I do not own My Little Pony! But I DO own Baton…. He is mine… Oh! And dear readers, I do encourage fan art of my fiction. Buck, I encourage it! I am also looking for a new cover art for this story if anyone is interested.

::Baton::

Baton wandered through the edge of the Everfree forest, unable to find his way back to Fluttershy's hut. Maybe I should have just asked for directions… He thought to himself as he strolled through the forest. His ears enjoyed the songs of the forest. Birds, bees, animals, trees, the wind, they sang for him and he loved every second.

I guess getting lost was the price of trying to sneak up on Fluttershy in the morning. I hope she will still be there if I ever find my way.

Baton couldn't wait to see the object of his affection, he felt good about today.

Hmmm… I might as well turn back no- at that second he heard something that didn't fit with the forest. It sounded as if someone was flying… or falling.

-*WHAAAM!*-

The tree directly in front of Baton split open as an object crashed into it. Baton jumped back at the loud explosion of sound. After the dust cleared, Baton approached the tree cautiously before he heard a voice.

"BUCK! Every bucking time!"

Baton looked into the wreckage and saw Rainbow Dash, upside-down on her head, a few scrapes but nothing serious. "Hey Rainbow Dash, are you alright?

Rainbow Dash looked up and glared when she saw Baton. "Oh, it's you… Great… yah, I'm just dandy…"

Baton looked worried at Rainbow's attitude. "Are you feeling OK?"

The multi-hued Pegasus sighed. "No, I've been off my game since yesterday. I can't do a bucking thing right." She grumbled under her breath, something about "apples…"

Baton walked over and helped the Pegasus up and out of the tree wreckage. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Rainbow Dash sighed, "Might as well… got nothing better to do besides crash… Or actually clear the sky… Heh right…" and with that Rainbow Dash told Baton about the Wonderbolts session, being kicked out, crashing into Sweet Apple Acres, and her shouting match with Applejack. Rainbow Dash ended with an exasperated sigh.

"It sounds to me as if you're starting to doubt who you are…" Baton tried to make sense of the entire situation.

"Yah… I guess your right…"

Baton struggled a little internally. Should I show her? It could be helpful… but it could also crush her… "Would you like to stop doubting yourself?"

Rainbow tilted her head, confused. "What do you mean?"

Nervously Baton began to explain. "Well… I've been working on a spell… it can play….. Well, someone's soul."

Rainbow Dash's face was that of utter confusion. "….you lost me…. What?"

"First… can you promise me that you won't tell anyone?

"Why?" Rainbow asked, suspicious.

"Well it's not finished. Don't you ever have a new trick that you hide until it's finished?"

Dash nodded, it wasn't uncommon for her to practice in private until she was 100% sure she had it down. "Yah I get you. I promise I won't tell anyone."
"OK, but can you… Blast what was it called? Pinkie Pie promise"

Rainbow Dash chuckled, "Yah, Yah I get it." With that she did the proper chant and actions.

Baton got up and walked to the center of the clearing. He turned and faced the blue Pegasus. "Ok, this song will start from the beginning."

Rainbow Dash stood up. "The beginning of what?

Baton looked deep into the eyes of the tom-colt, unwavering in his resolve.

"The beginning of you."

With that, Baton closed his eyes and his horn began to glow, and the forest went silent.

:: Rainbow Dash::

What Rainbow Dash first heard was a slow and steady drum beat, it sounded oddly familiar. Even though it was a quiet beat, she felt it. She realized then, it was perfectly synced to her heart beat. Next came a fanfare of trumpets, it was a strong but nice sound. Strings began to play scales up and down, like the music was flying through the air. Hmmm…. sounds a bit light if it's about me… At that thought, the strings began to change, slowly becoming grittier until they were replaced by a group of electric guitars. Now that's more like it! A large cord rang out alone, being echoed by the orchestra, rippling outwards. That sounds like my Sonic Rain-Boom!

The music progressed and Rainbow Dash heard her life like she never thought she would. She heard her friends, different instruments to accentuate hers. A flute, a harp, an accordion, a banjo, and stings. She heard the downfall of Nightmare Moon. As she listened on, the song began to falter and skip. She heard the Chaos she tried to forget. At that time Baton fell to a knee, still maintaining the spell. Chaotic laughter filled the air. Rainbow had heard it before. It too was vanquished, but the laughter remained… Baton visibly struggled as he tried to regain control of the spell. Instruments went wild in discord. Eventually all sound cleared and Rainbow Dash heard her song again.

This time it was accompanied by a banjo, Rainbow knew who this was, and her heart sank. The guitar and the banjo began to dance with each other. Melodies that intertwined, in and out, the guitar would find harmonies to the banjo. Rainbow Dash knew that this is what she had always hid from the world, and from herself. The two lines played and played, until a cymbal crashed. Rainbow felt the barn again, she remembered how painful it was, but she knew it would only get worse. The banjo began again, but this time, it sounded angry. Before long the guitar began to bite back, pushing the banjo into the background. But it didn't stop there, how Rainbow Dash wished it would just stop; she sat listening with closed eyes. It kept attacking until the banjo was gone… all that was left was the guitar, alone and in more pain than before. It began a soft minor key. It lamented on, growing quieter… then silence… Rainbow Dash sat there, a solid river of tears flowed freely.

Applejack… what have I done?

After a while Rainbow opened her eyes, she saw a weary Baton looking back.

"You love her." It wasn't a question, it was an observation.

Rainbow Dash stood up, wiped her eyes and pointed West. "Head that way and you'll reach Fluttershy's place in ten minutes." She slowly began to rise into the air, wings flapping lazily. "You tell anyone about this, and you'll have to answer to me buddy. I may not be sure about everything in my life, but I'm one hundred and twenty percent sure about one thing, and I need to make it right again." With that she flew off to Cloudsdale to prepare her apology, leaving a confused and exhausted Baton behind. He, none the less, picked himself up and headed West, mumbling something about "Cotton candy clouds that pour chocolate rain? That's weird…"

Unbeknownst to either pony, they had been overheard. If Rainbow Dash had looked down as she flew away, she would have seen a brown Stetson racing to Sweet Apple Acres. What she wouldn't have seen would be the tears streaming from the eyes of the pony who wore it.