“So, it’s good to see that you’re back Dashie.” Were the first words that Vinyl Scratch let out upon the arrival of both Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie and I.

Vinyl had apparently been here for some few hours now waiting for Dash’s return, while Pinkie and I were off at the factory. I was starting to see a pattern in her character.

Rainbow Dash had apparently just returned moments ago from her trip to meet with Trixie and Applejack.

“So, don’t leave us hanging, what happened with Trixie and Applejack, Dashie?” Vinyl Scratch rudely interjected yet again.

Dash didn’t look up at her during this whole conversation. There was something off about her demeanor this entire time.

“I’ll tell you on the way back to Canterlot… I am requesting an audience with Twilight.” Rainbow Dash uttered.

“I am impressed stranger, Twilight Sparkle was serious in meeting me here, clearly she sent her best. I have never seen anypony able to decimate over twenty of my armed guards by themselves, what might I have the pleasure of calling you?” A sky blue unicorn asked a hooded stranger whom had just destroyed her attempt at an ambush.

The unicorn had been adorned with a black cloak and a hood to hide her head. Upon further inspection one would be able to see the word “Trixie”, carved into an onyx bracelet she wore on her left hoof. She was neat and tidy which was odd for anypony living out in the Equestrian Ruins.

The stranger lifted her hood to reveal her rainbow colored mane along with her fierce magenta eyes. She stood silent making eye contact with Trixie.

“Rainbow Dash… My, my, my… I haven’t seen you in over six years have I? I thought I had seen the last of you, I must say I am a little surprised to see you here of all ponies…” Trixie smiled deviously.

Rainbow Dash answered with silence.

“Mare of a few words still I see; I like that. So I take it Twilight sent you to negotiate with me didn’t she? She probably thought she could scare me if she sent the great Rainbow Dash to thwart my little ambush?” Trixie pried.

Dash held to her strategy and kept her mouth shut, giving Trixie no information. Trixie didn’t seem to mind the lack of direct response however and continued to pester the pegasus.

“Take a look at your friend Applejack, I think you’ll like what I’ve done to her…” Trixie gestured to the mare on her left.

Applejack had a black essence about her. Her entire front side, including her face had a black mist like substance radiating from it. Her eyes unrecognizable, in their place two pure red orbs just staring down Rainbow Dash; they looked emotionless, lifeless even. Her front hooves had spines leading up to her shoulders, which added to her sinister appearance.

Dash took note of her flank, her cutie mark was gone; either removed, or vanished like her own, and it was safe to guess either.

Rainbow Dash remained silent, even at the realization of Applejack’s fate. She didn’t want to give Trixie the satisfaction, Celestia knew that she had already taken enough from her, less she give her one more thing.

“Turned out pretty great if you ask me!” Trixie joked.

Dash didn’t give in to her humor, instead just stood facing the ground trying to avoid eye contact with Trixie.

“Listen Rainbow Dash, I know you’re a pony who understands the value of life, so I’ll cut to the chase. You and I both want the same thing you know?” Trixie attempted to engage Dash in conversation with no luck.

The pegasus didn’t even twitch, Trixie continued regardless.

“If Twilight continues to fight then we too will continue to fight. If you all just surrender then we can assimilate you all. The darkness is going to help us better ourselves as a species. It has power and knowledge that we can’t comprehend in our current state; we can become better than what we are now if we just choose to accept it.” Trixie said.

Dash remained silent.

“What do you say Dash? Will you join us and help change ponykind forever?” Trixie had a hopeful tone about her.

After remaining silent this entire meeting Dash finally opened her mouth to speak to her.

“I won’t ever forget Trixie…” She uttered under her breath.

“Forget what?” Trixie asked curiously.

“I won’t ever forget what I am forced to do because of you…” Dash spoke up.

Trixie took a moment to ponder the meaning of Dash’s words; during that same moment Dash drew her blade and darted in Trixie’s direction.

Trixie flinched as she was not able to react fast enough to Dash’s lightning reflexes. She closed her eyes and expected the pain of Dash’s fierce blade. Squeezing her eyes tightly closed she braced for an impact that didn’t come. The sound of a slice was heard, but no pain came with it.

Opening her eyes, she could see that next to her lay a dead Applejack, bleeding from the neck. Standing above her was Rainbow Dash with a bloodied sword. The front of Dash’s coat was stained in the same blood.

She didn’t know how to react. Her jaw hung open in shock.

“Y-You killed her!” Trixie Exclaimed.

“Yes, I killed her.” Rainbow replied plainly.

“I can’t believe it… You actually killed her…” Trixie stuttered.

“I’d rather she be dead than corrupted by whatever twisted your sick mind. It’s better for her this way; she can die before she becomes like you.” Dash responded.

Trixie couldn’t comprehend all of this at once. Rainbow Dash had pulled the one move she wasn’t expecting.

Snapping herself out of her dazed state she looked up at Dash confidently.

“Rainbow Dash, I must say that even I am surprised by your actions here. Let it be known that I will not underestimate you again…” Trixie bowed her head.

Dash turned away in disgust.

“You tell Twilight that I am impressed, but that her days are numbered.” Trixie smiled arrogantly.

“Don’t forget my promise Trixie…” Dash spoke as Trixie was turning away.

Trixie turned her head back to her direction and nodded.

“Yes I know, my death will be at your sword. I haven’t forgotten.” Trixie replied.

“I must say that I’m as shocked as Trixie is Dashie… I can’t believe you killed Applejack…” Vinyl responded to Rainbow Dash’s story.

“At least she’s free of Trixie’s clutches now…” Dash replied.

A part of me felt sorrow for Dash’s predicament. She was put in a situation where she had to either kill a close friend or watch them suffer. It made me question myself a little, musing the idea if that was me and Torch. Would I have it in me to kill her to end her suffering?

“Didn’t the two of you have a thing for a little while there?” Vinyl asked.

I noticed that Vinyl had a bad habit of asking inappropriate questions at even more inappropriate times. It didn’t seem to dawn on her that perhaps reminding Dash of her close connection to Applejack would probably make the situation hit her even harder.

“Something like that…” Dash admitted turning away from Scratch.

Something like that? She had once harbored feeling for Applejack? It was difficult to think of Rainbow Dash in any kind of romantic situation, despite the fact that she had mentioned before she was in love a few times before the war. It must have been the fact that I only knew her as “The Miracle”, and not a common pony that I could not imagine her as anything but a warrior.

“Don’t worry Dashie, Trixie will get what’s coming. We’ll take turns beating the shit out of her when we get her. I reserved a special place on the bottom of my hoof for her…” Scratch attempted to console Dash.

“I just want to get to Canterlot and leave. I’ve had enough war for one life time.” Rainbow sighed.

“I’m sure ol’ One Eye will love to see you again. Bet she’ll do a god damned backflip.” Vinyl laughed.

“Ol’ One Eye?” I asked.

Scratch laughed heartily.

“That’s the nickname that a lot of gave the general.” Vinyl enlightened.

“Why do they call her that…?” I almost didn’t want to know.

“You’ll see when you meet her.” Scratch smirked.

“Would you all happen to be talking about Twilight Sparkle?” A voice called out to us.

The three of us halted in our tracks and moved our attention over to the origin of the noise. To our surprise a pony-like creature came out of the shadows.

This wasn’t like any pony I had seen before. Its left front hoof had some kind of black coating that appeared scaly with some kind of spines leading up to its shoulder. It was clearly a unicorn, it even had a cutie mark; a yin yang. Her mane moved like it was alive; it was a black untamable animal that moved unnaturally. Her tail was the same. The rest of her body was adorned with a dirty looking white coat.

The oddest feature of this pony was her eyes. Her irises shined a pure red; they looked as though they may even be glowing.

Scratch and Dash both drew their weapons to the mare.

“I come in peace.” She assured.

“Not looking like that you don’t.” Scratch hissed.

“State your business.” Dash commanded.

“I apologize. I overheard you all talking, and when I heard you were going to Canterlot I started following you. It was rude of me, however I figured you might be able to help me and I didn’t want to lose you…” She replied.

“How exactly can we be of help to you?” Dash asked.

“I wish to gain an audience with Twilight Sparkle, and possibly join the Knights of Celestia if possible.” She said.

Vinyl laughed.

“Don’t think that’s going to happen.” Scratch teased.

“I know my appearance can be a bit offsetting. I am a victim of Trixie’s madness just like you are though. I was an experiment to try and imbue ponies with darkness that had not yet been turned. Though my body is corrupted by the darkness, I assure you that I am in complete control of my being.” She replied.

Dash lowered her weapon.

“Why should we help you?” Dash asked.

“Due to my appearance, I am not welcome anywhere I go. I just thought that you would understand my situation after hearing your story.” The mare answered.

“Forget it, we don’t trust anypony with darkness just radiating off of them.” Vinyl Scratch spoke adamantly.

“Very well, you may come with us, and I will gain you an audience with Twilight personally.” Dash gestured for the mare to join us.

“WHAT!? Dash are you fucking insane?” Vinyl protested.

Dash slapped her in the back of the head. I laughed softly, finding this fairly amusing.

“Canterlot is protected by an anti-darkness barrier. If she is really controlled by the darkness then it would have to have tainted her heart. If that is the case, she’ll die the moment she enters Canterlot.” Dash informed.

“Plus, I trust her… Something tells me she is being honest.” Rainbow Dash smiled.

“Do you have a name, friend?” She asked.

“I was given the project name JWL48.” The mare replied.

“Jewel then?” Dash stuck a nickname onto her.

The corrupted unicorn smiled at the name.

“Jewel it is.” She smiled.

Canterlot was nothing like I imagined it to be. Much of the lower civilian quarters appeared to be under repair, possibly constant repair at that. It looked as though the royalty invested a majority of its extra manpower into keeping the civilian area inhabitable; though it was obvious there wasn’t much they could do. A lot of the buildings in the lower area were run down and fixed up with old plywood; many ponies lived in makeshift homes.

I had been to Canterlot once when I was a foal, but it looked nothing like it did back then. The formerly elegant roads were decorated only with cracks and broken streetlights. The grass in many areas appeared to be receding, though still better than the ruins where there was none.

The castle was still as impressive as always, though it too was showing signs of poor maintenance and age. Much of its vibrant colors were starting to fade and chip off. The marble used to build much of the structure was chipped away, and I noticed an entire tower was destroyed entirely.

Even in its lessoned state however, it still stood as the most magnificent structure to stand in the ruins. It still hung over the civilian quarter like a watchful hawk; it definitely still could scare away its enemies, that was certain.

The moment we arrived we were escorted by the royal guards directly to the castle. Twilight clearly wanted to keep Rainbow Dash out of the public eye for a moment; she wanted to be sure to be the first to see her clearly. Dash had made it a priority to keep her hood up and hide her face, it was clear she too wanted the same.

“Rainbow Dash… It has been a long time, who’d have thought you’d be alive after all that time in the ruins…” A mature voice echoed through the royal hall to us.

We all pivoted to meet our eyes with a rather interesting unicorn. Purple in color, with a pink highlight right down the middle of her mane. Her body wasn’t impressive by any means that was for sure, she was clearly the intellectual type, and one could gather that from the first glance. She was slender, but in poor athletic shape. Her figure was complimented by some interesting white robes that she wore. Her hooves all decorated nicely with golden shoes.

My eyes wandered to meet with her eyes; I then realized why they called her “Ol’ One Eye” at that moment. Her right eye was an interesting purple that matched her coat nicely; her left eye however was a completely different story. The left oculus was a bright yellow in color, and appeared bloodshot as well. From her forehead down to her cheek right through that same eye was a terrifying looking scar. The scar looked medical however; must mean that she had some kind of surgery at some point.

“How’s it going Twilight?” Pinkie Pie chimed in.

“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight turned her head to get a better look.

“Yes ma’am!” Pinkie smiled brightly.

“So, it looks like you brought some friends…” Twilight smiled back.

“That girl over there is Jewel; we met her on the way here. She may look terrifying, but she wants to join the Knights. I know you don’t normally accept anything to do with the darkness, but I thought you could make… An exception…” Rainbow Dash spoke.

Twilight nodded.

“Well, if you trust her then I suppose I have no choice don’t I?” Twilight grinned.

Dash bowed.

“I appreciate your understanding.” Dash replied.

“It’s no trouble, however she won’t be able to be a part of the military directly, but I think we can find some work for her to help out with. We’ll discuss it later.” Twilight said.

Jewel lowered her head respectfully before replying with “thank you.”

Twilight trotted over to my direction and looked me up and down carefully. To my surprise both of her eyes moved, meaning that her second eye wasn’t fake.

“And who might this be?” Twilight asked gesturing towards me.

“A visitor from Skyvale.” Dash summarized.

“Skyvale you say? We haven’t seen anypony from Skyvale in years… What’s your name friend?” Twilight asked eyeing me closely.

“Flare.” I replied.

She seemed satisfied with that answer.

“Well Flare, any friend of Dash’s is a friend of mine. Feel free to make yourself at home here. It may not be as flashy as Skyvale, but I think you’ll find Canterlot to your liking.” She smiled.

“He’s been staying with me and Pinkie Pie up until now.” Dash interjected.

“Ah, so he’s your student then?” Twilight turned her head back to face Rainbow.

“Something like that… Anyways, I would like to speak with you privately if that is alright?” Dash changed the subject.

Twilight stood up straight and walked back to Dash’s position and gestured for her to follow her.

“Right this way then.” She instructed.

Rainbow Dash turned back to my direction.

“I wish to speak to Twilight alone for a while, Flare. Go check out the city, I’m going to be a while, so you can meet me back here at the castle later.” She said.

I nodded.

Part of me was excited just being here. This was the home of the Knights of Celestia, the capital of Equestria, and the main stronghold of the resistance. I could hardly even believe I had made it here in one piece.

I knew though that the moment I arrived that this was just the start of something bigger, bigger than me, bigger than Rainbow Dash, even bigger than the Knights themselves.