> A mug full of Hate! > by Mr Overlord666 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was that time of year again in Ponyville, Apple Cider Season. Ponies would line up for a taste of the freshest, most delicious apple cider from Sweet Apple Acres. Everypony was excited to buy a mug, all but one cyan, rainbow maned pegasus mare. She hovered in the air with her forelegs crossed, grumbling loud enough for others to hear her, “Stupid cider season, I never get a mug.” A green mare with blonde mane and tail poked her the agitated mare, “What do you mean, you never get a mug?” The pegasus turned to the mare with a mean look on her face, “I've been going to this stupid cider season for ten years and not once, NOT ONCE have I gotten a single drop of cider.” The green mare went wide eyed, “I only had one and I had to get a friend to get it for me and when I got it, it was warm.” The pegasus spat on the ground, “At least you got a mug, I'll take a mug even if it's two days old.” The line slowly moved forward and the sun was setting and the pegasus was only two customers away from getting a mug of cider. Then it was one customer and the pegasus was getting excited, 'Today... today will be the day I finally get my cider.' She paid her two bits and walked up to the counter with her tongue hanging out, 'Yes... yes... yes... ' The sounds of a rackety old pipe changed the the expression on the pegasus face to horror and then to pure rage when an orange mare the blonde mane and tail said the words that the pegasus hated the most, “That's it everypony, all out of cider today. Come back tomorrow now ya'hear.” With that the pegasus let out a loud, piercing scream that made everypony cover their ears. When the screaming was over, the orange mare looked up and spoke, “Rainbow Dash, wut in tarnation is your problem?” Rainbow got up in the mare's face, “What's my problem, WHAT'S MY PROBLEM APPLEJACK!” Rainbow flew up so everypony can see her and yelled at the top of her lungs, “I've been coming to this stupid cider season for ten years now and I haven't even gotten one mug of the stuff.” Ponies gasped and Rainbow continued on, “And when I do come up and pay my bits... THEY RUN OUT!” She threw her forelegs in the air, “How many of you have at least had one mug of cider from here?” Practically everypony raised a foreleg and Applejack was shocked to see this. Rainbow flew back down and got in Applejacks face again, “Do you know... how many mugs I paid for and haven't gotten a single drop?” Applejack shook her head and Rainbow poked her with each word, “I... paid... for... fifty... seven... mugs... of... cider,” the last poke sent Applejack to the ground. Rainbow turned and yelled again, “YOU HEAR THAT, I PAID FOR FIFTY-SEVEN MUGS OF CIDER AND ON TOP OF THAT... I NEVER GOT A REFUND FOR ANY OF THEM BECAUSE I DIDN'T GET ANY!” Ponies were complaining about the same problem that happened to them over the years. Rainbow was then being pulled down in a purple aura with a purple unicorn mare causing the magic, “Rainbow what's gotten into you?” She turned her head to the mare, “Butt out Twilight, this doesn't concern you and the other's... except... ” Just then, a pink mare came bouncing by with twenty or so empty mugs. Rainbow broke free from the aura and dashed over to the pink mare, making her fall down, dropping all the mugs on the ground and Rainbow thrust a hoof in the mare's face, “YOU PINKIE PIE ARE THE WORST,” Pinkie's lower lip started to quiver, “YOU ALWAYS BUY A HEAP LOAD OF CIDER AND YOU NEVER SHARE WITH ANYPONEY, YOU JUST GULP IT ALL DOWN AND ACT LIKE IT'S NO BIG DEAL AT ALL!” Pinkie started to cry and Applejack got in Rainbow's face, “Now hold on pardner, that's no way to talk to a friend.” Rainbow shoved Applejack, “What friend, she isn't my friend anymore,” she shoved Applejack again, “You seem to have enough for Twilight, PINKIE, Fluttershy and Rarity but when it comes to me, I GET NONE!” Rainbow's left eye started to twitch as her head was starting to fill with bad thoughts, “I knew it.” Twilight slowly walked up to Rainbow, “RD, are you okay?” There was a sudden snap in Rainbow's head, “I knew it... you're all in on this,” she pointed to her so called friends, “your all trying to make sure I don't get any cider. You were all in on this plan.” She started to fly away when she was brought back down to earth with a lasso tossed by Applejack, “Sugarcube, there is no plan or plot or conspiracy against you. It's all just in your head.” Pinkie came over with a mug in her hoof, “Here RD, you can have this mug if you want.” Rainbow smacked the mug out of Pinkie's hoof and glared at her, “It's too late now you stupid bitch. I'm not your friend or AJ's or Twilights or Fluttershy's or Rarity's. And as for the Element of Loyalty... you can have it back.” Twilight gasped, “But we need you... ” She was cut off when Rainbow pushed her to the ground, “Screw you, your elements, your friendship and even the Princess.” Everypony gasped as Rainbow went on, “That's right, I said it and you know what... it felt good.” She zoomed to where the cider was dispensed and destroyed it with one powerful buck, “There's my goodbye present you losers.” She flew off into the sunset with all the ponies wondering what's going to happen now. In the Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was tending to her duties when all of a sudden, she felt a pain in her chest. 'The Elements', she thought as she teleported to where the said jewels were kept. She opened the box and gasped at the sight she saw. The element of Loyalty was starting to crack. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The events of yesterday at Sweet Apple Acres was the talk of the town. Folks who heard Rainbow Dash's ranting in a way, agreed with her and at the same time, felt sorry for her. A lot of ponies didn't show up for the apple cider, in fact, no pony showed up except Pinkie, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity. “I can't believe Dashie would say such horrid things,” spoke Rarity after drinking some cider, “I knew she was upset about not getting any cider but I wasn't expecting something like this to happen.” Applejack lowered her head, “Ah, don't get it. If she just came to me and talked about this... maybe we could've resolved this.” Pinkie was crying a little, “If... if... if... if only I di... did... didn't buy all th... th... those mugs.” The girls gathered around to give her a hug and Fluttershy spoke, “Umm... if it's okay... maybe... umm... I can... find her?” Applejack regained her composure, “Ah think that's a good idea. Maybe she cooled her head already.” Fluttershy took off to the skies with the others following right behind her. She eventually found Rainbow lounging on a cloud outside of Ponyville. The girls yelled to get her attention and she said in her mind, 'Great, what are they wanting now?' She sighed and lowered the cloud down to their level with her on it and said in an unpleasant tone, “What?” Applejack rubbed her left foreleg with her right, “We was wonder'in if you were okay after yesterday?” Rainbow put on a fake smile, “Yeah I was... until you all showed up.” Applejack held out a mug of cider, “Here, there's plenty for ya back at the farm if ya want.” Rainbow looked at them, looked at the cider, back at them and smacked the cider out of her hoof, “You really think... all that cider is just going to magically fix... what happened over the past ten years?” Twilight spoke, “Look Rainbow, maybe it won't but talking will help.” Rainbow narrowed her eyes and put on a frown, “Talking is over and it's cheap... just like this friendship.” The girls gasped and Rarity spoke out, “Now listen her darling, we are trying to help you.” Rainbow's expression tensed, “You want to help... you really want to help?” They all nodded and Rainbow turned her back to them, “Don't ever talk to me again and if you come to me with a weather problem... oooh ho ho ho... I'll give you weather alright.” She flew off, still on the cloud, not looking back once. That night at the library, the girls were discussing what to do about Rainbow when all of a sudden, Celestia appeared. The girls bowed and Celestia motioned them to get up, “Good evening my little ponies.” She used her magic to make the box that contained the elements appear and Twilight looked confused, “Your highness, why are the elements here?” Celestia used her magic again to open the box and the girls were mortified at what they saw. The Element of Loyalty was cracked and started to turn grey. Twilight was stunned, “Pr... princess... what is going on?” Celestia sighed, “It seems that the negativity in Rainbow Dash is affecting the element and causing to break.” Twilight panicked, “What do we do your highness, what do we do?” Celestia closed the box, “You must pull her out of the darkness or else... we will have to look for a new Element of Loyalty.” The girls gasped, the thought of losing Rainbow and the element would kill them inside. Applejack stomped the ground with her hoof, “I bet Discord is behind this somehow.” Celestia shook her head, “No Applejack, he is still encased in stone. This darkness is all Rainbow Dash.” Applejack stood proud, “We'll do everything we can to fix this.” Celestia smiled, “I have faith in you my little ponies,” and with that, she disappeared from the library. The girls started planning on what to do to help Rainbow. Just outside of the library, a shadowy figure sat near a window as if it was listening to the conversation that just happened. It smiled and spoke to itself in a male voice, “I'm not too late.” The next day came and Rainbow was lounging on a bigger cloud than yesterday. Her peace was disturbed when something hit the cloud she was on. “Hey, watch where your going buddy,” she yelled as she looked over to see what hit her. There was a black pegasus stallion with matching silver mane and tail. His cutie mark looked like a red cat's eye with white triangles around it. He shook his head and spoke, “Oh sorry, I was daydreaming and didn't see where I was going.” “Just watch where your going next time pal,” Rainbow said as she went back to lounging. The stallion flew up, looked at her and was excited, “Your... your Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria!” She opened one eye to see him and she smiled, “Well... I am the fastest and the best.” He stepped on the cloud and pulled out a pen and paper, “Can I have your autograph?” She sat up and acted a little full of herself, “Well normally I don't but I guess I can make an exception this one time,” she took the pen and paper, “so who am I making this bad boy out to?” The stallion smiled, “Storm, Night Storm.” > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's been days since Rainbow met Storm and started to hang out with each other. She hadn't seen her ex-friends in that time period and it was okay with her. Storm seemed to enjoy her company and even told her about some of the placed he's been to during his travel. “Man you you are so cool,” she said, “but not as cool as me of course.” Storm chuckled, “Your weird, you know that.” Rainbow chuckled as well, “Hanging with you has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.” Out of nowhere, a grey pegasus flew towards them with no chance of stopping. She went right through the cloud, a loud screech was heard and the pegasus came back up, “Yo Rainbow Dash.” She sighed, “Hello Derpy.” Derpy rummaged through her mailbag and pulled out a letter, “You got a letter.” She handed it to Rainbow and she took it, “Thanks Derpy.” Derpy smiled and flew away, Rainbow opened the letter, read it and got angry, “The nerve of those girls.” Storm looked confused, “What's up Dashie?” Rainbow growled, “My ex-friends want me to come to a party.” Storm looked even more confused, “Shouldn't going to a party be a... good thing?” She glared at him a little, “They think that some stupid party is going to fix everything then they're sorely mistaken.” Storm shrugged, “The only time I go to a party is for the free food and drink. I don't really socialize with anypony.” Rainbow sighed, “Fine... I'll go if you go with me.” He agreed and they both took off to the Sugar Cube Corner. When they got there, there were signs indicating the party was in the back of the building. When they got back there, her ex-friends yelled, “SURPRISE!” Rainbow's expression turned into a scowl, “What kind of lame party do you have planned for me?” Pinkie kept a smile on her face, “Silly filly, it's a cheering up party.” Rainbow ignored her and started to walk around, observing everything with Storm right behind her. Pinkie suddenly got more excited, “Oooo, who's your new friend?” Rainbow rushed back and pushed Pinkie a little, “What, your gonna steal him like you stole cider, huh huh huh?” Applejack intervened, “Now hold on pardner, we're here to cheer ya up, not start another fight.” Rainbow looked around and saw a table with mugs of cider on it and she growled, “And I bet that's there for everypony but me.” Rarity walked up to the table, “No darling, these are all for you. We promise.” Rainbow was sceptical about this but decided to take a chance and a mug. As she approached the table, the sounds of something big falling followed by somepony yelling, “LOOK OUT BELOW”, made everypony look up. A huge bag fell down and crushed the table and all of the cider on it. Rainbow had tears in her eyes with not only the cider destroyed but the big bag was a bag full of apple with the Sweet Apple Acres logo on it. She started shaking violently and let out another loud piercing scream. The other girls and Storm were stunned at what just happened and Rainbow turned around to see the girls and point a hoof at them, “THIS PROVES IT, YOU ALL ARE DOING THIS TO ME ON PURPOSE!” Applejack came back to reality, “Hold on RD, we had nutt'in to do with this. It's all just a coincidence.” Rainbow stomped the ground, “Coincidence my flank,” she pointed a hoof at Applejack, “this is all your fault,” she pointed a hoof at the each of the other girls, “and your fault and your fault and your fault and your fault.” Twilight looked more worried, “Please Rainbow Dash, calm down. We were just trying to help you feel better.” Rainbow hunkered down, “I'll show you what will me feel better,” she dashed forward with the intent to hurt her ex-friends. They all looked away, waiting for the beating to start but looked when they heard the sounds of struggling. Storm held Rainbow down, preventing her from doing what she was going to do. “GET OFF ME STORM, THEY NEED TO BE PUNISHED,” Rainbow yelled as she was struggling to get free. Storm picked her up and flew off with her struggling in his forelegs. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank Celestia that stallion was here or we would've been hurt.” They all nodded in agreement and cleaned up the mess. Storm took Rainbow far away from Ponyville and put her down on a cloud. She regained her composure and pointed a hoof to his face, “WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON MAN!” His expression was stern, “I'm on your side of course.” She lowered her hoof, “HOW... BY SAVING THEM FROM WHAT THEY DESERVE?” He put his face right up in hers, “No... by saving you from being taken away by the royal guards.” Her expression softened a little, “I could easily fly away fast enough so they wouldn't be able to catch me.” Storm backed off a little, “You could do that and then the unicorn guards can easily sneak up on you and capture you with their magic... what then?” Rainbow backed up a little and sat down, thinking about what Storm just said. He turned around, “See ya tomorrow,” and took off into the sunset. Rainbow laid down, really thinking about what he said. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night returned to the same cloud with Rainbow still there but she had some unique items. He sat next to her and asked, “What are you doing Rainbow?” She smiled, “Oh, just about to go prank my ex-friends.” He cringed at that thought, “Why would you do that?” She looked at him, “While they're away at Canterlot for some stupid meeting, I’m gonna have some fun and since they won’t be back until really, really late tonight... they won’t suspect a thing.” Night looked at all the items she had. They all looked like harmless gag toys like a spray can that removes leaves when a pony touches a tree and another spray can that sprays polka dots on whatever you spray it on. He sighed in relief, “I thought you would do something a little more... mean and dangerous.” Rainbow’s expression softened a little, “Well, with what you told me about being put in the slammer and what not, I’ve decided to down-play. You know, teach them a lesson about messing with me but I’m not gonna hurt them.” He raised an eyebrow, “Do you... have all this planned out or something?” Her smile came back, “Like clockwork.” Night shook his head, “Well, I’ll leave you to your business,” he turned to fly away, “I’ll be back tomorrow so I can see your work,” he flew off to Cloudsdale. “Oh don’t worry,” Rainbow said to herself, “you won’t be disappointed.” The next morning came and Rainbow waited for Night to show up for the ‘fun’. He finally did and Rainbow zoomed up to him, “What took ya so long?” He shrugged, “Sorry, I’m not as fast as you.” She made an annoyed sigh, “Whatever... let’s get going.” He followed her all the way to the Sugar Cube Corner and watched through the window as Pinkie was going into the kitchen. She hummed a little tune as she got the ingredients together to make a cake. She stopped to look at a box of pink sugar, “Hmm... this isn’t the normal sugar Mr. and Mrs. Cake get.” Rainbow chuckled mischievously, “Oh yeah... just use the stuff you hyperactive loser.” Pinkie closed her eyes and giggled, “It must be a new tasty sugar for the cake making.” She poured in the sugar and the batter started to bubble. She looked as the batter bubbled more and more until there was a boom and the whole kitchen was covered in cake batter. Rainbow was on her back laughing really hard, “Ha ha ha ha, was that funny or what?” Night chuckled a little, “I must admit, that was amusing.” They both quickly took off before Pinkie could see them. Rainbow led Night over to Twilight’s house. They both peered through the window and watched as Twilight just woke up and headed downstairs to read some books. She yawned and used her magic to bring down a light blue book from the shelf. She took a sip of water, opened the book and spat up the water when she saw that there were no words in the book. “M... must be still tired from last night,” she said to herself as she used her magic to bring down another book, opened it and saw that there were no words in this book either. Twilight was in a panic when she got down twenty more books and saw that there were no words in those books either. She screamed so loud that Spike woke up and breathed out some fire which didn’t harm the books. Twilight put a book up to Spike’s face, “Spike,” she yelled, “there are no words in any of these books!” Spike took the book and looked at it, “Uh... Twilight... you mustn’t have gotten sleep, cause I see words in this one.” Twilight took the book and looked at it and to her surprise, there were words in the book. She was shocked, “But... but... but there were no words in the book.” She sniffed the book and gasped, “Somepony used blank ink on my books.” Spike scratched his head, “What’s blank ink?” Twilight used her magic to check all the books for said ink, “Ink used to blank out a page of print of text to hide information or... as a prank.” Rainbow and Night left with her laughing, “Man that was good.” Night looked at her, “At least you didn’t really destroy those books.” She shook her head, “Naw, I’m just teaching them a lesson, not hurting them.” They arrived at Rarity’s boutique, just in time to watch the show. She hummed as she walked into her workroom and then gasped in horror. All her work... all her dresses were ruined with different colored polka dots. She checked to see if anything was salvageable but couldn’t find any. Rainbow fell on the ground, rolling around and laughing while Night kept looking into the window. Rarity was on the floor crying, “Whyyy, why, why, why, whyyyyy... of all the worst possible things to ever happen to me. This... has... to... be... the... worst... possible... thing...” Rainbow and Night flew off with her shouting to him, “Next is Fluttershy’s place.” They got to the place and Fluttershy was taking care of the animals that stayed with her. “Now, now everyone,” she said pouring food in bowls for the animals, “you must share.” Rainbow snickered, “She sure is in for a surprise.” Night looked at her in a concerned way, “What did you do?” She shushed him and pointed with her hoof to a tree with a baby bird on the ground. The baby chirped which caught Fluttershy’s attention. She rushed over and gently picked the baby up, “Oh you poor thing... did you fall from your nest?” She flew up with the bird in her hooves and gently placed it in the nest. Fluttershy smiled, “Now you stay there until your Mommy comes home.” She started to hover down when she hit a branch and then the tree shook and all the leaves fell off. All the animals gathered around to see how this happened while Fluttershy shook the leaves off of herself and looked to see the damage, “Oh... my...” Night waited to hear Rainbow laughing but didn’t hear anything. He looked to see that she wasn’t there. ‘The only one left is Applejack,’ he thought. He quickly took off to Sweet Apple Acres, ‘I hope I’m wrong about what’s going to happen.’ Night got there to see Rainbow above the farm with a huge black cloud, covering the land. He rushed up to her, “Don’t you think this might be going too far?” She shrugged, “I’m just gonna give this place some rain. Not set it on fire.” Night panicked, “Well what if it does?” She didn’t hear him as she went to the side and was about to kick it, “One heavy rain storm, coming up.” With one swift kick, there was a very loud boom and bolts of lightning striking the ground. Rainbow screamed in horror as the land and buildings at the farm caught on fire. ‘I can still fix this,’ Night thought as he started to surround himself with a red aura. Rainbow zoomed down, broke into the house and flew out with Apple Bloom and Granny Smith in her forelegs. She placed them outside of the farmland, “Oh my gosh, are you guys alright?” Applejack came up and bucked her in the face, sending her into a nearby tree. She walked up and yelled, “How could you put M’ah little sis and granny in danger!” Rainbow cowered down, covering her face, “I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to set fire to your farm.” Applejack thrust a hoof towards the farm, “Look at wut ya did with your anger!” She looked and saw that the entire farm was on fire. All the trees, buildings and even farm animals were burning to ashes. She started to cry, “I didn’t mean for this to happen.” All of her other friends surrounded her and Twilight spoke up, “Rainbow... I... I don’t know what to say.” Suddenly, time started to slow down. Ponies who were rushing to help put out the fire were slowing down to a mere halt. All the townsfolk who showed up stopped in their tracks. Then everything started to go black and disappear. Fluttershy panicked, “Wh... wh... what’s happening Twilight?” She couldn’t answer as she tried to find out what’s going on. Pinkie bounced over to a white door that just appeared, “Hey girls, what’s through here?” They walked over and opened the door to be blinded by a bright white light. > Chapter 5 re > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The light faded and the girls found themselves in a white room. It was furnished with black furniture, ranging from a couch, coffee table, chairs that floated a couple inches above the ground and a mini bar to the left of the room. The girls were amazed that such a room exists and went to look at everything further when Fluttershy let out a loud “Eep” and hid behind Twilight. One of the chairs turned to reveal Night Storm, sitting crossed legged and quietly clapping his front hooves together. The girls were stunned and Rainbow spoke first, “What are you doing here Night?” He got down and walked over to the bar and said, “Two gin, two scotch, lime on the rocks please.” Applejack asked in a demanding voice, “Who are you?” When the drink was completed, Night walked back to his chair and the drink followed him. He took a sip and asked, “Do you want to hear a story?” The girls were confused and let out yelps as chairs scooped them up and brought them close to him. He took another sip and started to speak, “I was born five hundred years before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon,” the girls gasped and he went on, “I was a strange child because I had a gift.” Twilight looked confused, “But wouldn’t that mean you would have to have a horn?” A horn grew from his head and he looked at her, “You mean like this?” She nodded and he swiped the horn, making it disappear, “I did not have a horn... I and my family were Pegasus,” he took a sip of his drink and went on, “growing up, I had the unique ability to... predict the future.” Pinkie raised her left foreleg, “Ooo, ooo, ooo, I can do that too. It’s called my Pinkie Sense.” Night chuckled, “I know about that, but for me.. I could actually see what was going to happen.” Twilight shook her head, “Preposterous... you need a unicorn horn to do that.” Night pointed his right hoof at Pinkie, “How can you explain her Pinkie Sense,” Twilight couldn’t answer and Night went on, “there was one time I saw a vision of a house on fire. I went to warn the ponies who lived there and told them but they wouldn’t listen,” he took another sip, “I told others but they wouldn’t believe me.” “What did you do,” Rarity asked. Night looked up at the ceiling, “I did everything from throwing rocks to saying foul language to get them out of the house. A husband, wife, filly and colt came out and the husband was furious,” he took another sip, “out of nowhere, a fireball came from the sky and crashed into the house. It burned up instantly.” The girls gasped and Fluttershy asked, “Wh – wh - was it a d – d – dr - dragon?” He nodded, “He let out a sneeze and launched a fireball in the process,” he took another sip, “everypony was grateful and word of my ability reached Canterlot and that night... I got my cutie mark.” “Did Princess Celestia use your abilities,” Twilight asked. Night nodded, “Yes and it was for good intentions and I got to live in Canterlot,” he sighed, “there were guests visiting from a far away country,” he sighed again and took a bigger sip, “I didn’t like the looks of them but the Princesses thought they were good.” Applejack made a serious face, “Wut happened?” Night sighed and went on, “I had a vision one night... the leader of the guests was going to kill Celestia,” the girls gasped and he went on, “I rushed to her the next night and saw the same scenario happening from my vision. I rushed towards them and the leader took out a knife ready to stab her... but I took the hit instead.” The girls started crying and Rarity spoke, “How sahahahad.” Night tilted his head, “It turned out that they were assassins and they were all apprehended. I died that night. As I found myself heading towards a white light, I stopped and stayed in the darkness.” The girls were trying to comprehend the story and Night went on, “A white light and a red light... you do know what I’m talking about,” the girls nodded and he went on, “they told me that my gift was great and could be used for... situations like this.” He drank the last of the drink and the glass went back to the bar, “Now... to business.” Rainbow looked scared, “Wh... what’s gonna happen to me?” Night moved out of the way and a giant window came up from the floor. He turned to the girls, “First, I must show you the original disaster.” Twilight looked confused, “Original disaster?” Night turned to the mirror, “The events that took place if I hadn’t intervened.” The girls were about to ask more but then, an image of Rainbow laying on a grey cloud came up on the mirror. They gasped as the image started moving, like at the theater. The Rainbow in the mirror looked mean, angry and dark. Rainbow gasped, “That looked like the day I got that invite to the party.” “It is but this is what originally happened... where I don’t come in,” Night replied. In the mirror, Derpy came up to give the invite and Rainbow snatched it and yelled, “Thanks, now get out of here you stupid, derp-eyed freak!” Derpy flew away crying as Rainbow read the invite. The real Rainbow flew and kicked Night’s chair, “I never said to her... you were there with me and that never happened!” A force pulled Rainbow back into the chair she was in and Night responded, “What you are seeing is what really happened, what was supposed to happen. You’ll understand why I came to help when you see the end.” The mirror changed to the party where Rainbow came in, looking worse, more angry. Nopony said anything until Rainbow saw the table with mugs full of cider on top, “I suppose that none of those are mine, right?” Applejack came up to her, “They’re all yours, Sugarcube.” Rainbow shoved her away, “Wow... what a lie but I suppose I’ll take your word for it you stupid hick!” The girls were stunned as Rainbow walked up to the table. Just as she reached for a mug, a giant bag fell from the sky that had the Sweet Apple Acres logo on it. Rainbow stood still as Applejack approached her and spoke in a tender voice, “Now darlin’, this isn’t wu...,” she was cut off as Rainbow flew at her, grabbed her and slammed her into the wall of the Sugar Cube Corner. Rainbow yelled in a strained voice as she was slamming Applejack into the wall, “I knew you were doing this to me! You never intended on me ever having a mug!” Twilight used her magic to pull Rainbow away, “Rainbow Dash, what has gotten into you?” Rainbow struggled and tried to fly so much, she broke free and slammed into twilight, “Anger... that’s what's gotten into me you stupid egghead!” She looked around and saw Pinkie standing near a fence, unable to move. Rainbow grinned, dashed forward and bucked Pinkie with her hind legs, which sent her through the fence. Rainbow started to laugh maniacally and stopped as some royal unicorn guards came. “Stop right there,” ordered one of the guards. Rainbow quickly flew off, hoping she wouldn’t get caught. She jumped up and down on a black cloud, causing some lightning to come out with each jump. “Ha ha ha, that was incredible,” she said in a happy yet dark way. Suddenly she stopped and was unable to move. She looked around to see royal unicorn guards using their magic to hold her and one of them was Shining Armor. Pegasus guards came and put iron shackles on her legs and wings to prevent her from leaving. “Sorry Dashie,” Shining said in a sympathetic tone, “but I’m afraid I have to take you in for your actions.” The image in the mirror disappeared and the girls were in shock and tears. Fluttershy went into a corner to cry by herself. Rainbow looked away from the others, crying to herself. Night turned around and looked unscathed by the what was shown. Rarity pointed a hoof at him, “How does that not make you cry you heartless fiend?” He shook his head, “I have seen worse over my time doing this job... it doesn’t get any easier.” He turned back around and didn’t say anything else. Rainbow came up to his chair, “I would have never done that to them... never ever.” When the crying subsided, the girls went back into their chairs and another image came up on the mirror. It was from the day they had the party but Night was in this one. Rainbow flew towards the girls and made a quick upward turn, bringing down a grey cloud and kicked it. It started to rain on the girls and Rainbow flew away laughing with Night following her. The image disappeared and Night let out a sigh, “I didn’t know you were going to do that. I’d assume that you were going to do the same thing like you intended to.” Rainbow sat up, “I wasn’t going to hurt them at all!” Another image came up on the mirror. It was night time and there were sounds coming from a small shed. Rainbow came out, carrying a small sack. She chuckled evilly, “Now... for my revenge.” The mirror went blank and Night spoke up, “You do know what happens next, right Rainbow?” She didn’t say anything and the mirror showed the image of the Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie was coming down the stairs into the kitchen and when she opened the door, there were a hoard of rats getting into everything. They chewed through bags of sugar and other sweet things. Almost all the chocolate was eaten. Pinkie grabbed a broom and started swatting at the rats while yelling, “Shoo, shoo you dirty, dirty rats!” The mirror went blank again and Pinkie looked at Rainbow, “That wasn’t very nice Dashie.” The girls looked at Night and he responded, “It took almost two hours before the rats were gone and it took a whole week to replace all the ruined stock.” Twilight shook her head, “And this only happened in the reality where you didn’t show up?” “Yes,” Night answered. A new image came up on the mirror, it was now the library. Twilight was walking downstairs, using her magic to pull out a book. She yawned and opened it and screamed as loud as she could. She used her magic to pull out more books, looked through them. Spike woke up when a book landed on him, “Twilight, what’s going on?” She got up into his face, “All these book say EGGHEAD, Spike and I know that none of them even have that word in it.” Spike took the book and looked at it, “What could’ve done this, Twi?” Twilight narrowed her eyes, “Not what... but who?” The mirror went blank again and Rainbow looked at Twilight, “I never did that to you!” Twilight closed her eyes and sighed, “I know... but in that reality, you did do it.” “It took Twilight almost four months to fix all the books,” Night said. There was another image on the mirror... it was the Carousel Boutique. Rarity woke up to the sounds of voices from downstairs. Just got up, prettied herself up and went downstairs. She went into her work room where the voices were coming from. She opened the door to find various fashion designers looking at her work which was in shreds and poorly colored. Her mouth fell open as she looked around and then saw a sign that said “Rarity’s New Summer Fashions for Sale”. The designers looked at Rarity with a disgusted look and one of the mare’s asked, “Is this your idea of fashion darling?” One of the stallions huffed and was leaving, “You will never work in Ponyville again or ever work in Canterlot.” They all left in a huff, leaving Rarity to collect her shattered mind of what just happened. The mirror went blank and Rarity was in tears, “How could you Rainbow Dash... destroying me like that.” Night waved his hoof in the air, “Calm down... I prevented that from happening.” She stopped, “Oh... but what happened to me?” Night sighed, “Burdened with so much shame... you left Ponyville, taking Sweetie Belle with you. That didn’t happen until a couple of weeks after this though.” Rainbow hung her head in shame, “I don’t deserve any of you guys as friends.” The mirror had another image. This time it was Fluttershy taking care of her animal friends. Then came the event where she was putting the baby bird back in its nest. She hit her head on the branch and the whole tree started to shake. Soon it slide and was falling to the ground with animals in the way. Then the mirror went blank again before anything else was shown. Fluttershy passed out onto the floor, twitching a little. The girls minus Rainbow ran over to try to wake Fluttershy up. Rainbow looked away from the others and started crying, “I’m a horrible pony... I don’t deserve any friends or redemption or anything else like that.” After a bit, Fluttershy regained consciousness and sat back down in her chair along with the other girls. Applejack looked down, “And the last one is me... ain’t it?” Night said nothing and a new image appeared on the mirror. It was Rainbow but she looked completely different. Her coat was a greyish-black, her mane was a monochrome colored rainbow and her cutie mark was a black cloud with the lightning bolt with the monochrome colored rainbow in it. The real Rainbow looked away, not wanting to see what became of her in that reality. The Rainbow in the mirror stood on a big black cloud above Sweet Apple Acres with a sadistic smile on her face. She started to jump up and down on the cloud, causing lightning to strike the the farm land, setting it ablaze. She laughed as she jumped up and down some more, causing the fire to increase in size. The mirror went blank again and Applejack ran up, knocked Night out of his chair, held him down and yelled, “The same thing happened as before you jerk!” He stared blankly at her, “Not really... the events where I came in affected the outcome.” “How,” Applejack asked in a loud voice. He pushed her off and stood up, “The Rainbow dash that is here with us didn’t know that she would cause the lightning to strike and she went back to save Apple Bloom and Granny Smith.” Applejack went wide eyed, “And the Rainbow in that other reality thing knew what was gonna happen and... and... “ Night nodded, “Yes... she didn’t go and save them.” Applejack started to cry and the girls minus Rainbow went over to comfort her. Night turned around and sat back down in his chair, “It took almost ten years before the farm was back to the way it was.” Rainbow looked up, “Whatever happened to me?” The mirror showed the image of the evil Rainbow chained up to a wall with Celestia and Luna looking at her. “Sister,” Luna said, “let us deal with her... it will be easier on you.” Celestia nodded and Luna’s horn started to glow. Rainbow started to jerk around, hopping to get out of her chains but to no avail. Luna shot a dark purple and blue beam that hit Rainbow, causing her to scream. In a few moments, Rainbow was gone and the mirror went blank. Night walked over to Rainbow and she looked up at him and asked, “The darkness outside here... is that where I ended up?” He simply nodded. “What ever happened to Scoots?” He sighed, “With her hero gone bad and her friends left her... she turned to the only thing that would... give her any peace.” Rainbow started to panic, “What happened to her?” Night sighed again, “She... hung herself.” Rainbow screamed and started to cry uncontrollably. The girls went over to comfort her in hopes that everything will be alright. Rainbow stopped crying, “I don’t want this... I’ll do anything to fix this.” Night smiled, “I can arrange that.” > Chapter 6 Final > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All the girls looked up at Night and Rainbow asked in a low tone, almost like Fluttershy’s, “Re-really... you can help me?” Night continued to smile, “I made a deal with the Divine One that if I can prevent you from becoming what was shown on the mirror, then they will give me an ancient artifact that will help you restore what was broken.” Rainbow lunged forward and tackled Night to the ground and yelled excitedly, “You mean I don’t have to go back and suffer punishment from Princess Celestia?” Night simply nodded and Rainbow flew around, screaming with joy. She suddenly stoppedto hoverd down and asked, “If I go back, will I remember everything that happened,” Night nodded and Rainbow asked another question, “will my friends remember what happened?” Night nodded again. “Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said in a sentimental voice, “can we talk first?” Rainbow walked over to the others and they sat in a circle around her. “Dash,” Applejack said, “Ah’m in a way happy that you git a second chance and all... but what if ya pull the same stunt like before?” Rainbow was taken back by that question and Applejack continued, “Ya burned m’ah family’s farm, almost killed m’ah sis and granny and ya think that ya deserve a second chance?” Rainbow turned to Pinkie who had tears in her eyes, “You said I wasn’t your friend anymore because I didn’t share and that their friendship was cheap,” she start to cry, “and you wanted to hurt me.” Twilight put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, “Even if you decide to go back... whenever this artifact takes us, we won’t forget all of what you put us through.” The girls walked to the other side of the room and left Rainbow there to collect all of what she seen and heard. Rainbow hung her head in shame and thought to herself, ‘All of this because of some stupid drink,’ she then plopped down on the floor, ‘how will I fix this?’ Night came up to her and handed a blue, glowing orb and said, “This will take you back to the point where Applejack runs out of cider,” she took the orb in her foreleg and he presented another orb, which was red, “this one will take you back to after the fire is put out at the farm,” he looked at her for a moment and turned around, “you pick which one you think you deserve,” and he walked off to the bar. Rainbow looked at each orb, “Blue to back when I blew up and red to when I started the fire,” she said to herself. She looked closer at each one and saw an image of the exact moment she would go back. She looked over at the girls who didn’t look in her direction, not even Pinkie. “I screwed up real bad,” she said in a low, pitiful voice. She looked back at the orbs and thought a little more. “You pick which one you think you deserve,” she quoted from Night. Rainbow walked over to the girls and and Rarity spoke in a mocking tone, “Well... have chosen which form of punishment we deserve darling?” Twilight held out a foreleg, “Let’s just hear what she has to say girls.” Rainbow hung her head and started to sob a little, “I’m so sorry girls,” she gasped between sobs, “I’m such an idiot for the way I was acting.” Applejack put a foreleg around her, “Ya know sugarcube, ya could’ve jus’ come to me and we could’ve talked this out... ya know, maybe come to a compromise.” Pinkie lifted up Rainbow’s chin and looked her in the eyes, “I’m sorry for buying all those mugs and not thought about sharing with you,” she now had some tears in her eyes, “I guess I haven’t been the model friend there.” Fluttershy spoke in a soft voice but loud enough for Rainbow to hear, “The pranks you did in that other reality were horrible... but, because of Night... you didn’t.” Rainbow smiled, “I know you guys won’t forget what I’ve done,” she sniffed and wiped her nose, “but maybe in time...do you think you can forgive me in the future.” The girls smiled, gave her a group hug and Twilight said, “It will take some some, but we will forgive you.” Rainbow pulled away from the hug, “I need a little more time to think of my decision,” she walked back over to where she placed the orbs. Everypony waited for a long while for Rainbow to make up her mind. After almost an hour, she yelled, “Hey guys, I have made my decision!” The girls walked over as well as Night and he asked, “So... what is your decision?” Rainbow lifted up the blue orb and Night smiled, “So you wish to go back to before you erupted in anger?” She nodded, “Yeah, I think I deserve another chance?” The girls hugged her and while they weren’t looking, the red orb disappeared. Rainbow got up and handed the orb to Night, “I’m ready to go back.” He gave her a stern look, “I won’t help if you screw up again.” She nodded and he handed her the orb, “All you have to do is break it and all of you will be transported back to the designated time.” She smiled and smashed the orb into tiny pieces. Nothing happened at first but then everything turned into a light blue color with white stars around them. The past days came into view from the blue light. The events slowly passed through everyponies eyes. Everything started to slow down as they were approaching the said date Night said they would be going back to. All of a sudden, they found themselves in the places they were in at the time of the incident. “That's it everypony, all out of cider today. Come back tomorrow now ya'hear,” was all Rainbow heard from Applejack and everything started moving again. She looked around and saw that it was exactly as Night described she would be. The farm and the land weren’t burnt to the ground and all the animals were still alive. Ponies behind her were complaining about Applejack running out of cider again. One stallion yelled, “Everytime it’s the same thing... that stupid Hayseed can’t do anything right!” Rainbow heard who said that, flew back, got up in his face and yelled, “Hey pal, that’s my friend your talking to!” The mare who talked to her in line asked, “Didn’t you just complain that you never get a mug from her?” Rainbow flew back up to the front of the line and sat in front of the booth where they get the cider, “I realized that it’s not healthy to get upset over a drink.” Pinkie came up to her with a mug and a smile, “Here Dashie, I saved one for you.” She gently took the mug with a smile and slowly drank the whole thing. When she was done, her eyes were big and her mouth hung open, ‘This is the best drink I’ve ever had,’ then she did a small squeal of joy. She hugged Pinkie and shouted, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” The other ponies grew jealous and one of them shouted, “That pink one always buys a heap load of them.” Applejack stepped from behind the booth, “List’n up ya’ll, we’ll have more cider tomorrow. Just wait until them please.” All the ponies waiting in line left, grumbling about not having cider again. That night, the girls gathered outside the farm. Applejack sighed in frustration, “Wut am Ah gonna do girls?” She shook her head, “How am Ah gonna get cider to all them folks when it’s just me, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny doi’n all the work?” The girls pondered this question for a while until Twilight spoke up, “What if we help with making the cider?” Applejack was taken back a little by the question, “That’s really nice of ya, Sugarcube. But this here is family business.” Rainbow put a hoof on Apple’s shoulder, “AJ, we’ve been friends for a long time... not counting what recently happened,” she chuckled a little and went on, “so I’d figure that we would... kinda be like family to you.” She pondered this for a moment and responded, “Well... Ah guess if ya see it like that.” Twilight smiled, “And I believe I have a plan to help get cider to all the citizens, but I have to go over the calculations for tommorow.” The next morning came and folks were standing outside the farm in awe at what they saw. There were over twenty-five barrels of cider already made and the Apple family Applejack’s friends were still making cider by the barrels. They kept working with Applejack and Fluttershy getting the apples down with Pinkie and Apple Bloom collecting them, Rarity and Granny were inspecting the collected apples, Rainbow and Big Mac operating the press together and Twilight using her magic to casking the barrels when they were full. When all the work was done, there were over forty barrels of cider made. Applejack stood proudly and yelled, “Alright ya’ll, we got enough cider for everypony in town!” There were cheers of joy going through the crowd but also some booing. Everypony went silent as some very angry looking ponies came up front a stallion from that small group yelled back, “Ha... that’s what you always say you Hayseed,” he turned around to address the rest of the folks that were there, “I say if she can’t keep her promise this time... they shouldn’t be allowed to sell any more apple products in this town again!” The town roared with excitement and approval of his proposal. Applejack gulped, ‘Ah sure hope we have enough cider this time.’ The day went on as pony after pony came for a mug of cider and got one. The barrels of cider they made were quickly vanishing as more ponies kept coming in for their The stallion who made his statement earlier was behind seven other ponies and he had a wicked grin on his face. Applejack looked at him then looked behind her and saw to her horror, there were no more barrels. She started to panic as he was getting closer and closer until it was his turn. He placed his money on the booth and asked in a wicked tone, “How about a mug, Hayseed?” Applejack pulled the handle to the nozzle but nothing came out. The stallion saw this, turned around and yelled, “Listen up everypony, they are now officially out of... “ Twilight came running with five more barrels floating above her in a purple aura, “Applejack, Applejack,” she came up next to her breathing heavily, “we found some more barrels!” The stallion slammed his hoof on the counter in anger, “My mug, now, Hayseed!” Barrels were quickly changed out and the cider was delivered to the rest of the town folk. By the end of the day, there was one full barrel of cider left over. Applejack rolled the barrel over to Rainbow and said with a smile, “Here... Ah’d figure you’d paid enough for a full barrel over the years.” Rainbow went to hug the barrel but Applejack held out a hoof, “All Ah ask is you come back next year to help out.” Rainbow fiddled with her hooves, “Can... can we be... friends again?” She sighed, “If ya come back next year to help... then yes, we can be friends again.” Rainbow squealed with joy and tackled Applejack to the ground and hugged her and the other girls joined in. Apple Bloom came up to them, “Applejack, there’s a feller wanting a mug.” She sighed, “Alrigh’t Bloom, jus’ head on to the house and Ah’ll take care of him.” Apple Bloom trotted back to the house and Applejack went over to the booth. She started to dismantle the booth and said to the customer, “Sorry Sugarcube, but we’re plum out of cider.” “Oh, I think you can make one exception for me,” said the customer with a voice Applejack remembered. She looked up to see Night Storm smiling at her and jumped over to give him a hug. The other girls came over to see what was taking her so long and was shocked to see Night there. Rainbow tackled Night to the ground, “Oh my gosh your here... how did you get here?” She got off and he got up and brushed himself off, “I just wanted to come by and see how everything went.” Pinkie bounced around, “It’s going super spectacularly awesome!” Applejack put a foreleg around Night, “Yeah, if Rainbow helps us next year, Ah’ll forgive her.” Night smiled, “So... I take it the extra barrels were helpful to you?” The girls went wide eyed and Twilight pointed a hoof at him, “How did you... “ He put a hoof up to his lips and shushed her and nopony asked about the barrels anymore. Rainbow brought over the barrel and Applejack still had some mugs left over from earlier. The barrel was opened and everypony took a drink from the cider within with their mugs. After all the cider was gone and conversation were done, Night started to walk off, “I think it’s time for me to head back.” Rainbow ran up and stopped him, “Will I ever see you again?” He smiled and shook his head, “When your time comes.” With that, he disappeared into the dark night. He reappeared in the white room again and saw a stack of manila envelopes and a letter on top. Night picked up the letter and reads aloud, “I am very proud of you Night Storm. You have done well in preventing a disaster from happening to Equestria. I have some more jobs for you to do and some are worse than this one. Please use caution.” Night looked at the stack and sighed, “Well... better get started.” > Extra's > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (These are some extras that I came up with while writing the last chapter. It will consist of three scenes that answers some questions. A word of caution, the contents will be dark. Please read at your own discretion and enjoy.) Rainbow Dash chose the red orb instead of the blue one: The girls walked over as well as Night and he asked, “So... what is your decision?” Rainbow lifted up the red orb and Night frowned a little, “You wish to go back to after you set the farm land on fire?” She nodded, “I feel like I would be getting off too easy if I chose the blue orb.” The girls gasped and Night lowered his head, “I see,” the blue orb disappeared, “then I hope you are ready to face the consequences of your actions. She nodded, “Yeah... I am.” The blue orb disappeared and Night turned away, “Just break the red orb and you’ll be back where you all were.” She did and the room started to turn red with patterns of white lightning surrounding the girls. In a bright red flash, the girls were back outside the burnt farmland with town folk coming in to see the damage and to help. Then Royal unicorn guards used their magic to subdue Rainbow and put her in a cage. Shining Armor came in front of her with a look of sadness and disappointment, “You’ve really done it this time Dashie,” he looked down and shook his head, “Neither Cadance nor I will be able to help you.” She was taken away to Canterlot Castle and put in the dungeon for the rest of the night. The next day, she was brought before Princess Celestia and Luna in the royal chamber. Celestia looked down at Rainbow who was in chains, “Subject Rainbow Dash has done a terrible deed by burning down the local apple farm and putting the residence in danger,” Rainbow started to cry as Celestia went on, “how you think we should deal with you, Rainbow Dash?” She looked up through her tears, “I-I-I-I do-don-don-don’t know!” Luna narrowed her eyes, “I think, dear sister... that banishment seems appropriate.” Celestia closed her eyes and lowered her head, “I agree sister,” she looked up at Rainbow, “Rainbow Dash... you are hereby banished from Ponyville for Ten years! You will live out in Fillydelphia until that time is up,” she turned around to walk away and looked back at her for a moment, “be grateful your friends vouched for you.” Rainbow arrived in Fillydelphia two days after her sentencing. The pain and guilt over what she did felt like a heavy weight she will carry with her for the next ten years. She moved into an apartment complex and was ordered to get a job. As she was unpacking, she felt a cold, metal cylinder that she did not remember packing. She took it out and saw a note that read, “Dear Dashie, Ah’m sorry about you gettin’ banished but ya deserve it. Ah am grateful for ya savin’ Apple Bloom and Granny. It’s gonna take a long time for the farm to be back to the way it was. Ah hope wut’s in here will help ya feel better and Ah’m sorry for all the years ya didn’t get any. When ya get back, we can talk and there will be more.” Rainbow opened the lid and smelt the aroma of apple cider. She slowly lifted the container to her lips and slowly drank every last drop. When she was done, she laid on the bed and started crying. Night watched her from the shadows, “I wish to have seen a happy ending.” Celestia gets a welcome from an old friend: Celestia just got back to the castle from the Ponyville library and was concerned. She went where the elements were being kept and saw the Element of Loyalty was slightly more cracked than before. She sighed and lowered her head, “What am I going to do about Rainbow Dash?” “You don’t really have to do anything,” said a voice nearby. Celestia readied herself for anything after hearing the voice. Suddenly a figure started to form near one of the stain glass windows. She kept her stance and braced for any attack that come her way. The figure came into full view and it was pegasus stallion that she recognized. He smiled at her, “Hello again, your Highness.” Celestia dropped her guard ran over and hugged the figure, “Night Storm... it’s so good to see you again,” she let go, “I’m afraid the Element of Loyalty is breaking.” Night walked over and looked at said element, “I know.” “What am I to do about her?” He walked back to the stained glass window, “I will be taking care of this your Highness.” She tilted her head, “How will I know if what you're doing will work?” Night turned to her and smiled, “Then this conversation wouldn’t have happened,” he started to disappear. Celestia held out a hoof, “And if it doesn’t?” His body was almost gone, “Being away from friends is punishable enough.” What made Night set off to his task: It was raining heavily outside with lightning coming down every now and then. Scootaloo was handling a long piece of rope and crying uncontrollably, “Sw-Sw-Sweetie B-B-B-Belle left f-f-forever,” she made a noose, “Ap-Apple Bloom is de-de-de-dead,” she threw it on the bed, “a-a-a-and Rainbow D-D-D-Dash is g-g-gooooone!” She kept crying and brought a chair underneath a ceiling beam, aligning it to just the right spot. She then took the rope, tied it to the end to a bedpost and threw the noose end up in hopes it would go over the beam. After seven tries, she finally got the noose over the beam. She stood up on the chair, put her head through the noose and cried some more, “Goodbye world... there will be one less, useless filly in this cruel world!” She kicked the chair from underneath her and her body fell and then there was a snap. Her body swung a little as she hung there, her little body jerked a little and then stopped moving. A figure hid in the shadows and witnessed the whole thing. Tears fell from his face and then gritted his teeth, “I don’t care what the Divine One says... I won’t let this happen.”