact.

She flew as fast as she could to the next doorway, and looked at Fluttershy, flying at her fast. Fluttershy responded by flying faster than normal towards Rainbow Dash, and a second later, they were inches from each other. It was the closest Fluttershy would get. Rainbow Dash barrel rolled to the right, and Fluttershy kept going. The yellow mare couldn’t keep up with the maneuver and smashed against the wall inside a room, her legs were a little crooked and her barely visible iris was almost as cross eyed as Ditzy’s were every day. The door was closed by the impact, and some of the birds’ remains were crushed by the door.

This left Rainbow with Pinkie, Twilight and Rarity. The pink earth pony was currently hopping towards Rainbow Dash. She flew past Pinkie Pie, who again turned to hop towards Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie was not going to be easy, after all, she had managed to keep up with Rainbow in the past, and had proven to be capable of doing the impossible. She’d have to not only trick Pinkie into a door, but keep her in there.

Rainbow flew in front of the door she had chose to trap Pinkie Pie behind. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could use to block the door further. The room however did have chains attached to a wall, which made Rainbow bite her lower lip from the nerves. She would have to get dangerously close to the corrupted Pinkie Pie to trap her.

Looking at the doorway, the pink pony hopped in. Her hopping slowed as she got near Rainbow.

“Hey Pinkie!” Rainbow said.

“You’re supposed to call me Corrupted Element of Laughter.” Pinkie Pie responded dryly.

“Oh right, well, um” Rainbow shuffled slightly, with an encouraging yet unsure smile, “well, to apologise, and congratulate you on capturing me, I want you to have these!”

She held the cuff chains towards the pink pony, who looked at them with scepticism. Rainbow bit her lower lip again. Finally, the pink pony hopped forward and placed her hooves willingly into the chains.

“How nice, you still had time to get me a gift… hey, wait a second!” Pinkie had realised what had taken place. But it was already too late. Rainbow Dash closed the door, grinning.

Rainbow Dash already had a plan for dealing with Rarity, as she avoided magic sent at her by the two unicorns that were still in the throne room. She flew up to Spike.

“Please tell me you have gems!” she shouted at him. To her amazement, Spike produced a few gems that he had hidden in the cage. One of them was shaped almost like a pacifier.

“What are you planning?” he asked.

Rainbow didn’t reply. She flew to another open door carrying the gems, which she then threw into the room beyond the door. She then looked at Rarity and gulped.

“Hey Rarity!” she shouted.

“It’s Corrupted Element of Generosity now!” Rarity declared back.

“Yeah sure,” Rainbow rolled her eyes, “look what I found in this room!”

Rainbow Dash only felt the breeze, as a white streak went past her faster than she could blink. Had Rainbow actually stood in the way, most of her would have been obliterated in Rarity’s frantic rush to the gems.

“Gems, gems, gems, gems, gems, gems, gems… wait a second!” Rarity too worked out a moment too late what was going on as the door was closed behind her. The moment Rainbow closed the door she remember Twilight’s ability to teleport, and hoped Rarity didn’t know that.

This left her the hardest task of all, trapping Twilight, who could teleport out of the room. Rainbow Dash stared down Twilight, as the pair circled around each other. Different plans ran through Rainbow’s head, but each were rejected as Rainbow thought of them, recalling what Twilight was able to do. Ultimately, she decided that she just had to hope for the best, Twilight’s magic was far too varied unlike that of Rarity, and nothing clearly stood out to aid in trapping Twilight. She flew in front of the door and lowered her head, stomping a hoof.

“You’re kidding. You’re kidding right?” Twilight asked, sneering at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow only responded by stomping her hoof again. Twilight lowered her head, pointing her horn at Rainbow Dash, and the two charged at each other. Rainbow kept watch as she approached Twilight, and when they were close, she repeated the trick that had trapped Fluttershy earlier. She jumped out of the way, and got back up to see Twilight attempting to stop before she skidded into the room.

Rainbow flew over fast and kicked the door closed. She smiled before being forced to cover her eyes as each room was filled with a white light. When this had died down, Rainbow Dash walked back to the door Twilight was behind, and looked in.

As Twilight approached the door, the black markings covering her body sizzled away like water boiling on hot metal, and her purple eye colour once more appeared in the white that they had become. She looked at Rainbow, pure confusion on her face.

“Rainbow Dash? Where are we? Did you do something to get locked in a dungeon?” Twilight asked frantically.

The pegasus laughed with relief, then stood proud. “Rainbow Dash saved the day!” she boasted. “It’s a long story.” Rainbow sat down and wiped her brow with her hoof to take a breath before explaining it. She would not question how her friends had suddenly become uncorrupted; all that mattered for the moment was that they were back to normal, giving her hope of resolving the situation the world was in.

“My, my, sister. What an ungrateful guest! Locking the welcome party up. Let us teach her some manners.” Princess Celestia spoke. It was the usual, kind voice, of the princess, but much like with Twilight, it was dripping with sinister intentions.

It was going to be a very long day.