Cloudsdale, in the far east.

  Cloud Palace, the home of Rainbow Dash, the pegasus apprentice.

  "Wake up.", said one of the king's guards, to the blue pegasus, who was sleeping like a rock. "Rainbow Dash, wake up."

  "... wh-what is it?", said Rainbow Dash, her eyes opening against her will.

  "The king needs to talk to you."

  "Does it have to be now? I'm trying to sleep here."

  "He said it was urgent."

  "Just five more minutes..."

  "Rainbow Dash, when the king says it's urgent, you must be there at this exact moment. So get up, and go talk to the king."

  "*sigh* Fine..."

  Rainbow Dash fluttered through the palace's halls. It was so early in the morning she could still see the moon through the windows. The throne room was so filled up, it looked like every pegasus in Cloudsdale was there. The king was awaiting for her. Rainbow Dash dropped to the floor and bowed over.

  "Rainbow Dash...", said the king, with his loud, baritone voice. "... the time has come for you to undertake your final trial."

  "Whoa, really?!", said Rainbow Dash. "Heck yeah! Now I can finally be a real pegasus!"

  "What?"

  "Please, excuse her language, sire.", said the king's guard. "She's going through that phase of our lives."

  "No I'm not!", said Rainbow Dash. "This is just the way I am. Can't you understand this?"

  "AHEM!", said the king, with an even louder tone. "Please, stay silent, you two."

  "Pardon me, sire.", said the guard.

  "Sorry, dude.", said RD.

  "As I was saying...", said the king. "... Rainbow Dash, for your final trial, you must go to the Place of Emptiness, and endure your final test. I am praying for your success in the final stage of your training."

  "Sweet!", said Rainbow Dash. "Thank you, king! I won't let you down!"

  "Of course you won't."

  Rainbow Dash flew through the door, going outside toward the Place of Emptiness. On her way, several pegasi cheered for her, while she tried to show off by making a bunch of cool flying stunts. When she got tired, she saw Scootaloo, who was cheering the most.

  "Rainbow Dash, you are the coolest pegasus ever!", said Scootaloo.

  "Oh hey, Scootaloo.", said Rainbow Dash. "How you doin'?"

  "I'm doing great! I hope that, someday, I can grow up to be just like you!"

  "Haha! You've still got a long way ahead, Scootie."

  "Can you teach me how to do one of your tricks?"

  "Oh... sorry, Scootie, but I don't have the time right now. I'm about to complete my training and become a real pegasus!"

  "To me, you're a real pegasus already."

  Rainbow Dash let out a tear from all the cuteness involved. "That's so nice of you, Scootie! Now... I gotta go."

  "Can I come with you? I want to see what I'm gonna have to deal with when I complete my training."

  "Sure."

  At the Place of Emptiness, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were the only ones around. The place really did feel empty.

  "Now, Scootie...", said Rainbow Dash. "... I heard that this is the scariest trial of them all. Dumb-Bell told me that I was going to fail it, because I was such a weakling, so I'm going to prove him wrong."

  "Good luck, Rainbow Dash. I know you can do this!", said Scootaloo.

  Suddenly, an old pegasus flew over to their location. He looked really wise.

  "You have nice eyes.", said the old pegasus. "You must be Rainbow Dash."

  "That's me.", said Rainbow Dash.

  "Your Mu Training will hopefully end today. I completed it a long time ago, and I want to show you a higher level of intelligence. I'm still realizing and learning this high level. Anyway, here's your trial: you must fly over to the top of the mountain, and not give up for anything. You must stay there until you know you're done. Got it?"

  "Got it."

  Rainbow Dash flew over to the mountain, while Scootaloo watched, and the old pegasus flew away.

  "*sigh* You can do this, Rainbow Dash.", said Rainbow Dash to herself. "It's easy. Just stay here until the end. What's so hard about it?"

  "Rainbow Dash!", said the king's guard, from another mountain top. "I am a messenger from the king!"

  "Hey, what's new?"

  "The king sent me to tell you to stop the trial immediately."

  "Well, tell him to go buck himself."

  "Rainbow Dash!! You must come back with me instead of staying in a place such as this!"

  "Say what you want. I'm not coming back. Not after years of hard work."

  "The king wishes it... please come back. You must give up this trial for now... believe what I say. It is the truth."

  "Dude, why don't you go bug someone else? I'm not coming down from this cloud!"

  "This is a mountain."

  "Do you ever listen to music? Anyway, I'm not coming back."

  "I made you some cookies. I know you love cookies."

  "Care to bring them here?"

  "I didn't actually make any cookies... but please, you've got to come back!"

  "I won't. Now go live your life."

  "*sigh* You know what? Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you."

  "Yeah, go away."

  The guard flew away, while Rainbow Dash didn't even reconsider what she just said. The training was really important to her, and she wasn't going to ruin everything just because of some fake cookies. While everything happened, Scootaloo was cheering quietly, to not break Rainbow Dash's concentration.

  Eventually, Rainbow Dash started to black out. She didn't complain, though. Maybe it was part of the training. On her strange dream, an ugly-faced spirit came to her mind.

  "Rainbow Dash...", said the spirit. "... I am the spirit of your ancient lineage."

  "Hey there, dude.", said Rainbow Dash, out loud. Scootaloo didn't see anyone beside her.

  "To complete this trial, I am going to break your legs."

  "Heh, sure, go ahe-- WHAT?!"

  "You will lose the use of them. Do you accept this?"

  Rainbow Dash considered refusing, but she knew that it was part of the training. While expecting the worst, she let out a quiet "yes". She then felt a HUGE pain in all of her four legs. It was so painful she couldn't even scream. All she did was lie there, trying to resist the uncontrollable urge to cry her heart out.

  "So, Rainbow Dash...", said the spirit. "... you cannot walk, as your legs are broken. Next, I will tear your wings off."

  "W-what now?", said Rainbow Dash.

  "I shall then take your wings and feed them to the crows. Do you accept this?"

  Again, Rainbow Dash let out a much quieter "yes". She then felt another (slightly lighter) huge pain, this time in her wings. Rainbow Dash couldn't hold a tear or two, but still kept strong.

  "Ah, Rainbow Dash...", said the spirit. "Without legs and wings, you can only lie there... now, I'll cut your ears off. You don't mind if I take your hearing away, do you?"

  Rainbow Dash struggled to shake her head. The pain from her legs and wings was still unbearable. But, at the same time, she knew that her legs were perfectly fine, as well as her wings. However, her brain was too busy receiving pain signals to actually realize that her body was in perfect state. Eventually, she realized she couldn't hear a thing.

  "Rainbow Dash, what's happening?!", yelled Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash didn't answer.

  "So, Rainbow Dash...", said the spirit. "No legs, no wings, no sound... by floating words through the air, I must ask you... do you care if I take your eyes?"

  "N-n... no... no.", said Rainbow Dash.

  "Do you want to live in eternal darkness?"

  "Might as well... right?"

  Rainbow Dash suddenly realized she couldn't see a thing either. However, her eyes were still there, because she couldn't hold her tears anymore. She felt like she was dying, and the torture session didn't help much.

  "So, Rainbow Dash...", said the spirit. "... now I can only communicate directly with your mind. Your mind is all you have left... in the end, I will take your mind... though you probably don't want to allow that, do you?"

  Rainbow Dash couldn't say a thing. She has never felt that much pain before.

  "So... you can't answer? You can't even move? Are you sad?... are you lonely?"

  All Rainbow Dash could do was cry with more intensity.

  "If you lose your mind, you also lose any feelings of sadness... do you accept this?"

  Rainbow Dash nodded with extreme difficulty.

  "I will take your mind, Rainbow Dash... know that I will possess it..."

  The pain was suddenly fading away quite fast.

  "... and tell you that you've completed your Mu Training."

  Rainbow Dash woke up, with tears all over her face. She looked around her body. She didn't see blood around, and she looked perfectly fine. She could move her legs again, and she could also hear the singing of birds. When she recovered her mind, she saw the same old pegasus standing in front of her.

  "Congratulations, Rainbow Dash.", said the old pegasus. "You have completed your Mu Training!"

  "Wha... what happened?", said Rainbow Dash. "I thought my legs were broken, and..."

  "... and also your wings were torn off, your ears were cut off and you lost your sight. All that, and you didn't even think about going back! You, Rainbow Dash, are the most loyal pegasus in Cloudsdale!"

  "... REALLY?!"

  "You were the only pegasus in the whole land that managed to keep yourself up, and pass this trial in your first time! Our second best pegasus, Dumb-Bell, actually took thirteen tries before finally getting over this. But you... you just went ahead and passed the test like it was no big deal!"

  "Actually, it was a pretty big deal..."

  "Rainbow Dash!", said Scootaloo, flying over to the top of the mountain. "You did it! I knew you could do it!"

  Rainbow Dash smiled. She now knew that she was the awesomest pegasus in Cloudsdale, and her number one fan now likes her even more. Just the thought of making a child happy was enough to cheer her up.

  "The king must be so pleased!", said the old pegasus. "Let's hurry to the palace!"

  "Rainbow Dash...", said the king. "... I am most certainly proud of you. You have completed your Mu Training. There is nothing more I can teach you from the holy writings."

  Every pegasus in the palace was cheering. Rainbow Dash felt like the best pegasus in the world... she was, actually.

  "Now, Rainbow Dash, I shall relay a message to you from Eternity."

  "I'm listening.", said Rainbow Dash.

  "The evil entity that controls all chaos is preparing for the greatest struggle of all time. The only ones who can challenge the entity are nine ponies and a baby dragon. The leader of the group is a purple unicorn, named Twilight Sparkle. And one of the ponies is you, Rainbow Dash. And now that you've completed your training, you must search out Twilight Sparkle at once. For all beings, for Equestria itself, I pray for growth in the might of the group."

  "Thanks for everything, guys.", said Rainbow Dash. "I'll miss you."

  "Good luck, Rainbow Dash!", said Scootaloo, giving Rainbow Dash one last hug.

  "I'll miss you too, Scootie."

  Rainbow Dash then flew off to the land below, somehow knowing where she needed to go. Next Chapter: Pride and Joy Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 11 Minutes