Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

Prompt #240: No Out

Flame licked at her hooves as she passed, but her mind was set upon her goal, so she barely even noticed it. Her hooves clicked on the hard black stone, the sound echoing around her. Creatures of all shapes and forms turned to watch her pass, but none yet acted, wating to see what happened to her. None of them were willing to take the first move, to inevitably be the first one defeated, and so they waited.

She came to a stop in front of a cage, and rapped a hoof on the bars.

“Hey. Tirek,” said Rainbow Dash, “wake the heck up.”

Inside the cage, a form stirred and shifted, and eventually barely managed to stand up, his head hitting the top of the cage.

“Ah, one of the Elements of Harmony,” he said, “come to gloat, I assume? Well, get it over with quickly. I have a hard steel floor that I would like to get back to sleeping on. Not that there’s much else I can do around here, anyway. Unless, of course, you want to loosen these bonds a little. No? Didn’t think so.”

“I wanna offer you a deal. You get your freedom, but you’ve gotta do two things for me once I let you out.”

“Oh, this should be interesting. Does Princess Twilight think that she can ‘reform’ me the way she did Discord? Because I fear she will be sorely disappointed if she tries.”

“Twilight doesn’t know I’m here,” said Rainbow, “but trust me, I can change that quickly.”

“Very well then, let me hear your offer. At the very least, it should be more entertaining than watching that stupid dog fight over a bone,” said Tirek, rolling his hand, motioning for Rainbow to get on with it.

“First thing I want you to do if I let you out is drain my magic, as much as you can.”

Tirek perked up.

“You do realise that you are a pegasus, correct? It would be easier if you had a horn.”

“So deal with it,” said Rainbow, “harder doesn’t mean impossible. The second thing I need you to do is kill me. After you drain my magic.”

Tirek blinked.

“A strange request from one of you ponies. I honestly thought that you believed that instead of ponies dying, they just moved far, far away.”

“Trust me; we know about death, Tirek,” grumbled Rainbow, “we’re not that stupid.”

“And why would a pony like you want to die?” asked Tirek, “What do you get out of this? Or perhaps you are trying to trick me, and the rest of your stupid little pony friends are waiting for us, and will hit me with the Elements of Harmony the minute you can.”

“I get release,” murmured Rainbow Dash. She continued on at a more normal volume, “you know how long a pegasus usually lives, Tirek? Eighty years. We get eighty years give or take a bit, to burn as bright as we can. I’m nearly one hundred, and look at me. I look like a mare half my age.”

Tirek rolled his eyes, but Rainbow Dash pushed on.

“Magic can cease. Laughter has to stop eventually. Kindness can be merciful if it has to, Honesty is honest and Generosity can give everything of itself. Loyalty has got no out, not until it’s got no one left to be loyal to. I’m Loyalty,” said Rainbow.

“The Elements of Harmony are keeping me alive when I shouldn’t be, Tirek, and because Twilight’s an alicorn, she could just not die ever. So I need you to drain me of every single bit of magic that you can, anything that can connect me to the Elements, and then end me. And in return, I free you, and you can eat all of the magic in the world. Until somepony else stops you, probably,” said Rainbow, finishing with a shrug. “I just don’t like the idea of living forever. I wanna burn bright and then burn out. I’ve burnt bright, but Loyalty’s not letting me burn out. You’re my best shot at changing that.”

Tirek thought for a few moments, though he had already made his mind up the minute that Rainbow Dash had said that she would let him free.

“I will do it,” Tirek said, “I doubt you could stop me the same way you did before, anyway.”

Rainbow shrugged, and shoved a key into the lock of Tirek’s cage. A few moments later, the centaur was walking out of Tartarus. The minute they were out, Tirek opened his mouth, and magic poured from Rainbow Dash and into the centaur, starting his growth. Tirek drained Rainbow Dash of every single piece of magic that he could, and then stomped his hoof on the pegasus’s head without even looking. There was a satisfying crunch, and he marched off towards Ponyville. He had a score to settle with Princess Twilight.

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #240: "The Heretic"

The prompt: The Elements of Harmony are betrayed by one of their own.
Special Rule: The traitor is not Discorded, nor is she acting under any other form of magical control or coercion.