> Rainbow Dash's Hidden Power
>  by Mudkipman98
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Planning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Damnit Lance!  I thought you had the hyper mode function repaired!"
"I did, Master.  I can't think of what might've happened to it!"
"Well hurry up and fix it. I don't want to stay on this broken planet anymore. The rest of the men aren't going to wait forever, and neither will I!"
"Yes sir.  Just please, give me time.  A delicate piece of equipment like this will take some skill, which will in turn take time to apply.  Why don't you find another planet to conquer. I'm sure the galaxy is littered with them. One must have some sort of sentient life on it."
"Oh fine. But when I find one, you had better have that drive fixed, or I'll tan your hide and make you an example of those who annoy me with their incompetence."
"Yes sir. Right away, sir."
Leaving his below average henchpony to fix the hyper mode drive, the commander walked off toward the bridge to find a new planet. On his way there, he killed a few henchponies that messed up his favorite battle armor by shrinking it in the wash, and grabbed a bagel from his personal servant, whom he promised to kill every morning, yet never got around to it.
After arriving on his command deck and sitting in his favorite leather-padded chair, he began scanning the galaxy in a 1000 light year radius, searching for any life that he could destroy with passion. He needed something that would put up a fight. One that would give him a real run for his money.  He searched late into the 5-mooned night and and half way into the next day.
And then, he found it.
A perfect patch of land that had an exceptional military force, if a bit outdated, what with the guards still using spears and standard magic.  However, the military wasn't what caught his eye, but the lore surrounding the planet and it's pony population.  It was said that two unicorn sisters controlled the rotation of the planet to help move the days by.  There were also stories of a set of 6 weapons that had saved the planet more than enough times in the past 2000 years.  
He thought of the endless possibilities if he had those weapons at his disposal. Oh, the wonderful conquest that he could partake in. The countless planets he could control.  The never ending loyalty of his new subjects due to their fear of the dark stallion's power. It made him crazy just thinking about it.
Jumping up from his fancy leather chair, he charged off to see how the repairs had come with the hypermode drive which would allow upgrades to his weapons and restore the light speed function lost in the initial fight over the planet he had just conquered. On his way there, he picked up another bagel and stopped by the diagnostics center to check on the repairs to the ship.  All in working order, and at 78% battle capacity.  Just enough to dominate the new pony world that he had in his sights. 
He arrived in the hypermode drive center in just a few minutes, ready to hear good news about the hyperdrive's condition. "In working order captain, just as you requested," replied Lance when asked about the drive's status.  "You'll find that the weapon systems are ready to receive new upgrade data and that the light speed function has been repaired. Also, with the installation, I've added a special surprise just for you that will relay a gift to your command deck at the press of a button."
"It had better not be another pencil dispenser. The last time that happened, I got five new scars because of its malfunction causing it to shoot like a machine gun, and I had to kill the idiot who invented it. Oh, what a day that was."
Walking toward a viewing port, he said, "Lance, when we get there, I want you on the front lines with me.  And, if you're good, I'll even let you deliver the killing blow to those Princesses that control the planet."
"Oh thank you sir! You shall not be disappointed!" replied Lance with glee.
"You'd better pray you're right Lance."
> More Magic and Rainbow's Hidden Potential
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Everypony woke on the day after the coronation with the understanding that life would never be the same for their dear friend. They feared that she would move on and leave them behind, and their hearts were heavy with the idea.  Applejack went into town to visit Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy at Sugarcube Corner while Rarity finished a new dress for a customer and went to the lake to sunbathe. Rainbow Dash was already there, flying high overhead and performing new aerial tricks that she insisted would "impress the wonderbolts" beyond what they had witnessed at the academy.  As they tried their best to enjoy themselves, they were interrupted by letters from Twilight.
"Come to the library immediately. I have urgent news to give you."
And that's all the letters said. No mentions of what the news could be. Not even a ghost of a hint.  Never the less, each pony reported to the library without hesitation. Twilight was at the door to greet them.
"Girls, I've been informed by Princess Celestia that a dark presence is approaching the planet.  She has a terrible feeling about it, and wants us to use the Elements of Harmony to defend Equestria.  She says that there powers may have grown now that I've become an alicorn.  The ability allows us to use the Elements as some kind of tuning forks, helping us to track down some of the lost treasures used the defend Equestria in the old days before the Elements were discovered."
"But how will we know where to look in the first place, seein' as how there were tons of magic items in Equestria?" Applejack threw in.  "I mean, which ones will be useful against this new force that we don't already have?"
"I'm not sure, but if the Princess believes we'll need them, then I trust her completely," said Twilight.  "I'll need everypony's help on this, and that means you five.  I don't want to involve any other ponies unless we have to.  Rarity, we'll need some sort of traveling gear; something that will be light enough for Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and I to fly in."
"I shall start drawing up the patterns now," said Rarity as she ran off toward her shop.
"Pinkie Pie, we need some sort of weapon. If this new threat arrives before we find any weapons, we'll need a method of defense. If these invaders are as strong as the Princess believes, we'll be in serious trouble without some extra firepower."
"Do cupcakes work as weapons?" asked Pinkie, her eyes lighting up with ingenuity.
"It depends on what they're made of," said Twilight.  "If you can find that Doctor and Derpy Whooves, they may be able to help."  Pinkie nodded before running off toward the Town Hall, ready to begin her search.
"Fluttershy and Applejack, we need food, preferably something that can keep us traveling for a few days until we stop at another town."
"But, what about my animals? I can't leave Angel bunny without his carrots. He needs me," whisper Fluttershy with deep concern in her voice.
"Don't worry sugar cube," said Applejack as she put a hoof around Fluttershy's shoulder.  "I'll ask Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo to take care of yer friends, okay?"
Fluttershy turned to her friend and smiled as she said, "Thanks you, Applejack."
"No sweat," said Applejack, already thinking about what kinds of apple treats she should bring for the ponies. "I'll get some pies and corn bread for the trip, Twilight. You can count on me." She sped off with Fluttershy close behind, begging her to slow down.
"What about me?" said Rainbow Dash.  "What can I do to get ready?"
"I need to talk to you in private, Rainbow. Something's been bothering me, and I think you're the key to figuring it out."  Twilight led Rainbow Dash inside and asked her to sit down at the table in the center.  She then walked over to a shelf and pulled out a dusty, ancient-looking book. Blowing the ten layers of dust off of the cover, she brought it over to the table and opened it up.
"Long ago, when Discord attacked Equestria and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stopped him, the Elements of Harmony were full of energy. Too much energy, in fact," explained Twilight.  "To help drain the energy to a safe level, they charged certain families of pegasi with the excess energy, granting them extreme powers.  The sisters reasoned that only the pegasi where wise enough to control the power without abusing it.  As those families progressed, the powers that were granted to them began to die out and the number of family members with these unique powers decreased greatly. Now, no pony has those powers anymore. They've all seemed to die off.  However, it's rumored that some pegasi still show potential in using them.  I believe that you may house that potential, Rainbow, but you have no way to unlock it.  When I said that we were searching for magic tools and weapons left behind in the old days, I actually meant that we'd search for some of the ancient ruins depicting how to unlock this secret power.  If we happen to find any magic tools along the way, we'll definitely use them, but they won't be our true focus."
"So you're saying that I might be one who still has that kind of ability?  To use the energy from the Elements of Harmony?"
"It's a definite possibility, but I can't be certain. I believe that the reason the Elements of Harmony's energy was rainbow colored when we fought Nightmare Moon was because the Elements resonated with the energy inside you, changing their appearance.  If we can find those ruins, we might be able to use them to reawaken those abilities."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?!" shouted Rainbow Dash.  "If I might be able to use this 'secret energy' or whatever to protect Equestria, then I'll do anything to get it."
"That's what I like to hear, Rainbow," said Twilight, beaming at her friend's enthusiasm.  "Let's gather the others and get ready to leave. The Princesses know my true intentions and support me 100%.  They'll help if we need it."

/)*#*(\

After finding Applejack and Fluttershy, then stopping by Rarity's to get the adventuring gear, the hunt began for Pinkie Pie.  If she found the Doctor, she could be anywhere in time and space.  Thankfully though, she was found in the town square only an hour after the search began.
"Hey guys! I just had the greatest adventure EVER with the Doctor and Ditsy. We went to a cotton candy planet with chocolate rain.  It was the best!  Also, the Doctor found out how to turn cupcakes into weapons!  If they're made of sodium instead of bread, and you get them wet, they make one heck of a bomb! Only problem is, you can't eat 'em," frowned Pinkie as she finished.
The thought of Pinkie Pie having a bomb scared the tar out of everypony in the area, even the ones who didn't know the full extent of possibilities. 
"Pinkie Pie, you are SO random," said Rainbow Dash absentmindedly.  Everyone chuckled and prepared to move on.  Only Rainbow Dash and Twilight knew the gravity of the situation.  And, in the end, only they could guess what would happen if they found the relics in time.
> The Adventure Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	After gathering the Elements of Harmony from the library, the group started off towards Ghastly Gorge with Twilight "explaining" on the way the reason for stopping there. "When Rainbow Dash was originally caught in that rock slide back then, it might have shaken loose the rocks in that area. It may be dangerous to walk there now, but if there's a magic tool there, then we have to take the risk." Knowing that this was a lie, Twilight felt bad about misleading the other ponies. It was a necessary evil she had to take though, for Rainbow Dash and her alone had to discover the secrets of the ruins.  
"So if the Elements start acting up, then we'll know we're close?" asked Rainbow.
"Yes, that should mean we're on the right track.  Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, could you fly above and scan the surrounding area for anything suspicious?  Your elements will pick up any magic resonance in the area." She winked at Rainbow Dash.
"Yes ma'am!"  shouted Rainbow as she flew off through the trees.  The shock of hearing Rainbow yell startled Fluttershy, but she soon followed at a much slower pace.  
Flying through the trees at breakneck speed, Rainbow Dash was thinking about all the possibilities that might be waiting for her should the team succeed and find the ruins they were looking for.  Maybe she'd become an alicorn like Twilight, or maybe she wouldn't be able to control her new power.  The thought of so many different outcomes was hurting her head, so she resumed flying and kept an eye on her Element to see if anything was happening to it.  Nothing.  It was still the same red color with its same lightning bolt shape. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.
Then it found something.
Her Element began to glow in a cyan color around its edges, and it began to heat up. Nothing that would burn Rainbow, but enough to where it was a noticeable change.  As she neared the end of the gorge, about the point where the rockslide occurred, the Element turned white.  The entire piece glowed in a white, blinding energy.  Thankfully, Dash brought some sunglasses. 
After landing, she moved over to the rock that had crushed her wing before.  It had some strange sigil on it, which the Element started to react to.  The Element left Rainbow's neck and began floating in front of the stone.  Dash tried to move it, but it remained stuck, floating in midair.  Seeing that it was a lost cause, she decided to fly back through the gorge to tell the others.  Fluttershy was barely half way there when she saw Rainbow Dash go streaking by her.  She was about to "shout" after her when she noticed something odd.  Rainbow's element was missing.  Seeing no point in moving any farther, Fluttershy turned around and started after Rainbow Dash.
As the other ponies kept walking through the bottom of the gorge, they noticed a blue speck getting closer and closer.  The last indication they needed to get out of its way was a sonic rainboom exploding behind it.  Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie got out of the way, but Rarity was too busy complaining about getting her hooves dirty in the gorge and was knocked into the air by Rainbow Dash as she slowed her speed.  Rarity landed in a bigger mud puddle off the path, and started screaming.  Everypony thought she was just over reacting to getting dirty, so they laughed and waited for her to resurface.
She didn't.
> The Aura
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ponies watched as three air bubbles popped on the surface of the puddle. "Rarity!" screamed the group, all except Rainbow Dash.  She flew up high and dove into the mud at full speed.
Underneath, she began to sufficate and sink.  As her lungs began screaming for air, she began to feel a presence around her.  It was a welcoming and warm presence.  She heard a voice in her head saying, "Don't be afraid.  You won't feel a thing.  Release yourself and fall into darkness!" The voice became extremely harsh at the end, as if it knew how important Rainbow Dash's mission to save her friend was.  Then, just as Rainbow was losing it, she felt Twilight.  Her aura, that is, reaching out to her, trying to pull her back to her senses.  Rainbow Dash, without even knowing it, released her aura and reached out to Twilight in a desperate attempt to revive.  Success!  She felt Twilight's aura surround her and fill her soul to the brim with energy.  She snapped her eyes open expecting to have them filled with mud, yet none came.  As she looked around, her vision was darkened, however she could see a blue outline in the haze only 5 feet in front of her.  "Rainbow, this is Twilight.  I'm using an oxygen spell to keep you breathing but it won't last forever.  Can you see Rarity?"
"I think so! I'm making my way to her now," said the pegasis, still confused at how Twilight could be projecting her magic through all the mud surrounding her. She began to swim, if it can be called that, toward what looked like Rarity's aura.  It was fading quickly though.  She reached her and shouted to Twilight, "Now get us out of here!  Use some sort of teleportation spell or something, I don't know.  Just hurry!"  Rainbow began to feel her skin tingling with the unicorn's magic. She saw a flash and then, nothing. She couldn't see.  Everything was still hazy black.  She began to freak out, hyperventilating and losing control.
"Rainbow Dash, calm down!  You're safe!" shouted Twilight, trying to speak over Rainbow's breathing.  
"No I'm not!" she screamed. "I can't see anything!  Everything's black and hazy!"
"*sigh* I think I know what's going on, but I need you to calm down."  Rainbow Dash slowly started to calm down, getting her breathing in check and preparing to listen to Twilight.
"Now, the blackness might be a side effect of my magic which, if it is, I think it will let you detect pony auras.  Before we get that magic out of you, try looking toward me to see if it's true."  Rainbow did as she was told and, sure enough, she could see everyponys' aruas. Applejack's orange aura, Pinkie Pie's pink aura, Fluttershy's yellow aura, Twilight's purple aura, and the slowly strengthening deep blue aura of Rarity.  She could even see her aura when she looked at herself; a bright cyan color.
"Okay, great, I can see pony auras.  Now can you please help me see again?"
"Of course. We might need your element though. Speaking of which, where is it?"
So Rainbow Dash began relating all of what had happened in the past 15 minutes, with the glowing of her element and what it eventually led to.  She also told of how it was stuck in mid air, with no way to move it.
"I see.  Your element must be reacting to a magic tool," she said with a hint in her voice. "Alright then, we'll just have to try to get you back to normal with our current elements.  On three girls." One by one, Rainbow could see each of their auras drain into their elements, all except for Rarity, who was still unconscious.  They blasted her with energy and she soon could see them all again.  Rarity was covered in a thick, brown layer of mud, while everypony else seemed to be fine. 
"How's Rarity? Will she be okay?" asked a rather out of character Dash, who was worried for her friend's life.
"She'll be fine Rainbow, just give 'er time," said Applejack.
Twilight spoke up then. "Rainbow, lets go take a look at your element. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack, stay with Rarity incase she wakes up before we get back."
"We're on it!" shouted Pinkie Pie at the rest of the ponies.
"Okay then. We're all set. Lead the way, Rainbow." Hearing this, the cyan pegasis launched into the sky and off toward where her element still hovered.  Twilight followed her as best she could, but found it hard to keep up with Rainbow's speed. Never the less, they arrived shortly, ready to investigate the strange happenings of Rainbow Dash's element.
> Almost There
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"NO."
"Are we there yet?"
"NO."
"Are we there yet?"
"Dammit Lance, I said NO!  What will it take to get you to understand that it takes time to travel from one end of the universe to the other?!"
The commander and his now right hand man, Lance, were sitting in his command deck, watching the stars go by as they made the travel through light speed.  Lance had not only been harrassing the commander about when they'd get there, he'd also been trying to get him to try his suprise that would be found by pressing a new button.  "I'll press it when we've won.  If it's a new weapon, we'll blow up the planet with it.  If it's an escape pod, then, well that was kind of pointless.  I guess I'll just wait and see."
"Look Commander! We're almost there. I can see the galaxy's sun!"
"Yes Lance, I'm sure it's very pretty. Now will you shut up?!"
Shrinking away, Lance made his way to the door.  He planned on getting his battle armor cleaned in the armory so that when he killed the innocent civilians, he'd look like one hell of a guy doing it.  Opening the door, he walked into one of the elevators in the next hall and started his decent to the armory.
Meanwhile, the commander extened his mind forward through space to see just how smart the inhabitants of this new planet were...
	
> The Element of Loyalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	After arriving on scene, Rainbow Dash and Twilight began investigating the area while ever mindful of Rainbow's floating element.  They searched the entire area near the rock slide for anything out of the ordinary.  Nothing.  Everything else seemed pretty much normal.  
Giving up the search for anything suspicious, Twilight and Rainbow finally decided to aproach the floating element of loyalty.  It still had its blinding white glow and it still hovered next the the sigil on the back of the rock.  Though something had changed.  Something that no one but an extremely talented and attentive unicorn would pick up on.  And Twilight found it.  The element seemed to be reasonating a signal throughout the gorge, as if it was some how connected to it.  Twilight of course noticed this immediately and informed Rainbow accordingly.  "This place must have something to do with the legend!  I've never felt any sort of magical energy like this before.  Before you brought your element here, there was virtually no magical reasonance going on in the gorge.  Now, it's hard not to notice it.  Try putting your element back on.  If I can interfere with the elements reasonance enough, then it might let us move it from its positon."
"Gotcha."  Twilight charged the element with extra magic, and slowly, it started to float toward Rainbow.  She put it on, and as soon as it touched her neck, the gorge lit up with strange markings, all colored cyan and blue.  Twilight couldn't beleive what she was seeing.  No pony magic she had ever experienced before had this kind of effect.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash became aware of an energy inside of her.  Something that she had never noticed before began to surface.  Without thinking, she stuck her hoof out and an orange burst of energy started forming in her palm. Before she knew it, she was shooting energy bursts out of her hooves without control. "Make it stop!" she screamed.
"I'm thinking, but I don't know any spells that can drain energy fast enough to stop the reaction!"
"Then make one up! You already did it once!"
"It's not something you can just do on a whim!  If I had more time, I could find a way t-" Just then, Rainbow's energy just disappeared. Poof. Gone.  Right out the universe.  She fell to the ground without any to spare.  The last thing she heard was Twilight shouting her name in an attempt to wake her up.




When Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, she was in a white expanse, with no pony else there.  She was all alone.  So completely alone.  And Dash could feel it.  She could feel the lack of souls in this white waste land of nothingness.  But then, there was something.  Another presence came into being somewhere nearby.  Without hesistation, she flew toward the soul at full speed, eager to see who else was doomed to this fate.  When she arrived, she met Princess Celestia.  The princess was the other soul that had shown up.  "Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?  This is my private room, where I can meditate in peace."
"I don't know," replied the cyan pegasis. "Twilight and I were trying to get my element of harmony to work right, then I woke up here."
"Well, you're welcome to stay here if you like Rainbow.  You're always welcome."
"Gee, uh, thanks princess, but I really should get back to Twilight."
"No, I think you'll be quite alright here. You'll never have to worry about those ponies again. Isn't that great?"
Something clicked in Rainbow's head just then.  The princess sounded familiar.  A little too familiar.
Rainbow Dash began charging an energy burst, just like the one before.  She knew Celestia's voice was familiar.  It was familiar because it was the same voice that tried to drown her in the mud! The same voice that tried to make her give up! The same voice that tried to stop her from saving Rarity and split her from her friends!  That last reason was the most powerful of them all, and it fueled the most energy that she put into her attack.  As she released the barage of energy at "The Princess", who was now scowling with hatred at Dash, she thought of the pain and isolation of this empty room, and of her friends.  With this new reason to fight, she vaporized the Princess imposter with one blow. 
Feeling quite proud of herself and ready to find a way back, she began to feel tired.  So tired that she couldn't keep her balance.  So tired that she...
> Repercussions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     As Twilight watched her friend be drained of her energy, she kept calling her name, trying to revive her.  It was no use though.  Rainbow Dash had slipped into a deep sleep fueled by magic beyond her control.  All she could do was wait.  Wait for the rest of the girls to catch up.
And so she did.  She waited for what seemed like hours until finally, the group caught up with Fluttershy and Applejack carrying the sleeping form of Rarity on a makeshift hammock while Pinkie bounced along behind humming a song that was unfamiliar to everyone.
"Sorry Twilight, but after seein' the gorge light up brighter than Canterlot on Hearthswarming eve, we couldn't wait for you any longer," said Applejack through gritted teeth.  Her and Fluttershy put Rarity down and took a huge breath.  "Oh no.  What's happened to Rainbow?!" she said after noticing her friend propped against a rock a little ways away.  She went to Rainbow as soon as the sentence left her mouth.
As she approached her friend, she noticed Rainbow in a terrible condition.  The color from her mane and coat had darkened, and she had bags under her eyes.  Her element had also changed.  The crystal in the center was gray, and the gold rim had changed to silver.  Heat could be felt radiating from her body 3 feet away, signifying that she was terribly sick.  She had short, wheezing breaths.  Tears came into Applejack's eyes as she frantically aksed Twilight, "What's wrong with her?  Why is she so sick?"
"I think she just used too much energy. When I say too much, I mean enough energy to power Ponyville for a couple of hours, which is suprisingly more than some ponies think.  If we can get her to a hospital, they might be able to help her."  At the mention of a hospital,  Fluttershy became shaken and Pinkie's mane deflated, bringing with it a frown.  "I sure she'll be fine, but the sooner we get her there, the sooner she'll be better.  Fluttershy, could you fly up and grab a small cloud?  We'll need it to transport Rainbow Dash back to town."
"Oh, um, sure Twilight," mumbled Fluttershy.  She flew up high and within a minute, she had returned with a cloud that looked like a giant pillow, if a bit more poofy.
"That's perfect.  Thank you."  Twilight then levitated the sleeping Dash onto the cloud, and began moving it with her magic.  Pinkie Pie took over Fluttershy's job of supporting Rarity while Applejack picked up the other end, her mind on her two friends who were now incapactitated.
Twilight began to search Dash's aura and physical status with her magic.  She was in much worse shape than she looked.  There was muscle damage throughout her entire body, mostly in her right forearm and chest.  She had major blood loss, which Twilight assumed had been used as a source of energy for when Rainbow's stock ran out,  and her aura was faded. Then, Twilight noticed something else; a dark presence in Rainbow Dash's soul.  She had the worst feeling that she had sensed the presence in somepony else, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it.  Wait, no, that  can't be right.  Twilight could SEE Rainbow Dash's aura. She had never heard of anything like it.  Come to think of it, Rainbow did it earlier, but she could see all 4 of the the other pony's auras, even her own and Rarity's unconscious and fading one.  This boggled her and left her with even more questions for Dash when she woke up.  If she wakes up, she thought to herself.  Gaining a new sense of urgency from Dash's actuall condition, she flew off toward Ponyville at top speed.  She flashed a telepathic message to the others, telling them of her need to get Dash to the hospital sooner.  They understood, and kept carrying Rarity toward town through the bottom of the Ravine. 


Upon arriving back in town, Rainbow Dash's condition was already much worse.  Her muscles seemed to be failing completely, and her breathing had become very shallow.  If Twilight knew better, she would understand that Rainbow Dash was on the verge of death.  She had used so much energy that it had effected her very soul.  Racing to the hospital, Twilight made one final scan of Raibow Dash.  What she found disturbed her to no end.  The dark aura inside of Rainbow had begun to take over.  It was now trying to crush Rainbow's soul and replace it with its own.  Twilight yelled for help, but no one seemed to care.  They were all to focused on the nearby shops to notice what was happening.  And even if they did pay attention to Twilight's cries, they couldn't see what was really happening to Rainbow Dash.  Twilight had to get her to the hospital, but she also had to stop the dark aura before it crushed Rainbow's soul. 
As if in answer to an unspoken prair, the Wonderbolts landed next to Twilight, told her to jump on the cloud, and carried her and Dash toward the hospital in a flash.  "Spitfire, why would you help us?" asked Twilight, a bit bewildered that the Wonderbolts where flying her and Dash.
"What, do you think we'd just leave the pony who saved our lives like this?  We'll be at the hospital shortly.  Focus on helping Rainbow Dash while we get you there."
"Okay. Thank you Spitfire.  Make sure that you tell the nurses to keep me close to Rainbow Dash at all times."
"Will do. Now, go help your friend."  Feeling reinvigorated by the Wonderbolt's words, she dove headfirst into Rainbow's soul, falling unconcious herself, to help her stop this dark aura.
     
> Rainbow's Soul
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is so strange. When I open my eyes, all I see is darkness.  Just black.  I can feel somepony else here, but I don't know who they are.  I do know that they're hostile though.  This soul is trying to crush me.  I can almost feel my body giving out.  It's strange, but I somehow know how this will end.  My body will be crushed.  My soul with it.  I'm going to die.  I have no regrets, I'm definitely at peace.  Except for one thing.  One thing that I will never be able to speak of is my love.  I just wish that I could tell him how I feel before I go.  I have to tell Soa-, wait a second.  There's purple in the darkness.  Was that there before?  Well, no matter.  I'm just going to die here anyway.  No point in wondering what that purple thing is that is getting closer.  And closer.  And closer!  Wait! Is that-

As Rainbow Dash was finshing her thought, she suddenly felt free.  As if the darkness had simply let go of her.  She began to fall, but soon found herself on a solid surface, what she assumed to be a floor in this black nothingness.  As she opened her eyes wider to see the situation, she saw Twilight there.  She had saved her!  But who was that she was facing?  It must be the one who held her there!  She began to get up, ready to help Twilight, but suddenly, she fell short.  All her muscles failed and she collapsed to the floor. 
"Don't move!" shouted Twilight.  "Keep yourself still.  You've already used too much energy, and using more could kill you."  At hearing this, the cyan pegasis let herself relax on the floor.  What else could she do?  She couldn't move, and she certainly couldn't do that energy burst she had done earlier.  That would surely kill her.

"King Sombre, I should've guessed you would try something like this.  Stealing a whole body with a soul though, that was dangerous for you.  You've nearly killed this poor mare!  I could've given you a second chance, but this is taking it too far!"
The King simply growled at Twilight's attempt to scold him. Then, he charged.
Twilight felt his soul hit hers, and it felt like a brick wall.  She couldn't move, she couldn't think, she couldn't use magic.  She was stuck with no hope of escape.  
*tock* A rock bounced off of King Sombre's head.  As he turned to see his attacker, he saw Rainbow Dash.  He thought he destroyed her soul beyond repair!  How could she be...  Then it hit him.  Again.  Another rock hit him.  As he looked into Rainbow's eyes, there was something missing.  Like essence.  Ha! She had knocked herself unconscious so she wouldn't feel pain.  How clever.  And foolish!  Now, he just had to claim her body and be done with it.  Squeazing the last bit of life out of her would be easy.  Letting go of Twilight, he began to drift toward Rainbow's soul, which still stared with emotionless eyes.  As he aproached however, he felt pain in his stomach.  As he looked down at himself, he saw a hole.  About 1 foot in diameter, a charred hole was in him.  He regenerated quickly and, as such, didn't feel a thing.  As he looked up, he noticed something odd.  Rainbow was super charged with energy.  Her body radiating the stuff.  As Twilight came to,  she noticed the change.  "Rainbow, no..."  and she collapsed again.  She understood what had happened.  Rainbow Dash gave up her soul to kill King Sombre once and for all, so that he would never resurface.  But that's just what Rainbow had done.  Sacrificed her soul.  It was now no more that a husk.  A husk of dying energy just waiting to burn out.  She charged another energy burst ready to kill the vile king.
And boy, did she release it.  It practically destroyed her soul, spreading cracks into her very being. She became so fragile that the slightest touch would make her crumble. But she killed him.  Blew a hole right through his head.  No blood.  No guts.  No gore.  A clean vaporized skull.  Without his brain, he couldn't regenerate his soul again, so fell apart for good.  
For Rainbow Dash, it seemed over.  It sure seemed that way when Twilight woke up.  They were in a hospital room, with different chemicals hooked up to Rainbow via IV bags.  Her body looked almost ok again, with her skin and mane re-colored and missing the bags under her eyes.  She still had shallow breathing though, which worried Twilight.  She certainly wasn't dead, because she was still breathing.  But how damaged was her soul?  Would she remember the ponies?  Could she still wield her element?  Those questions greatly bothered Twilight, and the possible answers even more so.  A nurse came in, saw that she was awake, and motioned for her to come out of the room.  She did so, and outside, she received a report for Rainbow's condition.  After several scans and a quick blood test, the results were in.  She was doing terrible, still.  She still had major muscle damage which wouldn't recover for a week,  and she wouldn't wake up.  No matter what the nurses tried to wake up Rainbow Dash, she still slept. 


Another few days passed, with Celestia demanding progress from Twilight on Rainbow's condition.  Everypony was back in town, with Rarity in the hospital too. No special care for her, just a safe place for her to fully recover.  Twilight went into Rainbow's room along with Applejack and Pinkie Pie.  Fluttershy was spending time with Rarity below.  "Hey Rainbow," said Twilight. She walked over to the vase with flowers in it that Twilight had brought her after she woke up.  "I'm just here to replace the flowers, then I'll leave. Just please wake up soon."  As she made her way over to the vase, she could here a grumbling sound coming from the bed.  Rainbow's eyes popped open.  She tried to fly up into the air, only to shriek in pain and fall back on the bed.  Her muscles had healed enough for movement, just not without extreme pain.
"Ow, my head.  What happened?" asked the damaged pegasis. 
"Rainbow!" screamed Applejack as she ran up and hugged her best friend.  "We thought you wouldn't make it!"
"Oh come on, Applejack.  You musta had more faith in me than that."  Applejack blushed and backed away. "Seriously though, what happened?" she said, rubbing her head with a hoof.
"I went into your soul to kill Sombre." said Twilight.  "It seams that you beat him though.  No doubt, you saved my life, Rainbow."
"Aw, shucks.  It wasn't anything special.  I wasn't even concious."
"Well, just keep resting. Celestia says they'll be here any day now."
"Who?"
"According to the princess, aliens."  Hearing this sent shivers up Rainbow's spine. "Oddly enough though, they're ponies.  Exact same races too. But no alicorns, which means they may not have a ruler."
"But isn't that odd? I mean, everypony has someone that rules them.  Without that, it'd just be chaos on board their ship."  
"Unless their leader is the captain," threw in Applejack. "If that's the case, then we could be dealin' with an escaped criminal or a group of rogue ponies. Maybe even the ruler him-or her-self."
"True. Those are definate possibilities," said Twilight. "But don't worry about that right now.  Rainbow, I brought some books here yesterday for you to read if you wanted.  Just focus on getting better.  We need to resume our search.  This was a major setback, and we have to find the ruins quickly."
"Ruins?  What ruins?  You never told the rest of us about any ruins." said Applejack.  "Not even a mention of 'em.  What are they?"  Twilight asked Pinkie to gather everyone, and then she would explain.
And she did.  They met in Rainbow's room, with Rarity just checking out of hers.  "So, what you're saying is that Rainbow here is a super pony of sorts, and that the search has actually been for some ruins that could help her aquire that power?  Why didn't ya tell us?  If we knew what we were searchin' for, we coulda helped out!" yelled Applejack, feeling betrayed at not being told.
"Because I didn't want you to get jealous of Rainbow!"  Her answer shocked everypony.  "I was afraid that if you got jealous over it, then you would over react and not trust her anymore.  We've all seen what power can do to a pony."
"But darling, what could make us hate Rainbow Dash? Why, she's one of our dearest friends!" said Rarity.
"The fact that she would be stronger than you and have more power than you."  Everypony was silent for a minute.  Then Pinkie broke the silence.
"So Dashie, what moves can you do?"
"What?"
"I said, what moves can you do?  If you're some super pony, then you must have some kind of power."
"Huh.  Now that you mention it, yeah.  If I focus real hard, I can make this ball in my hoof."  Putting out her hoof, she began drawing energy into her palm. 
"Rainbow," said Twilight, trying to caution her.
"Relax Twi, I'll be fine."  She kept drawing energy until she had a ball of energy that was the size of a baseball.  Twilight created a target for her, which she blew apart with ease.  "See?  I told you nothing bad wou-  AAAAaaaaahhhHHHH!" 
"Rainbow!" everyone cried simultaniously.  She began writhing in pain, and her element, which she was still wearing, started glowing for a few seconds.  After Rainbow calmed down, her element stopped glowing.  It had regained its color since the arrival at the hospital, but it had just lost some.
"See? I'm okay."
"Darnit Rainbow, that was too close!" shouted Twilight.  "You almost killed yourself again!  That power is too unstable to use in your condition.  What would we have done if we had lost you huh?  You could be the key to fighting those alien ponies!"
"Well, gee Twi.  I guess I didn't think about that.  I'm sorry." After a moment of silence, "I need some rest. Can you guys stop by tommorow?"  Everone said there goodbyes and promissed to see her in the morning.
Except Twilight.
"Listen Rainbow, I'm sorry for yelling at you. But sometimes, you can be so rash.  You don't even care for your own safety.  *sigh* Just promise me that you'll stay in bed and recover.  We really need you out there trying to find those ruins."
"Fine.  But only if you run to the bookstore to pick up the new Daring Do book."
"Already done." She tossed the book to Rainbow and left the room. On her way out she whispered to herself,  "Please Rainbow, rest up.  Your the only one who can stop those monsters."
> We're Heeeeeerre
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Wednesdays! I love Wednesdays!  Full of important events that often cause terrible amounts of death and destruction.  But that's not what I like about them. Oh no.  What I like about Wednesdays is how completely random and crazy they can turn out.  Wednesdays are full of surprises.  And that's just what it was.  A surprise.  A surprise to everypony who dared to look up on that fated Wednesday.  For everypony that looked up could see a massive disk shaped ship moving toward the parks of Ponyville.  Their initial shock soon faded.  They thought it was just some teenagers pulling a prank with a remote controlled toy.  Until it landed.  It nearly crushed Colgate and Lyra as they were enjoying themselves in the grass.  They ran from the scene screaming their heads off about the giant hunk of metal that had almost crushed them.  Soon, the whole town was in a frenzy of panic.  Characters that looked like ponies began exiting a ramp that had opened on the ship, with one pony commanding the rest.  
"All right everyone.  You know the rules.  Each death must be an instant vaporization.  No blood and no gore.  We may be war crazy marauders, but we still have common decency."  A few of the space ponies flew off using their energy to do so and ignored the rest of their commanders announcement.  Instead of trying to stop them, the commander let them go to cause some early havoc.
Pulling out a bull horn, the leader pony continued.  "*tap* *tap* Is this thing on?  Okay then.  For all of you defenseless civilians, you should be able to understand me.  The translater chips inside our heads are helping us speak your language.  If you feel that one of my men has harmed your dignity in his manner of killing you, please submit a complaint form to my brain after death.  Thank you."  Everyone who heard was thrown into an even greater state of panic, running as these beings who loved committing senseless destruction chased them through the streets.
The commander simply sat back and laughed as he watched the Ponyvillians homes being destroyed.  Such terribly easy materials to blow up!  Some were even more flammable than others.  Stopping a moment to focus, he released his aura out across the world to see who would register as the strongest.  That poor mare or colt would be pony barbecue when he found them. 
He stopped himself when he picked up 6 auras coming from the other end of the town.  They were strong enough to be recognized, but definitely not a threat.  As his aura spreaded further, he found Canterlot and the 3 auras that radiated from it.  All three were of extremely high strength, each with their own air of danger.  One, which blazed a bright gold, was a sharp aura.  Witty to say the least, and capable of dealing large portions of magic damage.  The second was much softer than the first, being full of regrets yet carrying the same magic as the first if not more.  The third was just plain confusing, with its aura bouncing around and changing so much that it was impossible to tell its strength without hands on experience.
Bingo.
His new goal was Canterlot.  With its high leveled rulers, it would be fun, however easy.  Compared to himself, these ponies were extremely low and without much talent at all.  He suddenly began thinking about what that secret button did, and he hoped it was a big gun.
> The First Encounter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, she squinted, trying to block out the harsh sunlight that was coming through a nearby window.  After resting for two more days, she had been feeling alright other than a few extra sore muscles that hadn't fully recovered.  As she was getting ready to go to check with the nurses on her condition, she began to hear a whirring sound followed by the light outside being blocked out for a second.  Moving to the window to see what had passed, she noticed her element on the table.  Its color had been fully restored and she grabbed it, getting the feeling that something bad was about to happen.  After arriving at the window, she looked out on Ponyville in its sunny state and began to wonder how anything could possibly go wrong on a day like this.  Then she got her answer.  It started with an explosion near the park, followed by screams and a crowd of ponies leaving the city.  Fearing the worst, Rainbow Dash threw off her hospital gown (wincing in pain as she did so) and charged off running through the halls of the hospital.  A few nurses who had taken care of her tried to stop her, but she pushed them aside and left the building. 
Outside and out of breath, she turned her attention towards the smoke rising from the buildings of Ponyville near the park.  She tried to launch off to help, only to fall back to the ground in pain.  As the terrible realization flooded her mind that her wings were still useless, she began to run as fast as her aching legs would carry her toward the library.  If Twilight was still there, she would have something to recover Rainbow's wings faster.  She had to!
As she made her way towards the library, she ran past several fleeing civilians.  Before she knew it, she was staring down the street at one of the attackers.  He was wearing an odd kind of clothing.  Rainbow could only assume it was battle armor because of its staggered horizontal plating.  This armor consisted of two shoulder pads, each one slightly triangular, and a thick chest plate which protected the wearer's front and back.  It seemed sturdy, but Rainbow doubted that one of Applejack's kicks couldn't bust it wide open.
As if on command, the orange pony jumped from the roof of a nearby building, landing right in front of the armor clad pony.  With a swift kick to the chest, the armor shattered and sent the pony flying, landing him in a cart of hay and exposing his chest.  A zap of magic from another roof turned the pony to stone.  Looking up, Rainbow Dash saw Twilight, her horn sizzling with magic energy.
Twilight descended, landing in front of the stunned cyan pegasis.  "Rainbow?! What are you doing out of the hospital?  You should be inside recovering!"  yelled the purple alicorn. 
"I couldn't stand it!  Hearing all of those screams and seeing the smoke from the other end of town.  Did you really expect me to just sit back and watch my home get destroyed?  I may have been born in Cloudsdale, but Ponyville is where my friends are and where my heart is!"
Applejack interjected before Twilight could respond.  "I understand sugar cube.  But ya can't just go runnin' around after usin' all that energy.  After what Twilight told us about your real condition, we knew we had to keep you safe.  We came over here to this side of town for that exact reason.  To keep you safe.  Trust us; if there's one thing we're good at, it's kickin' space pony behind!  Now, go back to the hospital and rest up.  We can hold 'em back long enough for you to recover."
"No!  I don't want that!" shouted Rainbow.  "I know you're worried about me.  But for Celestia's sake,  I can take care of myself.  You saw what I did in that hospital.  You all did.  And now that I'm almost fully recovered,  I can actually be worth some good!"  Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy showed up then, watching as Rainbow Dash yelled at Twilight and Applejack.
"And I don't want to be treated as if I'm a filly just out of second grade!  These space ponies are threatening Equestria, and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna sit here and take it!"  She was now breathing heavily after not taking a breath for about 30 seconds.
Everypony just sat there as destruction rained around them.  As Rainbow Dash's words began to sink in to the rest of the group, a new air of confidence was about them.  "You're right Rainbow," said Twilight.  "You can take care of yourself, but we'll still support you till the very end."  At the end of her sentence, a screaming sound could be heard coming from Applejack as she was thrown, smoking, into one of the now vacant houses.  Everypony was speechless as the wall she had broken through collapsed on top of her.  
"NOOOOO!" screamed Rainbow Dash as she watched her friend be crushed by the wall.  Whirling around to look toward the direction of Applejack's attacker,  she saw a pony hovering in mid air who she assumed to be the commander of the space ponies due to his spiked up black mane and possibly thicker armor.
"Oh, I'm sorry.  Was she important to you?" said the commander with a mocking tone.
Full of uncontrollable rage at what she had just witnessed,  Rainbow Dash flew toward the hovering pony surrounded by energy which seemed to appear out of no where.  Now normally, this wouldn't have aroused suspicion in Rainbow's shocked friends.  Pegasis ponies flew all the time.  However, this time, Rainbow had flown without moving her wings.  Her body had been covered in energy and Rainbow launched into the air with seemingly no effort.  She planted a hoof firmly between the commander's eyes, sending him a few feet back in the air, but otherwise not phasing him.  Bringing his head up from it's currently hanging back position, he said, "Was I supposed to feel that?  Because honestly, I'm really didn't."  
Hearing this, Rainbow Dash felt dread course through her body as the commanding pony charged his energy into his hoof and blasted her with enough force to kill an ordinary pony.  But lucky for Dashie, she wasn't any ordinary pony. Fueled by rage and with a desire to kill, she returned the shot with even greater energy, nearly breaking the commander's thick chest plate.  Feeling his armor crack on the inside, the commander became troubled and did another scan of this pony's aura.  To his great surprise, it was blazing!  Somehow, out of no where, this pony had generated an aura as powerful as his own, if not greater.  Knowing that he could not fight this crazy mare with his current armor and level of remaining energy, he cursed and flew off toward his ship.  
As Rainbow Dash was beginning to follow this horrid excuse for a living being, she was suddenly stopped in her tracks.  As she turned her head around, she saw each of the other four ponies, their elements blazing, holding her in place.  She struggled to break free, tears flowing freely from her eyes as she mourned the loss of her dear friend.  
"After we lower her, keep her in place!  We can't risk her running off," said Twilight.  They did as she said, lowering Rainbow, then holding her in place with their elements.  While this was going on, Twilight walked over to the destroyed building which no doubt held Applejack's corpse.  As Twilight focused her magic, the rocks and debris began to move aside.  
Underneath the dust, a faint coughing could be heard.  "Will ya'll tell me why they hey ma element didn't block most of the recoil?"  Rainbow Dash was in shock.  Seeing and hearing her friend speaking and breathing was probably the most wonderful thing she had heard in the past year.  When the ponies finally let her go, she sprinted over to the broken down wall and helped Applejack up.  Embracing her friend, she cried into her shoulder. 
"I thought you had died!  What happened?!" sobbed Rainbow Dash.
Applejack gave her friend a gentle push to tell her to stop hugging her.  Then, she explained.  "Twilight enchanted all of our elements, including yers when you were asleep, with a shield spell.  Feeding off of our element's energy, it protects us in case we get hurt in battle.  Thanks to Twilight, I'm still standin' here."
"For now, we can't fight that stallion.  He's too strong for any of us; even you Rainbow," threw in Twilight.  "But I have an idea.  When we were exploring the gorge, I found something.  I didn't want to tell you until we had searched the whole area.  It just so happened that when we finished, your element was reacting the most, distracting me from telling you.  In one of the walls of the gorge, there was a carving.  It depicted pegasi standing around a massive set of water falls.  The falls were colored though.  Rainbow colored.  I think that if we can get there, we may be able to unlock your true power."
Sniffling after recovering from her friends return, Rainbow dash nodded her head in understanding.  She knew where their next goal would be, but she couldn't help but think of the burning city they'd be leaving defenseless for their own selfish reasons.
Seeing Rainbow's reaction, Twilight reassured her that there were plenty of capable stallions in the town who were already fighting back.  After hearing this, Rainbow was ready to go and insisted that they leave immediately, blasting any one of those stinking alien ponies that got in their way.
> Retreat and Space Pony Duels!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	On the way back to his ship, the commander began to ponder what could have increased that mare's strength so much.  It's like her aura just spawned up Call of Cutie, Modern Ponyfare 3 style and shot down his UAV.  At least, the shock was similar.  Now, he had to find a way to counter this new power.  He began thinking about higher gravity training aboard his ship, and about meditation to boost his aura.
Landing at the entrance to his ship, he gave the guards there specific instructions.  "If you see a group of six ponies, stop at nothing to kill them where they stand."  Well, at least as specific as he cared enough to give.  Trotting inside, he addressed his backup troops that stood ready just inside the ship.  They were all itching to crush the town with the rest of the army, but they understood their importance.  If something were to happen to the rest of the army or the ship, the remaining crew was to fill in.  
As he made his way to his quarters to get a new suit and to rest up and recover some energy,  he found his personal assistant and got another bagel.  Man, did he love his bagels.  After arriving, he dropped into his bed and sprayed some sleeping gas into his face to knock himself out quicker.  He was soon asleep, with all of his worries left behind.  
Opening his eyes, he found that he stood in a massive field surrounded by a few hills.  There was a warm breeze, and the scene was somehow relaxing.  Then, she showed up.  That cyan pegasis from before.  This time, however, she was white and her hair stuck straight up and back in spikes behind her.  She charged a blast of energy into each hoof and released them at the commander.  He tried to block it, but he was too weak to hold back the energy in each blast, especially when two of the deadly projectiles were threatening him at once.  He felt his forelegs break and his body fly off into the hills behind him.  He crashed into them, leaving a giant crater in the hillside.  As he lay in the dirt, broken, he saw the pegasis float toward him.  Without a word, she lifted her hoof, charged an even bigger blast, and fired.
The commander woke with a start.  He was sweating, and he had a fever.  The only time those two came in a combination after a dream was when his psychic subconscious kicked in.  This allowed him to experience possible realities through his dreams.  Was there really a chance that that one pegasis could kill him so easily?  Could she rise to such a level before he destroyed the planet?  He had all but forgotten about his plan to attack Canterlot as he lay in a shocked state.  Closing his eyes again, he drifted back into sleep, getting ready for a mental training session in his dreams.

/)*#*(\

Before the group got ready to leave again, Rainbow Dash asked Twilight to fix her wings, as they had not fully healed yet.  Twilight agreed, and did her best.  Rainbow's wings were still kind of sore, but she would live.
And so, the group began their long trek to these fabled Rainbow Waterfalls, eager to find out if there was any key to Rainbow's power there.  "Wait a minute," said Rainbow Dash.  "Rainbow waterfalls...  are you talking about Winsome Falls Twilight?  That's wear Applejack, Rarity, and I went camping with the crusaders!"  
"Wow Rainbow.  I didn't think about that.  Guess it's just as good a place to start as any."
With their new goal in sight, they changed course and began heading toward Winsome falls, a journey which would take a few days at least.  That is, if nothing set them back and they kept moving all day.
They had to pass back through Ponyville to get to the campsite however, and it was a sight to cause sore eyes.
Everything was in ruins.  Houses were destroyed and piles of ash were all that remained from fallen town's folk.  Tears began to fill Rainbow's eyes, knowing that she could have prevented this if she had just stayed to help defend the town.  Applejack noticed her friend's condition and went to her side.
"It's okay Rainbow.  I know you woulda fought to the last to protect this place, but we have to get to the falls.  There ain't no two ways about it."
"But how can I face them again?" sobbed Rainbow Dash.  "I abandoned them and left them to die by the hands of some crazy space ponies!  How can they ever forgive me?  Some element of loyalty I am."  
"No.  That isn't true, and you know it.  Besides, you sent that commando whatever guy runnin'.  I doubt he'll be fightin' you again any time soon."
"But just look at what's happened!" screamed Rainbow Dash.  She slowly swept her hoof across the landscape to show how much damage had occurred while they were gone.  Thankfully, some of the space ponies in the weird armor had fallen as well, their bodies in the street.  Yet, the buildings burning on the empty lane were a reminder on how much destruction had occurred that day.  "I don't know if I can do it.  If I can't succeed, all of Equestria might be destroyed."
"Don't think about that Rainbow.  You've got to get up, an' get on with yer life.  Come on.  We got rainbow waterfalls to get to."  Sniffling and picking herself up, Rainbow Dash slowly began to walk through the streets of their broken city.  Houses were caved in, buildings and businesses destroyed, and multiple booths in the market place were on fire.  The sound of a filly crying could be heard in the distance, while some of the space ponies were flying over head, completely oblivious to the group of six elements below.  However, three of these flying ponies noticed, and they landed ahead of the group.  One was a pegasis, one a unicorn, and the last an earth pony.  The one thing that confused the mane 6 was that all of the three ponies had been flying.  The pegasis was the only pony who had used wings; the rest used energy from their bodies.
"Well, look what we got here," went the earth pony, oddly speaking in a Manehattan accent.  "A couple a stragglers."
"Oh please Raj, don't start anything," said the unicorn.  "Remember, we were supposed to report to the boss if we found these six?"
The third and final pony, the pegasis, just stared at the Equestrian ponies with a hungry yet senseless look in his eyes.  "Oh come now Golem, shut that gaping mouth of yours," said the unicorn.  No doubt these ponies were going to challenge the mane 6 and attempt to kill them like they undoubtedly did to the other towns people in the immediate area.  
"You.  You terrible, filthy excuses for ponies," said Rainbow Dash, anger and pressure building in her voice.  "I'm so sick and tired of your senseless destruction.  All you do is hurt other ponies, robbing and pillaging their planets.  And for what?!  You're commanders enjoyment?!  YOU ARE THE LOWEST EXCUSES FOR LIVING THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN!"
Rainbow Dash's friends simply gaped at the lecture she was giving to these space ponies.
"Hey, we don't have to take that from you!" said the unicorn.  "Get them!"  Before any pony could blink, three beams of energy shot from the space ponys' hooves and slammed into Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, sending them back a few feet as their elements created a protective shield around them.  The elements lost a small amount of color then.
"That shoulda vaporized em," complained the earth pony, now identifiable as Raj.  "What happened?"
"Our elements protected us, you ruffians!" shouted Rarity.  "We'll be taking no such wounds from the likes of you."
And thus, a battle broke out in the street between each of the space ponies versus two of the mane 6; Applejack and Rainbow Dash fought the unicorn, Rarity and Pinkie Pie fought Raj, and Twilight and Fluttershy fought (if you can call Fluttershy's attempt at summoning up enough courage to use her element a 'fight') the 'hungry' looking one, Golem.  While each of these ponies fights' were tough, we'll be focusing on Rainbow Dash and Applejack's attempt to kill the unicorn.
Before either Rainbow Dash or Applejack could move, the unicorn was upon them, hitting them with wave after wave of magic attacks followed by energy bursts.  Rainbow Dash stepped in to take most of the hits, knowing that her higher energy level would help her element use less energy on shielding.  "I can't guard you forever!" yelled Dash.  "Use your element!"
Applejack did as she was told and began firing energy from the amulet around her neck.  The energy impacting the unicorn stopped him from focusing long enough for Rainbow Dash to charge up a significant amount of energy and release it at him.  The unicorn was knocked back in mid air, but soon regained his place in front of his enemies.  "You pieces of garbage," said the unicorn, charging toward them.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash soon found themselves on the defensive as a barrage of punches and kicks rained down on them.  Luckily, this gave Rainbow Dash another opportunity to charge up more energy.  As she used her element to block the physical damage, she began charging up energy, hoping to produce an attack similar if not stronger than the one she used against the commander. 
A gap in the unicorn's attack pattern gave Applejack time to get in a swift kick to the face, breaking the unicorn's nose.  As he recoiled in pain, Applejack yelled to Rainbow Dash, "Hit him now!"  Focusing her stored energy into her hoof, she built it up until she had a ball the size of the world's largest ball of yarn.  Applejack had to back away to keep from being caught in the blaze of energy.  With a swing of her arm, Rainbow released the ball straight at the unicorn.  He had no time to react before the ball hit him full on, engulfing him in its fiery blaze.  A scream was heard; then, as the light faded, a small amount of ash descended to the ground, landing in a neat pile.
"We did it!" cheered Rainbow as her friends rejoined her.  They had succeeded in destroying their opponents as well.
"Great job girls," said Twilight.  "Now, we just need to make our way to Winsome Falls and we'll be one step closer to being ready to kick these space ponies off our planet for good!"  Everypony agreed and began to enjoy their victory.
It was a short lived one.
Rarity yelled in surprise as the shield from her element broke from an impact by an energy ball.  A sound like glass breaking confirmed this as the shield shattered to pieces, easily visible as a deep purple aura.  A second shot within a second after the first knocked Rarity to the ground, pushing dirt up around her as she was driven into the ground from the force of the impact.  There floated the unicorn that was presumed dead.  His clothes were burned along with some of his skin, and his hoof smoked from his recent discharge of energy.  His pupils suddenly shrunk, and he crumpled to the ground having used his last bit of life force as an attack.  His body now laid in the center of the street, still smoking from Rainbow's previous attack.  Everyone rushed to Rarity's side as she began to slowly climb out of the dirt pit she had been driven into.  Lucky for her, the unicorn had used his last remaining life energy for an attack which, coincidentally, was not that much.
"My my, what horrid manners," managed the tired unicorn.  "Well then, we had better get moving before more of these brutes show up.  Celestia knows what might happen to my mane if I get hit by one more of those dreadful blasts.  I might as well just cut it all of if that happens."  Everyone chuckled at her comment, but felt dread for the hidden meaning behind it.  They all knew that if they took just two hits without the protection of their shields, then they were done for.
"Twilight, why did Rarity's shield fail like that?" asked Pinkie Pie, bouncing around the group despite what they just experienced.
"I'm not sure," replied Twilight, her eyes moving under their lids while she thought about it.  "The elements should have unlimited energy, but I've noticed that after using some, they lose some of their bright color."  Looking around at the group, it was obvious that everyone's element had darkened.  All except Fluttershy's, due to the lack of energy she had actually used in the fight against Golem.  "I'll have to do some more study on it.  For the time being though, we should try to avoid any sort of conflict until they regain their color.  I've seen them do so over the course of an hour or two, so we should be ready in case of more attackers within the next few hours."
"Okie dokie lokie," said Pinkie.
So, once again, (for what, the third or fourth time now?  I've lost count.) our heroes of Equestria continue on their way to the Winsome Falls, ready for whatever may lie in store.
> The Commander's Training
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Training.  That's all the commander could think about; training.  He had been doing so in 100 times gravity for the past 2 hours, leaving him with barely enough energy to stand.  Walking out of the gravity chamber, he began to make his way to the mind training room.  He had long past called in his troops, yet 3 had still not returned.  He didn't think much of it.  They were probably just out finishing off the townspeople.
When he arrived at the door to the mind training room, he put his hoof against the panel on the outside to verify that he was going in.  The door opened, and he stepped inside.  The room was fairly simple.  It consisted of lots of mirrors on the walls, almost enough to cover each wall completely, and a row of 32 chairs lay in the middle.  At the far left side of the room, a computer sat with pictures flashing over its reflective screen.  Each chair had a helmet hanging over it from the ceiling.  The helmets were full of wires which fed into the roof, wove around the outer walls, then deposited themselves into the main computer system.  This computer, when activated, generated an enemy or training dummy of some sort as a combatant for the user.  
Making his way to the computer, the commander entered all the data he could guess on the cyan pegasis, including height, age, weight, the possibility of her being a super pony, her possible level of ener- wait.  The possibility of her being a super pony.  Could that have been the power he felt in his dream?  No no no, that would be impossible.  The legend of the super ponies dates back thousands of years before, with the last one dying off centuries ago.  The only way that the possibility could even exist is if one of the space pony artifacts that contained the soul of one such super pony had landed in Equestria.  And even then,  that soul would have had to be sacrificed to transfer that power to some pony else.  At that point, the power could be passed down through generation after generation until...  He couldn't believe it.  He wouldn't believe it.  He thought It was impossible, but there was a chance that the cyan pegasis he fought before could contain that power.  After investigating the planet's lore, he recognized the elements of harmony.  Of course, he had learned that they were the elements of power, a destructive force that could be used to either screw the galaxy or save it.  He immediately factored that into the computer's system, then continued his check list.  
When he had finished programming this 'AI', he took his place in one of the chairs, slipped the helmet onto his head, and slept.  The only way that the mind training would transfer the AI into his mind was if his subconscious was active.
He awoke yet again in the green field of his previous dream.  This time though, he didn't plan to be thrown around by the cyan pegasis flying toward him in the distance.  Charging up a sort of rapid fire set of energy bursts in each hand, the commander prepped himself to release them at the AI Rainbow Dash, destroying her entirely.  He fired, but the shots bounced off of the AI as she became surrounded in a brilliantly colored shield.  She immediately pumped her energy to 'super pony' levels, creating a shock wave of energy that burned the grass in the field.  Had it not been for the commander's extra energy field surrounding him, the helmet would've ejected him from its console due to his subconscious's 'deceased' state (the event of virtual death).  His protective shield exploded from his body like shards of glass.  "Crap!"  he cursed out loud.  That had drained too much of his energy.  If the real cyan pegasis ever learned any of these techniques, he'd be done for.  As he began thinking about how to counter these new techniques, he felt immediate regret.  A hoof connected with his face, sending him spiraling into a nearby hill.  The time he had used to think had left him vulnerable for just a second, long enough for the pegasis to land a solid hit.  He pulled himself out, ready to return the attack using the remaining energy in his body.  If he could finish her with this last attempt, his later battle with her would be a guarantied victory.  Charging up his last set of energy, he began to create a powered ball big enough to swallow a moon.  This energy had destroyed the field, exposing an ocean of lava underneath.  The commander and the AI Rainbow Dash now hovered above the expanse of lethal fiery liquid.  The commander threw this ball of energy into the Rainbow Dash copy, incinerating it before the ball itself even touched her.  The heat had been enough to kill her.
The commander's eyes snapped open to reveal the inside of the mind training helmet.  He was back in his ship, ready to take on the cyan pegasis.  Then, he remembered his original goal.  The goal of killing this world's leaders and eventually blowing it up.  He jumped from his chair and raced out the room's door, eager to recover his energy by sleeping.  Like a child, he jumped into his new sleeping pod and fell asleep.  As his eyes closed, a wicked smile spread across his face.
> Winsome Falls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Finally!  After three days of solid travel, the mane six had made it to Winsome Falls, where there are literal rainbow waterfalls!  Pinkie was so excited that she jumped into the nearest rainbow pool without hesitation, deviation, or whatever the other thing is.  Her cannon ball covered the other ponies with the liquid, soaking them to the bone.  
"Come on Pinkie, cut it out!" yelled Twilight.  "We have to search the area for any sign of the ancient pegasis ruins.  From what I read, they won't be some sort of dungeon or kind of structure at all.  The books all told of a rock wall with carvings etched into it, detailing the transformation undergone by the pegasi who could wield the immense power granted to them."
Hearing the word transformation made Rainbow Dash nervous.  "Whoa, hold up Twilight.  What do you mean by transformation?"  She feared being turned into an alicorn like her friend.  While she didn't see anything wrong with alicorns and was not racist toward Twilight, she wouldn't want to be in her position.
"Well, from the little info on the matter at the library, it seems that every pegasis who could use this special ability underwent a physical transformation of sorts."  Rainbow Dash began to sweat.  "Apparently, their coats turned pure white temporarily-"  This doesn't sound good.  "-and their manes stuck up behind them.  Other than that, there were no physical changes.  An increased muscle mass was the closest thing that even came close to a permanant change, and even that disappeared at the end of the transformation."  Rainbow let out a sigh of relief at hearing this, and she was ready to move on and begin the search.
Rarity, however, was not.  Hearing the description of what happened to the pegasis' mane caused her to shiver.
"Well then, lets get searching," said an excited Rainbow Dash.
The group split up and began the search, mainly checking the walls of the cliff that was the edge of the falls.  Rainbow and Fluttershy used their wings to check the overhanging cliff, while the rest of the girls checked the cliff wall that was on the other side of the falls.  While working, Rainbow began to think.  What would this transformation be like?  Could she control the new power?  Was she even capable of it in the first place?  Was the change temporary?  Could she control when she used it?  What if her friends got jealous?  She had already been reasurred about the last question, but she couldn't be sure until the change actually happened, and that was what scared her.  She began to feel aprehension at coming on this trip in the first place.  
"Hey Fluttershy?"
"Yes?"
"What's gonna happen to me?  Ya know, after the transformation?  Wil I still be normal, or will I have some sort of fifth leg?  Or maybe I'll grow a third wing.  What if that happens?"
"I think you're overthinking it Rainbow," said Fluttershy to her panicking friend.  "Besides, even if something like that did happen, we'd still care about you and you'd still be our friend, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Thanks Fluttershy."
"No problem."
"I think I found somethin'!" yelled Applejack from above.  Hovering up to the upper platform, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy began to think about what Applejack found.  They flew over to her position and touched down next to her, ideas flashing through their heads.  The other ponies soon arrived as well.  They all began to stare at the rock face in front of them.
Etched into the stone were pictures of pegasi, ancient pegasi, no doubt from 2000 years ago according to Twilight's analysis.  The ponies stared in awe at the fine craftsmanship that still survived to this day.  One thing caught everyponys' eye.  In the center hovered 10 pegasi, their manes sticking straight up behind them.  Rarity nearly collapsed, but kept her composer long enough for her jaw to drop along with everypony else's.  The legend was true.  In ancient times, the pegasi had been granted a power by the elements of harmony and the princesses.
"OK girls, we found what we were looking for," said Twilight.  "I'll study them to see if I can figure out how to unlock this ability.  Maybe it'll give us some sort of insight on how the elements could grant this power."
Everypony nodded their heads and awaited further instruction.  "There's nothing you guys can do right now.  Go swim for a bit or fly around.  Maybe you could practice using your elements.  Here."  Twilight handed a book to the group.  " 'The Use of Personal Energy for Magic Application'.  My own personal copy.  Reading it might help you figure out how to channel your energy and use it from your body instead of your elements."
"But how can the rest of us use magic if we're not unicorns?" chimed Pinkie.
"You can't.  However, getting an understanding of how unicorns channel their energy into magic might help you learn to do so in a similar way.  Have Rarity try to help you if you get lost."  Rarity heard her name and snapped to attention.  She wasn't too happy about having to school everypony on how to use their energy, but she was still up to the task.  "Go ahead and get to work while I study the ruins."  Every pony walked away to begin their practice, all except Rainbow Dash who already knew the skill.  She spent her short break swimming in the rainbow pools and flying high above in the clouds.

/)*#*(\



A short while later, Twilight called the girls back in, and they all gathered around her and the ruins.
"Have you all learned how to channel your energy?" she asked the group.
Everyone nodded their heads, eager to proceed.  While they only had a small understanding and they could only shoot small bursts of energy and fly for a few minutes, they thought that was good enough for now.  
"Great.  I think I've figured out how to awaken Rainbow's 'super pony' level.  Isn't that funny?  'Super pony'; just came up with it on the spot.  Anyways, the only way I can help her regain this ability is by going back into her soul."  Everypony's jaw dropped for a second time.  Rainbow Dash didn't exactly feel comfortable having some pony inside her soul again.  "It's okay.  On our way here, I scanned her soul again, and she's perfectly fine.  I'll be fine, and so will she.  The only problem is it will put both of us into a small comatose state.  Say, about three hours or so.  What I need the rest of you to do is guard Rainbow and I in case any more of those space ponies or their commander shows up.  I'll need you to keep guard on us even if night falls and we're still not awake."
The rest of the ponies nodded their heads in understanding, including Rainbow Dash who knew what this would mean for her and Twilight.  Unfortunately, crossing souls was a very intimate process, and Rainbow Dash, being straight as a metal beam, didn't feel to comfortable with the thought.  She felt violated when King Sombre broke into her soul earlier and tried to destroy it, and she was even less comfortable having Twilight jump in without her permission.  She trusted Twilight though, and was ready whenever she was.
"OK girls, here we go.  Remember, no matter what happens, keep guard over us.  Are you ready Rainbow?"
"Yeah.  Just don't mess me up when you're in there."
"Alright then."  Twilight's horn began to glow with her purple aura, and she began to approach Rainbow Dash.  As soon as her horn touched Rainbow's forehead, they both collapsed on the ground.  Worry flowed from the group as the other ponies feared for their friends' safety.
"Come on now girls," said Applejack.  She had to play the voice of reason here.  "Let's leave them to their business and practice some of those new energy things Twilight was talkin' about."  Slowly, one by one, the ponies began to back away from their sleeping friends.

/)*#*(\


0--Inside Rainbow Dash's Soul--0

As soon as Twilight fell, she immediately felt Rainbow's soul surround her.  It was warm and welcoming, and Twilight almost became distracted by the feelings of protection and loyalty coming from her friend.  She soon found herself standing in a black expanse, similar to the one before.  Rainbow Dash stood next to her.
Twilight felt she should tell Rainbow Dash how to protect her memories from her just in case she stumbled upon something she shouldn't have.  "Rainbow, if there's anything that you don't want me to see, imagine a door and shut it.  I'll keep moving and avoid it."
"OK, will do."  A little way's in the distance, the sound of about 30 doors shutting themselves could be heard.
"Let's get moving.  We have to find out where that power is hidden inside of you," said Twilight.
"Alright then.  I think I have some ideas.  When I was in the hospital, I started putting together my broken soul.  As I was searching, I found this odd source of power.  When I fired those energy bursts from before, that source of power is what I used to fuel them.  My element just filled the empty space that was left."
"OK then.  We'll start there.  But we have to be careful.  Some of your deepest fears or troubles may come after us.  Remember, your soul contains all of your memories, personality, and your essence.  That includes all of the 'negative side effects'.  As long as we're careful, we should make it out alive and with your new 'super pony' abilities."
"Wait a second.  Alive?  Are you saying we could die in here?!"
"Well, it's a definite possibility.  Right now, I've just poured my soul into yours.  That means that there are two souls in one body.  Let's just say, it's easier to kill one pony than two, and when we're linked like this, if your body dies, then so does your soul and mine."  This idea scared Rainbow, but she had to stay focused if they were to succeed.
Rainbow and Twilight began to walk through the dark expanse while Rainbow's memories flashed by in boxes floating around them.  Memories such as her first sonic rainboom and the time she spent with the Wonderbolts after the Best Young Flyer's Competition could be seen in a few such boxes.
After walking for what seemed like an hour, they finally arrived at a big, floating ball of energy.  This was Rainbow Dash's life source.  Even though she didn't know it, Rainbow had been feeding her attacks with her own life energy!  
"Rainbow!" shouted Twilight.  "Do you know what you've been doing?!"
Rainbow Dash was taken aback by her friend's sudden change in attitude.  "What's wrong Twilight?"
"What's wrong?!  You've been using your own life force to fuel your attacks!  You could die from doing that!  No, this can't be where your super pony power is.  Even if it is, we can't risk your life in using it.  That's too much even for some pony like you.  We have to keep searching.  In my soul, I found my other energy cache when I was just a filly.  That's what let me use my magic with my horn.  If we can find your energy cache, then maybe we can unlock your super pony level there."
Rainbow Dash suddenly understood why she felt so drained after using her energy attacks.  Without even realizing it, she had been slowly killing herself.  "Well then, what are we waiting for?  If I can't use my life force any more, then we'd better find my other energy source soon."
Twilight smiled inwardly.  "You're right.  Let's get moving.  Time is of the essence."  They began checking every corner of Rainbow Dash's soul that she hadn't blocked off.  They're searching yielded something great.  A second energy cache that was practically bursting with Rainbow's inner power.  It was even bigger than Twilight's magic reserve.
"This must be it..." murmured Twilight in an almost inaudible tone.  She immediately began to scan it.  Rainbow then fell with an awkward look on her face.  Twilight stopped for a few seconds.  "What's wrong?"
"Nothing.  It's just that your feeling a part of my soul that I've never even seen before.  It's just surprising, ya know?"
"No, but I see what you mean.  I'll be as careful as I can."  Twilight proceeded, this time at a much slower pace as to not cause her friend any discomfort.  While Rainbow still wasn't pleased with what was going on, she submitted to the search.  It felt odd having another pony in her soul in the first place. 
"There!" shouted Twilight.  "Hold on Rainbow.  I'm gonna try something that may hurt a lot, but you've got to stay with me and trust me.  Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"Do you trust me?" said Twilight, this time in a much more serious tone.
Rainbow Dash hesitated, but her answer remained the same.  "Yes."
"Then hold on tight, and no matter what, don't fall unconscious."
Before Rainbow could ask what that was supposed to mean, she felt part of her being stretched.  The feeling was accompanied by an extreme pain.  One which she had never felt before.  She endured for what seemed like minutes.  When the pain finally stopped, she looked up towards Twilight.  Floating in front of the alicorn was a pure white and gold ball.  Half white, half gold.  All Rainbow could do was stare at the piece of her soul.  It was tiny, maybe only the size of a baseball.  Yet it felt like something different.  It felt foreign, like something that could be equally good or bad.
"This, Rainbow," Twilight began, "is exactly what we're looking for.  I was right.  You do have the super pony power.  Now, there's just the problem of awakening it.  Because it's part of you, I can only guess that it needs your energy to kick start it.  Judging by it's size, it only needs the smallest amount.  Try firing one of those energy balls at it.  Make sure it's the smallest one you can make.  We don't know what'll happen when your energy hits it."
"OK.  Here we go," said Rainbow.  She began to charge a small ball.  It was about the size of a small marble.  She shot it at the gold and white ball at full speed.  They collided with each other, and then-

/)*#*(\
  

0--The Real World: Winsome Falls--0

The other ponies of the mane 6 had spent the last 5 hours partially on guard and partially practicing focusing their energy.  Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie could now fire multiple bursts at a time without pausing.  Fluttershy could still only create singular balls of energy, but it was progress none the less.  While they were practicing, they began to hear a whistling sound.  It started out as no more than a bird's whistle, but it soon grew to the noise created by a bomb falling.  As the ponies looked to see where the sound was coming from, they found its source.  Where Rainbow Dash and Twilight were, visible energy was building up around their area.  Twilight's body was gradually lifted of the ground a few centimeters and thrown against the nearby rock wall, effectively waking her up if leaving her in a daze.  Rainbow Dash was in another position entirely.
Her coat had begun to flash between cyan and white, and she was slowly being lifted into the air.  When she was hovering above the ground at about five feet high,  her eyes snapped open.  Something was wrong though.  Her eyes were a deep dark red and black, and a chaotic energy was emanating from her.  As her coat stopped flashing and remained white, her mane began to stand up.  She was then lowered to the ground and appeared to be fine.  Apart from having barely noticeably bigger legs, both fore and back, she seemed alright.
"Are you okay Rainbow?" asked Applejack.  She received a cold stare from Rainbow Dash as an answer.  "Is that a yes?"  Rainbow Dash then shot her where she stood with a burst of energy.  Applejack was launched backwards into one of the pools.  The splash from the impact could be seen from Ponyville.  All of her friends looked on in shock as Rainbow Dash began to create energy from no where that would put anything within a 2,000 light year radius to shame.  
As Applejack began to crawl out of the pool, her element vastly drained of energy, she watched as each of her three remaining friends were shot back away from Rainbow Dash, each stopping only because they crashed into other objects.  Seeing this, Applejack let herself slip back into the pool, hoping not to be noticed.  It worked, but she could only hold her breath for so long.  Then, she heard Twilight yell from above the water.  It was just audible enough for her to understand Twilight's command and explanation.
"Girls!" screamed Twilight, groaning in pain after being thrown against the stone wall.  "We've got to unite our elements!  We have to drain the excess energy from Rainbow Dash!  She can't control herself yet, and the new power she has is taking over her body!  Quickly!  Get up!"  As she shouted her last command, she saw her friends begin to crawl from their points of impact, their elements charged and ready to fire.  "Perfect," she said to herself, a smile forming on her face.
She pulled herself up with her element charged to the most she could muster.  "Now!"  With this command from Twilight, the other ponies released the energy built up in their elements, sending arcs of burning plasma-like projectiles at Rainbow Dash.  They all collided at the same time, leaving Rainbow Dash's back sizzling, but without any other damage.  Their attacks had melted on impact with Rainbow Dash's outer energy layer.  The raging super pony turned around to find her attackers, already charging up another attack.

0--Inside Rainbow Dash's Soul--0

As Rainbow Dash watched her friends gunned down without her control, she felt a tear run down her cheek.  She watched helplessly as her body turned itself around and began to hover away.  When she felt the burning plasma hit her back, the pain made her wince, but it felt good to know where it had come from as she turned her head around.  Everypony seemed to be in shock that their attacks hadn't worked.  At least, from Rainbow Dash's perspective.  Seeing an opportunity of weakness on her body's part, she tried to force herself back to the surface, swimming frantically in the dark, sticky substance that threatened to pull her down.

0--Real World:  Winsome Falls--0
 
As the ponies watched in fear of what could come from their raging friend, they saw a visual change.  Rainbow Dash began to flash cyan, and her eyes began to flash back to normal.  "Everypony," shouted Rainbow Dash with as much effort as she could summon, "you have to deal physical damage to me using your energy!  That attack let me push myself to the surface!  If you can distract my body long enough, I can regain contro- AAAHHHGGGG!"  Releasing a loud scream, Rainbow Dash turned white again, her eyes turned reddish black, and she released a charged burst into the cliff face of Winsome Falls.  It didn't create any damage to the landscape, but the energy radiation drained everyponys' power to nearly nothing. 
Picking themselves up, each pony began to charge they're rapid fire bursts, except for Fluttershy who charged a single ball the size of the worlds biggest ball of yarn.  At the same time, the ponies released the energy at their friend, engulfing her in smoke, ash, and fire.

0--Inside Rainbow Dash's Soul--0

As Rainbow Dash felt the fire engulf her, she saw a light in the murky darkness.  She began to push for it frantically, using every last bit of energy left in her tired muscles to reach it.  As she reached out her hoof, she finally made contact, and a warm light began to surround her.

0--Real World:  Winsome Falls--0

Everypony watched as the smoke and flames cleared, revealing Rainbow Dash writhing in pain in mid air.  She kept switching between her normal self and her super pony form.  It was sickening to watch her struggle, but there was nothing anypony could do for her.  They could only watch as Rainbow Dash slowly suppressed her super pony form as much as she could.  
After struggling for about two minutes, Rainbow Dash turned cyan and stayed that way, and her eyes shut as she slowly fell to the ground, unconscious.
Every pony quickly surrounded her and stared down at her still body.  Worry could be cut with a knife as thick as it was.  It soon dispersed as Rainbow Dash's eyelids began to open, revealing her magenta eyes.  "Oh, my head," she groaned from her prone position on the ground.
Twilight helped her up.  "Rainbow Dash, are you okay?"
"Relax Twilight," said Rainbow Dash.  "I think I've gotten that energy under control now.  See?  Watch."  With that, she switched back to super pony form, all except her eyes which stayed their bright magenta.  She then turned and fired a massive energy burst into the Everfree Forest.  A few trees were vaporized, but the forest didn't catch on fire, and Rainbow missed Zecora's hut by a long shot.  She reverted to her normal state after that.
Everypony sat there, unable to speak about what they just witnessed.  In less than a minute after reverting to her normal form, Rainbow Dash had mastered control of her super pony form, fired a giant energy burst, then reverted back no problem.  
"Wow Rainbow," was all Twilight could say.  "You sure are strong."
"Yeah," piped Pinkie Pie.  "I bet you could even beat that mean commander guy!"
"Yeah Rainbow.  You could really give 'im what for," said Applejack.  The rest of the ponies just nodded their heads in agreement.  "So what happens now?"  The question shocked everypony.  Up until now, they're goal had only been to help Rainbow Dash increase her power.  They had no clue where to proceed from there.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash picked up a familiar energy source flying at a high speed toward Canterlot.  A quick check of its aura revealed what she feared.  It was the commander.  He must be after the princesses and Discord!  She quickly relayed this info to her friends.
Hearing that the princesses were in danger, Twilight began to get antsy.  "We have to hurry," she said.  "Who knows what'll happen if the commander reaches them.  We have to go and help."  Everypony nodded in agreement.  With that, they all used their energy, except for the two pegasi and Twilight, to fly off toward Canterlot in pursuit of the commander.
	
> Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The commander touched down onto the Canterlot pavement with a small tap.  He had sensed the ponies flying at high speeds after him, and he wasn't about to let them slow him down.  As a few ponies stopped to stare at the stallion clad in battle armor, the commander pushed off from the pavement and began to fly toward the castle again.  The launch resulted in a cracked road which had just recently been repaved, causing a stallion dressed in an official reflective vest to come out of a coffee shop screaming his head off.
'So close,' thought the commander to himself.  He could almost see the six ponies faces when they arrived to see their rulers dead before them.
He then broke through the castle wall, landing in the throne room.  "Who the buck are you?!" came a voice through the haze. 
"Commander," answered the commander.  "Just the Commander."  With this, the Commander released a burst of energy which not only cleared the smoke but also stunned the three beings on the other side of the veil.
Princess Celestia could only watch in horror as this 'Commander' character flew toward her with a blade of energy surrounding his hoof.

/)*#*(\

The mane six managed to arrive in Canterlot just after the commander had broken into Canterlot Castle.  They could see the debris flying from the hole that the commander had created.  "No!" shouted Twilight.  "We're too late!"
Pinkie Pie then flew up next to her.  "It's okay Twilight.  I'm sure we'll make it in time.  So what if that super bad pony broke the castle.  That doesn't mean he got the princesses or Discord."
"Pinkie Pie is right," chimed Rarity, arriving alongside Twilight as well.  "We just have to keep flying so we can catch up, that's all."  
"Thanks girls," said Twilight, still shaking from the sound of the impact.  "Still, we have to hurry.  Just because their okay now doesn't mean he isn't trying to go after them.  Why else would he invade the castle?"
"Um, Twilight?" spoke Rainbow Dash.  "Discord's aura just weakened drastically!  I think he's already there!"
"Come on!" shouted Twilight as she began to fly toward the castle.  Everypony followed her as quickly as they could all fly. 
It didn't take long to reach the castle or to notice the giant hole in its wall.  Everypony flew inside, anxious to see what was happening.  The sight caused their hearts to sink.  Laying on the floor in all her majesty was Princess Celestia covered in scratches and burns, the jewel on her crown cracked.  The limp form of Discord lay not too far away, though he could be seen breathing as his chest heaved up and down.  Everypony just stared at the scene before them in shock.  Not only had the commander been able to defeat Discord, but he had also beaten Celestia with no trouble at all.  
While the group sat gaping at the two limp forms, a scream echoed across the throne room.  Everyponys' head whipped up to see Princess Luna, smoking, flying over them.  As she was about to hit the floor, a cyan flash could be seen.  The flash moved under the princess and caught her, skidding across the floor carried by the princess's momentum.  Rainbow Dash carefully set the princess down and stood up, anger burning in her eyes.  She looked down at the princess as her eyes closed.  As Rainbow checked her aura, it was still there.  It had been weakened drastically, but it seemed that the princess was only unconscious.  Rainbow whipped her head up to see the commander, standing on his hind legs with his right forearm glowing red hot; proof that he had recently discharged an energy burst from it.  
"You BASTARD!" screamed Twilight, charging at the commander with the intent to stab him with her horn, which had been charged with magic creating an energy horn around hers that was three times its normal size.  As she closed in for the kill, the commander easily caught her horn in his hoof.  He launched an energy burst down the length of Twilight's horn, creating a visible shock of lightning coursing through and around Twilight's body.
As she was being shocked, the commander yelled out in a fake southern accent, "That's 20,000 volts o' lightnin' just struck ya!"  While Twilight was being zapped, Applejack and Rarity decided to charge forward with their energy flaring around them.  From their elements, energy bursts were fired towards the commander.  They were slow moving and, as such, kept pace with those who had shot them.  As Applejack and Rarity got closer with their shots spinning around them, the commander threw Twilight into the air, her body still sparking with electricity.  As Rarity and Applejack got to the commander's side, planning to let the balls of energy impact him when they peeled away,  he stuck out both hooves, catching them by their heads.  They began to squirm as he held them tighter and tighter.  He quickly lifted them up into the air, launched a pulse of dark energy through them, then threw them into two opposite walls of the thrown room.  As Twilight came back down, he caught her again, still charging electricity through her body.  When the dust cleared from the two ponys' impacts, they were revealed to both be frozen solid, a thick coating of frost covering their bodies.  
Before Fluttershy and Pinkie could run and hide from the commander and his deadly onslaught, he fired two small purple projectiles which looked like spears as they traveled threw the air.  It traveled at such a speed that on impact, it went straight through the ponies.  A small bit of blood arced from Pinkie and Fluttershy's shoulders as they fell to the ground with shrieks.  
Rainbow Dash just sat there, incapable of movement as each of her friends were gunned down right before her eyes.  Discharging one final blast of electricity into Twilight, one so powerful the static hung in the air like fog, the commander threw her at Rainbow Dash.  Rainbow barely had time to put her hooves up to catch Twilight.  The impact sent her back a few meters and she fell on her back.  As she picked herself up, she looked at the still form of Twilight laying next to where she'd been.  Her body had black patches on it, and though Twilight couldn't move, her eyes were still flicking around the room trying to get a grip on what was going on.
"So, are you it?" asked the commander.  "You all, right here?  Is that the best you have?"  When Rainbow Dash just stood there without moving or answering, the commander smiled.  "Well then, when you see your friends in hell," he said, charging up a huge ball of energy just like in his simulation, "tell them you failed!  The only part I regret about this is that I never told Lance that I was coming here.  It's a shame really.  He would've loved to kill the blue princess."  Then, arcing his wrist, he launched the ball of explosive energy toward Rainbow Dash who he was sure wouldn't be able to move in time.  
She couldn't move.  Not at all.  Every fiber of her being was screaming to get the buck out of the way, yet she couldn't move.  She felt the fire of the commander's ball strike her with extreme force.  She had just enough energy to keep herself alive by creating a shield.  Her element helped a lot, but it couldn't block most of the damage.  The recoil knocked Rainbow back a few feet and drove her into the castle's floor.  She pulled herself up, charging up several bursts of energy in each hoof.  As soon as she stood up, she fired them at the commander with full force. 
As the attacks landed, the commander felt them burn him.  This pegasis pony's attacks had actually dealt damage when she wasn't pissed off and in a rage.  Or at least, she wasn't angry as far as he could tell.  He began to dodge them as best he could by strafing to the left and right.  He managed to avoid most of them, but the ones that did make contact damaged him badly and did a number on his battle armor.
Regardless of these blows, he returned them at the same rate.  Energy surrounding Rainbow Dash flickered with each attack that landed, signifying an energy shield around her.  "Oh come on," said the commander.  "Just die already.  All your friends have already fallen and you're just wasting your energy by resisting.  Give up and I promise I'll set your corpse on fire instead of leaving it here to rot."  His cocky attitude may have been his downfall.  In his distracted state, he let up his energy bursts by just one shot.  After the commander began returning fire, each of the ponys' shots had collided with each other.  Now that the commander had missed one, Rainbow's shot could get through.  It struck the commander in the chest, knocking the air out of him and causing him to stumble.  With this fault, a rain of energy shots hit the commander, forcing him back and causing his energy to drain at a faster rate than it already was. 
"OK, now your just pissing me off," said the commander.  Charging up a small ball of energy, he began to focus on his target who was bombarding him with explosive energy bursts.  Finding her in his mind's cross hair, he threw his ball of energy, demolishing Rainbow's weaker quick blasts.  The impact of the ball launched Rainbow off her hooves and back into the same hole she had made earlier, this time making it deeper.  She still managed to crawl out, ready with a new burst.  This time though, the commander had been waiting for her.  "Gotcha!" he shouted as he blasted her where she stood with a huge beam of energy.
After he was done, he looked at her body below in the hole she lay in.  Her body was charred from the blast and she lay stunned and incapable of anything except breathing.  The commander looked at her with a hunger for death in his eyes.  Charging up a final blast that would surely dispose of her, he felt a sharp pain in his back.  He couldn't believe what he was seeing.  Standing there staring him straight in the face was the purple unicorn he had shocked to death.  While she was still sparking, she had somehow found a way to fight off the damage long enough to stand and attack.  Twilight fired another shot, launching him from the edge of the hole Rainbow was stuck in.  He went sailing over it, crashing into the wall.
"Rainbow, get up!" shouted Twilight with all the strength she could muster.  "Use your element to transfer my magic to you to use."  Rainbow Dash, regaining control, pulled herself out of the hole yet again and fired her element at Twilight.  Absorbing Twilight's magic, Rainbow Dash turned and ran toward the commander's body as he began to stir.  She grabbed him by the head and tossed him into the air.  Rainbow then bolted up into the commander, uppercutting him in the back.  There was a flash of light, and then- 


/)*#*(\
0--???--0


Twilight awoke in a white expanse.  She knew there was ground beneath her hooves, or she wouldn't be standing.  Without anything else to do and seeing no apparent exit, she began to walk.
She began to search in the white haze.  She didn't know what she was searching for or why, but she felt as if there was something she had to find.  
After walking for a few minutes, she found something great.  It was Rainbow Dash.  She seemed to be okay, all except for the cuts and bruises on her body from the fight.  "Rainbow!  You're okay!  What happened to you?  One minute, you and the commander are fighting, then I wake up here."
"Well Twilight, I guess being a book worm paid off," said Rainbow Dash.  "I hit a nerve in his back that paralyzes him for a few minutes.  It was a lucky shot, but it paid off.  Listen Twilight.  I've decided to take the commander off planet."
"How the heck will you do that?"
"By using your magic of teleport and my extra energy reserves, I've teleported he and I to some remote planet.  I don't know where, but it's all green.  There isn't any civilization, but the hills are never ending."
"Wait, you teleported to a whole other planet?!  How is that possible?"
"Like I just said, I used your magic and my energy.  The only problem is getting back."  A touch of sadness appeared in Rainbow's voice.  "I have no idea how to.  Without our elements linked, I can't draw off your magic for another teleport, and I've already used the last of my energy to get us where we are."
A tear ran down Rainbow Dash's face.  "Just make sure that when the girls revive, tell them what happened to me.  I can't have them worrying about me for the rest of their lives."  Rainbow Dash tried to chuckle while speaking the last sentence, but nothing came.  She began to turn away as a still figure a few feet away began to move.  "I have to go Twilight.  Good luck."
"No Rainbow!  Wait!"  yelled Twilight.  It was too late though.  As Twilight's vision began to fade to black, she heard Rainbow Dash speak again.
"Alright you piece of garbage.  Let's end this!"
> The Final Showdown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
WARNING:  This chapter contains some slight gore.  i.e. descriptions of blood and occurrences where blood is present.  If you do not like minor descriptions of blood, then please leave now.  You have been warned.  Enjoy! :)



"Oh boy is this the most ironic thing that's happened to me in the last 30 years," said the commander, finally noticing his surroundings.  Once again, possibly for the final time,  he stood in the grassy field of his dreams with Rainbow Dash as his opponent.  
Before he could continue his thoughts, he felt a hoof connect with his face.  As he was sent spiraling up into the air, he caught a few short glimpses of Rainbow.  She had just come out of a round house kick.  She soon rocketed up after him with her hoof glowing in energy.  She blasted through his shoulder in one punch then launched him to the ground with another burst of energy, creating a crater in the landscape.
Before she could land on top of him, he shot out from his position and began regenerating his shoulder.  Being a space pony, he did after all have access to space age tech.  As soon as it was healed, he fired several bursts at Rainbow who had now landed in his crater and was beginning to charge at him.  She wove around them as she flew over the ground at full speed.  Just as she made contact, she sonic rainboomed into him.  As she slowed, her momentum kept the commander flying, eventually crashing him into a giant rock which seemed to be one of the few rough patches in the field.
Before Rainbow Dash could pursue him again, he launched out of the rubble at her, energy blade around his hoof.  They crossed paths in mid air, flying straight by each other and landing 30 yards away from each other.  Rainbow Dash fell to the ground as blood arced from her side.  The commander must have hit her with that blade.  "But how?" she said out loud.
"Oh I think you'll find I'm much faster than I seem."  He then charged at her again, this time with both his front hooves glowing red hot with energy blades.  As he closed in, his shots connected.  One by one, his shots cut Rainbow sending rivulets of blood arcing off her body.  Yet, Rainbow Dash stayed strong.  She held her own against the onslaught of hits, already getting ready to release a new energy burst in a shock wave.  As she took more and more hits, she began to measure the commander's movements.  Once she had his timing down, she prepared to launch her shock wave.
Then she stopped.
As she looked down at herself, she could see one of the commander's hooves sticking in her chest.  She threw her head up to look at the commander in front of her.  She coughed up a clot of blood, then, "What," said the commander, an air of triumph in his voice.  "Did you think I wouldn't notice you charging up energy?  I'm not a mind reader, but after fighting tons of other space ponies, I've learned to pick up on energy spikes.  Your's was easily recognizable."  He then began to twist slowly, digging his energy blade hoof into her.  He threw her over his head and across the field.  Her impact caused a new crater in the hillside.
The commander began to slowly fly toward her point of impact, charging a final killing blast, just to make sure that she was dead.  Arriving at her crater, he released the shot at full force.  But something caught it.  Whatever it was, it had enough energy to repel his shot back at him.  The commander barely had time to dodge before the air sizzled where he floated just moments before.  Looking down at Rainbow's crater, he could see a stallion.  This stallion had a blue coat and silver hair in the same style as the Doctor's mane.  He carried a rather large sword similar to the buster sword from Final Fantasy VII, and he had two wings sticking out of his back.
Before the commander could react, the stallion jumped at him with his sword blazing with fire.  As the stallion swung, the commander tried to dodge, but was met with a shock wave of fire knocking him back and leaving him dazed.  The stallion bashed him with the flat edge of his blade, sending the commander into the dirt below. 
Quickly, the stallion flew over to Rainbow Dash's crater.  Landing next to her, he placed his sword down and put his forehead to hers.

/)*#*(\

Rainbow Dash could have sworn she was going to die.  She didn't have the time or energy left to ascend to her super pony level, and the commander throwing a fiery ball at her didn't exactly increase her odds.  When she thought she would surely burn, she saw a flash of blue.  A deep blue.  Deeper blue than the Doctor's TARDIS in the few times she had seen it.  Whatever it was, it stopped the commander's attack, then leaped at him with a giant sword.
She saw him disappear over the edge of the crater.  He soon returned, kneeling down next to her and putting his forehead to hers.

0--Inside Rainbow Dash's Soul--0

Inside of herself, Rainbow could feel some other soul there.  Again, she felt a strange sense of violation at this intrusion, but she let it pass.  At this point, she was more curious as to why this stallion had broken into her soul.
"Rainbow Dash?" he said, sounding scared for her safety.  As soon as he picked up on Rainbow's life force, he sighed in relief.  "Oh thank Luna you're still alive.  I was afraid I had time jumped to the wrong time and location."
"Wait.  Are you the Doctor?"
"WHAT?! No!  While I can travel in time, I don't even resemble him remotely.  Though I must say, his obsession with butter and muffins kinda scares me.  Never mind that though.  How are you?  Ya know, apart from the hole in your chest."
"Well," began Rainbow,  "I'm actually doing fine.  I had him on the ropes there.  Right when I was gonna get him, he caught me off guard."
"That sucks," said the strange stallion.  "I'm Storm Blade, by the way."  Examining his appearance further, she could see his cutie mark; a sword.  "Listen to me though.  Like I said, I'm a time traveler.  In your future, I will be very important to you.  You haven't met me yet, but I know you like a sister.  You've just got to trust me here."
"Okay then.  Shoot."
"What, just like that?  You're gonna trust me right away?  No questions?"
"None at all.  After hearing from Derpy Whooves about the Doctor's adventures, I can believe almost anything that has to do with time travel."
"Well then, that makes this a whole lot easier.  By the way, while we've been talking, I've implanted the ability to regenerate quickly using energy into you, just like the commander must have done by now."
"Well then, let's go!" said Rainbow Dash, eager to get back to the fight.  She could already feel her cells reconstructing and multiplying.  
"Okay," said Storm Blade.  He then released himself from her soul, leaving an empty space in Rainbow Dash.  Oddly, it felt good to have a stallion that wasn't bent on killing her inside of her soul.

/)*#*(\

Storm Blade pulled himself away from Rainbow, picking up his sword and getting ready to fly out of the crater.  He looked down at Rainbow Dash and watched as a green glow surrounded her chest.  She began to seal herself up, and before she knew it, she was standing up and pumping her wings, ready to fly up the crater herself.
Storm nodded to Rainbow, the signal to launch, and they both rocketed up out of the crater, hovering and trying to find where the commander had landed.  They found him alright.  He lay in a pile of dirt not 100 yards away.  As he began to stir, Rainbow Dash and Storm Blade began charging up their internal energy.  
Immediately, the commander launched from his position into the air, landing a punch into Storm and firing a burst of energy into Rainbow.  They both recovered quickly and returned the shots. They soon found themselves meeting each other's energy bursts without any of them connecting.  Storm Blade broke off and flew to the commander's back.  Without stopping to charge, he fired 2 balls of blue energy into the commander, causing him to flinch and let up his energy output.  This pause let Rainbow's shots find their mark.
With each successive hit, the commander's armor began to break apart until it was nothing but the chest guard, and even that had taken a beating.  He released a shock wave that stunned Storm Blade and Rainbow Dash,  causing them both to fall a few yards before regaining altitude.
Then Storm Blade made his move.
While the commander was still trying to recover his energy from his recent burst, Storm flew under him and knocked him higher into the air.  The commander was helpless as he spun out of control after being launched upward.  Quickly, Storm and Rainbow flew up next to him, Storm cutting him with his blade and Rainbow discharging hundreds of energy shots into him.
And yet, he survived.  He finally corrected himself and blocked both pegasi's attacks.  Spinning 360 degrees around, he shot tons of energy bursts out of his hooves, each one connecting and forcing Storm and Rainbow back.   He then fired another one of his spear-head beams into Storm, creating an arc of blood off of his arm.  He dropped his sword and let himself spiral to the ground, impacting beneath the aerial battle.  His sword stuck the ground first, creating a small crater due to its weight.
The commander then fired three more of these beams into Rainbow Dash, creating the same effect and sending Rainbow Dash to the planet's surface.  As she pulled her head up from the impact, she saw the commander land at Storm Blade's crater.
Then she heard the screaming.
It was coming from the crater, and she soon heard the sound of bones snapping.  The commander was crushing Storm Blade's ribs!

/)*#*(\
 
"Ya know," began the commander, "you wouldn't have survived this fight anyway.  I'd have just killed that cyan one over there, then finished you off with enough energy to spare!"  Then, he noticed something.  There seemed to be a strange amount of static in the air.  Stopping for a moment to turn around, he noticed a gold ball of energy moving toward him.  He barely had time to put his forelegs up to block it.  The impact and momentum, however, launched him out of the small crater and left him dazed a short area away.

/)*#*(\

Looking up through his reddening vision, Storm Blade looked out of his crater to see who had saved him.  Floating there, her hoof sizzling, was Rainbow Dash in full super pony form.  Her coat was white and her mane stuck up behind her.  She immediately flew over to Storm Blade and put a hoof to his arm.  Storm watched as her excess energy transferred to him and began to regenerate his broken bones.
As soon as her hoof left him, he began to pick himself up, pulling his sword out of the dirt.  Then, he did something that surprised Rainbow Dash.  His energy built up and eventually, he elevated to super pony form just like her.  His sword began to glow with white energy as did the rest of his body as his coat changed color.
"You're not the only one who can do that," said Storm as he noticed the shocked look on Rainbow Dash's face.
"Oh great, now I've got two super ponies to deal with," came the commander as he picked himself up.  "Alright then, lets get this over with.  Lance gets insecure if I'm not there to watch him."  Rainbow Dash and Storm Blade couldn't help but chuckle to themselves.
In no time, the fight was back on.  As the commander and the two super ponies clashed, the commander blocked each of their attacks and managed to land a few of his own.  Before long, Storm was bloodied, Rainbow Dash bruised, and the commander out of most of his energy.  Then it went Harry Potter style.  Both sides jumped away from each other, preparing to fire a beam of energy at their enemy(s).  
As they released their blasts, the energy connected and created a blast of unstable energy at their collision point.  As the unstable energy moved back and forth between the two sides, it became abundantly clear that the commander was going to lose.  Seeing this, he broke away, causing the unstable energy to explode while creating a veil of smoke.  
Rainbow Dash and Storm were left coughing in the smoke that refused to clear.  "Where is he?" asked Storm.
"I have no clue," came Rainbow's reply.  "He's gotta be here somewhere.  I watched him jump away."
"Then we should stay on guard.  If he is still here, then he'll no doubt try to kill one of us with some sort of sneaky move.  He's probably in the smoke now, watching us.  Waiting for the right time to strike."  Rainbow Dash looked around nervously as Storm's last few words soaked into her mind.
"Well then, we'd better find him before he finds us." 
"And how in the world do you propose we do that?"
"Well, you said you know me in the future.  My future.  Didn't I ever share my special gift with you?" said Rainbow.  A smile lit on Storm's face then.
"Right!  You can see auras!  Get to it then," he said enthusiastically.  Rainbow began to search the smoke for auras.  She found some excess unstable energy from the blast, but apart from that, nothing.  Then she hit her mark.  She found the commander's aura, but it was in the exact wrong spot.  It was behind Storm Blade!
Before Rainbow could warn her future friend, he screamed out in pain as tons of energy bursts struck his back.  He then looked to Rainbow Dash with sadness and loss in his eyes.  His eye lids began to close and he started to fall to the planet's surface.  Rainbow Dash would've tried to stop his fall, but when she was getting ready to help, the commander charged at her forcing her to block the attack instead of help.  She could only watch as Storm's body, along with his sword, struck the ground with such force that Rainbow could hear some of Storm's bones crack.
Rainbow Dash looked into the commander's eyes as he began to laugh at his victory.  Then something ticked in Rainbow's head.  To put it simply...
She snapped.
Her energy level jumped to twice her normal super pony level.  Her mane grew by about four inches, which was oddly noticeable, and she gained muscle mass.
While the commander was in shock at the sudden transformation, he received hundreds of blows to his face and abdomen, leaving bruises across his body that were immediately visible.  "But, how is that possible?" he managed to stutter before Rainbow resumed her assault.  She uppercutted the commander higher into the sky, delivering blow after blow until they were at the edge of the planet's atmosphere.  
By this point, the commander didn't even care any more.  He had no hope of stopping this pegasis, especially after her current transformation.  So he just sat there waiting to die.  
Rainbow then flew up higher above the commander and began to draw all of the unstable energy from the previous explosion that still remained on the planet.  Even at her current height, the energy could still be absorbed.  She focused it into as tight of a beam as she could in her hand.  Due to the amount of energy, the tightest she could make it in diameter was as much as 3 ponies tall.
Without hesitation, she fired the giant super-compressed beam into the commander at full force.

/)*#*(\

'I'm going to die.'  That was all the commander could think about as he got closer and closer to the planet's surface.  When he made impact, he began to feel the heat of lava about 2000 yards below him.  "I curse you, you damn pegasis!" he yelled as loud as he could as he continuously crashed through layers of dirt and rock.  "The whole universe will want you dead!  Every planet and alien race out there will come for you, and you had better be ready, because none of them will let you kill them so easily!  AAAAAHHHHHGGGGG!"  He let out a blood curdling scream as he met the planet's core.

/)*#*(\
 
Rainbow Dash could hear the impact of the commander's surely dead body on the core.  She immediately flew back down to the planet's surface, desperate to locate Storm Blade's body.  After searching for a few minutes, she found him.  He had reverted from his super pony form, and he lay in the crater motionless.  She immediately checked his pulse.  Success!  He was still alive!  That meant that he could still be saved!
"Alright you, I'm gonna figure out this teleporter thingy and get both of us back to Equestria."  With that, she grabbed a hold of Storm Blade's wrist and checked the contraption on it.  It displayed an easy-to-use interface, complete with a tutorial.  "Well, that's convenient."
The ground not 10 yards away exploded.
The planet was ripping itself apart!  Of course!  With the unstable energy that Rainbow Dash had launched into the core along with the commander, it was causing a chain reaction that was destroying the planet from the inside out!  Everything around her began to explode, covering her in dust and ash.
"Welcome to the Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey transporter," said a cheerful voice out of the device on Storm's wrist, a voice that was oddly familiar.  "If you're hearing this message, that means that you, the planet you're on, or someone very important to you or your timeline is in danger.  Please follow these instructions to teleport you to your destination safely.  First, please enter the planet that you would like to teleport to."
"Oh god," said Rainbow.  "An automated voice that speaks extremely slow even thought it knows what's going on!"
Doing as the device asked, she entered the name of the planet that Equestria was on, then waited for the next set of instructions.
*BOOM*  Another portion of planet exploded, closer to her this time.
"Thank you.  Now, please input the time you would like to jump to.  If you don't have a specific time you'd like to visit, please press OK without touching any other buttons."  She did as she was told, then waited.  "Thank you," spoke the device.  "Enjoy your trip.  And remember, don't blink.  Sometimes, a weeping angel or two will get into the teleporter stream.  It would be terribly unfortunate if you died because of something meant to save you."
"Wait, what?" asked Rainbow out loud.  Before she could protest any further, she saw a flash of light and then-
> Homecoming
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As Twilight awoke, she saw no sign of Rainbow Dash or the commander.  A single tear ran down her face at the realization that she would never see the element of loyalty again.  Getting a hold of herself, she began to inspect her friends.  As she moved to Rarity's location, she winced from the pain of the burns across her body. 
When she reached her, she noticed the white unicorn was still frozen solid.  She cast a heat spell in an attempt to unfreeze Rarity.  The spell would take a while to work, so she moved on to Applejack, using the same spell on her.
When she was done with that, she began to hobble over to Pinkie and Fluttershy.  Reaching them, she noticed that they were unconscious, but breathing.  She cast a healing spell on them to fix their wounds, allowing them to sleep for longer.
She then hurried to the princesses and Discord.  Princess Celestia was in terrible shape, her body covered in bruises, while Discord had managed to heal himself and began to stir.  "Discord," began Twilight, but was hushed by the draconequus.
"It's okay," he said.  "I'll take care of Celestia.  Get to Luna."  Oddly, he spoke in a serious tone, one that Twilight had never heard him speak in before.  Never the less, she moved as quickly as possible to Luna who, after further inspection, was revealed to be okay.  She had burns and a few cuts, but her breathing was normal and she had recovered most of her energy while knocked out.
An hour passed by quickly, with each of Twilight's spells finishing and her friends reviving.  As they gathered around her along with the princesses and Discord, Applejack raised the question.  "What happened to Rainbow?"  Twilight broke down at this, her body shaking with sobs.
"She took the commander to some other planet so she could defeat him and save us."  Tears began to jump from everyone, even the formidable princesses and Discord.
"But, Dashie can't be gone," whimpered Pinkie.
"Yeah," began Applejack.  "How can we go on without her?  Is there any way we can see her again?  Will she ever make it back?  Can't we help her?"
"No!" shouted Twilight, completely losing what composer she had left.  "She's too far away to get a psychic link, and she's probably dead by now anyway!"  Everyone was speechless.  Without any other words, the group of five ponies left the throne room to return to Ponyville and mourn their friend.  Princess Celestia insisted that Twilight stay behind for medical attention.  After all, no pony takes 20,000 volts and survives without some damage.  She agreed and bid her friends good bye for the time being.  
The other ponies boarded the train to leave and soon arrived in Ponyville.  Princess Luna and Celestia joined Twilight in the castle hospital to watch over her and make sure she made a full recovery.  
"She'll find a way back," comforted Celestia.  "You know how strong and loyal Rainbow Dash is.  She wouldn't leave you behind like this."
"Besides," broke in Luna, "using her energy, she could keep an atmosphere around her if she has to fly back."
"Don't be stupid Luna," answered Twilight.  The sentence took the princesses back.  "Even if she did find her way off the planet and into space, she's too far away to even keep a psychic link.  That means it would take a lifetime to get back here." 
"Don't doubt her so easily my student," said Celestia.  She then left the room with Luna, leaving Twilight alone with some medical equipment and her thoughts.


/)*#*(\

"Ugh, my head," groaned Rainbow Dash as she picked herself up off of the carpet she had appeared on.  Wait.  Carpet?  Did that mean she made it home?  She quickly looked down at Storm Blade to examine him and see how he was doing.  The skin on his back had opened where he was hit and he began bleeding.  His aura was extremely week, and Rainbow wasn't sure how long he would last.
"Alright ya big lug," she said, picking him up and putting him on her shoulders.  "We gotta get to the Ponyville hospital."  As she cleared her vision, she began to look at her surroundings.  It looked like she was in Applejack's room.  'But how did I get here?  All I typed into the teleporter was Equestria.  Why would I show up here?' she thought to herself.
Before she could continue her thoughts, she heard a door opening behind her.  When she turned around, there was a figure standing in the door way.
"Bu-bu-but you're dead.  How the hay are you...?  What've you done with the real Rainbow Dash?  Is this some kinda sick trick?"  Her accent gave her away immediately.
"What do you mean Applejack?  It's me!  It's Rainbow Dash.  Don't you remember me?"
"Remember ya?  Hell, how could any of us forget you?  You saved Equestria!  But, you can't be Rainbow.  She disappeared and never showed up again.  So what the hay are you?!"
"Wait, how long have I been gone?"  Then, Rainbow heard a voice from the 'Wibley Wobbly Timey Wimey Teleporter'.  
"Thank you for using this machine to save your life.  Keep in mind that if you're just teleporting, you might end up going through time as well.  It should only be by a year at the most, but our company is working out the glitch now."
"Great," muttered Rainbow.  "Now you tell me."	
"You've been gone for three months!"  This shocked Rainbow Dash.  She was sure she had only been fighting for a few hours at most.  But then again, the device had just given her the time warning.
"For me, it's only been a few hours since I left."  Now it was Applejack's turn to be shocked.
"But how?  Ya know what, never mind.  We're takin' you to Twilight right now!"  Before Rainbow could protest, Applejack grabbed her by her hoof and started walking her there.
"Wait!"  shouted Rainbow.  "This stallion on my back, he's badly hurt.  I gotta get him to the Ponyville hospital!"
Releasing a sigh of annoyance, Applejack finally said, "Okay fine.  But as soon as you drop him off, come to the library."  Rainbow broke away from Applejack and left the house in a flash.  As soon as she was outside, she took to the skies, dragging along the heavy stallion and his heavier blade.  She was surprised he could even hold it.
After a few minutes of flying, she landed outside the hospital, rushing inside.  The doctor that had taken care of her when her wing broke saw her come in.  "Rainbow Dash?  But I thought you were dead!"  He shook his head.  "In any case, what happened?  Did you break a wing again?"
He then noticed the stallion bleeding on her back.
"Oh my.  Nurse, get him to a room."  Storm was wheeled off on a cart, probably to the I.C.U.  Rainbow made sure to grab his sword before he was taken away.  Using a harness that Storm had been wearing to hold the sword, she put it on her back and left the hospital.  She began to fly to Twilight's library, anxious to see her friends again.  After all, if they hadn't seen her for three months, how would they react to seeing their friend 'back from the dead'.  Back from the dead.  Rainbow had to chuckle to herself at that thought.
As she neared the library, she saw Applejack standing outside the door waiting for her.  "Everypony's inside Rainbow," said the apple farmer.  She held open the door for Rainbow as she walked inside.
Everyone had a glass of water and were talking back and forth.  Pinkie's hair had been deflated since Rainbow's disappearance, and Twilight had let her live at the library until she could get back to her job.  Everypony still looked devastated.  Then they noticed the cyan pegasis who stepped through the door.
Everyponys' jaws dropped.  Rarity ran away crying, Fluttershy went after her to hide, Pinkie Pie's hair re-inflated, and Twilight just kept staring.  
"DASHIE!" shouted the pink party pony, jumping onto Rainbow and giving her a hug.
"Hey Pinkie.  It's good to see you."
"But, you're dead," said Twilight, her voice shaking.  "You disappeared and you told me you couldn't get back."
"Yeah, well, I got some help."  She pulled the sword off her back and showed it to Twilight.  The purple alicorn recoiled suddenly after picking it up with her magic.  She dropped the sword onto the wood floor, creating a good sized dent in the wood.
"What's wrong?" asked Applejack.
"That sword," began Twilight, "isn't from this time period.  It won't be crafted until 10 years from now."  Again, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie's jaws dropped.
"Oh! Right!" said Rainbow.  "When I said I got help, it was definitely a kind I didn't expect."  She then explained to them the events of the battle, Storm Blade's appearance, and the commander's eventual defeat.
"Wow Rainbow," said Twilight.  "You've been through a lot."  Everyone finally noticed how beat up Rainbow actually was.  Her mane was tangled and in a mess and her body was still covered in bruises and cuts.  Apparently, time travel doesn't fix that.
"So then, that's the stallion's sword?" said Fluttershy, finally leading Rarity out of the kitchen.
"Yeah.  I stopped by the hospital to drop him off.  He's in worse shape than me.  I didn't want them to take his sword.  It was obvious it was important to him."
"Well, we're just glad to see you safe, darling," said Rarity.  "We've set up a memorial for you at the Ponyville graveyard."  She noticed the look of shock in Rainbow's eyes.  "It's just, we all thought you were dead.  We had to honor you somehow."
"Thanks guys," said Rainbow.  She gave each of them a hug.  "So now what?  I mean, no doubt I've lost my job after being gone.  And as far as I know, there aren't any more space ponies."
"Well, I guess you could stay with me Rainbow," said Twilight.  "I can always use help in the library.  And besides, I'm supposed to be getting a shipment containing the next five Daring Do books."
Rainbow's face lit up.  "Sure Twilight," said the cyan pegasis.  "If you don't mind me crashing with you for a while.  I'll need more money to pay the house payment, and working for you might just get me there."
"What about Storm Blade, Dashie?" went Pinkie, beginning to bounce around the room.
Rainbow had almost forgotten about her new friend.  "I'll go check on him.  No doubt if he survived, he's awake by now.  He'll probably want his sword back too."  Everypony nodded to her, a signal that she was free to go.  Nodding back, she turned and walked out the door.  She then took off for the hospital, anxious to see her new stallion friend.
> Epilogue 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                It was hard work for Celestia's science team as they worked on studying the commander's wrecked ship.  Their job was to gather any tech that the kingdom could use to develop weapons and explore space themselves.
The team had now explored virtually every part of the ship.  They were preparing to investigate the bridge now.  When they opened the doors, they found somepony still at the commander's controls.  Lance had stayed behind and planned to pick up the commander from Canterlot after his victory.  Needless to say, he was shocked to find.a science team walking around.
Realizing that the commander must have failed his mission, he stood down and let the science team escort him to the police.  He even helped them study the controls of the ship.  One member got curious as to what a small blue button on a seperate console did.  Lance tried to warn him, but it was too late.
As soon as the pony pressed the button, the console lit up with a brilliant white light.  After it died down, the pony saw something that he wouldn't have believed unless he saw it with his own eyes.  Sitting on the console was a steaming, fresh baked muffin.