Six months ago, the dragon war finally came to an end. The capital of the Griffin Empire, Warclaw, was almost completely destroyed. Indeed, it was only because of the intervention of an envoy from Equestria that it was saved at all. The envoy from Equestria was made up of a group of ponies riding on the back of a fully-grown dragon; the sight alone was strange enough. However, the dragon was not the griffin’s savior. Their savior came in the form of a certain one of those ponies, the half-pony, half-dragon hybrid, Ataxia.

Ataxia was the most unlikely of saviors. A total brat on her best of days and an absolute terror on her worst, but due to her nature, she was also a magical powerhouse. Yet against dragons, whose natural resistance to magic was legendary, no amount of magic would save them that day. When push came to shove and the lives of her friends and father were on the line, Ataxia tapped into a side of herself that she had denied all her life. Her dragon side. With one magically imbued fire breath, she lit the skies on fire, killing numerous dragons in the process.

That one attack was enough to end all hostilities. The dragons were impressed, very impressed. When their ancient dragon went in to find out what happened, he revealed that the mare was the dragon of legend, one that was foretold in their history, something he called a dragacorn.

The griffins knew only a little more about this legend than the ponies of Equestria, which largely meant that they simply knew that it existed. That did not stop them from erecting statues of her all around the Griffin Empire, with the largest and grandest one in the center of the palace courtyard. The irony was if Ataxia ever saw that statue, she would personally tear it down herself and liquefy the pieces, as the mare would never consider herself some sort of hero, and certainly nopony worthy of a statue.

That did not stop the surviving guards from rubbing the statue's head with their claws each and every night. There was not one griffin in all of the empire that went unaffected by what occurred, each and every one of them came to see the statues as a blessing, as symbols of the strength and endurance of their kind.

As such, no griffin batted an eye when one of the night patrol stopped and rubbed his claws along the statue’s muzzle. It was nothing more than a common occurrence through their ranks. This time around though, it did alert them far quicker than normal to an impending threat.

As the griffin raised his claw to her snout, he spotted a speck of light in the distance, right above its muzzle. One that seemed to get brighter. Almost as if a shooting star were falling out of the sky, and with the speed it was traveling that was not far from the truth. The light grew bigger and brighter. Both guards looked on, dumbstruck. One of them finally called out a cry of alarm, alerting every guard on duty that something was amiss.

Before the cry could mobilize any griffin, the light did the oddest thing, something no shooting star should ever do, it changed direction. They could only stare on in amazement at the cone of rainbow and gold light that seemed to be emanating from it. The light then took a hard left and sped up, heading straight for the palace doors. The general alarm began to sound, but it was too late, far, far too late for that to do any good.

The light crashed into the top of the palace doors with such force that both doors broke off their hinges and slammed to the ground. Every griffin in the palace was promptly awoken by the noise. Those standing guard in the main room readied their spears and instantly made to move out and meet this new threat head on. They did not have to go far. The one who was responsible for it was standing on top of the twisted and bent doors. To every griffins’ surprise it was a pony, one with a distinctive rainbow mane and tail. One with huge golden wings that easily surpassed the wingspan of any dragon they ever encountered in the recent war.

Rainbow Dash looked around at the mess she caused. All around her more griffins were running up, brandishing spears and blades in her general direction. She knew, at any other time, this would be the equivalent of declaring war on the Griffin Empire. However, at this moment, she had far more important business to take care of. Something that required such a statement no one here would ever forget.

The thought of war made her laugh as she considered someone actually trying something against Equestria. ‘Heh, good luck with that.’

She grew her wings out several-fold. Nowhere near their maximum size (she was not even sure there was such a limit) but it seemed to get the point across all the same. The griffins were staying back, each far too afraid of such a small pony with such a threatening posture and huge wings. Rainbow separated each feather of her wings, easily pointing six or seven at each individual guard in the room, with more than enough to spare for however many more guards showed up. With a cocksure grin on her face she spoke to no griffin in particular. “Now, where is my daughter? Where is Aurora Flash?”

…

When the doors hit the floor of the palace, Icarus and Aurora were sleeping peacefully in each other’s hooves and claws. The sudden impact caused Icarus to quite literally, jump out of bed. Aurora let off a slight squeal as he did so, not so much from the noise, but from the sudden movement of her partner.

“What in Tartarus was that?” Aurora asked.

“I don’t know… stay here.”

“Buck that.”

“Aurora, please stay here.”

“Oh, you said please, sure, I’ll stay here.”

“Really?”

“You really are a dumbass. You know that?”

Icarus sighed; he should have expected something like that. “Fine, but at least stay behind me.”

“I don’t think that’s physically possible.” Aurora added, with a small glance down to her stomach. She could see that Icarus was starting to get a little pissed off with her comments and he had already given in to her coming along, so she added a small caveat. “But, I’ll let you take the lead.”

He nodded a slight thanks as he finished putting on his armor and grabbed his weapon. It was a spear unlike any other, forged in lava, its tip was said to be made out of a dragon’s tooth, one of the oldest of its kind. It had never failed him in battle.

“Is that all really necessary? We don’t even know if it’s hostile.”

He glanced back over to her, more specifically, at her stomach and his kid growing there. “I’m not taking any chances.”

She merely shrugged as she followed Icarus outside into the hallway. Several guards were running past, they were heading in the direction of the throne room. The empire had stepped up recruitment as of late, but they were nowhere near full strength, not yet anyway.

“Son, do you know what’s going on?”

Aurora turned and saw Siros walking down the hall towards them, he seemed as stoic as ever. Although Aurora could not help but notice that Siros had not donned his armor. It seemed the old griffin knew better than to always treat every single unknown as a new threat.

“Not yet, but we were just heading to find out now.” Aurora chose to ignore the slight insult from the way he said 'we', for now; she would make him pay for that later. Siros just nodded at her, he never expected any less from the mother of his future grandchild.

The three of them headed down to the throne room. When they rounded the corner it seemed as if every single guard was there. They were surrounding something, something massive. Whatever it was, it had the biggest pair of golden wings any of them had ever seen.

Well, that was not entirely true, Aurora had seen wings like that, she knew of only one being in all of Equestria with those wings. Taking flight before any griffin could stop her; she got a better angle to verify her suspicion. Just as she suspected, those huge pair of wings, which were just now passing back and forth, threatening the entire griffin army, were connected to a tiny blue pegasus sitting in the center. Aurora was so dumbfounded that she almost fell from the sky.

“Mom! What are you doing here?”

Rainbow looked up at her daughter. “There you are, it’s time for us to have a little chat.”

Needless to say, not a single griffin got much sleep that night.

………………………

Rainbow sat in the dining room as a servant griffin brought in some tea for them. She never considered that tea might have different textures native to each land. For her, she always simply drank whatever Twilight gave her, although she had to admit, this stuff was good.

“Remind me to take some home with me; I think Twilight would like to try this.” She told Aurora.

“That reminds me, how did your date go?”

“Aurora… It was…” She looked at her tea with a downcast expression on her face.

Aurora’s heart almost broke at that, she could not believe things between them could ever go bad. Her parents were just too good together. “Mom… I’m so, so sorry.”

“It was magical.” Rainbow looked up with a smile on her face.

Aurora’s expression changed from sad, to shocked, to mad, and then to happy in the blink of an eye. For Rainbows part, she simply looked pleased that her daughter fell so easily for her ruse. “It will definitely be one that I will remember for the rest of my life.”

“Does that mean?”

Rainbow shook her head; she did not need to hear the rest of the question to be able to answer it. “Not yet, however, there was a subtle hint that she mig-“

“Enough of this!” Icarus yelled at them, his temper finally getting the better of him as he sat there stewing in his anger. “You make a huge public incident like that and you simply come in and start this prattle!”

With one glare from Rainbow, Icarus shut up and sat back down, suddenly realizing that his life was not in his own claws right now. Siros walked up behind him and smacked his son on the back of the head.

“I think, what my boy meant to ask, is that while we enjoy your company, your arrival was a tad unorthodox, Rainbow.”

Rainbow took one more sip of her tea and stood up. Stretching out her wings, they easily covered the length of the rather large dining table. “Well, if the pleasantries are over.” She glared at Icarus with that comment. “I guess we have no choice but to get on to business.”

“Mom.”

“In a minute, Aurora.” Her wings shrunk down to a smaller size, enough where she could tuck them back to her sides. She started to walk around the table. Each guard she passed took a step back as her glare found them wanting. “I’m not happy.” She said with certainty in her voice.

“Mom!”

“In a minute, Aurora.”

She continued speaking as she walked around the table. Taking in every picture hanging on the wall as she did so. As she passed by the seat that Siros was sitting in, she granted the old griffin a small nod.

“Like I said, I’m not happy. I’m not happy that this was kept from me. I’m not happy about whom you chose to be with Aurora, but mostly, I’m not happy that you felt like you had to hide this from me.”

“Mom.”

“Aurora please, let me get this out. I realized something this past weekend. Well, Twilight made me realize it. Aurora, you've grown into a beautiful mare over the years and I've always been proud of everything you are, everything you've accomplished, and everything you will accomplish in the future. Your life is your own to live, and whatever decisions you make are yours to make. As such, it doesn’t matter if I'm happy with the choices you made.” She laughed a little at that. “I don’t need to be happy with your choices, I'm simply happy if you are. You see, my happiness comes from you being happy. Therefore, that's what I've come here to find out. It’s what I need to know for this all to be ok. I just want to ask you a single question: Aurora, are you happy with him?”

Aurora looked on, dumbstruck. All of this, this whole scene, it was all to ask her if Icarus made her happy. Then again, she should not have expected any less from her mom. This is 'The Rainbow Dash' after all. Her mom did not know the meaning of subtle. Aurora glanced over at Icarus, she thought about it, really, really thought about it. Her mom deserved the truth after all. Anything less would be an insult. Just looking at the big idiot answered her question in a way that no amount of self-reflection ever could. It was answered in the way she felt just looking at him, in the smile that came to her face as she saw him, really saw him, even with all his faults.

“Yes, he makes me happy.”

“That’s all I need to know.” Rainbow said with a smile as she flew over and embraced her daughter in a hug. A lone tear fell from Aurora’s eye as her mom hugged her, she was careful not to place too much pressure on Aurora’s stomach as to take regard for her growing foal.

“Trust me, I’ll tell Twilight everything before Orion is born. She will be there for you both before that happens, and I know she will be excited for it.”

“Thank you.” Aurora sobbed out.

When they finally let go, Rainbow’s face went from a smile to a frown in an instant as she saw the grin on Icarus’s face. “What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing ma’am.” His happiness turned to ash with one look from the mare.

“I have a question for you too; did you bribe her with a cookie?”

“Mom!”

“I need to know, Aurora.”

“No, I would never do something like that.” Icarus said with a worried expression on his face. As he realized that Rainbow was very serious about this.

“Siros, did he?”

“No. I know my son, he's many things but he would never take advantage of her like that.”

“That’s what I needed to know.” In a flash, Rainbow shattered the chair Icarus was seated in; she caught the griffin in her wing as he fell.

“I… I didn’t, I swear!” He shouted, trying to save his own tail.

“I know.”

To everyone’s surprise, Rainbow brought the emperor in close and wrapped a hoof around his shoulders. She squeezed him in a hug with all her might. “Thank you.”

“What?”

“Thank you for making my daughter happy again. After her brother died, I... I was worried that she would never feel that way again. You did it though and you gave me my first grandchild. Thank you.”

Everyone stared on, dumbstruck, until Rainbow finally let him go. With a more serious tone she added. “That being said, when is the wedding?”

Aurora almost choked on her tongue at the mention of that. Icarus looked up at Rainbow. “I… I… we…” they had yet to discuss if they even wanted to get married.

In the end, it was Siros that stepped in to save the day. “Rainbow, perhaps we should let them decide that for themselves. After all, it’s their life to live.”

She glanced at Siros with a small smile on her face. “Perhaps you're right, although I do expect a LOT more letters now. Ok Aurora?”

“It’s a pinkie promise, mom.”

“The only kind.” Rainbow said with a laugh.

“Will you stay for the night?” Siros asked.

“I can’t, sorry, I've got to stop by Ponyville and then get up early tomorrow to see Twilight to her lessons.”

“Well, send her our best.”

“Will do.” With that, Rainbow took off. She left out the door and flew off out of the giant hole in the front of the palace. Several of the guards, who were busy trying to clean up, cringed as she flew past.

Icarus looked around, amazed at all the damage. “Did that really happen?” He asked no griffin in particular.

“Yes, I'd say we got off rather well myself.” Siros added with a laugh. “We should go back to bed, tomorrow comes early after all.”

“Sleep? Really?” Icarus looked at his dad with a disbelieving tone in his voice.

“Well… If you can’t sleep, I know something else we can do.” Aurora spoke softly as she walked out of the room, running her tail along Icarus’s beak as she did so.

“You're right dad, we should definitely get back to bed.” Siros chuckled to himself as he watched his son’s demeanor do a one-eighty at that little invitation.

…………………………………………………………………

Twilight’s hooves stepped on Ponyville soil for the first time in six months, the sun was rising in the distance. She glanced around as she got off the train, taking in all the sights and sounds of the quaint little small town. She could not explain it but she felt an attraction to this place. It was amazing to her, the sights, the sounds, and the simple smell of the place. In a word, it felt almost like… like home.

She stepped off the train platform and started walking towards the center of the town. From the looks of things, a good portion of the town looked freshly rebuilt, but there were still signs of construction going on. Ponies were already heading from their homes to their shops, getting everything ready for the coming day. She couldn’t help but notice that a few of them seemed to be giving her strange looks. Almost as if they recognized her, which after some consideration she decided was not that unusual, she was a princess after all.

“Hey, Twilight!”

Twilight spun around as an orange earth pony ran up. The spunky colt could not have been more than thirteen years old. He had a yellow mane, red freckles and an applesauce cutie mark.

“I’m sorry?”

“Twilight it’s me. Applesauce!”

Twilight made a mental note to ask Princess Luna of the correlation between pony names and their cutie marks.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember… I got into an accident a few months ago and haven't been able to remember anything before then.”

“Oh… Is that why Rainbow Dash isn't with you?”

Twilight nodded.

“Odd, I would never guess she would let you come here by yourself. You two were always inseparable. I still remember the stories my mom would tell me about coming over to your house to fix all the stuff Aurora would break.”

“Wait? What?” Twilight asked.

“And you probably didn’t know that… sweet Luna Twilight, what did they tell you?”

“Applesauce, get your flank over here now!” A scream came from down the road as a yellow earth pony with red hair called out his name.

“Oh shoot. Hey, we'll have to catch up later ok.” The colt took off down the road after the old mare.

“Wait! One second!” Twilight called out, causing the stallion to turn around real quick. “I’m looking for the house that survived Ponyville’s destruction, I was told it was the only one that did!”

She could hear his laughter at her unintentional joke. “Your house is down the street, to the left side. Trust me, you can’t miss it!”

“My house?” Twilight asked. It was too late though; the colt was gone, chasing after his mother, a pony with the oddest cutie mark of a hammer and nails. One who also wore a red bow tie in her mane. However, they were heading in the opposite direction that the colt told her to go in.

She could barely make out the start of their conversation as they walked out of hearing range. “Hey mom! Guess who I was just talking too.”

“Tell me later dear, we're already behind.”

“But mom.”

“Later.”

As Twilight headed down the street, several more ponies gave her odd looks; these became increasingly noticeable as she got closer to her destination. The colt was right; she could not miss the house. It was the largest house on the street, on one side of the two front doors was an exact replica of her cutie mark, on the other was a replica of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark.

“C’mon Aurora! Faster! Higher!”

Twilight could see them playing on swings. Sitting in the middle of the front yard was a small swing set. A unicorn colt was riding on it while a pegasus filly pushed him with all her might. From the looks of things they were siblings, and having the time of their lives.

She blinked and the images were gone. There were no foals playing outside. There was no swing set. She shook her head clear, open the door, and walked inside.

“Mother, Night’s crying again!”

Rainbow Dash walked out from the other room, she stared at the small, tiny alicorn filly bawling her eyes out on the couch. The unicorn colt did his best to try and comfort her, but it was to no avail. “What happened this time?” Rainbow asked as she picked up the little filly in her hooves and proceeded to rock her back and forth, doing her best to calm the crying filly.

“She just started crying.”

“Day… Night has never just started crying. What did Aurora do?”

“Nothing, mother.”

Rainbow smiled down at the little colt. “You’re a good brother you know that, but you're a horrible liar.” Rainbow proceeded to take the little filly into the other room. Just as she turned the corner, a small pegasus flew down from the rafters.

“Thanks for not ratting me out.” She said as she spit the baby rattle she had stolen from her sister out of her mouth. "That noise was driving me nuts."

The vision faded.

It was enough to creep Twilight out, this entire house seemed to echo something. It echoed her past life. Almost as if somepony had snapped her reflection into a mirror, making it permanent, and then shattered the thing into a million pieces. She was looking at events in her past and was starting to put the pieces together.

“Over there, Aurora took her first steps.” Twilight said to nopony as she looked over to the living room, a vision of the filly walking across the floor for the first time appeared and then disappeared.

Twilight proceeded to walk through the house, arriving at the dining room. “That’s where Dayspring cast his first spell; Rainbow almost had to call the fire department.”

She walked into the kitchen. “Aurora puked all the way down the refrigerator after eating a whole jar of cookies. Twice”

Glancing into the backyard. “That’s where I… I told Dayspring I was pregnant.” She almost fell onto her flank at that realization. “I’m a mother.”

Another memory came to mind, something important, something she had to know. Twilight ran up the stairs. Passing by several pictures on the wall, but she did not pay them any attention. She knew exactly where to go, she did not know how she knew, but she knew.

Another vision-memory awaited her up the steps.

“Mom! I hate this place!”

“Night, what happened?”

Twilight chased the young alicorn princess into her room. Shimmering Night lay on the bed crying into her pillow. “At… at school, the kids were all making fun of me.”

“What? Why?”

“They… They said I had fillyfooler parents.”

Twilight smiled as she sat down next to her daughter. She remembered this conversation with Dayspring all too well, Aurora was the only one who took it different, she got expelled for kicking the offender in the face, breaking several of his teeth in the process. Twilight rubbed her hoof through Night’s mane, doing her best to comfort her. Shimmering Night reached over and hugged Twilight with both hooves.

“Night, let me ask you a question. What does that term mean?”

“It’s when two mares fool around?”

Twilight laughed at that. “Yes, that is somewhat true. Ok, why would two mares fool around like that?”

“Because they love each other?”

“Exactly, so if it means that two mares love each other that much, why is it a bad thing?”

“They made it out to seem so…”

“Night, it’s just a word. Words only have the meaning that we assign to them. If you let it be a bad thing, that's what it becomes. Regardless what any pony says, be proud that you have two wonderful parents that love their family with all their might.”

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Can you… can you not be a fillyfooler though?”

Twilight was taken aback by that. However, rather than be offended, she smiled at her daughter. “We don’t choose who we fall in love with Night, it just happens. I didn't fall in love with Rainbow because she was a mare, she just happened to be a mare that I fell in love with. Do you understand?”

“Somewhat...”

“That’s all I can ask for.” She leaned down and kissed her daughter on the head. “Now, if they give you any more trouble, just tell them your mom will banish them to the moon, or heck, I might teach you that spell soon if you keep improving like you have.”

“Thanks mom.”

When the vision faded, Twilight turned the corner and headed straight for the master bedroom. Opening the door she saw exactly what she expected to see. The final piece of the puzzle that made everything else fit. Above the bed were three picture frames, each of a different wedding involving the same couple. She gasped at the sight of her and Rainbow in their wedding dresses.

…………………………………………………

“Twi! Yo Twi! Wake up!”

Rainbow banged on the door for the third time, silently cursing Rarity for not letting her leave Ponyville earlier. Yeah, she woke them up in the middle of the night, but only because Rarity had absolutely positively insisted that as soon as she got back she would tell her every little detail about the date. Little did Rainbow realize that every little detail meant every. Little. Detail. She had yet to get any sleep herself.

Of course, she could always sleep through Twilight’s classes, if the mare would ever answer the bucking door that is. “Twilight c’mon, you're going to be lat-“

She stopped mid-sentence,

‘Wait… Twilight is never late, for anything… ever.’

With a flick of her wings the door was sliced in two. She no longer cared about a little thing like property damage; something was wrong. Something was wrong with Twilight, nothing else mattered; that had to come first. She would accept whatever flank chewing she got after she made sure that Twilight was ok.

What she saw inside surprised her: An unmade bed, an open window, and no Twilight. Three things she would never expect to see on a day such as this. On a day when Twilight had lessons.

“TWILIGHT!” Rainbow called out from the window. She doubled back, unsure what to do or who to get.

“Rainbow, what’s going on?” Radiant opened his door and poked his head out, along with a very groggy Firestar.

“Guys… I can’t find Twilight.” Panic and fear was evident in her expression.

“Relax, she's probably already at her lessons. I tell you what, let’s go down together.” Radiant had never seen Rainbow so frantic, so nervous in his life. It was almost as if the mare was going to jump out of her fur with worry.

“I’ll come too.” Firestar added. The three of them walked down to the training room. They did their best to try and calm the cyan mare so she would not cut the palace into pieces looking for her wife. What they saw made them all panic, the professor was in the class, but there was no Twilight.

“Professor, where is Twilight?” Firestar asked.

“Sorry princess, but Twilight Sparkle is late to class today, I haven’t seen her.”

Rainbow graduated from anxiety and worry to full on panic mode. Twilight Sparkle and late were words that had no business being in the same sentence together, unless they were separated by 'is never'.

“Firestar…” Radiant looked at his wife.

“On it.” She took off out the window and headed directly towards Cloudsdale. Radiant did his best to calm down Rainbow. He might as well try to stop a tidal wave with a thimble. Rainbow took off; she proceeded to personally check every single room in the palace. Not caring which doors she busted open or whose privacy she violated.

Firestar initiated the largest pony hunt the pegasi have ever been involved in. she organized the entire Cloudsdale militia to search every single building and question every pony that they could find.

It was an extensive hunt, involving thousands of ponies, but it was by no means long. Within twenty minutes, several confirmed sightings made there way to the palace. Including an eyewitness the pegasi brought to the palace for questioning, the train ticket seller.

“And you’re sure? Princess Twilight bought a ticket and boarded the train this morning.” Cadance asked, doing her best to stay calm and keep Rainbow Dash in a magical shield at the same time. Two tasks that were quickly becoming mutually exclusive.

“Yes, princess.”

“Where did she go?”

“Ponyville ma’am, she said it was important that she get there as soon as possible. Something about a house she just had to go visit.”

At that point, Rainbow shattered the shield Cadance trapped her in and flew off. She knew not why Twilight would go to Ponyville, but this was bad, very, very bad. The vacuum created in her wake caused everything that was not tied down to move several hooves closer to the new hole in the wall.

Cadance took in the damage in a second. Despite it all, she could not bring herself to care. This was important, more important than an impromptu window added to the side of the palace. It was far too early for Twilight to learn the truth. If this went bad, everything she and Rainbow worked for would be destroyed.

“Should I chase after her?” Firestar asked, unsure what to do now.

“There would be no point, she'll be there in less than a minute. You'd never catch her.” Cadance shook her head at the pegasus.

Rainbow flew with all her might, she beelined it straight for Ponyville. Fortunately, she had enough sense not to create a sonic rainboom in the Crystal Palace. However, that did not stop her from creating two over the Crystal Empire. There was not a pony in the empire that needed an alarm that morning. The shockwave alone was enough to wake up the heaviest sleeper.

On and on she went, traveling at insane speeds to cover the distance between the two towns. Before she realized it, she was coming up to Ponyville fast, too fast.

“Oh, horseapples.”

While she was the fastest mare in the world, that did not mean she could stop on a bit. Rainbow plowed into the main street of Ponyville, relying on the dirt itself to slow her down. Something it accomplished, but not without leaving a trench from one end of the town to the other. The action almost caused her to black out from the impact.

“Rainbow Dash?”

She glanced up at the mare that just spoke. “Hey Applebloom, what’s going on?”

“You mean besides the fact that you added an irrigation trench down the center of Main Street? Not much and you?” Applebloom reached a hoof down for Rainbow to take, an option she greatly accepted as she pulled herself out of the hole.

“Twilight's in town, I… I have to find her. Have… have you seen her?”

“Oh! I have!” Applesauce said with a grin. As he ran up to see what his mom was looking at.

Rainbow flew over to the colt, her dizziness forgotten. “Where is she?! Where did she go?! What did she say?!”

“Wow, one question at a time. She simply asked to know where her house was is all, it was odd though; she did not seem to know that it was he-“ He never got to finish that sentence. Rainbow took off down the street, straight to the last place she wanted to find Twilight, but the one place she knew that she would be.

“Maybe, she hasn’t been here long, or she hasn't put it together yet? Yeah, that’s likely, and maybe Sombra will rise from the dead and grant me three wishes.” Rainbow said to herself as she arrived at the front lawn of the house… their house.

Rainbow went to open the door, and then paused… She collected herself, taking in several deep breaths as Cadance taught her. Raising one hoof, she grabbed the doorknob and opened it.

As soon as the door opened, a purple energy surrounded her and pulled her inside. Twilight shoved a picture in her face. One she recognized all too well, it was their wedding photo from Ponyville. She glanced away from it; it contained too many memories, too much that was lost.

“How could you?!” A very familiar voice shouted from nearby.

Rainbow looked up; Twilight was sitting there crying in the corner. “We are… were married! How could you Rainbow? How could you lie to me like this?! I… I trusted you! This… this is what we were! And you lied about it! Why?!”

“I… I… I…”

“Well! Say something, dammit!”

“I…” She could not say anything, briefly, she considered trying to place it all on Cadance, but she dismissed that idea in a second. Even if it was Cadance’s idea, she went along with it. She lived the lie, it was her fault. That very thought caused a catastrophe in her mind.

It was all her fault.

Each pony has a way of compartmentalizing things that they are unable to handle, unwanted emotions and events that are just too painful to deal with at the time. Rainbow Dash is no different. In her mind, there is a box, one that she had been slowly filling over the past few months. Her own emotions, her thoughts, her feelings, and her most sincere desires were all put in to this box, a label marked ‘later’ was slapped on it and it was locked away. All so she could be there a hundred and ten percent for Twilight. So she could provide her wife with all the support that she could give her. So she would not have to deal with her own emotions at this time… However, its time had come. No longer could she put it off.

It was all her fault.

That box exploded open in her mind. She had put everything she wanted, everything she felt, she put it all on hold for far too long. Rainbow’s emotions played throughout her mind, every thought, every feeling she put aside was suddenly thrust to the forefront. Every memory of missing her son, every memory of holding her wife at night, and every motherly instinct she had to repress. It all came back with a vengeance.

It was all her fault.

Rainbow's mind was incapable of thought. Too much was happening too soon. She could only fall back on basic instincts, fight or flight. There were only two options to choose from, and even now, even in this state, she would never hurt Twilight. Therefore, with only one option remaining left, she flew.

It was all her fault.

Or tried to anyway. Rainbow tried to fly out the door. A task she completed a million and one times before, both with the door open and not. She spread her wings and took off, slamming her head into the door for her troubles. She got up, unsure just what happened, her wings… she looked at her wings; they were glued to her side. Nothing she could do would open them. She tried to force them open with her hooves, nothing changed.

It was all her fault.

Rainbow turned around, scared of everything and anything… her world, it shattered around her. All the memories of the house seemed to be taunting her; they all said the same thing. “You lied!” Twilight still sat in the corner, an accusing glare on her face and tears falling down her eyes. She had been with the mare for too long, been around magic for most of her life. She knew the signs of someone who used it and when it was used on her. This was not Twilight’s doing. For the first time since she was given these wings, they would not obey her command.

It was all her fault.

Her mind was not her own, it was racked with emotion, with the reality of the situation. Her body took over. Rainbow took off up the stairs, as fast as her legs could carry her. Every photo she passed… she did not want to look at them, but they each seemed to demand her attention for their second in time. They all screamed at her, calling her names, calling her a liar, telling her she blew it.

It was all her fault.

Rainbow ran, she ran to the farthest corner of the house she could get too. She ran directly into an oversized shower and collapsed, her endurance spent from her mental and physical exhaustion. She tried to sit up, she tried to recover; however, all her hoof managed to do was turn on the showerhead. Rainbow was sure that there were tears falling down her face even with the water going, but at that moment, she did not have any care left in her body. She curled up into the fetal position and began sobbing out, silently grateful that the water was on. At least this way no pony could hear her cry.

It was all her fault.

“Twilight hates me. She's going to leave me.”

It was all her fault.

………………………………………

Shimmering Night finished raising the sun… her sun. It still felt weird to think of it that way, but she supposed that it would become more natural in time; that she would be more comfortable with this whole ordeal, but that would be for later. For now, she had to accept that this was her responsibility. Everyone seemed happy with this arrangement, especially the nobles who could now deal with a leader that they deemed to be ‘more civil’ than Princess Luna. By which they were referring to Luna’s habit of simply wanting to cut everything in half to solve whatever dispute came up, even if that ‘something’ was something living.

While Night found she had a penchant for dealing with matters of court; that did not stop the occasional dispute that came up that she could not figure out how to handle. Oddly, those seemed to settle themselves when she would suggest that they wake up Luna to figure out how to settle the issue.

She laughed at that. Although she had to admit, if the nobles were happy with this change, Luna had them beat hooves down. The Princess of the Night was overjoyed to not have to raise the sun anymore and to have her night back. Something Shimmering Night decided she could keep. Night was never the night owl that Luna was.

Night flew off the balcony as soon as she heard a servant come and try to get her for the morning briefing, she would deal with that later. For now, she wanted to take a walk, and there was nowhere better suited for that task then the Canterlot Royal Gardens.

She landed in the Gardens and enjoyed the feeling of the wet grass under her hooves. The weather ponies made sure to water it each and every night, simply to keep it looking beautiful. Such feelings could almost cause her to forget her own troubles.

Like Ataxia.

Night was still not sure what was going on with that mare, given that figuring out Ataxia on a good day was a challenge worthy of a God. Lately? She doubted that even one of the three could figure out what was going on with her. Ever since Ataxia’s breakdown in the Crystal Empire, she was going out of her way to be a nuisance…. No that was not right; she was going out of her way to spend time with Night. Only the spotting of another escapee caused her not be at Night’s side right now. In fact, the more Night thought about it, she realized that it was the complete lack of bad behavior from her that really caused Night to worry. It almost seemed like Ataxia wanted to be good…

Her thoughts were intruded upon by a quiet sobbing noise in the distance. "That’s odd, who's out here at this time of day.”

Night began to head towards that sound, she knew that something was odd, that something was amiss about this. When she traced it to its source, she saw that her feelings were justified. Princess Luna was sitting underneath the statue of her sister, the one that was situated in the center of the former elements of harmony. Or those that have passed on that is. The Princess of the Night lay with her back facing Night. Crying into her hooves.

“Luna…”

Princess Luna looked up, glancing in Night’s direction, her eyes puffy from their exertion. “We wish to be left alone right now, Night.”

“I gathered, but why aren’t you out with Ataxia?”

“She sent us back.”

“What? Hunts are two pony teams!”

“It’s fine, she's been going on hunts solo for a while now. She's more powerful than you know.”

“That’s not the point, Luna.”

Luna looked down, her hooves suddenly more interesting then this conversation. Night dismissed her earlier thoughts and walked up to the mare, she would chew out Ataxia later, for now Luna needed some help.

“What’s wrong, Luna?”

“We… I miss her.”

Night lay down next to Luna; there was no need to ask whom she was talking about, as there was nothing she could say. Luna did not need hollow words about how it would get better or easier in time. She simply needed to deal with her grief, something she had largely avoided up until now.

After a few minutes, the old mare seemed better. Almost as if this was simply something she needed to do, like it was a requirement for her at the end of each night. That thought bothered Night more than she cared to admit.

“Tell me Princess Luna, how many days have you been doing this.”

“W-… I have been coming out here ever since I took back the night.”

“Luna?”

“Don’t get me wrong, dear Night. I’m glad to have the night back, moving the sun… It felt wrong. Like an insult to her memory… although, the night… it gives me time to think, too much time it seems.”

“Luna, why haven’t you said anything about this before now?”

“I thought, I thought my time on the moon would have been sufficient to help me deal with it. I was away for a thousand years and while I may not have been myself, I did experience it without… without her. However, there is a difference to being locked away from one you love and them being gone. A difference it seems I was not prepared for.”

Night looked at her, really looked. For the first time in her life, she did not see the strong silent princess, the one that always sat on the sidelines, lending her strength only when it was needed. She saw a mare that simply missed her sister. One who would give it all away for another day with her. In truth, Night felt the same way.

“I understand, princess. While I can’t know what it’s like for you, I miss my brother too. I may not have know him as long as you knew Celestia, but he was always there for me. He was a constant in my life, a pillar that always stayed by my side. Now, he’s gone, it feels like… like the world should have stopped, like it’s an insult that everything simply continued moving.”

It was Luna’s turn to comfort Night. “It’s the same for me, regardless how old you get, or how long you have known somepony, their absence… it will always be there. It will always simply be wrong.”

“How do you move on?” Night asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

“Let us figure that out together. We shall rely on one another to find the answer, and maybe, just maybe, we can solve the unsolvable.”

“Maybe we already have.” Night added as she leaned into the hug Luna gave her.

“You know Night; We think you might be right about that.” Luna said with a smile.

……………………………………………….

Twilight Sparkle watched Rainbow run up the stairs, in the six months… forty-seven years… in all the time she had known that mare, she had never seen her so… so afraid, something was wrong, something was fundamentally flawed. She should have been gone; she should have broken the door in two and flown right out. She did not; it was almost as if she could not fly at all.

Twilight tried not to care; she tried to hold her grudge. Too much had happened though, she could not separate the visions… the past memories from the ones of the last six months, from their time in Prance. They all told the same story, the story of a mare that would do anything for her. The one that loved her so much that she would give up everything for her, the one that would have willingly spent an eternity doing penance for Twilight’s crime.

She… she could not… she could not-not care. It was too much, even if she was mad at her, even if she hated her for the lies. Rainbow was still her wif-, her marefri- still her friend, and she needed help.

Twilight got up and wiped the tears from her eye with a hoof. She heard the water on upstairs.

“Is now really the time for a shower, Rainbow?” That made her stop. She knew Rainbow too well, too much time had been spent with the mare, not even counting the visions. “Rainbow, what are you doing?”

Images of Rainbow trying to punish herself came to Twilight’s mind, Rainbow could be burning herself with scalding hot water. She might be doing something drastic that she could never take back…

Twilight did not know the extent that Rainbow’s wings could heal her, but she knew that they were not working right now, if worst came to worst, Rainbow might actually do something reckless, thoughtless, and stupid. There were many sharp objects in the bathroom after all.

Twilight ran up the stairs, chasing after the cyan mare. Visions of the past began flashing before her eyes as she took each step.

“Twilight! Guess what? Our son got accepted into the University!”

Rainbow spun Twilight in the air as she celebrated her son’s accomplishment.

“Twilight! Aurora got the modeling gig!”

Rainbow ran up and kissed her wife passionately, it was the sort of kiss that only one who truly loves another can give.

On and on they went, visions of the two of them assaulted Twilight’s senses. To the left she would see Rainbow giving Aurora pointers on some flying maneuvers. To the right she would see Rainbow and her making out on the couch while the kids shouted ‘Ewe.’

Twilight stopped as she arrived at the bathroom door. “Rainbow!”

“…”

She could hear the shower, and something else…

“Rainbow Dash!”

“…”

“Rainbow, I’m coming in!”

“…”

Twilight opened the door with her magic, what she saw simply aggravated all of her fears, Rainbow was curled up in a fetal position over the shower drain, unmoving…

Twilight ran into the shower, as soon as the water hit her she was very relieved that Rainbow was not burning herself. She slid down and picked up the mare in her hooves. After a thorough once over, she was again relieved that there did not appear to be any physical injuries.

“Twilight?” Rainbow opened her eyes, staring at a face she expected to be filled with anger; instead, she only saw a face full of worry. Somehow, that only made her feel worse, not better.

“Rainbow.” Twilight whispered back.

Rainbow grabbed ahold of the mare with all her might. She wrapped her hooves around Twilight and squeezed. Crying while she buried her face into Twilight's coat.

“I’m sorry!” she cried out. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

Her cries became more and more unrecognizable as she sobbed into Twilight’s coat.

Twilight simply stared down, she could not remember once in her life seeing Rainbow brought so low. Lying here, crying out into her coat, it was the mare at her most vulnerable. The cocky mare that would swing into action at a moments notice… It was that mare that now had tears in her eyes, and a sore throat from yelling out apologies.

There was nothing Twilight could do. Her argument died simply from seeing Rainbow like this, from her total breakdown. Twilight slowly put a hoof on Rainbow’s mane and began brushing it, she wanted to be mad, and she had every right to be mad. However, she could not do it. Her anger left her, her rage forgotten. There was no amount of yelling that could cause Rainbow to feel worse than she already did, and seeing the mare in such pain only caused Twilight to feel worse.

“It’s ok, Rainbow.” She cooed softly into Rainbow's ear. “Let it out.”

That was one order Rainbow complied with, her tears increased ten-fold as she released all the weight of the past year at once. Rainbow cried, she cried like a newborn foal, she did so for over ten minutes. All the while Twilight held in her hooves, slowly brushing her mane in the shower as her friend… marefriend… wife finally let go of everything she was holding onto.

Twilight did not know how long it had been, but it was Rainbow who finally said the first words.

“Twilight?” she barely managed to say the words, her throat sore from the effort of speaking.

“Yes Rainbow?”

“Are… are you going to leave me? I… I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

“No Rainbow, I'm not going to leave you.”

“Pinkie promise?” She glanced up hopefully at the mare.

Twilight raised her head and looked up. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” The words flowed back from her visions to her, she had never heard them before, but somehow, she just knew what they meant.

Fresh tears fell from Rainbow’s eyes as she watched her friend go through the age-old motion. She snuggled her head deeper into Twilight’s chest. “I’m sorry.”

“So you said Rainbow.” Twilight said softly back to her.

“I mean it I… I never wanted to lie… lie to you.”

“Will you tell me the truth now?” Twilight responded, her tone took a serious note, but it did not display any judgment on her part. She could not stay mad, but she still wanted to know.

“Always and forever.” Rainbow replied.

“Why?” It was a simple question, yet that one word conveyed everything Twilight felt about the situation, her confusion at why, her frustration, her hurt, and her betrayal.

“Twi you… you didn’t have an accident.”

Twilight nodded for her to continue, not once did she stop brushing her hair.

“Twi you… you died.”

“What?” She stopped brushing.

“You were killed, right next to me, too. I… I wasn’t fast enough to save you I'm… I’m sorry.”

“Shhh… Rainbow, it’s ok.”

“I… I still wake up at night to that experience, your blood covering my face. I see your face, the look you had on it. It haunts me to no end, you know. Knowing I was there, that I might have… that I could have… that I couldn't do anything to save you. The blade, I still see it sticking out of your neck. That... that look that was on your face, I… I still see it when I close my eyes.”

Twilight resumed trying to calm down Rainbow; her heart rate was pulsing from simply telling the story.

“You know… I can’t even use a knife anymore. Every time I see something sharp, I freak out. I... I just want to take you and hide under a bed, so nothing can happen to you again. I… I was the one who cut Equestria in half you know. We were fighting a… a Titan, he… he was going to hurt you. I… I went the speed of light to save you. The shockwave almost destroyed the entire world in the process. Yet, even with my speed I… I wasn’t fast enough, there are forces out there Twi, ones I cannot protect you from, and it kills me.”

“Rainbow…”

“No… let me finish, Twi. We have… had three kids, each of them is gifted beyond compare, yet we lost one already. It’s our job to protect them, to keep them safe, and I couldn’t do it.”

“Aurora is our daughter, isn’t she?”

Rainbow nodded.

“So is Shimmering Night?”

Again, Rainbow nodded.

“Is that why you said what you did to Aurora?”

Rainbow looked down. “Yes. I… I went to talk to her though, after we got back, I told her I was happy for her as long as she was happy.”

“So… wait… does this mean… am I going to be a grandma?”

Rainbow nodded her head.

“How old am I? Really? I cannot be a grandmother and be twenty six.”

“You’re sixty seven, Twilight.”

“But… but… but… how?”

“The legends were true, the gods of old exist. There were four of them at first, Gaia, she created you as her Avatar, and you... you tapped into her power, and shared some with me. We'll live a long time Twilight, longer than any other pony on the planet.”

“Your wings?”

“They were… are your gift to me. Queen Chrysalis cut mine off, but you gave me new ones. You told me to fly, what choice did I have but to obey.”

“Rainbow... you're telling the truth, aren’t you?”

For the first time since Twilight joined her in the shower, Rainbow sat up; she turned and looked Twilight dead in the eyes. “Twilight, I swear on my life this is all true. This is why I didn’t tell you before. The story is unbelievable, but I swear it’s all true.”

“Whose idea was it?”

“What?”

“Whose idea was it to lie to me? Somehow, I don’t think it was yours.”

“It was… Cadance’s, but I went along with it, she told me that this was the best way to do it, that’s how I could get you back. Trying to tell you everything all at once would drive you away…”

“Cadance huh?” Twilight considered this news as Rainbow looked at her in the shower. She stared at those big eyes of her marefr-… wife before coming to a decision, well; more precisely, the decision came to her. It did not matter that her wife had lied like she had; she could forgive all of that. What mattered was the certainty in her voice, the expression on her face, all of her non-vocal cues. They all spoke of a mare who was torn up inside, one who put aside everything she was, everything she felt, all for the sake of the one she loved. One who could no longer do it anymore; one that wanted… needed somepony to return the favor so that she could be given a chance to heal. With that realization in her mind, there was only one decision Twilight could make.

“Well, remind me to write her a thank you card.”

There are several sights that can represent true happiness, these sights include, but are not limited to: A mother holding her foal, a sunrise overlooking a lake, a rainbow shining brightly in the sky. Not one of those held a candle to Rainbow’s smile at that point. It shone with such intensity Twilight was almost afraid she would go blind.

“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted as she jumped on her wife, hugging her for all her worth. At that moment, Twilight felt the Universe right itself, somehow, everything was simply wrong in a way she simply could not explain, almost like something fundamental was off.

Now? Now it was simply right, like a painting that was just slightly tilted one way. Not enough to notice, but enough that her ceramide function in her brain was simply put off by it. Her world corrected itself, for the first time since she woke up from her accident, everything simply felt right.

It was another thirty minutes before they let each other go; it was only due to the water getting cold that it happened so soon, each of them was simply content to be in the other’s hooves. A feeling they both knew all too well and did not want to be without any longer then they had to.

As with all good things it had to come to an end, they left the shower and dried off, a process that was rushed a little as it required them to be apart.

When Rainbow wrapped her wing back around Twilight they were both amazed. It happened on reflex, instinct, almost like it was always meant to be.

“What the?” Rainbow looked down at the rogue appendage. Not in shock over where it was, but that it moved at all.

“You told me once they respond to your will, is that correct?”

“That’s what Night said.”

“Maybe they didn’t work earlier, because… because you didn't want to leave… not really.” Twilight rubbed her muzzle against Rainbow’s. Rainbow could not stop herself as she let out a yawn.

“Tired, Rainbow?”

“It’s been a long day. Twi… if it’s not too much trouble will you… will you hold me until I fall asleep?”

Twilight smiled. “Ok.”

Rainbow smiled at her as they crossed the threshold into the bedroom, without any fanfare Rainbow crawled onto the bed with Twilight getting in behind her. She noticed for the first time just how small Rainbow was. The mare lay over on her side as Twilight lay against her back. She wrapped a hoof around the cyan mare.

“Goodnight, Rainbow.”

“Goodnight, Twilight.”

After another ten minutes, she could feel Rainbow’s pulse begin to slow; her breathing came in slower breaths. Until, at last, sleep came for the mare.

Twilight tried to join her in sleep… a thought she had to give up on after an hour. She would not move from the spot. Too much had happened and she did not want to be away from Rainbow for any amount of time unless she absolutely had too.

Her mind began to wander from picture to picture on the wall, several times she would smile as she saw pictures of her kids playing outside as visions returned to accompany them. They were not all good, but that did not make it any less sweet. For Twilight, it was like seeing her life played out in front of her. With each picture would come a new vision, with each vision would come a new memory. With each new memory would come a new picture. She found herself falling in love with these ponies all over again. In a way that only a mother could love her family.

“Hey mom!!!! I did it! I figured out teleportation!!!” Night yelled as she bounced around like an excited filly who just got her cutie mark.

“Hey sexy…” Rainbow walked out of the bathroom, dressed in lingerie that only seemed to enhance her natural beauty.

“Aurora, no more cookies!!!” She saw Rainbow chase her daughter around the room, flying after her and trying to get the bag of cookies from her hooves. Aurora was smart. She was using her small size to her advantage by flying around and under every bit of furniture in the room. Until, at last, she hid under the bed. All the while stuffing her face with cookies.

Twilight smiled at that memory, she finally understood Rainbow’s cookie comment about the mare.

“Mom, they made me headmaster!” A purple stallion walked into the room, he was dressed in a professor’s robe as he shouted out his victory to his mom. “I can’t believe it!”

“Way to go Dayspring!” She saw Rainbow sit up, the pride she felt evident by the look on her face.

Twilight paused; she looked around the room, looking for something, anything to confirm what she suspected. Eventually she found it. Using her magic, she levitated a picture from off the wall over to the bed. She knew this stallion, she had seen him before, but he did not go by the name Dayspring Gleam, he called himself Sunshine Spring.

“Rainbow… Rainbow, wake up.”

“Five more minutes.” Her wife spoke in her sleep, almost on reflex.

“Rainbow, this is important, please.”

Rainbow rose her head, unsure what this was about or if she was still dreaming. “What’s wrong, Twi?”

“This is Dayspring, isn’t it?” Twilight asked while she held a picture of her son to Rainbow’s face.

“Yeah…” Rainbow’s mood instantly went sour. It was not the sort of question she was expecting to hear and definitely not an image she expected to see after just falling asleep.

“I’ve seen him.”

“Of course you have, he was your son.”

“No, I saw him last night, at the train station.”

Rainbow’s grogginess left her as she sat up, she looked at Twilight with a disbelieving glare on her face. “Twilight, if this is a game, it’s not funny.”

“It’s not a game, Rainbow. I… I saw him after you left, he led me to the train station that night, I… I bought him a ticket home, to Ponyville. He told me this house was his, he said his mom built it. I… I think he was talking about me. I… I started to get my memories back after meeting him, but he did not go by Dayspring Gleam, he called himself Sunshine Spring.”

“Twilight…” Rainbow paused, she did not know if it was the delirium from sleep deprivation or what, but she did have an answer for Twilight. “Twilight, Dayspring gave his life to bring back Aurora, he’s dead… I've come to accept that.” She rubbed a hoof over her wife’s back. “Listen to yourself, do you think that maybe, just maybe you were starting to get your memories back and you just happened to put in a pony named Sunshine Spring as the catalyst for it?”

“No, he was real!”

“Think about it, Sun-shine Spring, Day-spring Gleam. Is that not a little suspicious? Don’t you think that it might just be a way for your mind to process the emotions after our date? That maybe your memories started to return from that experience and Sunshine was simply a way for your mind to make sense of it all on a deeper level?”

“Well… maybe.”

“It’s hard, I know. I've lived with it for the past six months; you have to deal with it all at once. Sleep on it ok, and if you still believe that it might be him. I will personally turn Equestria upside down to look for Sunshine. On that you have my promise.”

Rainbow rubbed up against her wife, a show of comfort and love. “Rainbow… I guess that makes sense.”

“Now come on, lets go back to sleep.” She laid her head on the mare’s lap, easily able to fall back asleep.

Twilight thought about this for a while. It was likely that Rainbow was right; still, she was so sure that the pony was real, that it was this pony in the photo. She returned the photo to the wall. She would follow Rainbow’s advice and sleep on it. Nothing else could be done for tonight.

It took awhile, but she was able to eventually join her wife in blissful slumber. That night, her dreams were full of the memories of the love that they shared in the house. The memories returned to the mare, allowing her to live out past events, the good, the bad, and the sexy, almost as if she was watching it on a screen.

She knew, with every fiber of her being, she had made the right choice. This is where she belonged; nothing else mattered as long as she was with Rainbow.

…………………………………...

Ataxia frowned as she chased a little rat under another rock; she blasted that rock to pieces and watched it scurry under another, then another. It was… frustrating to say the least. This was a minor creature, one that was not worth this headache. Ataxia had taken to classifying the threats by her own unique branding. Rats were low-level creatures, ones that she did not even need to transform for. Wolves were the next class, ones that she would transform to fight, but they were only a threat in massive numbers. Needless to say, she had never felt threatened by a wolf class.

Bears were a little more deadly, sometimes they could be a major threat. The last bear class was Tirek. That hunt had been her worst, something she did not like remembering. That hunt had made Night mad at her…

Ataxia transformed and toasted the entire area. She smiled as she heard the little rat scream in pain. Whatever this creature was, it was now dead, her hunt was over.

“Commander, was that necessary?” The Wonderbolt flew up and asked as his team surveyed the carnage. Everything in a hundred yards was burning from her fire. No amount of water could put out her fire. It was magically imbued with her own personal power. There were no options for putting it out; they knew from experience that they could only let it do its damage. Letting it consume everything in its wake.

Ataxia glared over to the Wonderbolt, upset that he would question her so… then she looked around. The devastation was extreme…. Something she had no doubt would make Shimmering Night upset.

“Oh… my fault.”

He just stared at her; dumbstruck about Ataxia offering such an apology, such an event had never occurred before. Ataxia looked at him, a pleading expression on her face. “Can… can we not mention this to Night?”

“Ma’am, she will need to know, the damage alone has to be reported.” He said, a professional tone in his voice.

“Great…” Ataxia said back, her expression downcast at Night having to know that she bucked up such an easy hunt.

“But, you can tell her yourself, if you want.”

“Yeah, let me do that. I might be able to explain things better.”

The group took off, heading back to Canterlot, the large dragacorn leading the way.

……………………………………

“Ah! That was so sweet of you, Grim Night! Or should I call you, Sunshine Spring?”

Sunshine looked over at a shadow that joined him as he sat on top of a neighboring roof to the Sparkle household. To his infinite displeasure, Blood Dawn had joined him.

“Hello, Blood.” The black pegasus was grinning at him. His grin turned into laughter at Grim Night’s new form.

“You’ve got to transform back, I cannot look at you like that without busting a gut!” he managed throughout his giggling.

Grim Night glared at him. “If it will get you to shut up.” Black magic emanated from his horn, the energy surrounded the stallion, covering him from head to hoof. “Is this more to your liking?”

It took a few minutes for Blood to recover; something Grim had no doubt he was dragging out as long as possible. “Much better! I tell you, seeing you in that form was hilarious.”

“Indeed… What are you doing here Blood? I thought you were after some pony overseas?”

“I was, but then I heard about you feeling so homesick and missing your mommy, I just had to come back and see it myself.” He tried to stop himself from laughing. Even if his attempt had been serious, he doubted it would have worked.

“You truly know nothing, Blood. Don’t ever presume to know my plans or why I do what I do. To truly hurt someone, they must have hope, they must have something to lose, something precious. Only when you give them that, only when they have hope can they know true pain, true despair.” Grim’s rage was coming to the front. Something Blood picked up on and immediately made him that much happier, a mad target was a stupid target.

“Are you sure, Grim? You didn’t just miss your mommy and want them back together? I think you did.” He poked Grim in the side as he taunted him.

The touch was a mistake, as soon as his hoof made contact black energy engulfed it. Capturing Blood in its grip. No matter what he tried, he could not get it off or get away from Grim.

“You… you’ve gotten stronger.” Blood commented, impressed about Grim’s new abilities.

“Indeed, I've not been idle as you play your games, Blood. The power I got from Tirek was amazing, although I have my sights set on bigger game now.”

“You sure you weren’t just feeling bad about your mommies not being together anymore?” Blood teased.

Grim lifted the arrogant pegasus with his magic, he was tired of this game already. “Tell me Blood, how did your race against Rainbow Dash go?”

The smile immediately left Blood’s face. He could not deny that fact. “She's faster than me, A LOT faster than me. She didn't even know we were racing and she easily left me in the dust.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Grim asked.

“There is nothing I can do… If I fought her, she would win, there is no way I coul-“

“What if I told you there was?”

“What?”

“I can increase your speed, Blood. it will take some work on your part, but you can be fast enough to regain your honor, if you want it that is.”

“What will this cost me?” Blood asked, intrigued, but wary of any ‘gifts’ that Grim might give, he would never willingly give something like this without it helping him immensely, or it being a trap.

“Oh, it will be high in price, you will have to do the one thing you never thought you would ever do. Then kill someone, but if I know you, that is simply a perk of the job.”

As a show of faith, Grim let Blood go. The pegasus rubbed his hoof, trying to get the feeling back before his dark magic simply overtook it. He was impressed that Grim did not simply kill him, if he was still alive that spoke of a much bigger game. While he had no doubt that none of Grim’s plans were good news for him, he would be lying if he said he was not intrigued by the offer.

“What… what would I have to do?”

“You would have to trust me first off.”

“Trust you? You're joking right?”

“Blood, if I wanted you dead, I would have killed you already.”

Blood thought about this. It was true, if Grim wanted him dead, he would be dead. As it stood, he could not win against Rainbow. That meant he was not the fastest. That stain on his honor was far more than anything Grim could do.

“I don’t trust you Grim, but do what you have to do.”

Grim smiled. “Stay still, Blood.”

Grim Night gathered up his dark magic at his horn, channeling it to the very tip and multiplied it several times over. Every instinct Blood had told him to run, told him to flee and live to fight another day. He kicked all those thoughts to the curb.

The magic blast from Grim struck Blood Dawn dead in the chest, causing him to lift up into the air, the energy soaked into every fiber of his being, imbuing every cell of his body with its power. It was not a pleasant process; the pain was so intense that he could not even scream. When it ended, Blood fell back to the ground.

“What… I don’t feel any different Grim.” He asked, confused by this very unexpected turn of events.

“That’s only step one Blood, it’s up to you to complete step two.”

Blood stretched his wings out, unsure just what in Tartarus he agreed too. “Alright… what’s step two?”

“You will enjoy this one Blood, it’s right up your alley.”

“Just get on with it.”

“All you have to do is drink the blood of the innocent.”

“What? That’s it?”

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than you might expect, it has to be a pure innocent. Someone who has never even had an impure thought in his or her life.”

“So, a wild goose hunt?” Blood said, disbelieving at this turn of events.

“Would I do something like that to you?”

“Yes.”

“And you would be right, but not today. I know exactly where you can find someone like that.” Grim said with a smile.

“Where?” Blood began pacing back and forth, eager to get the benefit of whatever this power up did.

“You will find the one you need in Warclaw.”

As soon as the location came out of Grim Night’s mouth, Blood was gone. Laughter followed the shadow’s wake, he knew the location, and even if he had to spill every drop of blood in the capital city. He would find the one he needed and reclaim his title of the fastest being alive.

“Someone is going to die tonight!” Blood Dawn yelled out as he left Ponyville’s airspace.

Grim smiled as the arrogant whelp left. If he succeeded, Grim could up the timeline of his plans. If he failed, that simply meant that Grim would have one less annoyance to deal with. Either way, win-win.

Grim Night's laughter attracted the attention of the ponies on the nearby streets.

Author's Notes:

Blood is about to make a move on Warclaw, how will they fare against a revenant of his power?