> Unable to Escape > by Aqua Shimmer > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Beginning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow sat in the waiting room of the hospital. Her eyes were red and watery. Her vision was cloudy and tears ran down her face. It was her fault. She had been next to them, unable to do anything as her friends were beaten and raped in front of her. She could hear their cries for help and mercy. She could see their pain and the injuries cast upon them. She watched as Twilight's horn was broken and Fluttershy's wings were cut off. Applejack's cries of pain as both her back legs were broken. Pinkie's screams as the base of her spine was snapped like a twig. Rarity was defaced. The white unicorn was drenched in her own blood as they cut her. Craving patterns into her flesh in a well-trained fashion. Rainbow saw it all from where she was hanging from the ceiling in chains. It hurt to watch. She felt the pain inflicted on them. And the torturers had fun watching Rainbow yelling for them to stop. That they should hurt her instead. Just to let her friends go. Just thinking about what happened cause a fresh wave of tears down her face. "Ms. Dash?" Rainbow looked up at Nurse Redheart. "Yes?" To say she was scared was an understatement. She was downright terrified. "We managed to get the stabilized for now. They've had a lot of blood loss and its unsure wether or not they'll make a full recovery." Rainbow looked at the floor sadly. Redheart left and she was left to dwell on the news of her friends. She didn't have long to think about her friend's fates as Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Discord pretty much broke the door at the speed they came in. They looked scared out of their minds. As soon as they saw Rainbow they came over to where she was sitting. They looked at her, a little unsettled. It was expected. After all, she was covered in blood. Some of it was her own but most of it was Applejack and Pinkie Pie's. She carried them back to Ponyville while Rarity and Twilight leaned on her for support. Fluttershy was walking next to Rarity, ready to provide support if needed. Rainbow closed her eyes, preparing for the question. She was not, however, prepared to be hugged by Princess Luna. "I'm so sorry Rainbow." She was even more surprised when she felt a tear fall over her shoulder. Luna let go and took a step back, wiping tears from her eyes, blood smearing over them. Rainbow just looked at them sadly before sliding her gaze towards the floor. She could hear Discord pacing and Princess Celestia talking quietly with the nurse. She could tell from the tone in the older princess's voice that she was not happy. She had a good right to be. Her student and most of her student's friends were seriously injured. Rainbow grew angry at herself. She let them get hurt. It was her fault. It was her fucking fault. She didn't save them. She collapsed into her chair and started to silently cry. To anypony just walking into the hospital, she would have looked like a shaking mass of cyan fur. She couldn't hear much at that point and she didn't want to out of fear. She could imagine the beep of a heart monitor then a long, drawn-out, high pitched beep. The sound of her friends dying. Rainbow had expected to be left alone in her own little world that was being taken over by floods of pain and sadness. She was surely mistaken as she felt a lion paw and an eagle claw gently pick her up. Discord sat down and place Rainbow in his lap. She wanted to complain and say she didn't need to be babied, but she couldn't find her voice. He picked up a tissue and gave it to Dash. She accepted it and wiped away some of the tears still streaming down her face. Discord randomly grabbed a hairbrush and also gave it to her. Rainbow looked at him, confused. "I'm practically saving your life. Rarity will be upset if you don't look presentable when they wake up." This made Rainbow look down at the floor. "If they wake up." "Rainbow. Look at me." She didn't even attempt to move. "Rainbow. Rainbow!" He took his paw and moved her head so she looked directly into his face. "They will wake up. They're going to recover and when they do, life will go back to normal and everyone will be happy. So please," his voice took a gentle turn, "stop looking at the shadows. They'll always be there for you and you'll always be there for them. All you have to do is wait and hope." Rainbow looked away. She want to be positive but she couldn't. Not while her friends are hurt. Everyone in the room was startled as a loud echoing beep sounded through the halls. The nurses on break suddenly jump into action and ran down the hall. Rainbow had just enough room to see them run into..... "NO!" The prismatic pegasus jumped out of Discord's lap and tried to run after them, only to be stopped by a nurse. "Ma'am, you can't go this way." "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!!" Discord immediately picked Dash up and began to pull her away. The princesses quickly apologized for her behavior, which startled the nurse. While they were doing that, Discord was getting punched in the face and bruised all over as Dash tried to escape. Tried to get to her friends. To save them. They can't just die on her. She needed them. They needed her. They can't die! Luna approached the thrashing mare, and Rainbow was only slightly aware of the world began to grow black. > Why Does Waking up Feel so Horrible? Also, Flying Dragons. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quick Authors Note: ~~~~~~ means point of view change. Rainbow was floating in a grey mist. She was unconscious, for Luna had placed a spell on her so she wouldn't get hurt. And so Discord wouldn't be beaten black and blue in Dash's struggle to get to her friends. So here she was. Floating in her subconscious, waiting to wake up and make sure her friends didn't die. She also wished the faint whispering would stop. It was like a faint buzz of insect wings by her ear, except it was quieter. "We can't take this to him. You know what his deals are like." "What else are we supposed to do? Just let them lay there until there is something the doctors know how to fix. We have to take this to-" "No. We can't do that. It's a safer deal with Crystal." "She only has a 25% chance of succeeding. He won't be able to fail." What are they talking about? Who's Crystal? Who's this 'he' that keeps getting mentioned. Questions were flying around inside Rainbow's head. What was going on? A sharp pain erupted through her skull and she winced. She couldn't hear the conversation anymore but that didn't matter to her at that moment. She felt like someone took a hammer and hit her head as hard as they could with it. Rainbow slowly opened her eyes and immediately closed them due to the sunlight that was shining into her face. Her actions did not go unnoticed though. "THOU ART AWAKE!!!!" Rainbow shot up, flailing in the blanket that was wrapped around her. She fell of the couch she was laying on a split second later. "Luna, you should really stop using that voice. Not everyone has had thousands of years to get used to it." Rainbow looked up at the two immortals. "I am not that old Discord!!!!" "Keep telling yourself that, Lulu. Doesn't mean you're not older than time." Luna glared at him, than smiled and laughed. Discord looked at her, confused. "What's so funny?" Luna lifted up a book that had the word Diary crossed out and replaced with journal. Discord's eyes widened. "How would you feel if this were to, oh I don't know, be sent to Celestia?" "You wouldn't dare." "Try me." The End. "Why are you two acting like nothing is wrong?" Rainbow was now untangled from the blanket and standing up, staring at the pair. As for the two immortals, any feeling besides sadness vanished from their faces. "We were supposed to try and cheer you up. Tia had to go back to Canterlot for her royal duties and told us to try and keep you happy." "Unfortunately, we aren't very good at that. I tried to tell her. I can only cause chaos and Luna has no clue what to do." "Why? Why try to keep me happy?" The two didn't speak. They just looked at her sadly. She looked at them confused than her expression than turned into worry. "What happened? What aren't you telling me?" She grew even more worried when they looked at each other. Discord spoke up first. "The doctors..... won't be able to help them. My magic doesn't heal and-" "There are no spells that can fix or completely heal their injuries." Rainbow looked at them. "You're lying. They'll be fine. You said it yourself. They're going to wake up and things are going to go back to normal." "Rainbow.......I'm sorry." Discord took a step towards her. "YOU'RE LYING!!!!" Rainbow turned around and ran up the stairs, shutting the door and locking it. After that she collapsed onto the ground, crying. When she looked back up, she realized where she was. She walked across the room, past the basket on the floor to the carefully made bed next to a window. The blanket had a star pattern on it and her eyes filled with tears again. She turned away from Twilight's bed and started to cry again. She curled into a ball on the floor, full on sobbing. She couldn't see anymore. The water overflowing in her eyes made it impossible. So she just laid there, crying. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Discord wanted to follow Dash but Luna stopped him. He cringed as he heard the door slam shut. "Is Spike still up there?" "No. He went to that filly Scootaloo's house with these other two fillies." As Luna explained, Discord couldn't help but smile as he remembered those three fillies. He had been set free by the chaos they had caused and yet, despite their fights, they had still managed to be friends with each other. He was snapped out of his thoughts as a small purple and green blur shot through the window, straight into Discord, knocking him over. "Ow. They missed the mattress." Spike was laying on top of Discord. He was wearing a helmet. The baby Dragon started to get up. As soon as he saw who his landing pad was, he started to freak out. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I was shot out a cannon. I didn't-" Discord burst out laughing as Spike got off. "They shot you out of a cannon?" He was yet again interrupted, but this time by knocking. Spike started freaking out and ran up the stairs. "Wait! You can't go up there!" Three fillies chased after the baby dragon. Discord and Luna went after them. Spike pick the locked door and opened it up just as he was tackled by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Luna and Discord reached the top of the stairs in time to see this and the sobbing cyan pegasus laying on the floor. Unfortunately, so did the young ones. Great, here came the questions none of them were ready to answer. > Hospital Visits and Bad News > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Rainbow Dash? Is that you?" Rainbow lifted her head and turned to glare at the group but her gaze soften as she saw the Crusaders. Meanwhile, the Crusaders and Spike grew worried as they saw Rainbow's tear drenched face and red eyes. "Yeah kid. It's me." Her voice was cracking more than normal and it sounded like it pained her to talk. Her eyes were red and slightly puffy and a few tears ran down her face. The kids didn't answer right away which caused Discord to worry. "What happened? Why are you crying?" Discord starting to worry even more when they asked this. Rainbow looked at him and Princess Luna. "They don't know?" "Know what? What don't we know?" Discord quickly started signaling for Dash not to say anything but when he looked at the dragon and fillies, they were looking at him confused. "What are you doing?" Spike seemed a little less confused than the girls but he was still confused. "Nothing at all! Luna you can explain! I gotta g-" Luna hit him before he could snap and escape. "Discord. You're staying here." The princess turned to the kids. "I'm not sure it is best for you to know." Rainbow got up when Luna said that and made her way towards the others. She cleared her throat, which got their attention. Kneeling down, she faced the children. "Girls, Spike, the others.... are hurt." They all opened their mouths to speak but Rainbow hushed them. "They're hurt but they'll be fine. They just need some time to recover then they'll be out and about doing their daily life." Discord couldn't help but smile at the brash pegasi's gentle tone. "You promise?" Rainbow smiled slightly. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She did the motions and they seemed to relax. Pinkie would freak out if the promise was broken, no matter in what health, right? The question was written plain on their faces, but it didn't calm Discord. What if Pinkie wasn't able to? Why was he asking this question? There was no way she could. Even for Pinkie it was impossible. ~~~~~~ Rainbow looked at the kids faces, smiling. She looked at Discord, who was frowning. Luna also noticed and practically shoved Discord to knock him out of it. The kids saw and Luna quickly covered her mistake by yelling. "Tag! Discord's it!!" She ran down the stairs and the CMC followed her, laughing. Spike followed them as well, just not as fast. Discord looked at Dash with a raised eyebrow. "I'll be down in a minute." He nodded and ran after the ponies and dragon. After he was gone, Rainbow let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. She walked over to Twilight's window and watched as the others began playing their game. Rainbow was then overcome with feelings of sadness as she thought of how Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike would react to finding out how hurt their elder sisters really were. She sighed and looked away. She had lied to Discord. She wasn't planning on joining them any time soon. She shouldn't be allowed to have a good time while her friends were on the brink of death. She curled up on the ground and started to think of what she had to do. How she would save her friends. She closed her eyes and started to think back to when they were safe. Every picnic, every party, every adventure, every promise. When they all became friends, using the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon and bring Princess Luna back. Using the Elements again to defeat Discord and proving how strong their friendship truly was. A tear steamed down her cheek as she thought of their broken bodies that now lay in the hospital. "No." Rainbow bolted upwards. Why wasn't she there for them? She needed them and they needed her. She quickly run over to Twilight's balcony and opened the glass doors. Stepping onto the balcony, she cast a glance at where the others were laughing. All except Discord, who had noticed her and was giving her a concerned look. This just made her angry. She didn't need his worry. She spread her wings and took off towards her destination, leaving a graying rainbow trail behind her. Rainbow landed on the front steps of hospital and walked in. The nurse at the front desk looked up and gave Rainbow an odd look. "What can I do for you Miss Dash?" "Can I see the?" "See who miss Dash?' This made Rainbow angry. Had they all forgotten about her friends already?! "My friends." Rainbow started to grind her teeth as the mare started to look at some papers. "Please tell me your friends names and I'll see if you can." She forced back an insult and did as the mare said. "Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity." The nurse looked down at her papers and nodded her head. "Go ahead but be quiet we have other patients across the hall." Rainbow turned away and walked down the hallway and into her friends' room. She looked at the five of them sadly. They were all covered in bandages and fast asleep. Their heart monitors beeped rhythmically at different paces. Rainbow walked a few steps closer and fought back tears. She looked around and saw a chair next to Applejack's bed. She sat down in it and prepared herself to wait there for as many days as necessary. She sat down and began her watch over them. After what seemed to be around two hours into her watch, Rainbow heard a somewhat familiar voice outside the door. "She's in their room still? I see. I'll be back." Rainbow looked up as the doctor walked in and looked over at her. "Good afternoon Miss Dash." He looked towards his patients and back towards her. He seemed somewhat nervous but before she could say anything, he spoke up. "I'm sorry." "What?" She looked at him confused. What was going on? What was he sorry about? "We just got the blood test results back. There is a form of poison that was found. It is slowly killing them. There isn't an antidote and we're waiting for the injections to put into their bodies. It will be painless, unlike what is in them right now." "What are you talking about?" "We can't save them, so we have to make their deaths as painless as possible." "WHAT?!" "I'm sorry." "NO!!! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!!! I WON'T LET YOU!!!!!" "Miss Dash, we don't have a choice." "YOU'RE LYING!!!! YOU'RE MAKING THE CHOICE TO KILL THEM!!!!!!!!!!!" "No. It wasn't my choice to make. Now if you would please leave, you are disturbing other patients." "NO!!!!!!!" Two stallions then walked in. The doctor had obviously realized she wouldn't agree with him. The two guards grabbed her and began to carry Rainbow away. "PUT ME DOWN! HE'S GOING TO KILL THEM!!!" They set her down in the waiting room and blocked the entrance to the hallway. Rainbow charged at them and they pinned her to the ground. Rainbow started to try to get out from under them and Discord walked in just then. "What the..." He looked at the three of them confused before walking up, pushing the two stallions off and picking up Rainbow. "Explain." "They're going to kill them!!!" "What?" Discord looked at the cyan pegasus and then at the security guards and glared. "Okay. Now we have a problem." > Unable to Escape... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A pegasus, a dranconequus, and an alicorn stood in front of Princess Celestia, looking at the floor shamefully. "What were you thinking? You all could have hurt somepony. Much less hurt somepony who was already injured." The sun princess looked at all three of them scornfully. Rainbow and Discord had started arguing with the doctors which then lead to a fight with the security guards. Luna had followed Discord and had entered in the middle on the fight. At first she tried to stop it. Then she sided up with Rainbow and Discord when she found out why the fight had broken out. Luna looked her sister in the eyes, pleading with her "Tia, their planning on-" "I know what their going to do Luna." Her voice raised slightly in a warning. "I'm the one who gave permission to do that." Luna took a step forward. "You what?!" "They were dying painfully, Luna. I had no choice. I rather them died painlessly than die slowly." "You had plenty of choice. Did you even try to find a cure?!" "Luna-" "No, Tia! You can't just talk this down like it's nothing!! And despite how much you think you know best you really don't!! So don't even try. You would have done this before." "What are you saying?" "I'm saying that the last thousand years has clouded your judgement!!!" Rainbow and Discord winced in the background, realizing that the sisters had trended into dangerous territory. Celestia stared at her sister. "What?" "You heard me." Luna turned around angrily and looked at Rainbow and Discord. "Come on. We're leaving." "I haven't dismissed you yet. We still have t-" "We don't have to talk about anything Celestia!" Luna nodded towards the other two and they left. "You have a lot to think about, sister." Luna walked out of the room, the doors slamming shut behind her. "Luna......." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Discord kept glancing at Luna nervously as she angrily stomped out of the thrown room. The lunar princess walked right past both he and Rainbow. The pair quickly followed her, worried and confused. Once the exited the main palace doors, Luna came to a sudden halt and turned to face them. "Discord, me and you are going to visit Dark. Rainbow, you're going back to Ponyville." Discord looked at her, surprised at the calm tone her voice held. "I-" "No Rainbow." Luna looked at her sadly. "You have to go and keep track of the fillies. They can't be allowed to see the health their sisters are in." Rainbow grew quiet, understanding what Luna meant. If the fillies found out, they would have much bigger problems than they already did. Rainbow slowly nodded, looking towards the ground. "Then go. We have no time to lose." Rainbow raised her head and saluted before flying away. Discord watched the cyan and rainbow spec disappear into the distance before he turned to look at Luna. "To Dark's then?" Luna sighed and looked at him sadly. "Unfortunately, yes. Let's just hope he can help us." She sighed again and he noticed a few tears falling onto the ground. Discord walked forward and hugged her. Luna tensed before she pulled him closer, crying on his shoulders. "Why? Why would she do this to them?" Discord gently stroked her mane, eyes watery. "We'll fix it Luna. We won't let them die." He looked up to where Celestia was standing on her balcony and he narrowed his eyes as Luna cried on his shoulder. Celestia turned her head away shamefully. He looked back down at the crying mare. "I promise you Luna." He held her there until her sobbing calmed down. She pulled away and he looked down at her worried. Luna wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "Let's go." Luna lit up her horn and they both disappeared in a bright teal flash. ~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow flew towards Ponyville, the days events playing over and over again in her mind. Tears began streaming down her cheeks, collecting on her chin before dripping onto the ground hundreds of feet below her. She started flying faster and started wiping her tears away. The more she tried, the more the tears came. She stopped and landed on a cloud, hugging it tightly. After a few minutes, her eyes cleared and the tears stopped. She lifted her head and saw Twilight's library in the distance. rainbow spread her wings and hot towards it. She landed on the balcony and tried to think of where the CMC would be and what they would drag Spike into. "Rainbow?" She turned around and saw Spike standing at the balcony doorway. He was soon joined by Sweetie Belle. "Um...hi. May I come in?" Spike smiled at how silly her question sounded. "Of course. Besides, I think I could use some help." He smiled sheepishly until a loud crash sounded from downstairs. Sweetie then ran way and Spike followed. Rainbow took a tentative step into the library before going down the stairs. The shelves lack all their books, who found a new home on the ground. Applebloom and Scootaloo smiled a forced smile as Spike freaked out on the bottom step. "How did you even manage this?!" "Well, you see," Scootaloo's eyes looked away from the dragon and landed on Rainbow. Scootaloo looked at her, concern filling her eyes as she looked at the fading rainbow mare. "Rainbow Dash? Are you okay?" She nodded, smiling at the orange pegasus filly. "I'm fine, Scoots." She hopped of the stairs and hovered above a layer of books. She laughed quietly before turning her head towards them. "We should probably start putting these away, huh?" They nodded and picked up a few books. "So, um, how did Twilight organize them this week?" Spike pointed to piece of paper on the wall. Rainbow looked at it before turning back to Spike. "That's just this week's?" He nodded. "Well... this will take quite some time." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Discord and Luna got back right after the sun set and the moon had risen to take it's place. The both had a gloomy look on their faces but they smiled slightly as they entered the library. A fort of blankets and pillows was built in the middle of the library's main room. Shadows of several ponies and a dragon was cast from the inside of it. They were laughing loudly as Rainbow joked around, her shadow wearing what seemed to be a hat. "Darling, you must stop acting like a ruffian and act like a true lady." The fillies burst into another fit of laughter. A devious smile crossed Discord's face as he slowly made his way to the fort. He smiled then quickly opened the entrance, yelling, "What's so funny!!" The fillies and Spike screamed before laughing. Rainbow smiled at him and he saw she was wearing what seemed to be one of Rarity's hats. She took it off of her head and placed it on Sweetie Belle's.. "You're turn. I have to talk to Discord." The other three smiled at Sweetie as Rainbow walked out and looked at Discord and Luna. "What happened?" Luna and Discord exchanged looks before he looked back at the cyan pegasus. "We need to talk about this, out of their hearing range." He nodded towards the fort. "Upstairs?" They nodded and they went up to Twilight's room. > ...My Fate > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow lowered her head as she was told what had happen on Discord and Luna's trip. Dark was the alicorn of death, much like Luna was the alicorn of the night and Celestia was the day. He.... wasn't happy that the five young mares were to be forced into his domain, but they were bound to come soon anyway. There was one way they would be able to heal, but he hadn't wanted it to come to that. So they called Crystal, who was Dark's sister and the alicorn of life. The four of them had conversed for quite some time but Crystal told them rather plainly that they were to close to death and it was out of her jurisdiction. Dark then told them that the venom in their blood was from a creature thought dead long before Luna and Celestia's parents were born. It was slowly dissolving the flesh on the mares. After that, the pair asked him how they could fix it. There was but they didn't want to tell her. only when she pried enough did they say it was a dangerous and cruel cure. They didn't want to use it unless she agreed, mainly because the immortals couldn't use it. Her choice was obvious though, despite any consequences, and Discord pulled out a small vile with a glowing purple liquid inside. "This is it. When do you want to use it?" Rainbow looked up at him sadly but with determination. "Tomorrow." Rainbow walked down the stairs, away from the two immortals. Discord looked towards Luna, who was watching were Rainbow had disappeared with sadness. She sighed and looked towards Discord. He saw tears forming in her eyes. He felt his water as well. He closed his eyes and allowed the tear to roll down his cheek. "I wish there was another way, Luna." He felt Luna hug him. "So do I, Discord, so do I." They held their sorrowful embrace for several minutes before pulling apart and walking downstairs. The light in the fort seemed dimmer and Rainbow was talking in a quiet voice. "The kingdom mourned for years but out of everything bad that had happened, good things came out of it. Two young ponies, unknown to the world, were born holding the powers of the lost king and queen. The filly, a pegasus, was able to sense things from hundreds of miles away. From where she sat in her crib in Trottingham, she could hear and see the nobles in Canterlot. The colt, a unicorn, was able to survive almost any attack without injury." Discord smiled, realizing that Rainbow was telling them an age-old fairy-tale. He glanced at Luna, who settled onto a pillow at the edge of the fort to listen. Discord walked over and sat next to her, preparing for the long night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow woke up with something purple in her face. She raised her head and saw Scootaloo curled up next to her. She smiled and nuzzled the filly before standing up and carefully walking out of the fort where they fell asleep. She walked out and looked around. She quietly laughed at Discord, who was curled around the sleeping form of Princess Luna. She shook her head and walked past them to the kitchen. she looked at the things that were available in the cabinets. Fairly soon, she was cooking their breakfast on the stove. She heard a shuffle behind her and a confused voice. "Rainbow?" She turned and saw Spike staring at her like she was insane. "You're cooking?" She looked at his worried expression, confused at why he was looking at her like that. "Yeah, why?" The young dragon glanced around, as if looking for an escape. "Well....um....." "You're worried I'm going to burn down the library, aren't you?" Spike nodded and Rainbow chuckled. "Relax I'm way better at cooking than Twilight is." She turned back to the food, expecting Spike to walk away. However, she heard no footsteps signaling the dragon's departure. She smiled slightly. "You can help if you want." "Really?" Rainbow looked at him, smiling gently. "Of course. Come on." Spike quickly ran up to her and pulled up a stool so he could see what they were doing. "Let's get started then, shall we?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Discord woke up to a great smell, which didn't seem right considering he never had before. What was going on? He opened his eyes and saw Luna stretching. She saw him up and smiled sadly. He looked at her before standing up and stretching. "The others are in the kitchen." Discord nodded and Luna walked away, presumably to the kitchen. Discord looked around and sighed. He wasn't looking forward to the events today. He walked into the kitchen and saw the others eating pancakes. He saw Rainbow placing pancakes on a plate and pouring more batter into the pan. She saw him and smiled. "About time you got up." He smiled weakly. Rainbow rolled her eyes and handed him a plate that had pancakes and eggs. He wasn't very used to being given food but he smiled. "Thanks. He took the plate and sat in a nearby chair. "Don't mention it." He watched her sadly as she got back to cooking. He quietly began eating. After he was done he walked out of the kitchen and pulled out the small vile. He stared at it for a moment, both wanting to preserve it and smash it at the same time. His grip tightened then he loosened it, sighing. Luna walked up next to him, laying a hoof on his shoulder. "Why Luna? Why did it have to be this way?" He heard her sigh. 'I don't know, Discord." Discord lowered his head. Luna turned away from him, straightening up and taking a few steps toward the kitchen. Discord looked over and saw Rainbow slowly walking out, carrying three fillies, one holding on to her leg, one laying on her back, and one clinging on to her neck. "Please Rainbow." "For the last time girls, I can't." "Pwease~!" Sweetie Belle begged Rainbow from her position on the mare's leg, giving Rainbow her biggest puppy eyes. Discord stared, his heart melting but Rainbow only smiled slightly. "I have to go take care of a few things, and besides, I could always make more later, right?" The fillies stared at her before unlatching themselves from her and forming a huddle, whispering. they paused for a moment, looking at rainbow with quizzical looks before whispering again. They then separated and stood in a straight line. "We agree with your offer. We shall return later." They then slowly walked out of the library, but as soon as the door shut the heard the fillies celebrating. Rainbow chuckled slightly and walked over to Luna and Discord. "Well that was......something." Discord looked at Rainbow, unsure how to react to the fillies. Rainbow and Luna looked at each before laughing. "What?" They didn't answer and kept laughing. "What did I do?" They still just laughed. "Hello? Can you even hear me? HHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The laughter kept going and Discord just walked out of the library due to his frustration. "Mares." He grumbled a bit before realizing that he was unconsciously heading towards Fluttershy's house. He froze and turned around, heading back towards the library. He Tightened his grip around the vile he had forgotten was in his grasp. Rainbow and Luna met him before he had reached they library and they both apologized for his lack of understanding fillies, which just made him annoyed. They walked a little, awkward silence falling between them. They didn't want to talk. They walked up to the hospital, pausing at the door. They stared at it before Rainbow sighed and walked in. The other two followed her in and they were greeted by the nurse at the desk. "How may I help you today?" The nurse didn't even look up from he magazine when she addressed them. "I'm here to visit-" "Go ahead Ms.Dash. But only two visiting at a time, one of your friends will have to wait." "Thank you." Rainbow started walking towards the hallway and Discord looked and saw Luna heading for the couch in the waiting room. "Go with her, I'll wait til it's over." Discord nodded and floated after Rainbow. They quietly entered the room and looked at the five mares laying there. Discord looked from them to Rainbow, who had lowered her head. "Rainbow...." "Give me the potion." "You have to-" She looked up to face him, tears streaming down here face. "I don't care Discord! I failed to protect them and now I have to fix my mistake, no matter what happens to me." "It wasn't your f-" "Yes it was. Please Discord. I have to." He looked at her painfully before handing over the vile. As soon as Rainbow had it Discord hugged her. "I'm sorry, Rainbow. You shouldn't have had to face this. I will.....remember you." He let her go and looked away from her before turning around and walking out to where Luna was waiting. He sat down and looked at the floor. After about a minute he some noise, he squeezed his eyes shut, tears starting to fall. There was a scream and the heart monitor went flat. "Help! Somepony help!" He hugged himself and curled into a ball. "Discord." He looked up and over to Luna, who was staring at him sadly. "We have to calm them." She pointed towards the hall. Discord looked over and saw the doctor's pulling a stretcher into another room. Five mares tried running after them but were stopped. "Get out of mah way!" Discord got up and walked over as Applejack tried to fight to get to her injured friend. Her others friends, save for Fluttershy, looked like they were going to join her. "Stop." They turned to look at him. Before they could say anything, he turned and looked at Luna, nodding. "One last goodbye then." He walked over to her and the others followed. He looked at the mares that had followed. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. He sighed and hugged them just as Luna cast her spell, drowning the area in a white light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Discord opened his eyes, which were adjusting to the bright white landscape they were in. He stood up and looked around, looking down at the five mares that had joined he and Luna. He looked back around and saw Rainbow start to slowly appear. "Rainbow!" He held out his claw to stop them. "Just wait." Rainbow looked around. "Hello? Where am I?" Discord watched her sadly. She couldn't see them. He looked over to one side and saw a black alicorn with a fiery red mare appear. Dark. His red eyes narrowed at Rainbow before softening. He looked past her as a white alicorn with a light green mane and light aqua eyes appeared as well. Crystal. She pushed her long mane out of the way of her eyes. She looked at her brother and nodded. He cleared his throat. "Miss Rainbow Dash." Rainbow looked over at him. "I'm sorry that you have come here so early." Rainbow looked away and Crystal took a few steps towards her. "Rainbow, what you did can not be repaid." Rainbow stared at her before sighing. "What happens now?" "You pass on. What happens after that is up to you." Rainbow nodded before looking at the two alicorns. "And my friends? Will they be okay? Will I ever see them again?" The alicorn's gazes softened. "They'll be fine and yes," He looked over to where Luna and Discord were standing and smiled sadly. "I believe you will." "That's our cue, Lulu." His claws light up in a brilliant yellow light and Luna also light up her horn. Discord didn't take his eyes off of Rainbow who covered her eyes as the bright light suddenly pierced anything keeping them hidden from her. As soon as they stopped, Rainbow looked up and her eyes widened. She took a single step forward before running up and hugging her friends. Discord took a step backwards, giving them space. The mares kept hugging for a while before taking a few steps away from each other. "Rainbow, why?" Rainbow looked away, sighing sadly. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't just do nothing. I-" Applejack shook her head. "None of that, Rainbow." The orange mare move closer and hugged her friend. The others hugged her as well. He looked at Luna, who was talking with Dark and Crystal. Dark moved away from the two mares and closer to the group of young ponies. "I'm afraid it's time. You will see her again when your times come." With one last hug, Rainbow walked away from her friends. She looked back at them and smiled. "Do me one favor though, girls. Have a good life." With that, Rainbow disappeared and the group reappeared in the hospital waiting room. They looked around before a doctor walked over to them. "I'm sorry, but Rainbow Dash did not make it." The mares lowered their heads and cried quietly. Discord lowered his head as well. "So this is how it ends.............."