-RARITY-

The small apartment I shared with my step-sister Twilight was modest and humble, ‘homely’ would be a good way to describe it, but my bed was wonderful. It was my haven at the end of a monotonous day and on this early winter morning it cradled me in its warmth and comfort like a child in their parent’s womb.

Simply marvelous.

That is, of course, until the sudden impact of a pillow hitting me in the face roused me abruptly from my slumber, but that disturbance was nothing compared to the clattering of my body falling out of bed and onto the thinly carpeted wooden floor.

“I’m awake!” I said deliriously, trying to grab hold of something to help me onto my hooves but just grabbing the sheet off the bed and pulling it down on top of my head instead. “I’m blind!”

“Silly, you overslept,” the tender, if teasing, voice of Twilight Sparkle was a great comfort but not nearly as much as her delicately taking the sheet off of my head. “Don’t you have somewhere to be today?”

“I do, I do indeed,” I grumbled dramatically as I stretched my weary bones. They were no more ready to be awake than my mind was. “My sweet companion Fluttershy has requested my assistance with a matter that she assures me is most urgent.”

“Oh?” Twilight, ever the inquisitive one, tilted her head with a curious smile. “Do tell?”

“Darling, I wish I could,” I sighed theatrically, grabbing my brush and arranging my mane into its naturally perfect, beautiful style.

My body was weary and at times rather difficult to look at, dysphoria being what it was, but my mane was glorious and looking at it made me feel beautiful.

“Unfortunately,” I said “dear Fluttershy is rather tight-lipped about these sorts of things. I suspect she’s afraid of me judging her harshly if she’s forthright with me.”

“Huh, that doesn’t sound like you,” Twilight said ponderously, a hoof placed gently against her chin.

I couldn’t help but giggle at how cute she looked and I said “Of course not! I am as trustworthy as they come!” while flicking my mane back rather dashingly. I sighed and let out a weak chuckle. “But Fluttershy is a rather nervous sort, you know how it can be sometimes.”

Twilight, ever anxious herself, let out a sad sigh, though her eyes quickly lit back up as she said “You should really introduce me to her sometime. I bet we’d get along really great.”

“Ah, yes… of—of course,” I let out a soft giggle and thanked my luck that Twilight was not one to pick up on certain social cues like ‘forced laughter’.

Fluttershy had been a faithful companion of mine for several years, from before Twilight even moved in with me, yet in all that time never had the two actually met each other and this was, unfortunately, by design.

At first it was simply a matter of Twilight never leaving our apartment for any reason ever but after about a year or so she began reluctantly leaving our humble dwelling every so often… usually to go to the library, check out more books than I thought was even possible for a single pony to read in a lifetime, and then come straight back home and read them all within a fortnight at most.

However, the sad truth of the matter is that Twilight and Fluttershy were both anxious, awkward ponies, bless their hearts. Being out and about with either of them took a certain amount of mental energy from me to make sure they felt safe and comfortable… the idea of having to manage both of them, and the fears of what if they didn’t get along, and what if they didn’t get along because of me… well, I just… I never seemed to have enough spoons for it.

I yawned rather dramatically and dismissed Twilight with a wave of my hoof. “Darling, can you grant me about ten more minutes of beauty sleep?”

“Uh, okay. If you’re sure?” Twilight said hesitantly, and as I smiled and nodded at her she bowed her head and tiptoed out the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I crawled back into bed, into my little haven… but I knew no sleep was coming. I opened the blind above my bed to look out over the horizon and the beautiful cityscape of Dodge City… unfortunately, all I could actually see from my window was the wall and dumpster of a neighboring apartment building.

I buried my face in my pillow and groaned quietly. I would have cried had I still the capacity to shed any tears, but I fear I must have cried myself dry many years ago by now.

I didn’t dare look at the clock as I awaited Twilight’s inevitable return to ‘wake’ me, I simply remained on my bed with my face buried into the pillow, only lifting my head periodically to breathe before the weight of my circumstances forced my head back down like a crushing hammer of gravity.

Do you ever have that feeling when you go to sleep, where a part of you hopes you don’t wake up in the morning?

I fear that is how I feel every single night.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I was on my way to the library, pushing past or just ignoring every oaf, dingus and moron who shambled through the slums past me, when I suddenly stopped— like, grinded straight to a halt. It was in front of an alleyway, shrouded in darkness under the dreary gray afternoon sky, and I saw something out the corner of my eye thanks to my awesome peripherals.

Two girls, one lying bloodied on the ground and the other standing over her with a sneering grin. The grounded girl was a pony and had blood coming from her lip and bleeding scratches on her body, and the other, a griffon, had blood all over her talons.

It didn’t take a genius to see what was going on here.

“Hey,” I said coldly as I walked into the alley, stomping my hoof to grab the two girls’ attention. “Should’ve thought twice before roughing up somepony on my turf.”

“Who asked you?” the griffon girl spoke with a gruff, smug voice. “You tryin’ to start somethin’?”

I let out a single wheezy chuckle. I didn’t get a chance to really stretch my legs as often as I’d like, so I relished the opportunity when it presented itself. And this girl was just begging for a butt-kicking.

“If you got somethin’ to say, try—”

Before the griffon could even finish her lousy taunt, she was already sucking air thanks to my hoof colliding with the top of her head at freakin’ light speed. She spread her wings and jumped back, coughing up a bit of blood and wiping it off on her cheek before saying “Not bad, but it’ll—”

This girl needed to talk less, which I eloquently stated with a firm kick to the side of her head, sending her to the ground.

“Now…” I chuckled and stood over the griffon, cracking my neck from side to side. “Do you want to stick around and see me get serious?”

Dense as she was, even she got the point I was making and didn’t say another word, just spat blood at the ground by my hooves and made a break for it, flying away from the alley with her tail between her legs. Metaphorically, I mean.

“Thank you! Thank you so much, I—”

“Don’t sweat it,” I wasn’t super interested in the pony girl’s praise or gratitude and she wasn’t hurt enough to need a hospital, so now that she was safe I had no reason to stick around.

“I won’t forget this!” she said as I walked away from the alley.

I weakly raised a hoof to acknowledge that I heard her but wasn’t interested enough to turn and face her. Like I said, her praise didn’t mean much to me, I just did what needed doing. It was just a shame that griffon ran off before I could take her wallet.

****

-RARITY-

I headed briskly through the streets of Dodge City, eyes darting nervously at every single passerby, anxiously certain they were all clocking me as trans.

Put it out of your mind, Rarity, I thought to myself, It’s just paranoia… you’ll be okay.

Dodge City was an interesting little town. Everyone was dirt broke and just trying to make their own way; so long as you didn’t get in said way, most ponies wouldn’t give you much trouble. At least, that was the hope that I clung to for fear of becoming yet another trans woman horror story, of which I’d heard far too many.

Still though, with my mane perfectly coiffed and a dashing teal scarf wrapped around my neck and billowing behind me in the soft winter breeze, I looked hot and felt confident. At least, confident enough.

The walk from my apartment to the public library wasn’t long and before I knew it I was there, a young yellow pegasus with a flowing waterfall of pink hair draping across her back waiting for me as she sat atop a short brick wall.

“My apologies for keeping you waiting, darling,” I said abruptly as I walked toward her, my voice quiet so as not to startle the easily frightened mare. “Have you been here long?”

“Not at all,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “I’m just glad to see you.”

“Likewise.”

I gently took the young lady’s forehoof and gave it a kiss, causing her to giggle, which was music to my ears. As much as I liked to play the part of the dour, aloof lone wolf, I couldn’t escape from the fact that I deeply valued my relationships with Twilight and Fluttershy… they were probably the only things in my life that had value.

“Did you oversleep?” Fluttershy asked, her hind legs kicking into the air as they dangled off the brick wall. “You’re usually so punctual.”

“Ah, yes… I apologize,” I sighed dismally. “I’ve been sleeping later and later these days it seems.”

“Something the matter?” Fluttershy asked concernedly.

I gave a half-hearted frown and an apathetic shrug. I took a deep breath of the crisp winter air and gathered my thoughts. If anyone deserved my honest thoughts it was Fluttershy, but I was a little worried she wouldn’t handle them well.

“I have…” I grumbled and almost began to choke on my words, or rather on the anxiety that kept the words from escaping, “…a lot weighing on my mind, is all.”

I couldn’t tell Fluttershy about how my inability to get work was wreaking havoc on my anxiety, I couldn’t tell her about how my inability to gain disability payments made me feel useless, what with Twilight covering most of our rent with her own disability, I couldn’t tell her about how I thought that leaving my family behind would allow me to break free of the chains of misery that bound me but I hadn’t realized until I had left them that those chains had smothered me half to death already.

I couldn’t tell her just how badly I wanted to die.

“I suppose it all just gets a little draining,” I said with a weak chuckle.

“I know how… I think I know what you mean,” Fluttershy whispered, a dour frown marring her beautiful face. I looked up at her curiously, arching an eyebrow as I eagerly awaited her to explain but she just forced some color back into her face “Anyhow, I wanted your help with something!”

“Um, okay,” I said abruptly. If Fluttershy didn’t want to share it was no business of mine to pry.

Fluttershy hopped off the brick wall and trotted toward the library, eagerly motioning for me to follow her with a nod of her head, which I was all too happy to do if only to get out of this cold. Only a scant few patrons were within the humble library but one stood out like a shining beacon among them.

Inside a small seating area in the exact center of the library, sitting on a plush chair with a book in one hoof and her other foreleg dangling off, was a blue pegasus whose mud brown, fur-trimmed bomber jacket stood out almost as much as her long mane of rainbow hair.

My stomach began to crawl as I realized why Fluttershy wanted my help. She was way too kind for this world, and nopony deserved her kindness less in my eyes than that pony.

“You know her, don’t you?” Fluttershy asked meekly, noticing my glare immediately falling upon the rainbow-haired mare. “Didn’t you two used to be friends?”

I simply shot Fluttershy a bemused scowl in response but upon seeing her stricken expression I let my features soften a released a soft giggle.

Oh Fluttershy, if only you knew.

Of course Fluttershy and I had spoken about my, um, ‘history’, with Rainbow Dash but only in rather vague terms. Truth be told, it was not a period of my life I looked back on with much fondness, or enjoyed recollecting.

“Why?” I said after a beleaguered sigh just loud enough to get a shush from a nearby patron. “Why her, Fluttershy?”

“Everypony deserves a little kindness,” Fluttershy said with a timid smile, her quiet voice perfectly suited for a library setting, “and I don’t think she has anyone to show it to her. I see her around sometimes on my daily commute, and nopony ever looks at her or gives her a smile. I have you, you have me and your sister, but I don’t think Rainbow has… anyone.”

I looked back at the rainbow-haired barbarian with her hind legs resting on the arm of the chair, flipping pages through her book with one forehoof as the other laid limply at her side and dangled off the chair. Then I looked back at naïve, innocent Fluttershy, her teal eyes bright and full of hope somehow.

“People don’t change, Fluttershy,” I said coldly, my words causing Fluttershy’s ears to clamp down on her head. “Hardship and failure shape them into the people they are and they don’t change once they’ve been set.”

Fluttershy gave a very mischievous little giggle and said “Then you know you can’t stop me,” she looked at me with blushing cheeks and stuck out her tongue and I couldn’t help but laugh softly at how cute she was, “I guess I have to show her kindness because it’s just in my nature.”

I let out an ugly snort that echoed through the quiet library, attracting the other patrons’ attention which caused my cheeks to burn red.

“I suppose I can’t argue with that,” I said, embarrassedly hanging my head.

“Besides… trans solidarity, right?” Fluttershy said with a pained smile. “If we don’t look out for each other, who else is going to?”

“Again, I can’t argue that point,” I sighed dismally, raising a hoof to cover one side of my face. You had to hit me right where I live, didn’t you, Fluttershy?

As much though my memories of Rainbow Dash made me ill, there was an equally frustrating part of my brain that couldn’t entirely give up on her. Trans solidarity had been drilled into my heart since I was a filly and I simply could not bring myself to completely hate another trans woman, even one as awful as Rainbow Dash.

I sighed defeatedly “I’ll be your self-esteem team over here, but that’s all I can offer.”

“That’s all I need,” Fluttershy nodded cheerily. “The carnival’s in town, and I want to ask her to go with me tonight. It’ll be a nice, pressure free place for us to maybe learn a little bit about each other…”

Fluttershy looked at me with wide eyes and a slight pout, and I simply rolled my own eyes and sighed quietly but theatrically.

“Yes, I’ll be there too,” I said grudgingly. Fluttershy squealed in delight and gave me a hug, which I reciprocated with some mock reluctance. “Now go ask her before I change my mind.” I said, pushing a giggling Fluttershy toward the rainbow-haired cretin.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I was chilling in the library like I did every weekend, reading the same Daring-Do book for the thousandth time. To be honest, I mostly just came for the peace and quiet, and not the reading as much.

I’d never really gotten bothered in the library before, I guess something about always having at least a little bit of blood on my face or hooves made me seem ‘unapproachable’. Today was different though. Today, as I lounged around on one of those big plush chairs I heard a faint squeak of a voice, almost like a mouse had suddenly got the ability to talk.

“E-excuse me?” the voice said timidly, although I suppose the timid part goes without saying.

I didn’t pay it any mind at first, like I said no one usually bugged me so I assumed they must’ve been talking to someone else and even if they were talking to me I had no reason to care.

“Ex… excuse me? R-Rainbow D-Dash?”

At this point I almost felt sorry for whoever was trying to get my attention so I put my book down on the table and shifted myself into a position where I could see them, sitting on my haunches and looking up at a lanky yellow pegasus with long pink hair who was standing next to the chair and looking at me through the corner of a single uncovered eye, her hair covering the other one as she hung her head down anxiously.

“Yeah?” I said gruffly, still not super interested in having a conversation with this mystery girl but figured I could at least give her the time of day. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if, um, if you wouldn’t mind, if it’d be okay with you that is, if um…”

The girl started breathing heavy like she was about to have a panic attack and I was feeling the secondhand embarrassment reeeeally hard. Poor girl just stood there shaking like a leaf, stammering and kicking shyly at the ground, trying to come up with anything even resembling a sentence with no luck.

Finally she stamped her hooves loudly on the thinly carpeted wood floor and said for the whole library to hear, “Will you go to the carnival with me?!”

She immediately covered her mouth with her wings and her entire face turned red, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked around at all the people now staring at her.

“Well I can’t really turn you down after that, can I?” I chuckled, trying to ease some of the tension.

“Y-you don’t if you don’t… uh, or rather, you can’t, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to, I mean—”

“Bup!” I put my hoof against her mouth to get her to stop embarrassing herself. “It’s no biggie. Not like I have any plans. So yeah, I’ll go to the carnival with youuuuu…”

I put my hoof out and moved it in a half circle, expecting the girl to give me her name but she just stared blankly at my hoof. I sighed bemusedly.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh, um, it’s F-Fluttershy,” the girl squeaked.

“Well F-Fluttershy,” I said with a chuckle, “I’ll meet you there at eight. Sound good?”

Fluttershy nodded enthusiastically, tears starting to stream down her face as she smiled ear to ear, her face still half covered by her wings but her bright red cheeks plainly visible. I nodded awkwardly back at her and she laughed and ran off back to the entrance of the library.

I felt really badly for her and wondered if it would actually be a good idea to go with her to the carnival. I mean, I didn’t know her, she didn’t know me, and yet she just suddenly asked me out on a date out of the blue?

I’m not sure she knew what she was getting into. Her life wouldn’t exactly be improved by having me in it.

Whatever, didn’t really matter now, I said I would do it. Besides, it might be nice to have someone to talk to besides Pinkie. Plus I remembered when I used to be nervous like that.

Who knows, I thought as I sat back down in my chair, maybe this’ll be a good thing for the both of us?

****

-RARITY-

I stood on the stoop in front of my apartment and watched the cold winter sunset, breathing deep of the crisp air as I became lost in a sea of thought. However, my attention snapped to Twilight as she opened the door behind me. “How is she doing?”

“I gave her some cocoa and told her she could stay for lasagna,” Twilight said with a nervous smile. “I think she just needed a little time to cry it out and release the weight of it. I’m glad you brought her here.”

“I hope she didn’t make a bad first impression,” I said wryly, wrinkling my nose. I had always wanted my sister’s first meeting with Fluttershy to be perfect, but I suppose it simply was not meant to be.

“Not at all,” Twilight shook her head and laughed. “I know what it’s like to need a good ugly cry,” that made me chuckle, as I knew the feeling quite well myself.

“Twilight…” I turned back to the sunset, which seemed so big and imposing, like the sun was ready to crash unto this earth and burn everything on it to ash… or maybe I was just feeling a tad morbid. “I know this might be a ridiculous question, but… do you think people can change?”

Twilight was silent; a charge of cold electricity flashed between us.

“I’ve been thinking about it lately…” I continued, undeterred by her silence and walking down onto the concrete pathway in front of the stoop. “Fluttershy sees something in Rainbow, something that I can’t see no matter how hard I might want to.”

I let a hind hoof clack harshly down upon the last stone step as I walked past it. “I never guessed Fluttershy would be so bold as to ask someone else out, and yet here we are… and she sees something in Rainbow that…” I groaned irritably and rolled my eyes, “well, I’m repeating myself.”

“So you want to know if people can change… for Fluttershy’s sake?” Twilight asked curiously, “Or for Rainbow’s?”

“For my own…” I shook my head and let out a weak, pitiable chuckle. “I don’t think they can. I think people can bend and stretch and pretend to be something they’re not,” I lifted my forelegs high above the pathway, “but in the end…” and brought them down rather forcefully, making a harsh noise as they collided with the concrete, Twilight audibly wincing behind me.

“In the end you’ll always just be the person you are. Hardship and failure forms you, and once you’re set there’s no changing the person that you are.”

“Maybe…” Twilight said distantly and I looked over to see her sitting on the stoop, her expression ponderous and her eyes gazing far into the distance. “But I think… I think if the person you want to be doesn’t match your actions, then you can change those actions until they do match… after all, you’re at the helm of your own ship.”

I remained silent and I could tell the pressure of my gaze was weighing on Twilight’s heart. I did not mean to stare quite so coldly, but Twilight’s answer was somewhat… unsatisfactory. “Do you believe that?”

“I’m—I’m sorry?” Twilight shook her head and asked confusedly.

“Do you believe you are truly at the helm of your own ship in life?” I asked with a scowl.

“I—I think so, yeah,” Twilight looked nervous but she gave her answer with a nod and a precocious smile.

I simply inhaled through my nose and let out a soft, annoyed sigh. Not at Twilight, mind you, more at… I don’t know, life, I suppose.

“Do you not?” Twilight’s soft voice pulled me out of my depressed trance.

“I’m afraid…” I grumbled and looked back toward the setting sun, however briefly, before saying my piece to Twilight, “I’m afraid that I don’t, Twilight. The waves of life have caused my ship to move into unfamiliar waters, and I don’t see a way out of them. The life that I live is one controlled by circumstance, not by choice.”

“You can always choose, Rarity,” Twilight said with a smile.

The poor dear meant well, I know she did… perhaps when she was my age she wound underst—no, that’s a horrible thing to wish on Twilight, forget I said that.

“Perhaps…” I let my eyes scan the horizon one last time before turning back to Twilight with the brightest smile I could muster, “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see! Perhaps Fluttershy will drag something out of Rainbow that will surprise me after all.”

“That’s the spirit!” Twilight said cheerily.

“Come along then, Twilight,” I said with a giggle just light enough that Twilight would not have noticed the strain with which it came, “our lasagna will get cold if we stay out here all evening.”

“Oh! I’m right behind you!” Twilight laughed and the two of us walked back inside the house.

I would like to believe that she was right, that I was simply being cynical and nihilistic… but given the life I’d led, the things I’d seen, what other conclusion could I come to?

Perhaps, I thought, Fluttershy will yet prove me wrong.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

A badly lit, grungy alleyway nestled between two abandoned buildings acted as the weary home— such as it was— where I listlessly meandered to after I left the library, lying down in the hammock that functioned as my bed and felt all my bones start to ache as soon as I did so. Above my hammock was another just like it, where a pudgy pink cotton-candy haired pony was resting.

“I brought you a cosmic brownie,” I said, handing her up the plastic-wrapped treat.

“Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash!” she giggled, her infectious enthusiasm almost enough to bite through the cold air and dreary atmosphere of our sad little dwelling.

“Some girl asked me out today,” I said nonchalantly, thinking aloud to Pinkie Pie as was my usual.

Pinkie gasped dramatically. “No kidding?! That’s so great!” she stuck her head down where I could see her, her hair falling every which way, the brownie still between her teeth as she continued speaking, “Was she cute? Who was she? Did you accept? Tell me all the deets!”

“Her name’s Fluttershy,” I said casually, not paying Pinkie’s antics much mind. “You should’ve seen how pathetic she was— that sounded bad. I just mean she looked so…”

I tried to think of a nicer word than ‘pathetic’ but was coming up empty.

“It was sad,” I said, “so I told her I’d go to the carnival to make her feel better,” I pondered for a second, and Pinkie snorted at my complete lack of tact. “That also sounded bad. I don’t want it to sound like I accepted her offer cuz of pity.”

“I should hope not! You hate pity!” Pinkie dropped out of the hammock and landed on the concrete ground with a thud, springing to her feet before I could ask if she was okay. “So where are you going? When are you going? When can I meet her?” Pinkie hopped up and down excitedly as she asked a million other questions that I kinda tuned out for the sake of my own sanity.

“We’re going to the carnival at like eight,” I said listlessly, giving my eyes a bit of a rest. “Honestly, there was an actual reason, not pity related, that I accepted her offer…”

“Oh yeah?” Pinkie said curiously, leaning her face close to mine before getting swatted away by my hoof.

“Yup,” I groaned, trying in vain to get comfortable on my years-old hammock. “She was really nervous when she talked to me, like she was super worried about saying or doing the wrong thing.”

“That… sounds familiar,” Pinkie said uncomfortably and I looked over to see her kicking awkwardly at the ground.

“So you see where I’m going then,” I let out a little self-deprecating chuckle. “You remember how I used to be, super nervous and shaky and awkward. I couldn’t just… to go up to some girl and ask them out, that’s something I never could’ve done back then.”

“You couldn’t do it now!” Pinkie giggled and as much as I hated to admit it, she was totally right and that made me laugh.

“You’re not wrong,” I said with a wry smile, sitting up and looking right at Pinkie’s sunny face. “I guess what I’m saying is… I owed it to her if nothing else to take her up on that offer. I couldn’t let her bravery go unrewarded.”

“A little kindness goes a long way,” Pinkie said with a smile.

“Exactly,” I nodded.

I dragged myself out of the hammock and walked over to the alley entrance, looking up at the setting sun and gritting my teeth.

“Besides… Bifrost is almost here.”

“Ohhhhh snap!” Pinkie said emphatically, hopping over to me and leaning her body against mine, her eyes darting quickly in either direction. “What are you talking about?”

“A carnival that visits a dump like Dodge City, it’s bound to be full of all kinds of shady characters,” I said with a smirk. “Shady characters that may have a way for me to get an invitation to Bifrost. I mean, I know it’s a long shot but… it’s better than nothing.”

“I don’t get how that works,” Pinkie said in a huff, puffing up her cheeks. “Bifrost is like, the biggest martial arts competition—heck, the biggest competition period in all Equestria! How is it invite only?!”

“Because everyone and their mother is going to want to get involved!” I said excitedly, flapping my wings and hovering over Pinkie. “If just anypony could join they’d have literally half the population of Equestria competing! By the time the tournament was over they’d have to start the next one right after!”

“So that’s why there’s only like a hundred invitations?” Pinkie grumbled, not exactly satisfied by my answer.

“Yup,” I sighed desperately, lowering back down onto the ground in a slump.

There was nothing more important to me than joining Bifrost. I needed to prove that I was stronger than anyone else… I needed to defeat every other team that joined and prove that I could stand above everyone…

That was the only way I was going to defeat him.

“And it’s a hundred and eight, to be specific.”

“Right,” Pinkie whistled. “Welp, nopony wants this more than you do, so I just know you’ll get your hooves on an invitation! Tell you what, while you’re hanging out with your cute date, I’ll skulk around the carnival and try to find the shadiest of shady characters and see if I can’t rustle an invitation out of ‘em!”

“That’d be awesome, Pinkie,” I said with a bright smile and lifted my foreleg toward Pinkie, who pounded her own against it with a delighted giggle. “What would I do without you?”

“Uh, be extremely lonely and sad?” Pinkie scoffed. I just looked at her in bewilderment. “Too much?” she chuckled nervously, making me sigh and shake my head before she jumped up and tackled me to the ground in a bear hug.

I mean, she wasn’t wrong.

****

-RARITY-

“Now I’ll be around the whole time,” I said soothingly to a very anxious— moreso even than usual— Fluttershy as we walked to the carnival grounds with Twilight awkwardly following along behind us.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Fluttershy said with a slight nervous giggle and I couldn’t help but smile at her. Ever the charmer, that one.

“And if you feel uncomfortable at any time, for any reason, you come find me, okay?” I said sternly but caringly, like a parent would do, as I brushed some hair from her face.

“I know, Rarity,” Fluttershy must have caught on to how I was doting on her because she chuckled and pat me on the shoulder. “I can do this. I want to. For her sake and for mine.”

“Okay…” I took a deep breath and let it out as a weary sigh. And with that, it was no longer just Fluttershy who was nervous but me as well. It wasn’t long before the three of us ran aground of the rainbow mare herself and I could practically feel my heart falling into my stomach with a loud SPLOOSH.

She was leaning against a wall and pushed herself off with her wings to walk over toward us, stopping abruptly as she sized up our little group. She looked at me, looked through me, for barely a second before concentrating her gaze solely on Fluttershy. I couldn’t shake the feeling she was ignoring me on purpose.

“Hey, you made it,” she said with a self-amused smile. “How’re you feeling?”

“I feel okay,” Fluttershy said bluntly, an awkward smile on her face. Was she getting cold feet? I couldn’t exactly blame her… “I’m…” she took in a deep breath and her smile seemed a tad more relaxed after. “It’s good to see you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Of course it is. I’m awesome,” Rainbow chuckled and patted herself on the chest, eliciting an eye roll from me and an amused chuckle from both Fluttershy, and even Twilight.

Don’t encourage her, Twilight.

“So, you ready to go?” Rainbow hopped next to Fluttershy and winked at her. “I have a friend who gave me like, all the best info on how to squeeze as much as you can out of a place like this. Which is great cuz I have like no money.”

“Me neither,” Fluttershy laughed softly as the two of them walked away, Fluttershy shooting me one last smile as she headed off with her new friend.

“Take care of yourself, Fluttershy,” I whispered as she and Rainbow set off to have their carnival fun times, though I was certain she could no longer hear me. I let out a disgusted sigh and grumbled under my breath “I hate that girl.”

“I certainly hope you’re talking about Rainbow,” Twilight sidled up next to me and teasingly poked me in the side.

“Of course I am,” I frowned at Twilight, although the innocent smile on my sister’s face made it impossible to stay angry while I looked at her, though my thoughts of Rainbow tried their best. “I mean, you saw that, right? The way she glared at me? I’m not going crazy am I?”

“Uhhh… no?” Twilight tilted her head. “I didn’t see anything like that, she just kinda ignored us—“

“Exactly!” I stamped my hooves irritably. “How rude of her!”

“Ehh, I guess?” Twilight blushed and looked awkwardly into the middle distance. “I kinda would’ve done the same thing though. You know I’m not great at talking to ponies.”

“Yes, but you’re you and she’s…” I gestured pitiably toward Rainbow as my tongue slowly fell out my mouth.

“Oh is she?” Twilight said sassily, giggling as I shot her a bemused glare. “Look, do you trust Fluttershy’s judgment?”

“She’s naïve,” I harrumphed. “She’s kind and sweet, but sheltered… she wants to believe the best of everyone, even when there’s no ‘best’ to be had.”

My tone became cold and my eyes faltered toward the ground.

“And besides… you and I both know how trying to see the best in someone can lead so easily to heartache.”

Twilight’s silence said more than any words possibly could.

“Well…” Twilight cleared her throat loudly to move on from that uncomfortable topic. Always the subtle one, Twilight Sparkle. “I noticed you haven’t really tried to stop her.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t really my place to stop her,” I shrugged and let out a tired groan. “As much as I detest that accursed blue pegasus, I don’t believe for a second that she will actually hurt Fluttershy… and…” I whined in frustration and let out a beleaguered sigh. “I want her to surprise me.”

I let loose one more theatric sigh, flicked back my mane with a harrumph and walked off, Twilight following behind as I allowed my rumbling stomach to lead me away from thoughts of Rainbow Dash and toward grossly intoxicating overpriced carnival fare.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

This was going about as well as I figured.

As soon as her friends were away, even though they weren’t ever quite out of sight, Fluttershy started to clam up instantly. She awkwardly kicked at the dust, her eyes darted nervously at the ground and her wings flittered anxiously like she was doing everything she could to stop herself from just bolting into the sky and bailing.

She basically did everything but speak.

I… wasn’t much in the way of social skills. I knew I needed to say or do… something to get her to open up, but… geez. The wall of silence and nervousness she was putting between us was a real downer, and I couldn’t blame her for it for one second.

And let’s be fair here, she wasn’t the only one who was nervous. I wasn’t exactly a dating master or anything and it was hard for me to get out of my own train of ‘wow you sure are showing her a good time, you freakin’ idiot!’ thoughts.

Still though, I just kept thinking I can’t let her bravery go unrewarded.

Fluttershy seemed a lot more, uh, cutesy I guess, than I ever was, but she definitely did remind me of how I used to be as a kid… and if I were in her position, what would I want me to say?

“Do you like, uh…”

I looked around at the various carnival games. I knew I could win some of them, but I also knew a lot of ‘em were straight-up rigged and if I blew this chance it would pretty much tank the whole night, so I immediately started getting nervous.

But screw that, I swallowed my nerves and said “Do you like stuffed animals?”

“I-I… y-yeah, I do…” she nodded with a sweet smile, but her eyes were still glued to the ground.

“Want me to win ya somethin’?” I said with a grin, nudging her gently with my shoulder. “I’m pretty good at some of these games.”

“O-okay,” she nodded fervently.

I couldn’t help but think, Great, she’s a people-pleaser. Trying to figure out how she actually feels is gonna be way harder than winning a rigged carnival game.

We walked up to one of those ‘shoot the thing at the cups and knock ‘em all over’ type of games, which was perfect for me. You controlled a little mounted pellet gun with a couple of levers, but the stupid gun was always jammed in such a way that it would shoot to the left of where you aimed, then to the right of where you aimed… or vice versa, can’t remember which.

No matter though. I had a little rig of my own up my sleeve.

“What do you think of that bear?” I pointed to a giant stuffed bear that was practically twice my size.

“I… I already have that one,” Fluttershy murmured.

“Ah. What about the possum?” the possum was also pretty big, like one of those stuffed toys that you can use as an oversized pillow.

“I actually…” Fluttershy looked at the collection of prizes and started giggling, which was the first sign of any emotion other than ‘anxious’ she’d shown all night so this was already a win so far! “I already have all these!”

“Whoa, seriously?” I said amazedly. There must’ve been fifteen or twenty prize animals. “That’s dedication!”

“I collect a lot of stuffed animals,” Fluttershy tilted her head toward me and her hair fell over one eye. It was freakin’ adorable.

“That is so rad, honestly,” I snickered and I could see her blush and smile but the anxiety choked the emotion right off her face as quick as it came. “Okay, how about… that?” I pointed to a sea-green butterfly hairpin that would look super cute against her pink hair. Heck, it even almost matched her eyes!

“That’s…” she blushed again, which I think was a good sign? “I like it. Okay.”

“Okay what?” I said teasingly, giving a wry grin to the girl.

“Okay…” she took in a deep breath and puffed up her chest and cheeks before saying in the most adorably sweet voice “Rainbow Dash, please win me that hairpin!”

“Ask and ye shall receive, fair maiden!” I was trying to sound cool but the jerk behind the counter snickered at me and that made me get all flustered. I was absolutely gonna destroy his little cup castle now.

So, how this game is supposed to go; you get five shots and three castles, and the gun’s supposed to misfire in a wrong direction just enough that you’re too disoriented to hit all three castles. Like, you can’t analyze the system at play without putting in a ton of money.

Buuuut with subtle use of my wind magic, even if the bullet doesn’t hit the castle, the force behind it does. And with that on my side, it was no problem taking out three castles in three shots.

The counter guy looked totally flabbergasted and I think he suspected me of foul play, but what was he gonna do? Make a big scene? No way he was paid enough for that.

“That was incredible!” Fluttershy said, hopping excitedly up and down with a big smile, and I couldn’t help grinning ear to ear while I watched her.

“You don’t want to disappoint her, do you?” I said smugly to the counter guy, Fluttershy beaming at him and holding out her hooves. The man sighed irritably and took the hairpin off the shelf, handing it to me.

“Here ya go, fair maiden, as promised,” I gently placed the hairpin in her hoof.

She blushed and tried to thank me but she was getting a little bit blubbery. I was starting to get a little hot too so I walked her over to someplace where we could get some frozen treats… in early winter, but still.

We sat on a bench and ate some cheap ice cream popsicles, Fluttershy surprisingly in awe of that hairpin, brushing the hair around it repeatedly and looking up at it with a smile several times.

“You like it that much?” I said as I caught her playing with it and smiling for like the umpteenth time.

“I-I…” she just blushed and took a bite of her ice cream, which she instantly regretted based on the pained look on her face. I couldn’t help but cringe myself as I imagined what biting into that frozen treat probably did to her teeth.

“I do like it,” she said, her voice pained from the ice attack. “I know it’s just a cheap little carnival hairpin, and it’s probably stupid to like it as much as I do—”

I scoffed and dismissively batted a hoof. “A thing has as much value as you give it. If you like it, you like it, and that means it’s valuable. Doesn’t matter where it came from or how you got it, only thing that matters is how you feel about it.”

“Oh,” she said, blushing and staring down at her ice cream. “I guess then…” she looked back at me with closed eyes and a big smile. “I really like it. Thank you.”

I grinned at her in response, feeling really good about myself, and she quickly averted her eyes as she opened them to refocus on her ice cream.

We sat in relative silence for a few moments while we ate the ice cream, but for once it wasn’t the kind of incredibly awkward pregnant pause that we’d become used to. This time there was like, a warmth between us. She was nice, and I think she was starting to get used to me too, like… well, no sense in just making assumptions.

“Are you glad you came?”

She nodded energetically with a big smile on her face, which made me grin widely too just by instinct. I think I’d already smiled more tonight than I had in years. “I really am.”

She started laughing, and dang it she got me doing that too. So there we were, just laughing and grinning like idiots, until…

A loud CRACK sound echoed through the night air, catching everyone who heard it off-guard.

It was soon followed by the crashing sound of an explosion and fraying electrical wires. I threw myself into the air and faced the direction of the sound, catching a glimpse of someone with lightning radiating around their talons and throwing it at the ground in random directions, no doubt trying to cause a stir for some attention.

It was a woman, a brown and white feathered griffon who looked vaguely familiar. It took me a second, but I recognized her from the beatdown I gave her earlier.

Welp, if it was attention she was after, she was about to get more than she bargained for.

The year is 2007, and a thirteen year old who does not yet know that she’s a girl really loves Naruto. Like really, REALLY loves Naruto.

She has a lot of pent up aggression and energy, so she spends a fair amount of time beating the absolute stuffing out of her pillows and she thinks, still oh so enamored with Naruto, “I could make a cool story out of this!”

Over a decade and one hyperfixation with colorful horses later, here is that story; now a fond ode to my younger self.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

-FLUTTERSHY-

Rainbow Dash and I were sitting on a bench during the evening carnival, administering the finishing blows to our ice cream.

We’d been sitting in relative quiet for a few moments but it wasn’t like before where it was awkward and nerve-wracking… more like, we were just enjoying each other’s company.

“Are you glad you came?” Rainbow asked suddenly.

I didn’t know how to say it but… yes, yes I was so glad I decided to come here tonight. I couldn’t bring myself to say that though so I just nodded with the biggest doofus grin on my face and said “I really am.”

But I was painfully aware of what a goober that made me look like so I just started laughing, but to my surprise Rainbow laughed too. And not the kind of satirical ‘I’m laughing at you’ laugh, but genuine heartfelt laughter.

It was nice… I wished it could’ve gone on like that for a long time, but…

A loud CRACK roared through the night air, sending a child up my spine. Whatever that was, it couldn’t have been a good thing. It wasn’t helped by the POP of an explosion, the clattering of metal objects on the concrete ground and the sound of fraying electrical wires that followed.

Rainbow flew into the air and I threw myself onto my hooves and we both turned in the direction of the disturbance to see what was the cause.

I spied a brown and white feathered griffon, cackling proudly as she was throwing lightning from her talons at the carnival stands and the ground around her while carnival patrons and workers ran for their lives.

“This is horrible…” I muttered under my breath. I looked to Rainbow Dash to see how she was faring and she had a look of grit and determination in her eyes.

Before I had a chance to even ask her what she was doing, she moved like the wind toward the griffon, clearly ready for a fight. I couldn’t believe she would do something so… brave? Reckless? Honestly I wasn’t sure which, but I knew I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing while she risked her life to save others.

Despite that though… fear kept my legs in place, and I couldn’t bring myself to follow her.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

“Didn’t you learn your lesson earlier, idiot?” I scoffed as I flew toward the griffon, taunting her with a dashing grin and ready to draw blood.

“Ha! It’s you again!” the girl let out a single wheezy laugh. “I won’t go easy on you this time, dweeb!”

“That is such a cliché,” I just scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Yeah I’m sure you went super easy on me when you were coughing up blood earlier!”

I buffeted my wings in her direction, sending a blade of wind flying at her but she just jumped into the air to avoid my attack.

The girl had a bloodthirsty grin on her face, which fittingly mirrored my own. My taunts aside, I could tell right away this wasn’t gonna be like the curb-stomp in the alley, this was gonna be a proper fight. And I was here for it!

“If this is gonna be a real match-“ the girl lunged forward at me, sweeping her hand in an arc in front of her with an electrical current following behind it, her attack nearly taking my head off if I hadn’t lurched backward out of the way just in time, “-we should at least know each other’s names. Mine’s Gilda.”

“Rainbow Dash,” I said with a smirk, landing on the ground.

Gilda nodded and smiled confidently as she touched the ground a few feet in front of me, scratching her talons across the ground as they crackled with electricity. I could tell she was just starting to get warmed up but that was fine by me. I could take her down before she even had a chance to get serious.

I bolted forward, feet leaving the ground and letting my wings carry me as I aimed to hit her in the neck head-on, but before I could reach her she swung her hand upward and caused a bolt of lightning to appear in an arc following her movement right where my face was about to be.

Luckily I was able to stop myself by leaning back and throwing wind ahead of me, pushing me just barely out of the arc of her attack, but that left me way off balance as I hit the ground, which was about to be extremely bad for me.

Gilda jumped at me and swung her arm in a horizontal arc, aiming for my head, but I ducked under the electrical current. She swung her other arm in a vertical arc, still looking to hit my face, but I threw myself backward with my wind to avoid the attack.

Still a little disoriented from the sudden change in momentum, I didn’t see Gilda coming at me until she was right in my face, but I managed to throw myself into the air to narrowly avoid getting my muzzle seared by another current of lightning. She was standing directly underneath me now though, and I was still off-balance.

Playing defense like this was gonna get me killed. I needed to recalculate my strategy if I wanted to beat her without getting my face fried off by her lightning attacks.

Still in midair, I flapped my wings hard at Gilda on the ground, sending a strong gust of air her direction, just enough to distract her as she was forced to throw her arms in front of her face and close her eyes, which gave me the opening I needed.

I jolted down and landed on the ground directly in front of her, landing a right cross directly between her eyes and a left hook against her cheek, her pained grunts music to my ears and her red blood clashing marvelously against the blue fur on my forelegs as the force of my hooves hitting her face, still a little busted from our encounter earlier, left bloody cuts in their wake.

I quickly danced around to her side and slammed her hard in the ribs with my hind legs, using my wind power to magnify the blow, and sending her flying into an abandoned food stand. She jumped back to her feet and scratched her electrified talons across the ground with a low growl.

Her taunt was cute but she was way too slow, and with her now on defense there was no way she could keep up with me. I closed the distance between us and kicked her foreleg or arm or whatever out from under her, knocking her way off balance and sending her on a collision course with the concrete.

While Gilda was distracted ever so briefly, I quickly looked around to check for civilians. I needed to make sure Gilda’s attacks didn’t accidentally hit anypony who was too stupid to bail once things got ugly. You know there’s always that one idiot who stands around gawking during a fight instead of getting to safety, and just because they were an idiot didn’t mean they deserved to die.

Coast was clear though so I quickly turned back to Gilda.

I thought that the momentum of her arm being kicked out from under her would throw Gilda more off balance than it did, but to my surprise, in the fraction of a second that I let my attention waver from her, she took the time to swipe her other claw right at my face, her talons crackling with electricity like they do.

My thoughts were racing a mile a minute trying to consider my options. My miscalculation of how dazed Gilda would be from my last attack, plus my momentary distraction to check for passerby, left me way open.

I could throw myself backward or into the air to dodge this attack but Gilda was obviously way faster than I’d realized and there was no way she didn’t immediately close the distance if I dodged this, and if her follow-up attack didn’t just gut me outright it’d still put me in a really tight spot.

Should I just try to tank the attack then and hope I could weather it?

Welp, time was up and I needed to do something… or so I thought.

I was almost as shocked as Gilda when her electricity fizzled harmlessly around her fingertips, a little yellow hoof pushed gently against her wrist. I could not believe my eyes as I turned to see that hoof belonged to Fluttershy of all ponies. I don’t know how she managed to stop Gilda’s attack but she turned the tide of this battle in a major way.

I slammed my hind legs against the ground and spread my wings, jumping into the air above Gilda and winding up a foreleg, landing a massive haymaker against Gilda’s face that, backed up with my wind power, sent her flying across the battlefield and careening hard with the concrete floor a few feet away.

I needed to close the distance fast though, if I’d learned anything about Gilda during this fight it was that giving her an inch could be a fatal mistake. I briefly looked to my right and saw Fluttershy staring determinedly at Gilda, spreading her own wings and getting ready to fly.

With a smile on my face and Fluttershy’s support I flew toward Gilda. She was just getting back to her feet when I hit her with a mach speed flying punch right to the head, sending her flying back to the ground and faceplanting onto the concrete.

In the heat of the moment I thought that I might have accidentally killed her, but I was relieved to see her struggling to her feet. I waited a second to see if she would surrender, seeing how badly outmatched she was. Big mistake.

Instead of surrendering, Gilda clasped her claws together and pointed a single claw at me, electrical energy flowing all around her and through her talons and culminating in that fingertip. Since I stupidly let my guard down and backed up to make sure she wasn’t dead, I was too far away now to dispel her attack… but Fluttershy’s intervention was timed perfectly.

With Gilda so totally focused on me, she didn’t notice as Fluttershy moved surprisingly quickly to her side, only taking note of the dainty yellow pegasus as her front hooves gently collided with Gilda’s ribs, completely knocking the griffon’s flow of magic out of whack and dissipating her attack.

I moved in quickly, positioning myself between Gilda and Fluttershy. Our opponent wouldn’t be stupid enough to ignore Fluttershy’s presence again which meant she was in danger now. I quickly buffeted my wings at Gilda, the griffon’s legs buckling and bringing her to the ground at my feet under a gale force assault.

I looked down into her eyes with a stone cold glare and said sternly, “This fight is over,” and I felt SO COOL!

Gilda clicked her tongue and grumbled “This ain’t worth the time,” before rather adeptly flying out from underneath me and catapulting into the air at alarming speed. In the blink of an eye she disappeared into the clear night sky. I had a pretty good feeling she wasn’t coming back anytime soon.

I heard Fluttershy breathe a deep sigh of relief behind me and I couldn’t help but smile as I turned around to face her, grabbing her shoulders and lifting her an inch off the ground.

“Fluttershy, that was amazing!”

****

-RARITY-

I swear, go to the bathroom for one second and you miss everything.

Twilight needed to use the restroom and I went with her to help ease her anxiety, and when we went into the restroom, everything was fine. When we came out, people were running every which way and screaming while pillars of smoke began to coat the sky in a noxious black cloud.

“What… in the name of Celestia…” I muttered in awe, Twilight letting out an audible gasp as she saw the panicked fleeing carnival-goers and flaming wreckage of several machines.

“That’s right! Run! Run for your lives!” the shrill sound of an annoyingly haughty voice caught my attention. I looked to Twilight for a moment and she nodded, then we both ran off to where the voice was coming from.

Surrounded by several turned over carnival games and food stands, with a couple machines wreathed in flame that billowed tall columns of black smoke that choked the chill winter air, was a lime green pegasus with long pink hair who was rather smugly looking over the damage she had caused as she floated above it all.

I don’t know if she was expecting a fight, but she had certainly brought one upon herself.

“If you beg for mercy from the mighty Queen Merry May, perhaps I will find it in my heart to spare you!” the woman cackled before throwing a gust of torrential wind at an abandoned carnival game stand, knocking the stand over with a loud crash. I suppose we didn’t need to ask for her name.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Merry May,” I spoke as I stepped up to confront this mysterious ruffian, making sure Twilight was safely behind me. “But I’m afraid if you’re the one causing all this upheaval, I will be forced to bring you down.”

“Oh please,” Merry May landed on the ground and spat in my direction, causing me to scrunch my face in disgust. I mean, it was one thing to be evil enough to attack innocent ponies, but to be rude on top of it? Unforgiveable.

“I don’t suppose you’d mind just turning yourself in?” Twilight asked pleadingly, and Merry May and myself both shot her similar bewildered glances, which made her cheeks flush as she muttered “It was worth a try, I guess.”

“Look, if you guys aren’t gonna run,” Merry May rolled her eyes and slowly walked toward us, “then you can at least put up some kinda fight. I mean, I came to this backwater town to look for Bifrost competitors, but all these ponies,” Merry May gestured weakly toward a few carnival-goers that were running in panicked circles amidst the chaos, “are just pathetic.”

“You can’t just attack innocent people!” Twilight said indignantly and stamped her hoof on the ground. She was acting so brave, I was quite proud of her!

“Uh, yes I can,” Merry May scoffed and let out a mocking chuckle. “I mean, that’s what I’ve been doing. You not been paying attention?”

“Enough talk then, I suppose,” I whispered to Twilight.

“Right,” she replied coolly, nodding her head and analyzing Merry May.

As if sensing our change in demeanor, Merry May buffeted her wings toward us, nearly toppling the two of us over with a strong blast of wind before Twilight raised a glassy barrier in front of us that sent her attack back at her.

May was undeterred by her reflected attack and simply flew high into the air, sending another wave of wind at us. While Twilight raised the shield to protect against the wind itself, we failed to notice that her attacked was aimed not quite at us but around us, specifically at several hunks of broken scrap metal that were now lying on the ground from busted machines.

The wind gathered several of these scrapped pieces and sent them flying at us from both sides. I managed to jump forward to evade the attack and Twilight dodged backward, but now we were separated by a few feet which left me open to an attack from the green pegasus hovering just above me.

Twilight threw the glass shield at Merry May, the improvised magical throwing weapon shattering against her head and resounding against her skull with a solid CLANG and disorienting the pegasus who fell to the ground and wobbled around on her hooves.

I looked at Twilight and smiled at her, my sister responding with a sigh of relief, before I turned my attention back to the green pegasus before me. Truth be told, despite all my bravado from before, I was not much of a combatant… I was very good at sewing and… talking… and… well, that was about it.

Still, a solid kick to the head hurts even when coming from a non-combatant and it certainly made its mark on Merry May, who fumbled to the ground in a heap.

“Rarity, look out!” Twilight’s words caught me by surprise but far more so did the sudden sting of sharp scraps of metal digging into my body from behind me.

I let out a piercing scream and fell to the ground. My vision blurred and for a single heartbeat I wondered if I was going to die… I wasn’t so used to being in an active battle zone. But Twilight… Twilight was more than prepared.

Before my vision had even fully settled I could see the scraps of metal that had pierced me hovering in the air surrounded by Twilight’s raspberry aura. I looked at my wounded flank and saw not blood and injuries as I had expected, but the same violet glow bathing my fur and sealing the wounds effortlessly.

Merry May clicked her tongue angrily but I saw her eyes widen as Twilight launched the several pieces of metal straight at her, almost as if she intended to gore her outright. It was so unlike the Twilight I knew to be so violent but I could hear her heavy, frantic breathing as she stood above me in a defensive posture.

“Relax, darling,” I said as I stood back on my feet, placing a hoof gently on Twilight’s shoulder. “Don’t lose yourself to anger, be calm and be vigilant.”

“Right,” Twilight said with steely eyes fixed on Merry May, scraping a hoof across the ground as the pegasus stared her down.

The green mare scoffed. “If you think I’m going down that easy, you’v—“

Before she even had time to finish her taunt, the shattered remains of a cotton candy machine fell on top of her thanks to my lovely sister. The pegasus crawled out from the wreckage and shook her head but before she could even speak another taunt, yet another machine, a popcorn one this time, fell atop her.

“Darling, I don’t think you want to give her a concussion…” I said worriedly. No matter how awful she was, we didn’t want to kill her!

“Sorry,” Twilight said sheepishly.

“Yeah, okay, screw this!” Merry May screamed as she bolted out from under the wrecked machines, flying off into the sky until she was a mere twinkle among the stars.

Twilight harrumphed and stamped an indignant hoof.

“You did marvelously,” I said, brushing back Twilight’s bangs like a doting sister and making the younger mare turn her face away and reflexively bat at my hoof.

“I guess,” she grumbled. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Thanks to you,” I said charmingly, “I am perfectly well.”

“That’s good,” Twilight sighed, partly in relief and partly in frustration. Suddenly her ears perked up and she looked at me in alarm. “We should go make sure Fluttershy’s okay!”

“Ah, of—of course!” I said frantically, startled by the sudden reminder and burned by the shame of momentarily forgetting about my companion and the danger she could be in.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

“Fluttershy, that was amazing!”

Hearing those words come from Rainbow Dash as she heartily grabbed onto my shoulders and lifted me off the ground was… overwhelming. The blood rushed right to my face and it felt like I was trapped inside of an oven all of a sudden. I didn’t know how to respond either, I didn’t think I was all that amazing… I just…

“I just did what anypony would do.”

“Whatever!” Rainbow scoffed and put me back on the ground, her laugh quickly becoming something of a cackle. “There were a ton of ponies at this carnival and no one but you and me had the guts to take down that griffon! And your ability was so cool! I’ve never seen anything like that!”

I… I wasn’t used to so much praise. I had no idea what to say to it all and I was starting to feel really panicky. My Gentle Hoof wasn’t anything that special, and it’s not like I worked hard to attain it, it was all just instinct. I didn’t even really understand how it worked myself!

I didn’t know what to say but luckily I didn’t have to say anything because we were soon interrupted by a haughty woman’s voice.

“Guts is a good way of putting it,” the voice said from behind me, eliciting a frightened squeak from me. Rainbow immediately stepped between me and the woman, getting into a defensive stance.

I turned around to see the voice belonged to a pale purple unicorn with bangs covering her forehead and her purple hair tied back into a slick ponytail with a teal streak that shone brilliantly through it.

“And you are?” Rainbow said warily.

“My name is Starlight Glimmer,” the unicorn said pleasantly, using her pale teal magic to grab something out of her saddlebags and producing two golden envelopes with a striking crimson seal on each.

“And you don’t need to be alarmed, I’m not much of a fighter,” Starlight said with a disarming laugh, hovering the envelopes in front of the two of us and offering them to Rainbow and I. “All I want is to give you each these.”

Rainbow quickly snatched the envelopes out of the woman’s magic, her hooves shaking as she looked at them with wide eyes that almost looked on the verge of misting up. “Are these…”

“They are two individual invitations to the Bifrost tournament,” Starlight had a smile on her face that said she knew exactly how valuable these invitations were and that she was quite pleased, if smugly so, to see Rainbow react accordingly. “One for each of you, of course.”

“One for… these are…” Rainbow was breathing heavily. She absentmindedly gave me one of the envelopes, the contents of which meant very little to me personally, but I was really surprised to see Rainbow’s reaction. I’d never seen a smile so big as the one on her face as she gently rubbed her cheek against the envelope.

“Of course, the Bifrost is a team-based competition,” Starlight continued, mostly unfazed but still quietly amused by Rainbow’s zeal. She probably saw reactions like hers a lot. “The invitation extends to each of you individually and two other ponies, or other creatures if you prefer, of your choosing.

“Should you both decide to compete on the same team, please give one of the invitations to someone else so that they may compete, although I will leave the deciding of who should get said invitation up to your judgment. Think of it as a consolation prize, I guess.”

“That’s… a lot,” I muttered.

“I’d like to say you have plenty of time to decide what you want to do…” Starlight chuckled, lifting a hoof up to her mouth and staring coldly at Rainbow and I. She seemed polite enough but something about her was… unpleasant. Unnerving almost. “But the tournament does begin the day after tomorrow, so please make up your minds by then.”

“Wait a tick,” Rainbow said suddenly, giving her full focus to Starlight. “Day after tomorrow? And you’re still giving out invitations? Doesn’t that seem a little sloppy?”

“We give out a single invitation on each of the hundred and eight days before the tournament,” Starlight explained. “If we gave them all out months or even weeks in advance, there would be no sense of intrigue or urgency… plus they would all likely go to a bunch of rich jerks who just bought them or hired hitmen to take them or some such. Very boring, no fun for anyone.”

“If you give out one every day, why are you giving us two?” Rainbow asked suspiciously. I couldn’t blame her for being a little reticent and making sure this wasn’t a ‘too good to be true’ situation.

“Those of us that are given authority to hand out invitations are allowed to make judgment calls like this,” Starlight said with a slight giggle. “You both impressed me… and besides, those are the final two invitations so that means I can take tomorrow off!” Starlight laughed and I couldn’t help but giggle myself.

“So… this is legit, huh?” Rainbow said, her voice a mixture of excitement and anxiousness.

“One hundred percent,” Starlight replied with a nod and a confident smirk. “Clear as the scarlet seal on those envelopes.” Starlight cleared her throat and added, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a one-day vacation to take!”

Starlight laughed again as she walked off into the dark of the night, leaving behind only a few more words before she disappeared from sight, “I hope to see both of you at the preliminaries in two days! Good luck!”

I looked at the envelope in my hooves and tried to muster up some kind of emotion… but I felt nothing. I had no interest in joining a fighting tournament and it made me a little sad to think that I had something so valuable in my possession and it meant less to me than the silly hairpin Rainbow won me from the carnival game.

“Fluttershy!”

Rarity’s voice calling my name caused my ears to perk up and I looked around for a moment before I saw her and Twilight running toward me, both looking rather haggard and their coats were all messed up, like they’d gotten into… a fight.

Oh.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” Rarity said, grabbing me by the shoulders and inspecting me this way and that.

“I’m—I’m okay,” I couldn’t help but giggle a little bit at her concern. “What about you? You don’t look… you look a little worse for wear.”

“Eh?” Rarity looked at herself and then at Twilight, before looking back at herself and then at me, giving a shrug. “It’s been a long night.”

“Fluttershy, is this what I think it is?” Twilight said with a gleam in her eye, picking up in her raspberry magic the envelope I had carelessly dropped on the ground.

“Oh. Yes.”

I sighed, fearing the attention I was about to receive. “It’s an invitation… to Bifrost.”

“How the heck did you—” Rarity coughed to cover up whatever she was about to say “How did you get your hooves on one? And so suddenly at that?”

“Because she’s awesome, that’s how!”

Rainbow Dash suddenly joined the conversation and put her foreleg around me, taking me by surprise and making me let out a tiny “Eep!” not to mention drastically accelerating my heartrate. I had almost forgotten that she had been standing behind me the whole time I was talking to Rarity.

“Is that right?” Rarity said drolly, shooting Rainbow a spurious glance. “I mean, I don’t disagree, but I’m surprised you’re saying that.”

“Did you two get into a little scrape?” Twilight asked teasingly “Perhaps with whoever it was that was shooting lightning this way and that?”

I nodded meekly, sliding out from under Rainbow’s leg.

“Yeah, and Fluttershy was incredible,” Rainbow laughed and playfully bumped her hoof into my side. “I really owe her one.”

“Huh. You don’t say,” Rarity looked at me and I nervously averted my gaze, feeling like her eyes were going to burn a patch in my skin. “It’s getting pretty late now though…”

Rarity looked up into the sky, the smoke from some of the explosions pretty much entirely cleared up at this point, and stuff around us was starting to quiet down. “Fluttershy, do you need someone to walk you home?”

“I can do it if you want,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “I kinda want to talk to you about this anyway,” she raised her envelope for everyone to see and I had to admit, I was curious what it was she wanted to talk to me of all ponies about.

“That’s really not—”

Rarity tried to interrupt but I cut her off by saying, “I would like that, Rainbow Dash,” I looked toward Rarity with an apologetic look on my face. “If that’s okay with you?”

“What? Y-yes, of course,” she nodded effusively. She was trying to play it cool but her flushed cheeks gave her away. She batted a hoof playfully. “Do what you need to do.”

“Thank you, Rarity,” I said, bowing my head graciously and giving her a brief hug. “And thank you as well, Twilight.”

“Uh, no problem,” Twilight said with a bright, albeit nervous, smile and I laughed softly at it because I knew I made that exact same smile all the time.

Rainbow jerked her head to motion for me to follow and I gave her a gentle nod.

“And thank you, Rainbow Dash,” I said with a soft smile, Rainbow returning the sentiment with a very charming grin. “It’s been… a lovely night.”

****

Rainbow escorted me back to my home, a dainty little apartment on the outskirts of town… ‘apartment’ may be giving the wrong impression, it was basically just a shack.

We walked mostly in silence the whole way there, I think Rainbow could tell I was overwhelmed and wanted to give me some breathing room before we talked about the whole… Bifrost… thing, which was very nice of her.

As I walked up the steps of the porch leading into the dark, lonely apartment-shack where I lived I realized I was hesitant to open the door and go inside. It had been… if I’m being truthful… it had been an amazing night. Even with the scary stuff that happened, Rainbow was so kind to me and even fighting alongside her felt… it felt liberating somehow.

“So, um…” Rainbow cleared her throat, standing at the bottom of the three steps that led to my front door. “What do you uh… what do…”

Rainbow sighed and I looked at her with a smile as I waited for her to figure out what she wanted to say. There was something kind of adorable about the way she was fumbling her words.

“I’ll just cut right to it…” she said, “I know you got your own invitation to Bifrost, but I want…” Rainbow shook her head, ruffled her hair and then, to my shock, bowed her head down to me. “Please join my team, Fluttershy. I would really like to have you on it.”

“Wh-what?!” the shock of Rainbow bowing was nothing compared to the shock those words gave me. “Why me? Why would you… why would you want someone like me on your team?” I wasn’t a very good fighter, I wasn’t very reliable or strong… and I was kind of a downer. I didn’t know what Rainbow was thinking.

“You’re amazing, Fluttershy.”

Rainbow said those words like it was nothing, like she was just stating an obvious fact. But to me, nothing could have prepared me for them. I swear my face must’ve turned beet red at those words and I wouldn’t have been surprised if my face was still red tomorrow.

“That power you have,” she continued, “I dunno what you did or how you did it, but it was incredible! But even more than that, you had the guts to throw yourself into the fight between me and Gilda. Power is one thing, a lot of ponies have power, not everyone has the guts that you showed me tonight. And that’s why I want you on my team.”

I was speechless. I stood there trembling, not sure of what to say or how to even begin to say it…

“And honestly, it’s even more than that…” Rainbow sighed, a coy smile on her face “You’re kind, you’re fun… you’re funny…” Rainbow laughed softly and looked up at me, smiling brightly, “I could really use someone like you on my team.”

“I… I don’t know what to say…” hearing Rainbow gushing all that praise… all of it for me of all ponies… I couldn’t… I didn’t…

“I’m not gonna twist your leg or anything,” Rainbow batted her hoof dismissively, “It’s not my style to force people into stuff, you’re free to live your life the way you choose to live it. And you don’t have to decide anything right now.”

Rainbow turned to leave and walked a few steps down the paved path back into the road, taking a deep breath and releasing it with a tense sigh. She turned back to me with a smirk and said, “I’m leaving tomorrow on the eight o’clock morning train. If you want to join my team, meet me at the station. If not…” Rainbow shrugged but she was still smiling, “Then hopefully I’ll see you as a rival. Later, Fluttershy.”

With one last wave goodbye Rainbow was on her way, leaving me alone in the dark on the porch to my empty home. No one was waiting for me inside there… no, nothing was waiting for me. And not just ‘no thing’, but nothing. Emptiness… oblivion almost…

Maybe that’s overdramatic.

But…

I stared at the golden envelope that I’d tucked into my wings, and saw an opportunity to change my life forever, for better or worse. I didn’t like fighting, no, I hated fighting. I hated conflict of any kind… but I couldn’t stop my mind from flashing between the sad thoughts of me eating alone in my dark house all by myself, wishing for somepony to keep me company… and the kind words Rainbow Dash piled onto me all throughout the night.

You’re amazing, Fluttershy!

You’re kind, you’re fun…

You’ve got guts!

…

…

I opened the door to my home and headed straight to the dark, empty bedroom and threw myself into the bed. I buried myself under the covers and tried to clear my mind so I could sleep. After all…

I needed to get up early tomorrow.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I was walking back to my little alleyway along the asphalt roads of Dodge City, barely functioning street lamps flickering above me as I looked down intently at the golden envelope that was sticking out between my teeth, my tongue gently brushing the edges of it as I walked… which was probably really unsanitary but WHO CARES. I almost couldn’t believe it, but here it was. My invitation.

“Hi there!” Pinkie chirped as she showed up next to me and started walking beside me. I’d known Pinkie for a little over a decade so her sudden appearances no longer fazed me. I’d be alone with my thoughts one second and then suddenly there was Pinkie and my reaction these days was just ‘oh, Pinkie’s here’ instead of the high-pitched scream that she used to invoke.

“Hey,” I said coolly, my eyes firmly locked onto the ticket, “Didn’t see you at the carnival.”

“I was around,” Pinkie said with a shrug, “Played some games, got some snacks, skulked around for some shady characters…” Pinkie giggled and placed her hoof gently on the crimson seal of my invitation before saying in a sing-song voice, “But it looks like I didn’t need to!”

“You knew about this?” I asked curiously, dropping the envelope into Pinkie’s hooves.

“I was watching from the bushes,” Pinkie said nonchalantly, analyzing the envelope she was now holding.

“There were bushes?” I had a pretty good memory of the carnival grounds and I didn’t remember any bushes, although knowing Pinkie she probably just brought them with her somehow.

“Well, it was either bushes or the smoking wreckage of a cotton candy machine…” Pinkie said ponderously.

I looked over at her and quickly flicked my hoof through her mane, grabbing a tuft of cotton candy that had gotten stuck in it somehow. She snatched it out of my hoof just as quickly and shoved it into her mouth.

“Wow, you saw right through its camouflage!” she said, making me snicker. Nopony got a laugh out of me like Pinkie Pie.

“This is it, Pinkie,” I said proudly, stamping my hooves anxiously against the ground. “We’re competing in Bifrost. You and me are going… somehow, we got our hooves on a ticket. You and me are going to Bifrost!”

The emotions had been welling up inside me all night but there was still a part of me that felt it must’ve been a mistake cuz it was too good to be true, but it was really hitting me now that this was real. I had the invitation in my hooves and this was happening.

I stopped in my tracks and just grinned ear to ear at the invitation. I started jumping in place and doing a really awkward looking dance, Pinkie Pie quickly joining in until we were on the ground in a laughing fit.

“I’m so happy for you!” Pinkie said, wrapping me up in a big hug. “But wait!” Pinkie sprung to her feet and I got back on mine right after. “You plus me equals two, which is three minus one because zero plus three makes three which is how many you need for Bifrost but three minus two is one which is how many we don’t have because we’re two and one plus two is three so three minus one is two—”

“Alright, I’m confused,” I put one hoof on my forehead and another on Pinkie’s to stop her rambling.

“We need one more teammate, duh!” Pinkie scoffed and rolled her eyes. It was really endearing to me how she thought anypony could keep up with her sometimes. “I thought it was pretty obvious what I was saying, Rainbow. You need to step up your game,” she stuck her tongue out teasingly at me and I just bopped her on the nose with a sly grin. Pinkie backed away from me with a giggle, brushing her nose gently with a hoof.

“I asked Fluttershy to join our team,” I said.

“Doesn’t she have a ticket of her own?” Pinkie cocked her head to the side, “Are you sure she wants to join us?”

“Yeah… and I dunno if she even wants to join Bifrost at all…”

I took a deep breath and sighed. I scrunched up my face and wrinkled my nose for a sec, but then I just shook my head.

“But I’m willing to bet on her,” I shrugged with a wry laugh and added, “And if not we’ll just find someone when we get there. Doesn’t matter who, I can ace this whole thing by myself, and I have you with me which means double the acing.”

“Ooh, I love acing!” Pinkie said exuberantly, “Like a strawberry acing on a chocolate cake! Mm-MMM!” Pinkie licked her lips. “Doesn’t that sound so good?” Pinkie gasped dramatically and said with a very proud smile, “We can call it Bifrosting!”

“You’re thinking of icing,” I said with a baffled laugh, “although yeah, it does sound good right now…” Then it hit me, and my eyes widened and my mouth started salivating. “Pinkie.”

“Yes, Rainbow?” Pinkie leaned against me, smooshing her cheek up against mine and smiling brightly.

“Teams competing in Bifrost get free meals at like, dozens of restaurants in Manehattan,” I said excitedly, giving Pinkie a huge grin, “If we make it all the way to the tournament proper, we can eat like queens!”

“Strawberry acing chocolate cake, here we come!” Pinkie screamed, hopping up and down and clapping her hooves against mine joyfully, me hopping like a doofus right alongside her.

Sometimes life was good.

****

-RARITY-

Seven in the morning. I got maybe three hours of sleep and I’m pacing the floor of my room in the dim glow of the rising sun peeking through the blinds. Did it bother me that Fluttershy got an invitation to Bifrost and I did not? No, that isn’t it. I wasn’t interested in Bifrost… right?

No, of course not. What purpose has a fashion loving socialite have with a fighting tournament?

Then again… I looked over at the pile of clothing in the corner of my room, unable to recall the last time any of it had been laundered or even touched. And I couldn’t exactly claim to be socialite without a social life…

No, no… don’t be ridiculous, Rarity! What possible purpose could a fighting tournament of all things have for YOU? Bah, just… put it out of your mind!

Then why was I awake right now? Why could I barely sleep last night? What has me so wound up?

It hit me soon enough… it wasn’t my lack of invitation that bothered me, not really, what bothered me was that Fluttershy got one at all.

And I was not mad at Fluttershy. It’s not as though she even asked for an invitation and if she was given one I’m sure she deserved it. But Fluttershy’s not supposed to get an invitation to Bifrost. One of the one hundred and eight exclusive invitations to the biggest profile event in all Equestria.

Fluttershy’s not that type of girl. She’s an ordinary girl, shy and sweet. She stays home on the weekends, collects stuffed animals, doesn’t make a fuss or make waves. People like her don’t get one in a million opportunities to join fighting competitions.

But that’s not what was bugging me either, at least not entirely. No, what was really getting under my skin, was that I was so sure she wasn’t going to ask Rainbow to the carnival. I was certain she was going to chicken out.

But that decision to go with her gut and do something outside her comfort zone, something I never in a million years would have expected her to do and even tried to talk her out of, ended up with her getting one of the one hundred and eight exclusive invitations to Bifrost.

A one in a million opportunity because she left her comfort zone.

Why did that bother me?

People don’t change.

Those words have been resonating in my head for over a decade.

People don’t change.

If there was one thing that I truly believed to be a universal truth, it was that.

People don’t change.

People are formed by hardship and failure, and once they’re set…

People. Don’t. Change.

I thought I knew everything, thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore… but Fluttershy did something I never could have expected, and she got a ticket to Bifrost, of all things, out of it.

I laughed and shook my head, sitting down onto the bed. It doesn’t matter I thought, She’s probably already thrown the envelope away. Fluttershy of all ponies is never going to want to join Bifrost.

A knock at the door made me nearly jump out of my skin and tied my stomach in a violent knot. Who could possibly be at my door at this ungodly hour? I slowly opened the door of my bedroom and snuck through the living room where Twilight was asleep on the couch and into the entryway, looking through the peephole to see…

Fluttershy?

The knot in my stomach grew tighter.

I opened the door slowly and stepped outside, leaving the door latch stuck in the door so it couldn’t close me out. Fluttershy turned and walked down the steps onto the pathway and I followed her.

“What are you doing here?” I stuttered from the cold, stamping my hooves on the ground in a futile attempt to keep warm. “And so early?”

“I want to give you something.”

Fluttershy’s voice was colder than the weather but there was an underlying current of firmness to it. She turned to face me and the nervousness I was accustomed to seeing in her eyes was hidden behind a veil of surefire determination, still there if I squinted, but hidden.

“And I want to say something to you.”

“Okay… what is it?” I asked concernedly, the knot in my stomach turning into a violent storm. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything is more than alright,” Fluttershy smiled and held a hoof against her heart and it was only then that I noticed the saddlebags resting atop her. She looked like she was ready… to travel.

The storm in my stomach became a rampaging maelstrom… and then subsided into steely silence as it dawned on me why she was here.

I held out my hoof. “What is it you want to give me?”

“You’re so sharp, Rarity,” Fluttershy giggled, “You’ve already figured it out, right?” She reached into her saddlebags and plucked the golden envelope out from inside it, giving it over to me. “I’m going to join Rainbow Dash’s team. I’m going to Bifrost with her.”

I took the invitation and held it in my hoof, looking down at it for a moment with cold eyes before even acknowledging what Fluttershy was saying. I heard the sound of shattering glass in my mind.

People don’t change.

“Fluttershy…” I said weakly, gripping the envelope tightly with both hooves, half a mind to rip the damn thing apart.

“We’ve been friends for years, Rarity…” Fluttershy started to pace back and forth in front of me. “And since even before I met you, I’ve been… really weak. I’m scared… a lot… by a lot of things. I’m easily frightened and I get anxious and… oh well those all mean the same thing.”

She looked at me with flushed cheeks and stamped her hooves defiantly on the ground. “Rainbow saw something in me last night… she said I was amazing, that I had guts. I…” her eyes started to water and I wanted desperately to say something comforting.

“Fluttershy—”

“Please!” she shouted weakly and held out her hoof, catching me off guard. “Let me… let me finish…” I simply nodded. She put her hoof back on the ground and took a deep breath before continuing.

“I want to be the amazing, gutsy Fluttershy that Rainbow saw last night. Not for her, but for me… I know…” the water in her eyes had turned to full on fountains by now and she looked half a step away from openly sobbing, the poor dear. “I know that you think people can’t change… and for a while I used to believe it… I still might, but…”

And there were the sobs.

She put a hoof up to her face and let her hair fall over her eyes and wept for a few seconds. I didn’t know what to do so I did nothing, just watched as she broke down in front of me. After a few more sobs and a couple of loud sniffles she was composed enough to speak again.

“I want to believe that I can change,” she said through loud sniffles, her eyes already all read and puffy, “I used to believe it wasn’t possible, because I hated the idea that it was just me that wasn’t strong enough to change. It’s so much easier to accept that it was people that couldn’t change and not just me. But I…”

She breathed deeply and let it out slowly, a serene smile creeping onto her face as her tears dried and left her eyes red but with a fire burning in them.

“I want to believe that I can change,” she said firmly. “And that’s why I’m giving you my invitation. I’m joining Rainbow Dash because she saw something in me that made me want to see it in myself. She lit the fire inside me that made me want to be better, made me think that I can be better. And even if it was just by accident, I think that I…”

The tears started to reform in her eyes but she closed them and steeled herself, opening dry eyes and continuing to speak with confidence.

“I want to follow her to Bifrost,” she said with a smile. “I don’t know if it’s to pay her back, if I think being with her will help me find what she saw in me… I don’t know what it is, but I feel it burning in my heart that my place is on her team.”

She held her trembling hoof in front of her to point at the golden envelope in my hooves. “And that’s why I want you to have that. Because I want you to see in yourself what I’m starting to see in myself. If someone as weak and pathetic as me can change, can become amazing and gutsy… then how much more can someone who’s so bright and smart and beautiful and talented as you?”

My own legs started to tremble as I stared speechless at the yellow pony who I had known for so long but did not recognize today.

“I hope that I will see you at the tournament, Rarity,” Fluttershy bowed her head. “I’m sorry I can’t stick around, but I’m already a little late between preparing this speech and the ensuing anxiety attack that came with thinking about saying it,” she let out a nervous laugh, “But I really do hope to see you there. Until then, goodb—” she shook her head and smiled at me, “I’ll see you later.”

“See you, Fluttershy,” I said distantly.

She smiled once more at me and turned around, turning back to me quickly and jumping toward me to give me a hug, and I wrapped my forelegs around her and held her tight because a part of me didn’t want to let her go. But let her go I did for I could not in good conscious keep her from being the pony she was trying to be.

As I watched Fluttershy walk down the road headed for the train station, I had a lot to grapple with. This should not have happened… this went against everything I thought I knew. In less than twenty-four hours that yellow pony completely destroyed the one universal truth I thought I believed in.

People don’t change.

I shook my head and bit my lip.

People can bend and stretch and pretend to be something they’re not…

I looked up at the sun rising against the pale blue sky and felt the cold morning air biting my skin.

But in the end…

I looked down at my trembling hooves, unable to keep them steady, and the golden envelope held by them.

You’ll always be the person you are.

I took the envelope in my magical grasp and carried it with me back into the apartment.

I need to find out the truth.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

My legs were like butter and my whole body couldn’t stop quivering, my breath was short and fast and my heart was about ready to explode out of my chest.

I breathed deeply and tried to be calm. This was it.

I was standing at the train station, about to walk up to the platform. As I stood behind a column I could see Rainbow Dash standing on the platform, waiting for the train, a thick-bodied curly-haired pink pony the only other pony standing there.

This was it, the moment of truth.

I walked up onto the platform and slowly approached Rainbow Dash. She turned her head toward me and I think her eyes actually lit up when she saw me! I tried to play it cool but I couldn’t help but smile.

“Was starting to wonder if you were gonna make it,” Rainbow said coolly with a sly grin.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I said confidently and I just felt so cool after hearing myself say it! This was it! I was joining a fighting team! Me! Fluttershy, of all ponies, was going to be a cool fighting mare of danger and intrigue!

I half expected to trip or for something else to ruin my cool entrance but I made it all the way to Rainbow Dash’s side without any issue. I reached out my hoof and said, “I would really like to join your team, Rainbow Dash. If you’ll still have me.”

I blushed and brushed some hair out of my face. For the briefest of moments the thought crossed my mind that somepony else took my place already and she didn’t need me anymore and this whole entrance was for nothing and I was going to look like a big joke but I forced that worry out of my mind and reminded myself that she only had one other pony standing next to her.

“Of course!” Rainbow firmly bashed her hoof against mine in a show of painful comradery and smiled confidently, a passionate flame burning in her violet eyes.

“Yay! This is exciting!” the pink pony pushed herself between the two of us and put her forelegs around us both, dragging us in for less of a hug and more of a headlock.

“Pinkie Pie, could you not?” Rainbow said drolly, Pinkie giggling and letting us go.

“Sorry,” she said, her pink cheeks turning red as she ruffled her hair.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said with my hoof outstretched toward her, “I’m Fluttershy.”

“And I…”

She took a big gasp of air and bolted away for a moment, coming back in less than a second with a cannon aimed at the sky. My eyes widened in concern but Rainbow Dash just stifled a laugh and shook her head.

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” she yelled as she hit a button on the back of the cannon, which had a fuse for some reason, and a burst of confetti exploded out of the barrel and showered down upon the three of us.

“And yes,” Rainbow said with a chuckle, putting Pinkie in a headlock this time, “she is always like this,” Pinkie just beamed ear to ear and that made me laugh. She seemed like a real joy.

As Rainbow and Pinkie Pie joined me in laughing and the train began to approach the station, all the fear and worry that had been building up inside me melted away. Or more like… it was shot out of a cannon.

You, a fool: fighting with fists

Me, a genious: fighting with hooves

-RARITY-

When I walked back inside my apartment after my talk with Fluttershy, Twilight was awake, albeit barely, and groggily sitting at the breakfast table in the living room with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, the curtains drawn and bathing her in the warm glow of the morning sun.

I walked up to her without a word and threw the golden envelope onto the table in front of her. At first she was clearly galled by my lack of tact and glowered at me, but when she saw my cold stare fixed on the envelope she begrudgingly looked down at it herself and, realizing what it was, her eyes widened and she looked back at me in shock. I nodded slowly, a smile creeping onto my face despite myself.

“Will you please…” I really thought I could say what I wanted to without the words choking themselves down in my throat, but I was wrong! “Will you join me? Will you go with me to Baltimare, and to Fillydelphia and Manehattan… will you join Bifrost with me and fight alongside me?”

“Wow, that’s… this is really sudden…” Twilight said seriously, her eyes darting anxiously between me, the envelope and the window. “Do you even have any idea of what that would mean? What would happen to our lives here?”

“Some life,” I sneered venomously. I shook my head sadly when Twilight raised a concerned eyebrow and said calmly, “I can’t force you, obviously. I wouldn’t want to even if I could, but I…”

I growled irritably and slammed a hind hoof into the beam between the kitchen and living room, gasping as my face twisted into a pained wince from massively hurting my leg in the process.

I slowly exhaled my pained breath and said serenely, “I need to do this. I need to.”

“You’ve never been one for half measures…” Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her coffee, “I’ll give you that.”

Twilight sighed softly, her gaze fixed out the window toward the back alley next to our apartment. “Rarity, if we leave our apartment to go compete in a fighting tournament… we won’t be able to come back to it.”

“I know,” I said distantly.

“We’ve lived here for years,” Twilight continued, “and rent was far cheaper when we moved in. Between my disability and… like, the pathetic allowance that we still have to depend on from our parents… I don’t know if we would be able to find another apartment with just the two of us.”

“Yes, I am aware,” I said sternly.

“Not to mention that getting those disability payments in the first place was…” Twilight groaned exaggeratedly, and for good reason.

“A nightmare,” I said. “And yes, through some ridiculous legal loophole you will probably lose them if you leave and won’t be able to get them back.”

“You actually comprehend the risks that you’re taking,” Twilight smiled at me. “You honestly understand the magnitude of the consequences to this course of action.”

“I do,” I nodded confidently. “And if we go to this tournament only to lose in the preliminaries or something, then I will have ruined our lives for absolutely nothing. I understand this. If that happens we shall be forced to move back in with our parents, and I…”

I shook my head vigorously and scoffed.

“I refuse to accept that will happen, but… it is a risk that I am willing to take. But I don’t know what will happen to you, so I completely understand if you don’t want to do this.”

“Welp, it’s a good thing that I wanted to join your team anyway, Rarity!” Twilight said with a bright smile and a sparkle in her eye, my jaw practically dropping to the floor in shock. “I had you going though! Who says Twilight Sparkle is above a good prank every now and then!” Twilight’s self-satisfied giggle was the cutest thing I’d ever heard.

“So you’ll come with me…” I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“I will…” Twilight took another sip of her coffee. “But that still only makes two of us. You and I both know that we need three to make a full team. I don’t suppose Fluttershy—”

“Is on Rainbow’s team,” I said curtly.

“Ah.”

Twilight grumbled and looked down at her cup with a resentful scowl on her face.

“And we can’t just join up with anypony… I may be a gifted magician but I’m not exactly a star combatant and you—”

Twilight stopped herself and her cheeks flushed before she could let out what would certainly be a cutting remark about my complete lack of fighting prowess, a remark that would no doubt sting my pride, but would not be unearned.

“Correct…” I grumbled, slumping into a chair at the table. “We would need someone who’s a good fighter. Someone strong, reliable, dependable… trustworthy especially.”

I clicked my tongue and scoffed, staring absentmindedly into the distance as I said without thinking, “Of course.”

“Somepony tough who can balance out our deficit of physical strength…” Twilight pondered, more or less talking to herself in order to come up with a solution. “And we need to find this pony…” Twilight looked at me skeptically.

“By tonight,” I didn’t feel the need to look at Twilight as I answered her, my eyes still fixed into the distance. “We need to catch the express train that leaves here at ten o’clock tonight headed straight for Baltimare, because the tournament starts tomorrow.”

“Of course,” Twilight groaned disgustedly, hanging her head in anguish. “So what we need is a really strong, honest and capable pony…”

“Right,” I said.

“One who can be relied upon and who won’t crack under pressure…” Twilight continued and I nodded. “Somepony who’s tough as nails, perhaps a real working girl, rugged and fierce, but dignified and stoic in her own stubborn way…”

“I cannot believe you’re doing this by accident…” I said with a cold laugh, Twilight looking at me curiously. “You haven’t met her to my knowledge, but I know a pony that fits the exact description you just gave…”

“Great!” Twilight said cheerfully, bouncing out of her chair and stamping her hooves eagerly on the tile floor. “Then let’s get going.”

“Yes, let’s…”

I sighed forlornly and stepped onto the ground myself, stretching my legs and arching my back to awaken my weary muscles.

“Let’s go talk to my ex.”

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

I stared out the train window and watched the winter landscape roll by.

Trains were also so soothing to me but I hadn’t been on one since I was a kid. This was nice. It was also nice that Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and myself were the only ones in our car so I had an opportunity to get to know my teammates without the added pressure of feeling like strangers were staring at me.

That said, while I was feeling very relaxed about the two when we got on the train, it wasn’t long before my anxiety came back in force and I was pretty nervous about starting a conversation with either of them.

Rainbow Dash was sitting in the same aisle as me a few feet away, looking solemnly out the window, and Pinkie Pie was hanging off a seat on the opposite aisle kicking her hind legs into the air. No one said a word for what felt like an eternity… but it was probably only a few minutes.

“Um…” I murmured. I needed to break the silence somehow but had no idea what to say.

“What’s up, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked intently, staring at me with her big saucer eyes. Rainbow Dash started looking over my way too and even though there were only two of them I suddenly felt like I had a million sets of eyes on me all at once.

I was starting to feel a little panicked and shrunk down into my seat like I wanted to curl into a ball. Pinkie Pie looked very concerned and said “Is everything okay?”

“There’s no need to be nervous, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said coolly. “Neither of us bite.”

“Unless you want us to!” Pinkie winked with a big smile, still hanging upside down off the seat and making me laugh. Rainbow rolled her eyes but I could see her trying not to smile. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist!” Pinkie said to her with a big grin.

“I just…” I spoke up again but again the words got stuck in my throat. I felt far too nervous to talk about anything personal and I was awful at small talk, I always got too… bleugh. So anyway, I didn’t know what to say.

“Um…” I felt their eyes burning into my skin and it was suddenly like I was under a dozen heat lamps. “So, um… what exactly is the, um… the prize… for winning this whole thing?”

“For winning Bifrost, you mean?” Rainbow asked. I nodded my head shakily.

“The power… of the GODS!” Pinkie said dramatically, kicking her hind legs straight into the air and flailing her forelegs wildly, although the excess movement made her fall out of the seat with a yelp and bonk her head on the ground. “I’m okay!” She said as she lied in a heap, making Rainbow and I both laugh.

“The power of the gods?” I asked curiously. “What does that… what does that mean exactly?”

“Every ten years,” Rainbow explained, “the three team members who win Bifrost are granted some kind of miraculous super power. Nopony knows where the power comes from, but it gives its wielder tremendous strength and magical ability. They keep the power for ten years until the end of the next Bifrost and can basically do whatever they want to with it.”

“Oh,” I said. That was, um… not a very useful prize to me. I couldn’t really think of anything that I would want to do with, um… ‘power’. Money maybe, but power? That made me… ugh, like everything, it made me nervous.

“That’s why they call it Bifrost,” Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes. “It’s supposed to be like the fiery rainbow bridge that connects earth to the realm of the gods. Get it, like you get the power ‘of the gods’ and the tournament is like the bridge?” Rainbow shook her head and laughed. “It’s not nearly as clever as they probably think that it is.”

“It sounds cool though!” Pinkie added cheerfully, still laying on her back on the ground. “Even if they forgot the nubbins on top of the ‘o’!”

“What do people usually do with this power?” I asked, eager to keep the conversation going.

“One time, one of the winners used the power to buy out a chocolate bar company!” Pinkie said, taking a crunch out of a chocolate bar that… actually I have no idea where it came from. “They’re my favorite champion!”

“Well, most people are selfish, small-minded nerds,” Rainbow shrugged. “So usually people just use the power for their own personal gain. Make money, get revenge on enemies, small town crap like that.

“The chocolate bar guy won Bifrost sixty years ago, he was only the second ever champion, and he’s probably the most notable one since most people tend to just disappear into their own lives once they have ultimate power.”

Rainbow scoffed and looked back out the window. I think she was trying to hide it but I could see real anger burning in her eyes. “Once you’ve hit the top, where else is there to go?”

“The type of person to join an ultimate, prestigious fighting competition,” Pinkie added, “is nooooot generally the type of person to easily settle down after it’s finished. But with no one else to fight who can challenge them… ” Pinkie shrugged, “Most people just kinda… disappear into their own lives, like Rainbow said.”

“And the type of person to win an ultimate, prestigious fighting competition,” Rainbow chuckled, “is not the type of person to have big plans for what to do after the fact.”

“Nopony’s tried to take over the world or anything?” I asked.

“If you try to do anything obviously illegal with the power,” Rainbow explained, “they have some method of taking the power away. Some ritual or other. Worst anyone’s ever done with it, as far as anyone knows, is try to rob banks. That guy was pretty shocked to find his power suddenly not working and was thrown in jail fast as anything.”

“Oh,” I muttered. “That doesn’t sound like much of a prize then…” I mumbled.

“I mean, there are all kinds of nasty rumors about people who win the prize!” Pinkie added. “Nothing concrete, and mostly implausible, but we could tell you about some of those!”

“No thanks,” I said curtly. I think I had enough to be worried about without adding conspiracy theories to the list.

“It’s more about the fighting itself though,” Rainbow said with a haughty grin. “The prize is really more a gimmick than anything. The reason people sign up for this thing is to test their mettle against the strongest fighters in the world!” Rainbow pounded her hooves together, suddenly becoming very lively and energized.

“Also the free food!” Pinkie said excitedly. “People also join for all the restaurants and luxury hotels that buy into Bifrost and give out free stuff to the fighters! It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for cuisine connoisseurs such as myself!”

“I see…” I said ponderously with a hoof pressed against my smile. Now that was something I could get invested in.

There was one last question still on my mind though.

“So who won the tournament the last time then?”

“OHMIGOSH!!”

Pinkie suddenly screamed and sprung up from the ground and jumped toward me, nearly giving me a heart attack, and put her forehooves right on the edge of my seat. “Fluttershy! We need to go to the snack car!”

“W-what?” I said nervously, clutching my heart.

“There’s a free snack car on this train!” Pinkie said exasperatedly, flailing her forelegs at me. “We need to load up on snacks!”

“I’m, um, I’m not that hungry right now,” I said anxiously, trying to take deep, calming breaths without making it too obvious (it wasn’t working).

“We don’t have any money,” Pinkie whispered as she leaned in close to me, me leaning back awkwardly as she approached. “Until we get the free food in the tournament proper, we won’t be eating very much.”

“Oh dear,” I said dismally, my ears flattening against my head. “So you want to not just stuff yourself with snacks, but squirrel some away for the entire trip.”

“Yuppers!” Pinkie nodded vigorously.

I sighed despondently.

I hadn’t really thought much about food or anything for this journey but the picture Pinkie painted was pretty bleak. Though… nothing I wasn’t used to, I suppose.

“Alright, let’s go get snacks,” I gave Pinkie a half-hearted smile before looking over at Rainbow who was staring listlessly out the window, her eyes curiously stern. “Are you coming, Rainbow?”

“Wha? Uh, nah,” Rainbow snapped to attention like I brought her out of deep thought and batted her hoof dismissively, flashing a coy smile. “I’ll catch up with you guys.”

“Okay,” I said meekly.

Something was obviously bothering her all of a sudden. Something I said? Oh, I hope not. I hope I didn’t put my hoof in my mouth already…

I couldn’t really dwell on that though as I felt Pinkie yanking my leg and dragging me toward the snack car.

****

-RARITY-

Twilight and I came to a fairly ramshackle wooden building, practically more shed than house.

It was the last place you would expect someone like me to want to be within five feet of, let alone be seeking it out on purpose, but the woman who lived here was…

Ahem.

I walked up to the door and began to feel ill, but I ignored that feeling and gave the door a few light taps and placed my ear against it. After a second we heard a distance voice shout, “It’s unlocked! Let yerself in!”

That was her. Hearing her voice for the first time in so many years made me… anxious. It made me a lot of things; swoon, sick, nostalgic, sad, giddy… but most of all it made me anxious.

This was a gamble, asking a woman I hadn’t spoken with in years to drop everything to join my Bifrost team… but if I knew this woman the way I always believed I did, I had to believe my gamble would pay off.

I snapped back to reality and saw Twilight looking at me with concern. I smiled at her and shrugged with a satisfied smirk on my face, placing a hoof upon the handle and opening the door with an extremely noisy creaaaaak.

The inside of the house didn’t fare much better than outside, with dusty wooden floors that had holes in them and no furniture at all to speak of, any light from the sun blocked out by the sturdy boards nailed across broken windows. If I didn’t know better it would be so easy to assume this place had been left abandoned for decades.

“Who could possibly live here in this condition?” Twilight balked, aghast at the sight of this place.

“A tough as nails pony who is exactly the type of person we need for our team,” I replied without missing a beat.

“I suppose I can’t argue with that…” Twilight said drolly, daintily walking on the tips of her hooves in order to avoid any wrong steps that might send her crashing through the floorboards. “You’d have to be tough as nails to live like this.”

I guided Twilight through the entrance room of the house and into a large, empty wooden chamber that had neither boarded windows nor holes in the floor. Sunlight poured in like a heavenly glow upon the only two objects in the room; some sort of exercise… thing, one of those ones that has like a bar that you lift yourself up on, you know the type… and the large, rugged orange earth pony holding herself up on the bar by her hind legs.

The blonde mare flexed her legs and lifted herself above the bar with a grunt, sweat glistening across her defined muscles as she held her forelegs behind her head. She exhaled smoothly, and gently let herself back down to a hanging position.

She hadn’t quite seen us walk in yet so I took the time to, ahem, politely stare.

She was so rugged… so buff…

“Good heavens,” I heard those words slip out of my mouth and nervously looked at Twilight, who shot me a knowing glance, causing me to blush and irritably avert my gaze from both mares, harrumphing and puffing up my cheeks for good measure.

Oh well. No time like the present.

I walked through the seemingly endless expanse between us, Twilight following behind me, and my heart beating faster and faster as I approached my former paramour. She looked rather content despite her meager surroundings, and I could see a radiant smile painted on her face as I drew near.

But her smile instantly turned to a look of pure shock as she locked eyes on the two of us.

“Did we come at a bad time?” I said teasingly, flicking my mane and feeling rather delighted to know that teasing her still felt so natural even after so many years. Despite the maelstrom of emotions tearing me apart from the inside, I still knew exactly how to play it cool around this one.

“Two seconds ago would’ve been a bad time,” The woman spoke and her darling southern accent lifted my spirits immediately. I almost swooned again too, curse her! “If ya’d caught me in the middle of pullin’ myself up, I’d’ve dropped myself straight through the floorboards, had the whole house fallin’ down on us.”

I laughed, “You’re so stubborn that even if this house were torn down all around you, you wouldn’t budge.”

“Ya got that right!” Applejack said with a laugh. She looked at me and gave a soft, nostalgic smile. “Didn’t expect to ever see you gracin’ my doorstep again, Rarity. What do I owe the pleasure?”

“Were you expecting somepony else?” I asked curiously, fluttering my eyelashes. “You let us in without a fuss.”

“No one specific,” the woman shrugged, and she even made that look dignified and cool. “Some of the local kids drop by sometime, askin’ me to teach ‘em how to fight or some such. Or sometimes my church goin’ friends drop off some food and baked goods cuz they know I don’t got a lot.”

Applejack looked at Twilight all of a sudden, and to be honest with the cocktail of emotions brewing inside me I had almost completely forgotten Twilight was present.

Twilight for her part was standing completely still, looking awkwardly at Applejack. I recognized that look, it was the same look Twilight gave to her very first magic teacher, or to those books about the princesses of old. Twilight was in awe.

“Where are my manners?!” Applejack said with a laugh and dropped off the bar, landing on her hooves effortlessly and reaching out a hoof to Twilight, “Name’s Applejack, it’s a pleasure.”

I watched Twilight for a second to see if she would move or react at all, but no. I expected as much, Twilight was not one for social interaction on the best of days and when she was around someone she admired, oof. It would be easier to draw blood from a stone than to get her to lighten up.

“I apologize…” my words were directed just as much at Twilight as they were toward Applejack and I put my hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “She’s a tad shy. Her name is Twilight Sparkle, she is my sister. Twilight, this young woman is my ex-girlfriend Applejack.”

“Twilight Sparkle?!” Applejack said in alarm, and I admit I was very surprised by her reaction. “You remember me at all, Twilight? We went to Sunday school together as kids?”

“Oh…” Twilight said distantly, like she was partially catatonic. “Right… Sunday school…”

I frowned and watched Twilight carefully for signs of distress. Her church-going days were before our parents met, before we met each other, but the few tales she shared with me about them were nothing but horror stories.

“Applejack…” Twilight said distantly, her eyes widening and her cheeks turning bright red but accompanied by a smile that was nothing short of joyous. “I do remember you! You’re… you’re that girl! Applejack!”

“You do remember!” Applejack said with a hearty grin, stamping her feet on the ground like a giddy schoolfilly.

“Of course,” Twilight whispered happily. I was a little lost but I smiled seeing the genuine warmth in Twilight’s gaze. “You taught me about trans solidarity, how could I ever forget you? You…”

Twilight blushed and shot me a look of pained realization.

“It’s okay, Twilight,” I said, “I know already.”

“We dated for a long time,” Applejack added with a cool grin.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t accidentally outed Applejack to me.

Her fear assuaged, Twilight returned her attention to Applejack and bowed her head. “Your kindness meant the world to me.”

“A little kindness goes a long way,” Applejack said with a smile, her cheeks flushing adorably.

“It sure does,” Twilight mused.

“So anyhow,” Applejack paced over to the rightmost wall to grab an old brown hat and placed it atop her head before turning to my sister and I in order to give us her full attention, “what brings y’all to be my quaint little hamlet?”

“Bifrost.”

I produced the golden envelope from my saddlebag and levitated it over to Applejack. Applejack’s eyes widened in tremendous shock but they soon slit as a wicked grin crossed her face.

I couldn’t help mirroring it with my own dashing smirk. “We wish to join Bifrost but we find ourselves a pony short. We need somepony who can make up for what we lack in physical strength… someone who lives for competition perhaps, and is quite good at it.”

“Ya know what I’m gonna say or ya wouldn’t have come here,” Applejack said with a confident, glowing smile and grabbed the brim of her hat to pull it down over her eyes ever so slightly. I’d like to think she learned how to be so dramatic from yours truly. “Not gonna act like this ain’t an answer to my prayers.”

“Then we’re of the same mind,” I said assuredly.

“I’m ready to leave when y’all are,” Applejack chuckled, “I ain’t got business to take care of first and there’s nopony who needs to hear my goodbyes in person.”

“We leave tonight on the ten o’clock train to Baltimare,” I said coolly, Applejack nodding heartily in agreement and honestly, I couldn’t believe it was that easy. Just like that, our Bifrost team was complete and we were ready to head to the tournament.

I was rather proud of myself for keeping my composure and not bursting into hysterical giggles at the mere notion that I of all ponies was now seriously heading for the most prestigious fighting competition in Equestria! It was absurd, quite frankly!

Not to mention, there were a great many implications to be considered about my ex-girlfriend, with whom I parted on, uh, rather complicated terms, joining my team.

We would be spending an awful lot of time together and it wouldn’t take long for conversation to drift to our shared history. I briefly wondered if I was truly prepared for that, musing silently that it was almost more intimidating than the actual fights we would find ourselves up against.

No matter. All those thoughts could wait for another day, for now I could simply revel in the fact that everything was ever so briefly going my way.

“But first,” Twilight interjected, “isn’t there another detail that we’re forgetting?”

“Oh?” I asked curiously, looking toward my sister with an arched eyebrow.

“Yeah!” she declared excitedly, “Our team may have the right number of ponies now, but we still need a name!”

“That’s right…” I softly traced my chin with my hoof. “To enter a team into Bifrost it needs to have an official name. Also the name has to follow the ‘Team X’ format, so we can only be so creative.”

“I dunno, Team Rarity?” Applejack chuckled while winking in my direction.

“N-no,” I said abruptly, my cheeks turning red. “What kind of egotist names a team after themselves?”

“Rarity, how do you feel…” Twilight said, her voice ringing like a clear bell, “about ‘Team Destiny’?”

“Team Destiny?” The words felt effortless as I said them, like they had always been inside me somehow ready to be freed.

“We both want to enter this competition to see if we can change our fates,” Twilight explained, “and Applejack said she had been praying for this moment….”

“Yer not wrong,” Applejack chimed in with a smile.

“Then I suppose…” I grinned satisfactorily and puffed up my chest, seeing an opportunity for true theatrics that I would be cursing myself if I did not seize!

“Whether it be destiny in the nihilistic sense of nothing being able to be changed, or in the grand cosmic sense that we’re all being led to some greater purpose…

“It is destiny, as a concept, that binds this team together! So I believe that Team Destiny is—nay, I believe there could not be a more perfect name for us than that!”

I shouted dramatically, Twilight enraptured by my speechifying and Applejack, despite her futile attempt to hide it, was equally mesmerized.

“I mean,” Applejack couldn’t stop herself from laughing heartily and I found myself quite amused by that reaction, “how can we say no to that sell?”

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

The snack car was bigger than I thought it would be and was much more like a buffet than… well actually, I don’t really know what I was expecting. I guess I thought it would be like a vendor who sold pretzels or something.

There were nine other ponies in the room, apparently all Bifrost competitors, which made me a little on edge. But for whatever reason having Pinkie Pie nearby helped me feel at ease for the most part.

“So how do you and Rainbow Dash know each other?” I asked idly as Pinkie and I threw food onto our plates that was eventually going to find its way into our bags.

“Oh we’ve known each other since forever,” Pinkie giggled. “My family and her—huh.”

Pinkie stopped cold mid-sentence and stood silent for a second, taking her eyes off the buffet and looking upwards. Then her eyes started scanning from left to right like she was reading some book in her own head.

“She’s a family friend, I guess you could say,” Pinkie continued nonchalantly, like she didn’t even notice that she suddenly stopped and restarted. “We knew each other as kids, and I grew up with three sisters, and I mean like, cisters, you get me?”

Pinkie looked at me with a big grin and needled me with her foreleg. “Eh? Get it?”

“I don’t,” I shook my head, “I’m sorry.”

“Like cisters? Like cis?” Pinkie had the same big goofus grin and it suddenly dawned on me what she meant.

“Oh!” I said, blushing. “Sorry, I wouldn’t have—they’re pronounced exactly the same. You mean cisgender? Right?”

My body went cold and my face sheet white as I suddenly realized I may have just outed myself on accident for no reason.

“Right!” Pinkie giggled, and to say I felt relieved would not even describe it. I felt revived. “I knew you’d get it!”

Pinkie started walking toward a table but suddenly froze and turned at me, cheeks red with embarrassment. “Not that, I mean, I wouldn’t—” she seemed very flustered all of a sudden and I wasn’t sure why. “You look—you’re really girly, I wouldn’t have ever guessed that—wait no that sounds bad!” Pinkie slapped herself on the forehead.

“It’s okay,” I laughed quietly, walking toward a table and lightly tugging on Pinkie’s leg to get her to follow. “You know that I’m trans. I’m guessing Rainbow told you?”

For whatever reason it still hadn’t occurred to me that Pinkie was trans as well.

“Rainbow?” she asked confusedly. “Oh! No, I could just tell. Not that you look it or anything!” Her face became red again which made me laugh as we sat down across from each other in a booth in the corner of the room.

“I know… I’m very blessed in that regard,” I said serenely. “I’ve never had a problem passing before… so how could you… ‘just tell’?” I asked curiously.

“Oh, is it not obvious?” Pinkie chuckled. “I’m trans too. That’s why I made the cis pun earlier.”

“Oh. Oh! Duh!” I slapped my forehead and Pinkie laughed, making me laugh happily too. “So you were telling me about Rainbow, about how you two knew each other as kids? She’s trans as well so is that part of how you guys got to know each other?”

“Right.”

Pinkie nodded, vivaciously tearing into the mountain of food in front of her.

“My parents,” she said, “Luna bless ‘em, are wonderful and my sisters equally so. But I’ve always been kinda the oddball of the family, the black sheep as it were. And not just cuz I was adopted. I knew I was meant to be a girl since I was real young, like, before I was adopted even.”

“Did your family accept that?” I asked, dreading the answer. Family can be tough sometimes, especially for people like us.

“Yeah, yeah.” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “Luna bless childhood innocence because I was too young to realize that being trans is considered ‘weird’ so when I knew I wanted to be a girl, I just… said it.”

Pinkie shrugged and then laughed nervously. “I started wearing dresses and stuff and doing my hair all the time.” Pinkie fluffed up her glorious curly mane with a proud smile, “A mane like this doesn’t groom itself y’know.”

I chuckled at that and asked, “So what did your parents say? How did your sisters react?”

“My sisters are all older than me,” Pinkie explained, “but we’re all pretty close in age. They didn’t think anything was weird about it at all, they just accepted it as part of who I am. And my parents, well they just wanted me to be happy.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said cheerfully. I really couldn’t have been happier to hear all that. I was pretty inundated with terrible, tragic family stories about trans women so it was amazing to hear about a family that was actually accepting and welcoming of Pinkie’s identity.

“But like I said,” Pinkie continued with a wistful sigh, “I’ve always been kinda the oddball of the family. My family is super accepting of who I am and they love me, but they don’t, like, get it, y’know?”

“I think so,” I nodded.

“So when I met Rainbow,” Pinkie’s eyes lit up as she spoke about Rainbow and that made me really happy, “and I realized that she was just like me, it was like a whole new world opened up in front of me!

“Rainbow felt it too, suddenly we weren’t alone in the world, suddenly we didn’t have like this thing about us that made us different, that made us weird. We suddenly realized there were other ponies like us and we found solidarity between us.

“It was a beautiful thing. So Rainbow’s been like a fifth sister to me ever since.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said, feeling a little misty-eyed. “Wait,” I suddenly tilted my head curiously, “fifth sister? I thought you said you had three sisters?”

“Oh yeah,” Pinkie laughed, “I also have a blood sister, but we were split up when I was adopted.”

“Oh no, that’s terrible,” I said sadly.

“No, it’s okay!” Pinkie said assuredly. “We keep in touch and we used to hang out all the time, but then Rainbow and her kinda started fighting a lot and…”

Pinkie trailed off and her face scrunched up. She looked unusually serious and that was not doing good things for my anxiety.

“Pinkie?” I said timidly.

“Uh, anyway!” Pinkie let out a single awkward laugh, “Applejack and I are still super tight, so don’t worry!”

“That’s good to hear,” I breathed a sigh of relief.

“What about you?” Pinkie asked with a generous smile, “Any family to speak of?”

“No.”

Pinkie winced at my reaction but she tried to hide it behind a smile to spare my feelings, which was nice of her. I wanted to say something else, try to ease the tension a little, but I felt awful for responding that way and like I didn’t deserve to say anything else, so I just… kept quiet.

Luckily Pinkie Pie spoke more than enough for both of us, regaling me with tales about her and Rainbow’s childhood misadventures, she talked a lot about baking and examined a bunch of the food on her plate to talk about the different ways she would prepare the same meals, and a whole bunch of other things.

I didn’t have much to say, just a few smiles here and a nod there, but Pinkie didn’t seem to mind. It felt nice to be able to talk to someone and not feel that pressure that I usually feel, like if I don’t say the right thing one hundred percent of the time, they’d stop talking to me in disgust.

Talking with Pinkie, or at least listening to her talk, was easy. The only other pony I’d had such an easy relationship with was Rarity… and thinking about that made me wonder how Rarity was doing.

I hoped she was alright… and I really hoped I would see her when we got to Baltimare.

I bet she and Pinkie would get along great.

****

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

My parents took me to church since I was little, like since before I could remember.

I always hated it.

They would go to service and leave me behind in a room full of other kids who I didn’t know and I would always sit by myself in the corner, wishing I could join the other kids in all the fun they looked like they were having but instead my anxiety kept me isolated…

No, not just my anxiety. To the other kids I must have just seemed like a boy who wore a dress and I was sure every one of those kids thought I was a freak. I hated every second of it every week.

Usually the teachers, such as they were since they were just other church going parents who volunteered, would just read from the scripture or talk about it or some other thing related to the religion. We’d learn a little but mostly it was just a playdate for the kids.

One week we had a little service of our own, one of the pastor’s older kids came by to give a full-on sermon and all of us younger kids needed to stand for it. Or at least, that’s what I thought at first.

We all stood up as the pastor’s kid began to speak but I must’ve misheard something because all the others kids sat down but me and I only noticed they were all sitting when I heard one kid snicker from behind me, wondering why ‘the dress boy’ was still standing.

I was so embarrassed I wanted to die, when suddenly a blonde-haired orange filly, just young enough to still be in the ‘young kids’ part of church but old enough to command automatic respect from an impressionable youth like me, stood up next to me.

I hadn’t noticed until she stood but her body was unmistakably that of a colt and I remember the words she said to me crystal clear. She looked at me, gave me a wink and a sincere smile and said, “We girls gotta look out for each other”.

We never got the chance to get close, my parents got divorced a few months after that incident and we stopped going to church, but every week after that I looked for that girl in the crowd of kids.

She wasn’t always there but when she was I always waved to her and tried to get her attention in a way that wouldn’t be too obvious. Usually she would see me and come over to my corner and say hi and she would talk to me when no one else would until my parents picked me up.

I didn’t have the words for it then but that girl taught me something important. She taught me that girls like us, trans girls who the world would discard and turn its back on so easily, we need to look out for each other, have each other’s backs no matter what.

That girl was my first experience with trans solidarity.

It was now early evening as I left the apartment to go see Applejack at her home. I wanted a chance to talk to her one-on-one before we left for the tournament, to catch up with her a bit. I mean, yeah, the chances of me actually being able to speak to her, let alone in coherent sentences, weren’t in terribly high percentages, but… this was important.

Applejack was sitting on the deck of her dilapidated house, next to her saddlebags that looked full to bursting, waiting for me as I arrived. I waved to her bashfully as I approached and she smiled sweetly, which made me somehow feel simultaneously more relaxed and more nervous.

“Did you get your affairs in order?” I asked, awkwardly brushing my bangs out of my face and letting them immediately fall back into place.

“Yup,” She nodded with a big smile.

While Applejack did say she was ready to leave as soon as she accepted our invitation, because we couldn’t head out until that evening she took the time to say goodbye to some of her local friends.

“Said my goodbyes, got my well wishes and such,” Applejack patted the saddlebags beside her, “and got a little food and some money for the trip thanks to some generous fellas too!”

“That’s great,” I said cheerfully with a nod. “Me and Rarity have some money in our savings we were planning to use for food and stuff, enough to tide us over until the tournament proper in Manehattan at any rate, but more resources are always good.”

“Oh yeah, all the free stuff,” Applejack chuckled and slapped a hoof lightly against her head. “Totally forgot about all that. Still though, fancy restaurant food is nice but nothin’ beats a home cooked meal,” she said with a smile.

A moment passed where we just looked at each other, and I think we were both reminiscing. I wondered how she felt about me back then? Did I bug her? Did I annoy her a lot? If my parents hadn’t gotten divorced, what would have happened with us? She’d probably grow to hate me or get tired of me or—

“I wanted to thank ya, for what ya said,” Applejack’s words broke me out of my anxiety spiral and I looked at her and blinked.

“Eh?” I said in a very undignified manner, “What did I say?”

“You said my kindness meant a lot to ya back then, and I just wanted to…” Applejack coughed nervously and her face turned really red.

“I wanted to say that I appreciate that you said that…” she continued, “I dunno, maybe it’s self-aggrandizin’ to thank you fer thankin’ me, but I…”

She stammered and cleared her throat abruptly.

“I just wanted to say I really appreciated hearin’ that, so uh… thanks, I guess?”

“Wow, um…”

Don’t screw this up, Twilight! Don’t make her feel like an idiot and don’t make a fool of yourself!

A sudden moment of realization and clarity washed over me and I knew exactly what to say.

“You must have had a hard time in church too, right? Nopony ever said anything to me, but I knew they were all talking behind my back… about how I was… weird.”

“Cuz yer trans,” Applejack hit the nail right on the head and I nodded timidly.

She sighed. “Yeah, I got that too. Especially cuz… well, lookit me,” she said with a laugh, “I’ve always been big, and not just tall but like big boned too.

“But I’m an honest sort and from the day I learned I was a girl I said it loud and proud. Had so much confidence as a kid too! Never let people misgenderin’ me slide, but it uh… it might not’ve been the best strategy.”

“What happened to you?” I asked, dreading the answer and shivering like a leaf.

“Eh, a little scoldin’ here,” Applejack shrugged, “a smack with a wooden spoon there. Nothin’ major but…” she groaned wearily, “Like ya said, everyone talks about it behind yer back. Everyone knows, and everyone thinks yer a freak.”

“You’re telling me,” I shuddered as I tried to suppress some truly horrible memories of childhood bullying.

Applejack looked up at me with a kind smile. “That’s why I was so happy that ya said what ya said…

“Like, I didn’t have anyone lookin’ out for me as a kid, so the idea that I was able to make someone else’s childhood a little less rough, that I could reach out to another trans kid and let ‘em know they weren’t alone…”

Applejack took a deep breath and her voice was cracking up a little bit.

“That means everything to me.”

“Not to put too fine a point on it,” I said bashfully and awkwardly kicked at the dirt, “but that was the moment that I realized I wasn’t alone, that I wasn’t the freak everyone always said that I was. The days I spent with you were probably some of the happiest in my early childhood… so thank you, so much.”

“My pleasure,” Applejack said with a smile, tipping her hat to me. She was so cool.

A moment of silence passed and we just sort of looked at each other while smiling.

Suddenly I got very self-conscious and blurted out, “Oh hey train! We have a train to catch, we gotta catch a train!”

“Oh shi-eeeeeoot!” Applejack coughed, standing up with a start and making me laugh. “That’s a good point! Hey, why don’t I go pick up Rarity and you can meet us at the station?”

“By yourself?” I cocked my head to the side.

“Yeh, why not? It’s not a problem, is it?” Applejack asked with a bright smile. “I wanna get a chance to catch up with her real quick…”

“Ah, I see,” I said distantly.

I was nervous about being at the station by myself but I also really didn’t want to disappoint Applejack so I just kinda stood there in dumbstruck silence for a few seconds.

“I’ll get anxious if I’m at the train station by myself for too long,” I said monotonously like a pre-programmed robot but then violently pointed my hoof at Applejack and said with a cracking voice, “so don’t be long!”

“No worries!” Applejack gave a salute and put on her saddlebags. “Me and Rarity’ll be at the train station quick as ya blink! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

As Applejack finished her statement with those weird nonsense words she also did weird nonsense gestures to accompany them, leaving me kinda dumbstruck and at a loss for words.

“What?”

“Eh, that’s a Pinkie Promise,” Applejack put a hoof behind her head and blushed. “It’s somethin’ I learned from my—well, from an old friend at any rate. It just means you can absolutely hold me to my word, cuz the fastest way to lose a friend is to lose their trust, so keepin’ promises is a huge deal.”

“Ah, I see,” I couldn’t help but laugh at how sincere and… girl-scout-like Applejack was being. “That’s cute, I like it.”

Applejack beamed in reply and I just… thought she was really cool.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

The sun was almost completely out of sight as I watched the snowy plains of Equestria roll by in the train window. Pinkie and Fluttershy briefly returned to our car to drop off a couple bags full of food before returning to the snack car, laughing and giggling the whole time.

I breathed a sigh of relief at that.

Nopony makes you feel at home like Pinkie Pie but I was worried that she would be too loud and abrasive for Fluttershy, but that didn’t seem to be the case at all and they looked pretty comfortable with each other already. I mused that it was probably that trans solidarity at work.

The two of them hitting it off so well and spending the day together in another car also gave me a lot of time to be alone with my thoughts. It was all still really hitting me that I was on a train headed to Bifrost. A part of me still couldn’t believe I even got an invitation! But it was really happening and there was a lot to think about.

I was pretty confident in my skills but who knows what kind of opponents waited for Team Rainboom at the tournament. The thought briefly crossed my mind about what if we didn’t even make it past the preliminaries, and I almost died.

But no… sure, I was confident in my skills, but I was even more confident in my teammates. I’d been dreaming of going to Bifrost since the last one ended when I was eleven, and I always knew Pinkie would be on my team… but having Fluttershy too was a dream come true.

In all the time since that last Bifrost I’d never made another close friendship like what I have with Pinkie Pie, and while I couldn’t call what I had with Fluttershy a ‘close friendship’ exactly, I definitely felt like I could trust her and rely on her. And the fact that she actually wanted to be on our team was honestly enough reason to celebrate.

It was a load off my mind to have my third teammate set, and for them to be so promising. After a decade of searching, no less. So many false starts in that time, so many burned bridges… so many people saying ‘oh you’re good but I have someone better’…

Nothing but disappointments these last ten years…

I let out a deep sigh of disgust as my mind traced back through a lifetime of failures and disappointments, and I heard a haughty old man’s voice say, “So you made it after all, huh Rainbow Dash?”

My ears perked up as I recognized the voice and looked away from the window to see a pale blue pegasus with swept back gray hair, wearing an old bomber jacket just like mine and a white scarf, standing between the aisles looking at me.

His name was Wind Rider, a mercenary who was hired my f—that man—to train me when I was a kid. Never liked him, but he knew a few cool tricks and taught me some of them. Hadn’t seen him since I ran away from home with Pinkie Pie after the last Bifrost, and was honestly kinda baffled he even remembered me.

“Long time no see…” I said to Wind Rider, “And of course I made it,” I scoffed. “You didn’t think I was just gonna give up, did you? Honestly, I’m a little surprised that you made it.”

“My reputation precedes me, what can I say?” Wind Rider chuckled proudly.

There was almost nothing I wanted more than to slam my hoof into that man’s smug face, but no sense rocking the boat this early.

“I’ve been making a name for myself these last ten years,” he said, “How about you, any daring exploits?”

What an ironic question to ask just as I was in the middle of recollecting my lifetime of failure.

“Eh, probably nothing you would’ve heard of,” I said flippantly before pointing my gaze straight into Wind Rider’s eyes and saying confidently, “But once I’m the winner of Bifrost, everyone will know who I am.”

“Heh, I like your confidence,” Wind Rider chuckled mockingly and I felt my cheeks starting to burn. “You think after you win the tournament you’ll finally be able to defeat him?”

I stared coldly through the stallion.

“Are you looking for a fight right now?”

“Geez, sorry,” Wind Rider rolled his eyes and laughed. “Just reminiscing a little, I guess. Haven’t seen you in ten years but that’s all you ever talked about.”

“That was a long time ago,” I growled.

“So you’re saying it doesn’t matter to you anymore?” Wind Rider asked with a sneering smirk.

“I’m saying you need to drop it,” I shot back, hitting him with an angry glare.

“Whatever you say,” he shrugged and shook his head before fixing me with an amused glance and chuckling. “Really, you haven’t changed at all.”

“Heh, I dunno,” I let out a single, cold, dry laugh, “if I was the same person I was the last time we met, I’d have knocked your teeth out by now.”

“You’d be on the ground drooling blood more likely,” Wind Rider said coldly, turning his back to me with a shrug.

I glared coldly into his back like I hoped that my eyes could turn to daggers and drill into his skin. Everything in me wanted to react violently to his smug words but I knew too well, even though I hated to admit it, that he was right.

“I’m glad you’ve joined the tournament, old man,” I said, my voice a low growl that pierced through the stagnant air of the train like a surgery needle. “You’ll make a good stepping stone. I’ll crush you, then I’ll crush him and everyone else who works for him.”

“Sad that your dream will remain unfulfilled then, I guess,” Wind Rider said in mock sympathy.

“Say what you want,” I spat irritably.

I felt a chill crawling up my back and a darkness clawing at my mind, like some caged animal scratching at the door of my heart waiting to break free.

“It won’t change anything.”

“No, words don’t change anything,” Wind Rider walked back to the door he came through, “You can talk all you want, but at the end of the day you’re still just…” he looked over his shoulder at me and his eyes glinted with condemnation “you.”

With those words he left the car and closed the door behind him, leaving me alone in the darkness of my thoughts and in a sea of bad memories.

****

-RARITY-

No one likes you.

Those words were racing through my mind as I unwrapped the belt that I’d tied around my neck. I was breathing heavily as I grabbed the edge of the bathroom sink, struggling to lift myself up and look in the mirror.

I groaned miserably as my hoof traced across the bright pink indentation the belt had left across my throat.

“Good thing it’s winter weather.”

I grabbed my dark teal scarf that I’d thrown carelessly onto the edge of the bathtub and moved to put it on over my neck but I stopped myself.

I stood back in front of the mirror and stared deeply into that pink mark, the mark itself seeming to glow brighter and more intensely the more I looked into it.

“No one likes you,” I whispered coldly to my reflection, “don’t forget that.”

I took a deep breath and sighed.

How could I forget?

“Don’t forget it.”

No one likes me. But that’s…

Fine.

…

Right?

I sat back down on the bathroom floor and cradled my face in my hooves. A part of me wanted to blame Applejack for this depressive episode but… that wouldn’t be fair at all.

A swirling torrent of memories, cold nights spent in front of a warm fire, being carried through the door and tossed onto the bed, my body cradled by hers under the sheets…

It’s your fault that no one likes you.

“It’s my fault,” I whispered, face still in my hooves, my eyes shut tight so all I could see was darkness.

“I get it, I get it.”

I groaned and pounded a hind hoof against the wall, regretting it immediately as the wave of pain rushed through my leg.

“Why do I keep doing that?” I whined as I stood up and limped over to sit on the edge of the bathtub and examine my poor leg. “As if I don’t injure myself enough on purpose,” I chuckled sardonically and guiltily eyed the belt lying on the ground.

I groaned again and stepped back up to the bathroom sink, looking at my dead-eyed reflection in the mirror.

I thought about Applejack again, my mind flashing back to when I first met her, and then when I saw her today and I—

“She doesn’t like me,” I said breathlessly. “Why would she? How could she? Why would anyone? I got it, I get it. Yeesh.”

There were voices in my head like demons clawing at my mind constantly, reminding me that no one could ever love me, that I didn’t deserve it if they did. It was hard not to believe them but every once in a while I found a way to convince myself that I had value…

And that needed to stop. It didn’t end well for me, not ever.

I took another deep breath and sighed dramatically.

“I get it,” I said wearily.

A knock at the door made me literally jump off the ground in shock.

I raced for my scarf and threw it over me as fast as I could, heading out into the living room to answer the door. It was nine o’clock now so that must’ve been Twilight. She said she wanted to talk to Applejack for a moment before we left for the train station and since I needed to choke myself in the bathroom I didn’t stop her.

“You’re not Twilight,” I said warily as I opened the door and saw Applejack standing on the other side.

My nerves were already on high alarm since I saw her the first time and it was not helped by the hours I spent thinking about her after, with and without a belt around my neck, but it skyrocketed until I could feel it crawling inside my skin like a swarm of fire ants.

“I’m not, sorry,” she said with a chuckle, placing her hoof behind her head. “Twilight was gonna come by and grab you herself but I convinced her to let me do it instead.”

“Why?” I asked morbidly.

“I wanted a chance to talk to ya, obviously!” Applejack said with a smile, playfully punching her foreleg against mine. She wanted to talk to me… that…

No. I do not want you to talk to me. You don’t deserve… THIS.

“Um …” I took a deep breath and sighed testily, as if I worried that Applejack could hear the voice in my mind. “Okay… and why would you… why exactly would you want to do that?” I sniped back, sounding much colder than I had meant to.

“Uh, cuz we’re gonna be teammates?” Applejack laughed nervously. “I know we had our history and all, but come on, Rarity, it’s been years. If we’re gonna work together we gotta at least be a little comfortable with each other, right? Besides…” Applejack looked up at the sky and her cheeks began to turn pink, “I’ve missed you.”

“You’ve missed me?” I blushed and started to feel like a pile of wet garbage.

“Of course…” Applejack’s voice was a little strained, like she was digging through layers of dirt in her brain to find the part of herself that could say these things. “Our relationship ended… really messily. But I never blamed you for it, it was all my—“ she cleared her throat rather noisily to silence the nagging demon in her mind. I knew the motion quite well.

“It was just… a lotta bad circumstances. We were young and passionate, and…” Applejack shrugged, trying to laugh off her anxiousness, “When all ya got is passion and not much experience, that passion’s gonna run ya right into a wall.”

“I see.”

My mind was racing like a desperate hamster on a wheel and my insides felt like they were being slowly brought to a boil by a sadistic chef, but on the outside I must have seemed like some kind of robot.

“We should go…” I walked past Applejack and down the path outside my apartment, looking back at it one last time since I knew I wouldn’t be back.

Applejack looked… confused, at me. I accidentally made eye contact with her for a fraction of a second and immediately looked away, wanting to stab myself in the eyes with a hot poker. Why is she looking at me like that? Is she mad? I hurt her feelings, didn’t I? I’m such an idiot.

“Are you coming?” I said coldly. It was like I was watching my body move from outside it and my consciousness wanted to scream at my body ‘No! Don’t be like that! What is wrong with you?!’

“Yeah,” Applejack said coldly, dragging her hat down to frame her eyes in shadow.

We walked to the train station in silence.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

I plopped right down beside Rainbow Dash while Fluttershy was curled up asleep a few seats down the aisle. Our train was almost headed into Baltimare station where the Bifrost preliminaries would begin, but before we arrived I wanted to get one last heart-to-heart in with Rainbow pre-Bifrost.

“Hey,” I said casually as I sat beside her, my girl forlornly staring out the window.

“Things go alright with Fluttershy?” Rainbow said coldly, continuing to stare into the distance.

“Yup yup, she’s a really cool girl,” I said with a chuckle, “I’m glad she’s on our team, I think the three of us…” I took in a deep breath to steel my nerves and get confident! “I think we can really make this happen together, Rainbow.”

“Yeah…”

Rainbow sighed and looked at me with the weary eyes of someone who spent too long gazing into the dark past. She smiled, at first the cold smile of someone forcing themselves to act happy but I smiled tenderly back at her and that made her own smile grow until the light returned to her eyes.

“Yeah! We can definitely…” she stood up and puffed up her chest, looking briefly at sleeping Fluttershy to make sure she didn’t accidentally wake her before letting her voice quiet down to a whisper, “We’re definitely gonna do this.”

“Yay!” I whispered excitedly, jumping up and giving my dear Rainbow a hug.

“Guess who I saw today,” Rainbow sneered, my forelegs still wrapped around her and my eyes staring into hers. I blinked a couple times to acknowledge that I had no idea who and she should tell me. “Wind Rider.”

“Huh, no kidding,” my legs drooped away from Rainbow and I plopped back onto the seat.

“Yeah, he’s going to Bifrost too,” Rainbow sighed, ruffling up her mane.

“Of course, that makes sense,” I shrugged with a bemused grimace on my face. Then I grumbled a bit and crossed my forelegs before taking a deep breath and letting go of some lingering resentment with a soft sigh. “It was his dream too, after all.”

“Too bad his dream’s gonna get crushed by mine,” Rainbow softly pounded the seat with her hoof, a delightfully self-assured grin on her face, making me giggle. “I was a little rattled after I saw him…”

Rainbow’s posture dropped and her demeanor became cold again as she jumped off the seat and began to pace back and forth in front of me for a sec, but then she stamped her hoof and smiled.

She looked at me and said, “But honestly, I’m confident in our team, and hearing you say the same thing makes me twice as certain. We’re gonna win this thing.”

I beamed brightly at her and pumped my hoof toward her, Rainbow meeting my hoof with her own and bumping them together in solidarity.

“Oh hey, before I forget…” I awkwardly tapped my hoofsies together and frowned.

“Yeah?” Rainbow arched a concerned eyebrow as she sat back down next to me.

“How much should Fluttershy know about…” I paused and considered my words. Rainbow got really upset when we talked about this so I wanted to make sure I stepped lightly. “Y’know, the thing.”

“Oh, you mean…” Rainbow sighed irritably and hung her head. “Right. Thanks for covering earlier, by the way.”

“No problem,” I said quickly, “happy to help, but… shouldn’t she be aware of why we’re here? I mean, she is our teammate. Shouldn’t she know why winning is so important to you and what you’re planning to do?”

“No.”

Rainbow shook her head and I groaned, figuring that’s what she would say but I didn’t like it.

“Fluttershy is sweet, but she’s also pretty soft. I don’t think…” Rainbow let a dull growl escape her lips and she rolled her eyes. “I’ll tell her. I’m not gonna leave her in the dark, but… not yet.”

Rainbow took a deep breath and after a few seconds of breathless contemplation she sighed. “She deserves to know, she is our teammate, but… I just don’t know how well she’ll take to the whole ‘I’m trying to murder my dad’ thing.”

“Oh, is that all.”

Rainbow and I both froze and our ears shot straight up at the sound of Fluttershy’s voice. We both looked to our right as Flutters rose from her sleepy curl and stared coldly at the two of us.

“How long have you…” Rainbow coughed nervously.

“I don’t know who Wind Rider is,” Fluttershy said drowsily.

“Ah,” Rainbow squeaked, “Well, I’m not gonna lie to you.”

“Wind Rider is—”

Rainbow put a hoof over my mouth and said, “That’s not the important part, Pinkie.”

“You’re trying to…” Fluttershy took a deep breath and spoke tensely, her voice cracking like she was about to tear up. “You’re going to murder someone? Your own father?”

“After I get the power of the gods, yeah,” Rainbow said coldly and I felt a knot in my stomach. Rainbow never talked about this. Not anymore anyway.

“You asked before who the champion of the last Bifrost was… my dad was their team captain. He has that power now, and once I take it from him… I’m going to kill him.”

Fluttershy stared unflinching into Rainbow’s eyes, Rainbow’s gaze meeting her intensely and not wavering. I, sitting in between the two and sucking in all this tension, felt like I was about to explode from nervousness. Flutters closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Okay.”

“Wh—okay?” I said confusedly. “That’s it? Really? Just ‘okay’?”

“Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy spoke calmly but her legs were shaking and her voice was starting to crack again, “I don’t know why you would want to do such a horrible…” Fluttershy groaned “I dunno… but I trust you.

“I understand why you didn’t want to say anything to me… and I appreciate your honesty, that you didn’t try to hide it once I found out.”

“Wow, you are giving me way too much credit,” Rainbow snickered, but I could tell by the way she was trying to stifle a genuine smile that she truly appreciated Fluttershy’s remark.

“Maybe…” Fluttershy chuckled and curled back into a ball to go back to sleep. “But I believe that people can change.”

Rainbow and I looked at each other with wide eyes, our mutual surprise making me laugh and I said, “See? I told you! She’s perfect!” I heard Fluttershy giggle softly and that made me smile, Rainbow’s earnest smile adding the perfect cherry on top.

“Yeah, I was sure before, but I’m definitely sure now,” Rainbow said confidently, “We’re totally gonna win this.”

“So Iris, what did you write today?”
Oh just a horse strangling herself with a belt, no big deal.

Also, come at me all of you “I don’t mind trans characters as long as there’s a story reason for it” CLOWNS!

-APPLEJACK-

I was sittin’ at a bar in the lobby of the hotel Team Destiny had been checked into. It was the middle of the night when our train rolled into the Baltimare station and Rarity, havin’ already slept through the train ride, collapsed into bed as soon as she got to her room. But I was antsy and I needed a drink.

Nopony cares how you feel, Applejack.

My aunt Orange’s words echoed in my mind as I was sittin’ there, and I remembered her sayin’ ‘em to me all the time when I was a kid.

Keep your feelings to yerself.

I breathed haggardly inward and slowly, miserably out. I swished my little cider cup around and stared into the half empty glass. I remembered goin’ to Rarity’s house to pick her up, I was feelin’ excited to see her again after so long, and I stupidly made a fool of myself when I brought up our old relationship…

No one cares how you feel, Applejack. So keep your feelings to yourself.

I dunno if the voice repeatin’ those words in my mind was my aunt Orange or my own, honestly I wasn’t sure I could tell the difference at this point.

I groaned and slid my forelegs onto the bar, buryin’ my face in ‘em. “Gah, I’m such a—“

“Something the matter?”

Twilight said comfortingly as she walked up beside me, her wide, bright eyes lookin’ up at me from the ground. She hopped up on a stool next to mine. “You’ve been acting a little distant since I saw you at the train station. Did something happen between you and Rarity?”

I shrugged and said in a low whisper, “I dunno,” as I buried my face back into my legs.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, and I know that Rarity can be a little…” Twilight hesitated a sec and spoke in a strained whisper, “…intense.”

She cleared her throat. “She’s been struggling a lot these last few… months, honestly. She keeps waking up later and later, sometimes she doesn’t even leave her room… she’s just… lifeless.”

Twilight shrugged and let out a beleaguered sigh. “I’m not going to ask you to cut her slack, she needs to be responsible for her own baggage.”

“What is her deal though?” I raised my head to look Twilight in the eyes and frowned as I thought about my encounter with Rarity.

“When I met her this mornin’ she seemed just like her ol’ self. Confident and flirty, fun and smart and insightful… but when I saw her tonight…”

I groaned and shook my head, half a mind to put it back ‘tween my forelegs. “She was like a totally different person. She was cold and it seemed like she couldn’t wait to get away from me.”

“Hm…” Twilight said ponderously and tapped her chin for a sec before lettin’ out an ugly groan.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, archin’ a curious eyebrow.

“I don’t know what to say exactly that won’t be, like, a privacy issue,” Twilight looked at me nervously and tapped her hooves together, “But I’ll talk to her in the morning and see if I can help her sort out her… issues.”

“I, uh… I see,” I said, taking a long sip of cider that emptied my glass.

“I can tell you this, although I’m not sure if it helps,” Twilight said with a halfhearted shrug, “she doesn’t hate you, she hates—” she bit her lip, cuttin’ off whatever she was about to say, “Eh, it’s not important. But she doesn’t hate you.”

“How d’ya figure?” I scoffed, a snide grin creepin’ onto my face.

“When we went home earlier today,” Twilight explained, “I asked Rarity about you and she couldn’t stop gushing. She really admires you and looks back on your time together really fondly.”

I couldn’t deny that made me feel nice, if a bit sheepish, and I smiled despite myself and my burnin’ cheeks. I tried to take another drink but grumbled under my breath when I remembered my glass was empty.

“She was really happy to have you accept our invitation to join our team,” Twilight continued, thankfully oblivious to or ignorin’ my embarrassment. “She tried to hide it but she’s easy to see through once you know what to look for.”

“I think I’m more confused now than I was ‘fore you got here,” I chuckled and looked at my empty glass, “But I think that’s alright. I don’t hate Rarity either… for a long time she was my best friend and I…”

I sighed dismally and hung my head as I painfully forced myself to admit the truth “I still love her…” my ears shot up and my head followed right after, my cheeks turnin’ red as an apple and I stammered with an outstretched hoof toward Twilight, “Not like in a romantic sense!”

Twilight giggled at my little outburst and I let out another tired sigh, starin’ deep into my empty glass yet again.

“I miss her though,” I whispered, a thought spoken aloud.

“Like I said,” Twilight hopped out of her seat back onto the floor, “I’ll talk to her in the morning and straighten things out. We’ll be a well-oiled machine by the time of our first fight tomorrow!”

Twilight’s enthusiasm and optimism were pretty adorable, though hard to get behind for a cynical ol’ turnip like me. Still though, she looked like she really believed herself, and that made me wanna believe her too.

“As for tonight,” Twilight said with her head held high and a proud smirk ‘cross her face, “just put Rarity out of your mind if you can, and leave her to me.”

I nodded with a smile. “Okay.”

“Oh, hey…” Twilight suppressed a giggle with her hoof, “I Pinkie Promise I’ll make things right between you two! Cross my heart and hope to, uh…”

“Fly,” I stifled a laugh of my own as Twilight tried and mostly failed to do the gestures from memory.

“Right, fly!” she said with a nervous chuckle, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

“I’ll take it,” I said, truly enjoyin’ watchin’ Twilight’s performance.

“Goodnight, Applejack,” she said cheerfully and waved goodbye.

“Goodnight, Twilight Sparkle,” I said fondly, hearing her let out one last little giggle as she turned around and left to go back to her room.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and myself finally arrived in Baltimare after what felt like a thousand hour train ride, exhausted but excited. We headed straight for the hotel to check ourselves in, our rooms being given at no charge thanks to our invitation.

The clerk we spoke to said we could have three rooms but Rainbow quickly bumped it down to two since her and Pinkie were going to bunk together, and I didn’t want to be by myself so I forced myself through a firewall of anxiety to politely ask if the three of us could share a single room, specifically on the second floor.

Pinkie was elated by the idea and Rainbow didn’t mind either, so that’s where we ended up, and as we walked up the stairs and crowded around the little room I felt really proud of myself for speaking up, but also even more tired… and a little sick.

“I’m gonna take a shower!” Pinkie said as soon as we entered the room and dropped our bags off, mostly just Pinkie’s bags full of pilfered train food. “Does anypony mind? If I shower? If I shower in this motherhonking—“

“Just go,” Rainbow said bemusedly, stifling a laugh.

Pinkie let out an adorable giggle and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving me alone with Rainbow Dash for the first time since I accepted her invitation.

Rainbow removed her bomber jacket and threw it onto the ground at the foot of her bed, collapsing into the bed immediately after and letting out a weary yawn, groaning as she stretched her legs and wings that had barely moved at all during the whole train ride.

Rainbow and I were alone, it was very late into the night and the small though not claustrophobic room was quiet with the only consistent noise being the distant sound of the shower running behind the wall.

“Rainbow Dash?” I said hesitantly, climbing into the bed opposite the one Rainbow was laying in. I didn’t want to bother her, we were all pretty tired and the thing I needed to ask her was something pretty uncomfortable… but I needed to force myself to be brave and ask, otherwise my feelings would just fester if I didn’t resolve this, and that wouldn’t be good for anypony.

“What’s up, Fluttershy?” Rainbow, who had been lying completely inert and staring up at the ceiling since she crashed into bed, lifted herself up into a sitting position and stared at me with a tired but seemingly genuine smile on her face.

I started tensing into a ball as she looked at me and I shielded myself with my wings, trying not to look as totally nervous as I was, but… well, I wasn’t very good at hiding when I got nervous.

Rainbow could tell something was up with me, because she had eyes that worked. “Is everything okay? If something’s up, you can tell me. It’s important for me, as team captain, to make sure my girls are in the best shape they can be, including like, emotionally and stuff.”

“That’s…” I smiled at her concern and brushed some hair out of my face. That was very sweet of her to say, “I think you’re gonna be a good team captain.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow beamed with pride and puffed out her chest, “So what is it you wanted to say before?”

“Oh, that…” I squeaked. I suddenly felt like I had an out and I didn’t have to pursue this conversation, which I normally would have jumped on… but that was the old me! I was the new, amazing and gutsy Fluttershy of Team Rainboom now!

“I need to ask you something…” I muttered. I was trying to be brave but it’s a lot easier to say I’m going to be brave than to actually… do it.

“O…kay?” Rainbow said, trying to veil her rapidly thinning patience with a calm tone and a forced smile.

“I want…”

This was it, the moment of truth…

“I want to ask you about your…”

You can do this, Fluttershy!

“About your father.”

As I blurted out those words I suddenly felt a white hot pang of anxiety like someone threw a lance into my stomach.

“Ah,” Rainbow’s posture loosened as she flumphed down into the pillows and looked up at the ceiling. “Because of… what I said before. You want to know if he like, deserves to die, or something?”

“I don’t believe anyone ‘deserves’ to die, Rainbow Dash,” I said as sternly as I could, which wasn’t much, as I was still hidden behind my wings and looking away from her, “I don’t think anyone has the authority to take another person’s life.”

“You acted so chill about this on the train,” Rainbow said cautiously, lifting a hoof into the air, “If that’s what you believe, then why—“

“Because I’m hoping you will change your mind,” I said abruptly.

Rainbow did one of those laughs that sounds like a scoff and swatted at the air in front of her with her hoof. “I don’t wanna burst your bubble, but… that’s not gonna—“

“I know that’s what—” I felt bad for cutting her off a second time but I couldn’t let her finish that sentence, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to finish my own sentence. “I know you think that. And you’re probably right, but… I’m here for my own reasons as well, and I want to be your f—“

I cleared my throat to stop myself from saying something embarrassing. “Being a member of this team is something that matters to me, that’s important to me, and I…”

I sighed and looked at Rainbow with a sad smile on my face, poking my head out from behind my wing shield, “Right now what’s important is us winning this tournament, so can you let me have my hope for now, please?”

Rainbow’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked up at me, and I immediately glanced away, my cheeks burning up and making me feel like an absolute idiot.

“Y’know…” Rainbow cleared her throat and I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, seeing her fidgeting her wings and looking up at the ceiling from a sitting position, “No one knows what the future holds… anything can happen. So… yeah.”

My eyes lit up and I flared my wings out beside me as I smiled at Rainbow, who looked back at me with a bright smile on her own face as well. “Thank you.”

“Do you still want to know about him though?” Rainbow asked, her voice becoming more serious and colder.

“I…” I didn’t know how to answer that question and I felt nervous being asked, my wings faltering for a second before folding up against my sides. I sat down and took a deep breath to steady myself, “I’ll listen, if you want to talk… but I’ll respect your privacy if you don’t.”

Rainbow glanced away and grumbled something under her breath. She jumped onto the ground and paced in a little circle for a moment before violently shaking her head like a dog trying to get dry and hopping back into the bed and collapsing into a sad pile.

“You should ask Pinkie,” she said with a defeated sounding sigh.

“Why Pinkie?” I asked concernedly.

“Because I don’t know what to say,” Rainbow shrugged and laid flat on the bed, limbs sprawled in every direction, “But you deserve to know what happened… what that man is capable of and why… why I need to win this.”

“I see,” I said, my voice barely more than a whimper as my blood ran cold suddenly.

“BUT,” Rainbow said abruptly, springing up to her hooves and pointing one at me, “I believe what I said, about anything being possible. I’m not asking you to convince me not to kill my dad, but for right now you’re right about us needing to focus on the tournament. And I’m willing to…”

She closed her eyes and grit her teeth, slowly taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, even though it looked like it pained her to do it, “…try to open myself up to the idea that…”

She groaned and shrugged halfheartedly, her eyes still tightly shut.

“…I dunno, that I don’t have to kill anyone,” Rainbow opened her eyes and hung her head huffily, her cheeks all puffed up. It didn’t sound like she entirely believed her own words, but I got the feeling that she was genuinely trying to.

“I’m willing to make that affordance so that you can feel safe and comfortable on this team, but unfortunately that’s all I can do for you right now.”

“It’s enough,” I said with a smile and a confident nod. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

“No biggie,” Rainbow shrugged and fell back into bed and wrapped all four legs around a pillow. “Now get some sleep, doofus! We’re first on the docket tomorrow so we got an early morning and a big day!”

“Yes ma’am,” I said, giggling as I gave her a salute and added, “Team Captain!” and I smiled widely when I saw Rainbow trying and failing to stifle a smile of her own. I really meant it when I said that she’d make a good team captain.

****

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

I was sitting by myself in the hotel lobby at a table nooked into the corner by a window and enjoying a really delicious bagel and a warm coffee, which thanks to the hotel’s complimentary breakfast for Bifrost fighters were both free. Which was great, because I didn’t have any money.

I gazed out the window solemnly, watching the people outside going about their day on this brisk winter morning and wondered if there was another universe in which my life was normal.

I wondered how many of the people walking outside this window grappled with disease like I did, how many of them were putting their entire future at stake on a long-odds gamble like I was, and I wondered if there was another life where things were just… easy.

I suppose it didn’t matter.

“Twilight?” Rarity spoke groggily to me with a letter hovering in her magic while she yawned and wiped sand out of her eye “Did you put this note under my door last night?”

“Is it written in my distinctive calligraphy?” I asked politely with a wry smile.

“It certainly is,” Rarity said, side-eyeing the letter.

“Does it have my name on it?” I asked.

“It does,” Rarity said sleepily.

“Does it say for you to come down here and meet me when you wake up?”

“I believe so?”

Rarity looked at the letter with a disgruntled frown and looked back at me, pointing the letter at me and flailing it gently for emphasis, “It would be easier to translate a centuries old text in a dead language than decipher the dreadful gibberish you consider ‘calligraphy’, darling.”

I snorted at that and said, “Well then no, I left it there this morning.”

Rarity chuckled softly, letting out a yawn as she took a seat across the small round table from me. I floated a spare bagel wrapped up in crisp white paper over to her and said, “I wanted to talk to you about Applejack.”

She groaned tiredly and rolled her eyes and I had to choke down a laugh. I knew before she even got here exactly how this conversation would go almost beat for beat and she had yet to disappoint me.

“Did Applejack tell you what an absolute tool I was?” Rarity grumbled and started unwrapping her bagel. “I didn’t mean to be so rude… I just—“

She attempted another groan but it became more of a furious growl as she struggled with the seal on the bagel wrapper. I gently removed the imprisoned delicacy from her grasp with my magic and removed the seal before giving it back to her, the white unicorn clearing her throat before biting into the bagel and pretending not to be embarrassed.

Honestly, sometimes I wondered which one of us was supposed to be the older sister.

“She didn’t tell me much of anything, to be entirely honest,” I explained once Rarity could safely enjoy her bagel without a villainous wrapper getting in her way. “She seemed a little confused. I’m guessing you were a little bit cold to her?”

I wanted to pick my words carefully and not put too much pressure or blame on Rarity, especially since I didn’t know all the details. I wanted her and Applejack to work things out and that would never happen if Rarity’s depression buttons were pushed and she started spiraling.

I cleared my throat when Rarity failed to respond, continuing my explanation, “She said she just wasn’t expecting that from the fun, flirty girl she used to know, the one she thought came to her house yesterday morning.”

“I know, I know…” Rarity moped and put her head down on the table before quickly lifting it back up and clearing her throat, no doubt internally chastising herself for her ‘uncouth’ behavior, “Just tell Applejack that… I… I know that I’m the worst and I’ll try not to bothe—“

Rarity cut herself off and raised a hoof before I could interrupt her and tell her not to be such a self-defeating buffoon. She took a deep, pained breath and bit her lip so hard I thought she was going to draw blood.

“I’m sorry. I know, I’m acting… foolishly.”

She released her breath in a slow, calming motion, “I’m having a hard time lately, between what’s been going on with Rainbow Dash, and with Fluttershy, and now this business with Applejack, I just… I don’t know how to be.”

“I know what you mean,” I said weakly. I took a deep breath of my own before saying clearly, “Look Rarity, I don’t know what happened between you and Applejack, not last night, not during your time together, but it doesn’t matter. We all joined Bifrost for a reason, we’re Team Destiny after all, and we all need to do our best.”

I stood up from my chair and walked over beside Rarity. “You should talk to Applejack. Tell her how you’ve been feeling, without all the ‘woe is me self-hatred’ business, and I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“You aren’t wrong, darling,” Rarity said with a weak smile, “You aren’t wrong…”

Rarity sighed theatrically and pawed at the teal scarf around her neck, my ears perking up as a sudden, horrible thought crossed my mind about what might be underneath that scarf.

Before I could question it, Rarity continued, “When I saw her again I felt so many memories rushing back inside me like a waterfall, so much joy and pain all mixed together with no way to separate it. I almost started falling for her all over again but I remembered the pain of our split and I… I became mad at myself. I felt so stupid for falling into that trap all over again but I couldn’t help it…”

“There’s no shame in falling for someone, Rarity,” I said matter-of-factly. “There’s no shame in remembering the good times you spent with someone and yearning for those memories,” I gave her a playful nod. “But you’re a smart woman, Rarity, I know that you’re not going to let yourself make the same mistakes.”

“I’m the same woman now I was then,” Rarity said distantly, her eyes narrowing coldly as she gazed into the distance. “But…” Rarity took one more deep breath and let it out with a peaceful sigh, a soft smile forming on her lips and I could practically feel the tension in the room becoming lighter, “you are right, dear sister. I think… I think I’ll go talk to Applejack.”

“Good. I’m glad I could help,” I nodded proudly for one second before I let a frown take over my expression. “But Rarity, can you do me one more favor?”

My tone became colder and more serious and Rarity took notice, looking up at me with an inquisitive eye. I raised my hoof and put it on Rarity’s shoulder as I grabbed the edge of her scarf with my magic and gently pulled it down to reveal a bright pink mark around her neck where a belt had recently been wrapped.

“Please be careful.”

“I know,” Rarity said, gently taking my hoof and removing it from her body before readjusting her scarf. “I’m not going anywhere, Twilight. Who would take care of you if I weren’t around?”

“Exactly! I need you!” I laughed awkwardly, only half-joking. “And right now, Applejack needs you too.”

“I know. I’ll go talk to her now then,” Rarity sighed dramatically, which made me laugh.

She stood up and headed off to the stairs across the lobby, but not before booping me on the nose, the two of us both giggling like we were kids again.

I breathed a deep sigh of relief as she trotted off to find Applejack, feeling like I had put the mediation lessons my parents’ divorce taught me to good use.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

I drew the curtains and peered out the window as I stood alone in the room I shared with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. I asked Pinkie if I could speak with her during breakfast today and she said, “Sure thing, Fluttershy!” but I wanted some time alone to collect my thoughts before I went downstairs.

Looking down on the sleepy morning in Baltimare from the second floor window made me smile. I’d been in Baltimare less than a day so far but I could already tell it was a much different city than Dodge.

Ponies moved about slowly, not because they were burdened by poverty, disease and fatigue, but because they seemed honestly relaxed. The ponies I watched mostly had contented smiles on their faces as they slowly ambled to and from nearby shops and restaurants.

It was peaceful, something that Dodge never was. Something that I don’t think I had ever seen before.

I figured it would be good to leave before I started going through my whole sad life story in my head, so I meandered out of the room and down the stairs into the lobby/eating area, where Pinkie Pie was sitting in a booth at a table covered in an array of breakfast pastries, the pink pony waving excitedly at me as I poked my head into the room.

“Oh wow,” I said without thinking as I approached the table and Pinkie’s giant mountain of breakfast.

“Breakfast for Bifrost folks is complimentary!” Pinkie said with a big grin. “Help yourself!”

I sat down on the same side of the booth as Pinkie, but not quite next to her in case she wouldn’t like that, but Pinkie just sidled up right next to me anyway.

I didn’t say anything or react at all, I tried to play it cool like I didn’t even notice because if I reacted then maybe she would react and if she reacted she might react badly and if she reacted badly I might react badly in return and then I would mess everything and I—

Ahem.

My point is, Pinkie sitting next to me made me happy.

I grabbed a bagel or two as I thought about how to best begin the conversation I needed to have with Pinkie, not really intending on eating them thanks to the growing pit in my stomach, but just holding onto them made me feel a little better.

“You said you wanted to talk to me about somethin’?” Pinkie said, her mouth full of pastry.

“Y-yeah,” I took a deep breath, clutching the bagels to my chest. “Rainbow wanted me to, um… ask you about… her father.”

Pinkie abruptly stopped eating and put the food in her hooves back on their plates. She swallowed the food in her mouth and stared blankly into the distance for a moment, scrunching up her face and tapping rhythmically on the table.

“I, um…” I didn’t know what to do. Had I said something wrong? Did I hurt her feelings somehow or make her angry or uncomfortable or—

“So she wants me to give you a history lesson,” Pinkie said with a wry smile, her hoof still tapping against the table.

“She said, um,” I stammered and placed the bagels back on the table so I could chew on the edge of my hoof, “she said that I needed to know what was going on between her and her father, and, um… that she didn’t feel comfortable talking about it, and I should ask you.”

“Yeah that sounds like her,” Pinkie grumbled and rolled her eyes, a distinct frown marring her usually cheerful face, which was more than a little disconcerting and didn’t make me feel any less nervous about asking about this topic.

“If you’re not comfortable talking about this you don’t have to—“

“No, it’s okay,” Pinkie smiled at me and I smiled back, pretending not to notice that her smile was forced. “Rainbow’s right, you should know what’s going on… I’m just gonna give her a stern talking-to later about dumping her responsibilities on me,” Pinkie rubbed her hooves together and smirked. “And I’ll subject her to a lot of really terrible puns too… muahahaha.”

I laughed nervously and timidly waited for Pinkie to begin her story.

“Okay, so let’s take it from the top,” She said, adjusting her seating so she was sitting up straight and tall, clearing her throat as she gently pounded a hoof against her chest. “I dunno if I mentioned this before, but my family, specifically my parents and even more specifically my dad, has been competing in Bifrost for decades.”

“Wow, really?” my eyes widened in surprise. I was really impressed, for some reason I had it in my head that once you were finished with one Bifrost you would never want to do another one. The idea of regular competitors had never even crossed my mind.

“Yupyupyup!” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “This one here is gonna be my dad’s fourth entry, and it’s mine and my sisters’ first!”

“If your whole family is—“ I interrupted without thinking but bit into the hoof pressed up to my mouth to cut myself off, but I bit a little too hard and hurt myself, throwing my hoof down onto the table with a pained yelp, but I hit the table a little too hard too and my hoof banged against it with a loud clatter, making me bite my lip to smother a terrified scream.

“I’m sorry, I’m interrupting,” I whimpered, my ears pinned against my head as an ice cold blush decorated my cheeks. Pinkie just smiled like she hadn’t noticed my embarrassing display just now and motioned for me to continue, so I weakly cleared my throat and asked, “If your whole family is competing, why aren’t you on their team?”

“Because Rainbow’s family too,” Pinkie said with a smile but I detected a hint of sadness in her voice. “I’ve asked her why she doesn’t just ask for help from my sisters but she just says she doesn’t want to ‘drag them into anything’, and I dunno if that’s for her sake or theirs but with Rainbow sometimes it’s best to just let sleeping dogs lie.”

“I see,” I said, taking in a deep breath to help calm my burning nerves. “So what do you mean by ‘Rainbow’s family’?”

“Ah, good segue!” Pinkie pointed at me and winked, making me laugh. “Ten years ago, during the last Bifrost, my dad and his team did their usual thing. My dad is never super interested in winning Bifrost, he just enjoys competing and testing himself against other fighters, learning from all the different people he meets from different walks of life…”

Pinkie trailed off and looked up to the ceiling. I followed her gaze before realizing that she was just reminiscing and I turned back to her and cleared my throat, Pinkie apologizing bashfully and then continuing her tale.

“Anyhoo, right, yeah… my dad’s team was in the last Bifrost. I was just a kid but I was already living with them. Point is, while my dad was competing me and my sisters were always nearby… and my point is, uh… what was I trying to get at…”

“Rainbow’s dad?” I asked.

“Right!” Pinkie slammed her hoof on the table, shaking it and causing me to recoil away from it with a thankfully unheard squeal. “Last Bifrost my dad’s team met another team called Team Blackstar, that was Rainbow’s dad’s team, and they really hit it off! My dad and Rainbow’s dad started really building up a friendly rivalry… that quickly became less friendly the more my dad learned about Rainbow’s dad.”

“What was so bad about him?” I asked, it seemed like we were starting to get to the real center of what I needed to know.

“He was really mean!” Pinkie huffed and crossed her forelegs. It was almost comical until I could see a flash of sincere anger cross through Pinkie’s eyes and she said with deadly seriousness, “No, not mean. He was cruel. He didn’t just beat his opponents, he broke them. He was obsessed with making sure everyone knew he was the strongest and that everyone else was weaker than him, and he delighted in making other fighters miserable.”

“That does sound…” I agitatedly tapped against the edge of the table, really hoping this conversation was going to be over soon but unwilling—and probably unable, let’s be honest—to bow out before I learned everything I needed to know, “…very bad. How come your dad didn’t pick up on this right away?”

“Oof, you’ve never met this guy so of course you wouldn’t know,” Pinkie sighed, crossing her forelegs on the table and resting her chin on them.

“Rainbow’s dad, he… he has this way of making you feel comfortable. Of making you feel good about yourself and like you’re strong and valued, until he suddenly yanks the rug out from under you and makes you feel worthless. He’s really charismatic, is my point.”

“Ah,” I nodded. I could feel a knot forming in my stomach the more I learned about this man. I don’t know what exactly I expected from this story but I had no idea it would give me such a visceral feeling of distaste.

Probably reminded me a little too much of my own dad.

“So…” I cleared my throat again, feeling very self-conscious now that I realized I had done that so often during this conversation, “I feel like I’m starting to get the picture, this guy seems… pretty bad… but how and why did that escalate into ‘he must be murdered’?”

“Well that’s just…” Pinkie grumbled and let out a strained groan before finishing with a belabored sigh, “That’s just sorta how Rainbow is… don’t tell Rainbow I said this, but…”

Pinkie looked to the left and right, to make sure Rainbow wasn’t around, I guess, and I was feeling a little nervous like maybe I shouldn’t let her divulge Rainbow’s secrets to me… but I really wanted to hear what she had to say.

“I don’t think Rainbow’s as interested in killing her dad as she says she is, she’s more interested in just beating him.”

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

“Like I said,” Pinkie explained, “Rainbow’s dad has this whole thing about making sure everyone knows he’s ‘the best’. Doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s a contest then Rainbow’s dad needs to not only win but make sure everyone else loses.”

“Unfortunately that’s a trait that Rainbow picked up herself,” Pinkie leaned over to me and whispered with a hoof up against the side of her mouth, “and if Rainbow hears you pointing out how they’re similar in any way she gets really mad so don’t mention that or tell her I said it…”

She leaned back and continued, “…point is, Rainbow needs to prove to her dad that she’s stronger and better than him, I guess as payback for all the ways he’s made her miserable.”

“So…” I took a deep breath and tried to examine everything I just heard, rubbing my hooves on the table and starting to feel sick, and the aroma of Pinkie’s mountain of uneaten pastries wasn’t helping either.

“Rainbow’s been given a very nasty inferiority complex by her abusive father and the only way she can see to make herself feel like she has value is by defeating him specifically in a trial of strength which she can only do by winning Bifrost and proving she’s the best fighter in the whole world.”

“That about sums it up,” Pinkie nodded with a proud smile, giving me a friendly and appreciated pat on the back for good measure.

“And I want to change the person that I am,” I muttered weakly, “and become a much more amazing and gutsy Fluttershy… because I’m tired of being too weak to control my own life, that’s why I’m here…” I looked over at Pinkie and asked, “So what about you then?”

“I just…” Pinkie’s smile cracked and I could see the sadness inside her like it was leaking out of her face, “Rainbow means the world to me… she saved me, in a weird way… I want her to be happy, that’s it.”

“I see…” I sighed in relief, happy to have this conversation behind me but proud of myself for sticking to it and glad that I learned what I did about Rainbow’s history. My ears suddenly shot up though as I remembered, “Oh, I have two more questions!”

“Oh yeah?” Pinkie cocked her head to the side “What’s up?”

“What about Rainbow’s mom?” I said.

“Ehhhhh…” Pinkie visibly cringed and pushed herself away from the table, which was not a good sign. “Rainbow’s mom is… complicated. Rainbow doesn’t like to talk about her mom, and I never really got to know her that well, but the situation between her and Rainbow is a lot stickier than between Rainbow and her dad.”

“From what I can gather,” Pinkie said ponderously, tapping her cheek with her hoof, “Rainbow’s mom tried to be a good mom but was kinda hopelessly in love with her husband and deferred to him a lot, which led to her being this weird mix of complicit in the abuse but personally very warm and caring, which makes things more than a little confusing for Rainbow… but make no mistake, Rainbow doesn’t like her either.”

“That… sucks,” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah! Yeah, it sure does!” Pinkie laughed nervously, and I did the same. “That’s all I know though, and I wouldn’t recommend asking Rainbow about it, so…” Pinkie shrugged exaggeratedly. “You had another question though?”

“Oh, yeah…” I said, anxiously tapping my hooves together. “What’s Rainbow’s father named?”

“Oh! Duh!” Pinkie conked a hoof against her forehead. “I can’t believe I forgot that detail!” She said with a giggle, “His name’s Sombra.”

I don’t know why, but hearing that name sent a chill up my spine that almost made me choke.

“I see…” I whispered coldly.

I got the feeling suddenly that there was a lot more going on with this tournament and with Rainbow and her family than I was aware of, and that I had gotten myself dragged into something way out of my depth.

I steeled myself though with a deep breath, because I wasn’t about to turn back. I wasn’t about to abandon Rainbow, Pinkie or myself.

We were a team, and we would take on whatever came at us together.

****

-RARITY-

I quickly paced back and forth in front of the door to Applejack’s hotel room.

Every time I thought I worked up the nerve to knock, a swell of anxiety rushed up from my stomach and into my throat and I backed down.

I did this several times, raising my hoof to knock and then putting it back down again to pace further.

In the few hours since I had spoken to Twilight I had practiced everything that I wanted to say, how I wanted to apologize, the excuses I wanted to make for myself, the outs I wanted to give myself… the outs I wanted to give Applejack…

But I knew that as soon as I saw her rugged and beautiful face staring down at me, her emerald eyes a window to better days long since passed, that all my preparations would be flushed out of my mind.

In the back of my head I knew I only spent the time ‘preparing’ in order to put off the actual conversation.

I raised my hoof in front of the door to knock once more but before I could worry myself out of it I heard the latch behind the door opening and saw the knob starting to turn. The blood drained from my face and everything inside me was telling me to run frantically in any direction, or at least to do anything other than just stand there like an oaf, but my legs were frozen and I couldn’t move.

Applejack opened the door and looked at me with surprise. “Oh, hey!” She said, her voice warm and sweet…

Almost like an apple on a—ugh, no. Never mind that.

“Can I uh, help ya at all?” she said awkwardly, holding the door open with her hoof.

I stood there frozen for only a second or two but to my mind it felt like several minutes. I lowered my hoof slowly to the ground, brushing it on the carpeted hotel hallway, and, looking as though I had just seen a ghost or something, simply looked up into Applejack’s eyes.

“I wanted to…”

I froze again.

Just say ‘apologize’, you imbecile!

“I’m…”

The words were trying to escape from my throat but my fear was destroying them before they could break free.

Just say ‘sorry’.

JUST. SAY. ‘SORRY’.

“I wanted to apologize!”

I blurted out frantically, bowing my head quickly and practically doubling over while my fabulous mane flew over my face.

I stood back up and brushed the hair out of my face, Applejack still looking a little pensive.

“I was terse and cold with you yesterday…” I forced myself to speak, one word at a time, and refused to let myself think about the words as they left my mouth, “I realize that must have hurt your feelings, and I am sorry for that. I didn’t mean to, I just—“

I shook my head and pounded a hoof against the floor.

“I’m not going to make excuses for myself,” I said severely, looking at Applejack as I spoke, “I wanted to be polite to you yesterday, and I wasn’t. You deserve better from me, especially as a… as my teammate… and I will try… no, I will do better to be a kinder, better teammate going forward.”

I stomped my hooves in front of me and stood up as straight as I could muster under the weight of all this anxiety and stress, but I managed to look rather dignified, if I do say so myself. “I hope that you can accept my apology and that we can move forward as a stronger team!”

Applejack just stared at me for a second and a hot wave of embarrassment wracked my body as I wondered what thoughts were running through her mind to keep her so silent, but I did not move or relent.

Then she started laughing and my whole face turned red, my body still unmoving but now it was moreso because I feared that if I did move, I would melt into a puddle of white hot shame.

“Don’t fret, sugarcube,” she said, putting her hoof on my shoulder and smiling warmly, causing me to relax at least a tad, “I ain’t laughin’ at you, I just… thank you,” she said with a joyful smile, the kind of smile that lit up a room, and it made me feel like ten years had been added to my life just by being graced by it.

“The fact that yer apologizin’ is actually real sweet and I appreciate it,” she took back her hoof and scraped it across the door jam, shrugging and looking off to the side as she continued, “Yeah, I was kinda hurt by the way you… I felt like you kinda brushed me off.”

She took in a deep breath and toyed with the edge of her hat, a soft giggle escaping my lips as I recognized it as the very same one I had bought for her on one of our anniversaries.

“But I know this must be hard for you too, suddenly seein’ each other again,” Applejack sighed through her nose. “I wasn’t prepared for the wave of emotions I felt when I saw ya outta the blue, and I can’t imagine you were either. Just a matter of time ‘fore one of us said somethin’ that set the other off.”

It was slowly starting to dawn on me that she really was feeling just as nervous and awkward as I was, I could tell by the tone of her laugh and the way she averted her eyes from mine, but it was so easy to forget that someone as strong and brave as her could even be nervous.

“You were right, yesterday,” I finally worked up the nerve to say, “about our relationship; we were young and passionate, we thought that passion was enough to sustain a relationship, but passion eventually dries up, and when you hit a wall in a relationship you can’t climb over it with passion. You need…”

I looked up to the ceiling and let out a single pathetic laugh, “Well I suppose if I knew what you needed, perhaps we would still be together.”

“Dunno,” Applejack shrugged, “but I do know this… I don’t miss ‘us’ but I sure do miss you-” she reached her hoof out and I tenderly pressed mine against it “-so maybe we can start over as friends, now that some time’s passed. I think it would be good for Team Destiny, good for Twilight and good for us. What do ya say?”

“I would be delighted,” I said as I held onto Applejack’s hoof, looking up into her eyes. “Nothing would please me more.”

“Then come on,” Applejack said excitedly with a gleam in her eye as she eagerly trotted past me into the hallway, “we got a tournament to win.”

I watched silently as Applejack headed down the hall, only following behind her after she looked back at me. I realized perhaps there was nothing to be so afraid of after all.

Even after all these years, she was still just Applejack, and I wouldn’t have her any other way.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I like the sea.

Baltimare is a city right on the ocean, it’s got the biggest port in Equestria aside from Manehattan, which just has the biggest of like, everything. I couldn’t wait for my opportunity to go to the docks and stare out across the ocean, especially on a beautiful misty winter morning like this one.

Almost nothing was more relaxing to me than listening to the rolling of the waves and the chatter of seafaring folk going about their business all around me, and I closed my eyes and breathed deeply to take it all in…

I was here. I was here for Bifrost. I made it.

I couldn’t spend too much time lazing about and daydreaming though. I got up early so I could scout out some of the other teams that were competing.

All the teams had to fill out a bunch of stupid paperwork so that the tournament organizers could distribute marketing pamphlets that would give the layman info on who the teams were, and I wanted to read some of those pamphlets to get an idea of who we were up against.

I mean, clearly Team Rainboom was the strongest team around and we didn’t have anything to worry about, but preparation is half the fight and if I took the time to get intel on the other teams I would be that much closer to beating them.

I turned away from the docks and quickened my pace, initially just a light canter but soon enough I was straight-up galloping to the… uh, I dunno what the building is called but the one where they have all the files and they organize everything and stuff. Gonna go get some sweet dirt on my future opponents!

As I was running, a young woman stepped into the road right in front of me. I grit my teeth and my eyes widened in shock but she didn’t even see me coming.

I spread my wings and jumped up, flying over the woman and it was only then that she noticed me, releasing a surprised yelp as I landed on the ground on the other side of her.

“Oh—oh my goodness!” she said nervously, fanning herself. She was a cream-colored earth pony mare with pink and blue hair coiffed into like a cinnamon bun type of hairstyle. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was—“

I was gonna tell her that I couldn’t really get mad at her for not paying attention to where she was going since I barely was myself, but before I could I was a little caught off-guard by the starstruck way she was staring at me.

“Uh, are you okay?” I asked tentatively, prodding her with a poke of my hoof.

“Sweetie, are you all right?” spoke the concerned voice of a pale green unicorn lady with pixie hair as she ran up and threw her forelegs around the cream mare before stomping them on the ground and scolding her, “I told you not to go running off like that! Honestly, I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one!”

“Lyra, this is the girl I was telling you about!” ‘Sweetie’ said, grabbing her friend and pushing her in my direction, her eyes locked on me and gleaming though the unicorn looked less than impressed.

“Uh… who are you?” I said confusedly.

“Oh! Of course, of course!” the cream mare stepped in front of her equally confused companion and laughed bashfully, “You probably don’t remember me, but you saved me the other day from getting mugged! Remember, in the alleyway?”

“Oh!” I did remember that! Granted, I remembered it more because I fought that Gilda chick twice that day, and to be honest I barely even noticed the girl I saved, but I did remember.

“Yeah, yeah… you’re, um…” I tried to recall literally anything about the girl, maybe something she said or some distinctive characteristic that left an impression on me during the brief time I saw her, but I drew a total blank.

“My name’s Sweetie Drops,” the woman said, reaching out her hoof to shake mine, which I reciprocated gladly enough. “I wanted to thank you for saving me, so… thank you very much!”

“Yeah, thanks a lot,” the green unicorn said softly. “Sweetie has a tendency to get into trouble and I worry a lot, so it was really great that you were there when you were.”

“Uh, no problem!” I said with a smile, puffing out my chest. “Just doing what anypony would’ve done… or should do at any rate.”

“Hey, by any chance, since you’re here in Baltimare all of a sudden…” Sweetie Drops said, a coy smirk on her face that she tried to bite down as she put a hoof up to her mouth, “…are you here for Bifrost?”

“Yeah,” I said excitedly, suddenly much more engaged in this conversation. I was looking for info on enemy teams and it looked like the info had come right to me instead! “Captain of Team Rainboom, I take it you guys are in it as well?”

“Team Rainboom?” the green unicorn, I think her name was Lyra, said suspiciously and glanced at her companion.

“No. Way,” Sweetie Drops said amazedly, her face beaming with excitement. “We’re Team Sweetheart! You, of all people, are our first opponent?!” she stomped a hoof on the ground with a giant smile on her face. “That’s too awesome!”

“Small world, I guess,” I shrugged. I was feeling pretty good about these girls being our first match, considering that if one of their members couldn’t even beat Gilda, then they wouldn’t be much trouble for us. “Kinda a shame though. Just your bad luck that you have to fight us in the first round,” I said with a confident grin.

The preliminaries of Bifrost had each team competing in three matches against other teams, and only teams that won at least two of their matches would be progressing to the second preliminaries. I wish I could do the math and figure how many teams would make it to round two by those rules, but math is too stupid for me.

“That’s a pretty arrogant thing to say,” Sweetie Drops said with an eager smirk.

“Not arrogance if you can back it up,” I shrugged proudly.

Sweetie Drops smiled confidently and took a step toward me but her partner was less enthused, rolling her eyes with a bemused frown.

“Well I look forward to proving you wrong then, uh…” Sweetie Drops trailed off as she realized she didn’t know my name.

“I’m Rainbow Dash,” I said.

“Well, you should prepare to Rainbow… uh, crash!” Sweetie Drops said awkwardly, pointing a hoof at me.

“Bad,” the green unicorn said flatly, echoing my sentiments exactly.

“I’ll work on my puns before our match,” Sweetie Drops glanced bemusedly over at her partner.

“Please don’t,” the green unicorn remarked, shaking her head with a hoof pressed against her brow.

“Is it alright,” Sweetie Drops’s posture suddenly shifted and I could feel a sense of powerful energy emanating from her… I think it was just hype but it’s hard to be sure, “if I challenge you personally, like we agree to face each other during our match? I really need to test myself after…” she sighed dejectedly, “after the embarrassing situation you saved me from.”

“I’m going third,” I said matter-of-factly, “so as long as both your teammates don’t totally bite it against my amazing teammates, you can face me in the third round and accept the loss for your team personally. I wouldn’t count on it though, my team is way strong.”

“Sorry Sweetie,” Lyra suddenly spoke up with a bright grin of her own, and I was glad to see her getting in on the trash talking, “I’m not gonna let you fight this girl cuz we’re gonna crush her team before she even gets a chance to fight!” Lyra glared at me and Sweetie Drops just smiled excitedly at her partner’s exuberance.

“Good luck,” I shrugged off Lyra’s glare and shook Sweetie’s hoof again. “Seriously, good luck in the tournament. I hope you can at least win your other two preliminary matches.”

“Oh, we’ll win all three,” Sweetie Drops stated confidently, “don’t you worry.”

I had a good feeling about this. There were already some pretty interesting competitors between these girls, Wind Rider, and I knew Pinkie’s family was competing too… this was going to be one heck of a contest and I was so here for it.

****

-RARITY-

Applejack and I found Twilight waiting for us outside one of the small arenas the city had set up for the Bifrost fights. We didn’t have much time before our team’s very first bout, due in no small part to all the daylight I burnt fretting over Applejack, but we were still here just in time.

After all, a real showpony always arrives just in the nick of time.

“Ah, it’s good to see you two!” Twilight beamed, cheerfully hopping off the ground as we approached. She gave us both an adorable salute and said, “Were you two able to talk things out?”

“I think so,” Applejack smiled hopefully at me and I returned the affectionate gesture with a proud smile of my own.

“There may still be some bumps in the road going forward,” I said, “but we’re a new team and it’s natural to go through some growing pains. Nothing we can’t handle.”

“And with the apologies outta the way,” Applejack said coolly, tracing the edge of her hat “I think it’s time to show everypony what Team Destiny is made of!”

“Let’s knock them dead, darling,” I said with a gleaming smile.

“Let’s do it to it,” Twilight added with a stomp of her hoof, wearing a smile that practically bursted with cheer, and it took all my willpower to not indulge my big sister instinct to just smoosh her adorable face.

Truth be told, I was in no way confident in my own abilities. I had no experience or formal training as a fighter, and even during that bout at the fair it was all Twilight doing the dirty work.

But as I walked into the arena with Twilight and Applejack standing beside me, I realized I didn’t need to feel confident in myself, because I felt completely confident in us.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

Me, Rainbow and Fluttershy were standing in a nice little waiting room, with bottles of colored sugar water, bowls of candies and baskets of little snacks sitting around on a black shelfy table thing for the competitors. The people running this whole thing wanted the fights to be entertaining, so no sense in letting fighters go on stage unenergized! All sluggish and hungry and whatnot!

“Okay,” Rainbow said seriously, getting me and Fluttershy into like a huddle almost kinda, “so I’m gonna go last. I want to make sure Fluttershy gets a chance to fight since her skills are still untested…”

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said nervously, her eyes darting from side to side. “That’s right, I actually have to… fight. I’d almost forgotten that part.”

“You’re gonna do great!” I said, throwing my foreleg around Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I have total confidence in you, Fluttershy,” Rainbow also patted Fluttershy on the shoulder and gave a proud smile.

“Okay,” Fluttershy said, trying to keep her breathing steady and under control. “If you say so. I’m still really nervous but I…” she took in a deep breath, like a reeeeeeally deep breath, and smiled shakily, “I’ll do my best.”

“Make sure you’re hydrated and you’ve got solid food in your stomach,” Rainbow advised. “Now, Pinkie you’re gonna go on first, which makes Fluttershy second.”

“Roger!” I said with a salute.

“I want Pinkie up first because I know she’s gonna totally crush it!” Rainbow said, pounding her hoof against mine. “And this is the very first match of the whole tournament, I want Team Rainboom to leave an awesome first impression right out of the gate, so Pinkie…” she looked at me and I smiled brightly, eager to hear her direction, “…give these ponies, both in the audience and the other teams who’ll be watching, a show to remember!”

“Gotcha covered!” I said, busting out the Party Cannon!

A pony with sunglasses and a suit called my name and told me that I was up so I gave Rainbow a kiss on the cheek and Fluttershy a light, friendly punch in the foreleg and rolled myself and my Party Cannon onto the stage!

The stadium itself was packed! There must’ve been more than a thousand ponies in the crowd surrounding the arena! And the arena was a pretty musty, basic and bland concrete foundation. Really nothing to write home about or, write a lengthy, intricate description about, as if in a novel of some sort.

The woman standing across the arena from me was a grey pegasus with blonde hair, her right eye focused on me but left was trailing off in another direction for a second before it also found its focus on me.

“Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie!” I walked up to her and offered to shake hooves.

“I’m Ditzy!” the girl said, giving me a warm and hearty hoofshake. “Good luck today!”

“You too!” I said cheerily, returning to the side of my Party Cannon.

A woman with a commanding voice explained the rules of the Bifrost preliminaries but I wasn’t super listening to what she was saying. Basically, our team was gonna fight three matches against different teams and we needed to win two of these matches in order to progress to the next round.

Also, the fights in this first preliminary weren’t gonna be taking place in the arena per se, but they were gonna use some weird magic technique to place the fighters in like an illusion realm where we could fight to our heart’s content without our physical bodies getting injured. Something like that.

There were mages, I counted eight of ‘em, standing on stone pillars around the arena. They waved their legs and casted their spells and suddenly I found myself standing in a mysterious jungle and Ditzy was nowhere to be seen! Still had my Party Cannon though!

A voice resounded from the sky, it was the voice of the woman who explained the rules and I recognized her from when I watched her give Rainbow her invitation… the girl’s name was Starlight Glimmer, I think.

“Are both fighters ready to battle?” she said.

“Uh, I think so!” I said loudly.

“Good!” she cheered. “Then let the Bifrost struggle begin!”

A claxon blared and I guess it was go time! I needed to find Ditzy in this illusory jungle and beat her up! No problem!

“Hey Ditzy!” I yelled, rolling my Party Cannon through the twisting pathways and over gnarled tree roots and such. “Let’s do this! The element of surprise is for cowards!” I said with a laugh.

No response.

Welp, if she’s not gonna come out… I pulled the string on my Party Cannon and it fired a rain of confetti into the sky that showered the area around me, declaring my presence to anyone who might be skulking around illusory jungle town.

“Is everypony ready for a show!?” I shouted excitedly. I put my hoof against my ear and donned a big ol’ grin as I heard the crowd hollering and clamoring even in the illusion, but it was like I was hearing them from underwater or something. It was a cool effect!

“Come on, Ditzy! Let’s not disappoint the precious pony people!”

“Fair enough!” Ditzy said, appearing out of the brush to confront me. She was holding a small pink bottle in one hoof and an equally pink stick in the other. It took me a sec to recognize it but my eyes lit up once I realized she was holding a bubble wand!

“Ohmigosh! That’s so cool!” I squealed excitedly, throwing my hooves up against my mouth. “Are you gonna fight me with bubbles!? That’s amazing!”

“You’re too kind!” she said with a laugh, dipping the wand into the bottle then blowing on it, releasing a swarm of little bubbles. I couldn’t help but squee a little bit at her cool technique, but it became decidedly less cool when they suddenly were flying at me at high speed!

I dropped onto my belly to dodge but to my bemusement the bubbles tracked my movement and hit the ground in front of me. I was scared they were about to blow up but they just popped… getting soapy bubble water all in my eyes, and as I was screaming and running in panicked circles and rubbing my stinging eyes, I was wishing for a sec that they really had blown up!

“That’s…” I was breathing heavily and trying to focus my vision through burning eyes and I let out a playful chuckle, “that’s a really sneaky technique! I definitely shoulda seen that coming!”

“How do you feel about this?” Ditzy asked politely, flying into the air and blowing another bubble a few feet above me. The bubble stretched out of the wand until it became a large cube that plopped on top of me, trapping me inside.

I poked the edge to see if I could just leave it but it was more like rubber than what a bubble should’ve felt like, and thanks to that whole ‘running in panicked circles’ thing from before, I managed to get separated from my Party Cannon, which was stuck right on the other side of the cube wall, so tantalizing close yet so far away at the same time!

Ditzy gathered some clouds from the sky and pushed them down into the cube as well, smothering the top half in fluffy goodness. She dived into the cube one more time but she blitzed out just as fast as she came. Before I could wonder what she was doing, I felt water soaking into my fur as it started raining!

The water was slowly filling up the cube and I had a moment where I was really galled as I realized that she was trying to straight-up drown me in this illusion! Very uncool!

“You should probably surrender,” the gray mare said apologetically, passively sitting on a cloud above and watching the water rise in my little bubble dungeon.

“Not a chance!” I pointed my hoof to the heavens and smiled brightly. No one puts Pinkie in a rubbery bubble cube and gets away with it! “I’m gonna put on an epic show for the people and I’m gonna make Rainbow super proud! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

“If you say so…” Ditzy said concernedly.

Now that I made it a Pinkie Promise there was no way I could lose! I never break a Pinkie Promise! That said… I kiiiiinda needed a way out of this bubbly death trap if I was gonna make that happen, and I didn’t really have one.

So I’d just have to make one!

I planted my hooves into the ground, even through the bouncy rubbery floor of the bubble cube and the illusion we were in and the rapidly filling water, I could still feel the physical earth underneath my feet.

I took a deep breath and allowed the energy of the earth to fill me with strength, connecting to the magic aura of the planet’s energy that acted as the source of earth pony magic; the Earth Aura.

Feeling my body filling up with this energy I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew exactly how to win this and it would be a snap!

The water had already reached my tummy by this point so I needed to act fast. I felt the energy of the earth filling up my legs and…

BOING!

I bounced straight up and curled into a ball mid-air! I heard gasps and cheers from the audience as I hit the rubbery ceiling of the bubble cube, but the ceiling resisted and sprung back, bouncing me just as hard back toward the ground.

But I used my magic to just kinda shift my momentum a teensy bit, allowing me to hit another wall instead of the water below, giving me more momentum as I bounced against another wall, then another, then another! Faster and faster while also concentrating on the Earth Aura’s magic flowing through my body, gaining enough momentum eventually that even hitting the water didn’t slow me down.

It wasn’t long before…

POW!!!

I punched through the roof of the bubble cube, my momentum carrying me up to where Ditzy was still flying above me and I grabbed her, tossing her down and through the hole I left in the cube, a satisfying SPLOOSH noise ringing in my ears as she hit the water.

I fell back down and onto the roof of the bubble cube, bouncing off and landing back on the jungly ground. I stood up on my hind legs and lifted my forelegs into the air in a bid for applause, which was happily given by the audience and made me beam ear to ear.

“Wow, that was so cool!” Ditzy said, evaporating the bubble cube and letting the water disappear into the dirt and grass. “Getting out of my bubble cube is no mean feat!”

“Thanks!” I smiled appreciatively. “And now it’s time for the grand finale!”

Ditzy cocked her head to the side confusedly and I pointed to the ground at her hooves. She looked down to see that, despite the water and the cube, the confetti from my Party Cannon was still littering the ground underneath her. You’d think it would’ve washed away with the water, but it was magic confetti and it stayed put no matter what…

I smiled and stamped a hoof on the ground, Ditzy’s eyes widening in realization before a sizzling sound was heard, than a series of cracks before a final loud POP as the confetti burst into an eruption of green fire and electricity, the sparks licking around them until they were all connected in an intricate pattern… that exploded right in Ditzy’s face.

“That confetti…” Ditzy coughed, lying in a heap on the ground, her fur charred and singed like a cartoon character, “…it was more than just for show.”

“I maaaay have a sister who’s a high-level artificer,” I giggled, thanking Marble in my head for her genius work.

Ditzy laughed and attempted to stand but only a second later she plopped back to the ground and faceplanted into the dirt. If she hadn’t just tried to drown me I would’ve felt pretty bad for her.

“The winner!” Starlight Glimmer exclaimed. “PINKIE PIE!!”

The crowd roared and the illusion was dispelled, leaving me a little dazed. Ditzy didn’t look any worse for wear back in the real world so I hopped on over to her and held out my hoof.

“No hard feelings, I hope?” I said with an apologetic smile.

“No way!” she said cheerfully, pounding her hoof against mine. “Great game!”

I parted ways with my opponent with a smile on my face, rolling my Party Cannon back into the waiting room where Rainbow and Fluttershy were both waiting for me with big smiles.

“That was awesome, Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow yelled, grabbing me roughly and bringing me into a tight hug. My eyes were closed as I drank in Rainbow’s happy hug but I peeked them open real quick to look at Fluttershy standing awkwardly on the sidelines.

I waved over to her for her to come here and Rainbow saw, grabbing Fluttershy and pulling her into a big, soft, warm, happy, incredible group hug to celebrate our very first victory as a team.

The eternal struggle on whether to use “Sweetie Drops” or “Bon Bon”. In the end, I think the decision was made arbitrarily. I almost went with Bon Bon cuz Sweetie is more akin to Sweetie Belle, but she isn’t in this story so it’s fine. Plus “Drops” is a cool name, and Bon Bon isn’t.

And that’s the only name related thing I will be talking about in regards to this chapter! Have a good week, everypony!

Ok but seriously, real talk for a sec. I was never gonna call Grey Horse™ “Derpy” cuz that name sucks and is based off some ableist bs that I ain’t standin’ behind. I was on the fence about calling her “Ditzy”, cuz I thought “who the heck names their kid DITZY???”

Just imagine her parents in the hospital like
“Oh, it’s a beautiful baby girl! What should we call her?”
“Uh I dunno, how about stupid moron idiot???”

But then I realized “oh she’s trans and picked her own name, duh” so there ya go!

-FLUTTERSHY-

You can do this, Fluttershy.

I inhaled deeply as I stepped out into the arena, looking back one last time to see Rainbow and Pinkie showing their support. If they believed in me, then I believed in me!

At least, that was the idea. When I actually stepped into the arena and felt the searing gaze of thousands of eyes on me alongside the chill of winter I felt a little different. Specifically, like I was ready to throw up.

The girl who walked up to the other side of the arena was a green unicorn mare with an amazing pixie haircut. She cheerfully and politely introduced herself as Lyra Heartstrings and I meekly whimpered back that my name was Fluttershy.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as the illusion was cast and our fight began… I opened my eyes to a mountain landscape, not terribly perilous but slanted enough for footing to be kinda wobbly. Snow laid on the ground about an inch or two which did very little to help the chills already racing down my spine.

Lyra was nowhere to be seen and I figured that they must start the two fighters on opposite sides of the map, so to speak. Which, honestly, is very nice of them; it gives us time to strategize and such. I just wished I could quiet the roaring thoughts and bubbling panic in my brain long enough to actually come up with some kind of strategy.

All I could think was that the faster I found Lyra, the faster this fight would be over with, and then I remembered that I have something she didn’t have that would help me find her in a heartbeat: wings!

I flapped my yellow wings and flew up into the sky and it wasn’t long before I saw Lyra on the ground, sitting on a stone and playing an enchanting melody on her lyre as she hovered it above her shoulder, enveloped in a golden aura. There was a part of me that didn’t want to disturb her music, it was quite lovely and I wasn’t the type to interrupt, but…

I puffed up my cheeks and readied myself to fly down there. I can’t show any mercy to my opponents! Not if I want to make Rainbow and Pinkie proud of me!

I flew down and landed just behind Lyra, readying my poking attack to disrupt her magic but as soon as I hit the ground Lyra vanished suddenly. I was shocked and looked around for a second, finding she had only moved a few feet away and was now standing in the snow with her lyre floating above her, a trail of melted snow breaking apart the landscape between the stone she sat on and where she was standing.

“You’re fast…” I whispered, more thinking aloud than making a statement.

“You noticed!” Lyra said with a cheeky wink. “I’m not going to hold back, so you’d better not either!”

“I won’t,” I said firmly, trying to convince myself more than her.

Before I knew it, Lyra was suddenly gone and before my eyes could track her movement she was practically on top of me, raising her forelegs to stomp down on my head. I jumped back out of instinct but before my feet even connected to the ground, Lyra was already behind me and hit me with a jumping kick right in the center of my back, sending me clattering to the ground in a pained heap.

I flapped my wings and blew snow all over the place as I lifted myself a few inches into the air, quickly flying away from Lyra and putting myself back on balance. My wings weren’t very strong so I couldn’t stay in the air indefinitely, but I could still use them to give me the upper hand here, at least a little bit.

Lyra jumped up quickly and attempted another kick but I flew upwards to dodge her attack with a muted yelp. Her speed made my incredibly close-quarters fighting style more than a little infeasible here so I needed to think about what to do.

The green unicorn frowned and turned her focus back to her lyre, playing few chords of a lovely but slightly haunting melody, and suddenly I was feeling very… drowsy. My wings started becoming heavy so I flew away from Lyra to look for a safer place to land and catch my breath.

Lyra didn’t follow me at first until I was closer to the ground, far enough away that I would have enough warning if she super-speeded herself over to me but close enough that she was still in my sightline. To my surprise, when Lyra ran at me she did so at a normal running speed, and suddenly I put all the pieces together.

Lyra’s lyre was the source of her magic, it seemed pretty obvious in retrospect. If I had to guess, I would say the specific songs she played caused certain magical effects, but she could only concentrate on one at a time… so her first song was a speed spell but once I flew out of her melee range she used a sleepiness spell on me instead… but she couldn’t super speed while that spell was active.

In that case…

This was my opportunity to get close to her and use my pokey-pokey attack, but with this fogginess hanging over my head that would be difficult. I don’t know if I wasn’t thinking straight or if I was just incredibly desperate but my first inclination was to take my foreleg and bite into it hard… like, hard enough to draw blood.

Desperate or not, it cleared my head enough for me to charge toward Lyra, who noticed my movements and paused which gave me the perfect opening to strike. Using my wings to propel me forward, I flew at Lyra as fast as I could manage. All I needed was one solid hit and it would knock off her flow enough for me to take control of this battle and win this for Team Rainboom!

As I rocketed toward Lyra I gained a steely look in my eyes, determined to win this fight and prove that I was amazing! I was gutsy! I was—

My flying speed wasn’t very fast. It was even slower than normal thanks to Lyra’s spell. She saw me coming from a mile away.

CRACK. She slammed her hoof square into my jaw as I propelled toward her.

THUNK. I was sent spinning and fell to the snowy ground with blood trialing from my leg and mouth.

Lyra played another melody on her lyre, this one foreboding and dangerous sounding. I struggled to stand up and felt my senses returning to me as Lyra’s drowsiness spell wore off…

I almost retched as I felt the battering ram of Lyra’s kick hit me in the stomach before I could fully get to my feet, her attacks undoubtedly strengthened by her latest tune. My eyes widened and all the wind was sucked right out of me. I was laying on the ground, my vision blurring as I looked up at the cloudy sky. Another firm kick to the head and it was over.

Next thing I knew I was back in the arena standing upright. I looked at my leg and it wasn’t injured at all, but the next thing I heard devastated me more than a leg wound could have.

“The winner!” Starlight yelled for the crowd. “LYRA HEARTSTRINGS!!!”

****

-APPLEJACK-

Team Destiny was let into arena B by a doorguard, specifically into a waitin’ room with two large doors on either side. Three ponies were already sittin’ there waitin’ for us in the room, probably our opponents for this first match.

All three were earth ponies, two of ‘em were older guys, and I recognized all three of ‘em instantly. How could I not?

One of the guys was a charcoal brown stallion with silvery-grey hair and a mustache who wore a pale brown cowboy hat. Man’s name was Burnt Oak and I felt myself gettin’ a teensy bit pale as his eyes lit up with recognition when he saw me.

The other man was more of a tan brown with dark gray hair, sideburns on his face and a black broad-brimmed hat on his head, wearin’ the same dour and stony expression he’d had on the last time I saw him and I’d bet every day before or since

Then there was the lady, a light gray mare whose hair was tied in a neat bun and had gold-trimmed glasses adorning her serene face. She was the only one of the three I was slightly relieved to see, though also the one I knew the least about. Didn’t ever get the chance to talk much with her, but always figured I should change that one of these days.

They were Team Rock Farm, comprised of part of my family, and part of my sister’s.

Burnt Oak stood up eagerly and smiled at me, callin’ out my name with cheer as he reached his hoof out to shake mine.

I shook the man’s hoof cautiously and gave a hesitant smile, my eyes ever so briefly meetin’ Rarity’s and I could tell she noticed my concern. Still, wouldn’t do to be impolite so I mirrored the man’s cheer and laughed, “Burnt Oak! Long time no see, old man!”

“Too long, Applejack!” the old man said jovially and pat me on the shoulder. “You haven’t been keeping in touch with the family much, have you?”

He was trying to tease me gently but the old man was never one to understand where peoples’ boundaries were, so I was definitely a mite wary, especially with Rarity and Twilight nearby.

“Well, I uh,” I laughed nervously and glanced away, fidgetin’ with my hat, “I been pretty busy, what with my studyin’ and all…” the actual nature of my ‘studyin’— learnin’ how to fight so I could compete in Bifrost— was somethin’ that I’d kept close to the chest where my family was concerned. I didn’t feel terribly comfortable with ‘em knowin’ just how much I was lookin’ forward to this.

“Of course, of course,” Oak chuckled. “I see you went through with the transition though, good for you!”

I yanked my hoof away like I’d burned it on a hot stove and laughed real nervously, my face goin’ sheet white, “Heh heh, yeah… you really shouldn’t just say stuff like that out of nowhere, old man…”

“What’re you talking about?” he scoffed with a dismissive bat of his hoof. Nothin’ was ever serious unless he took it seriously. “We’re all family here, right?”

Look, I knew I wasn’t in any real danger. Cloudy and Igneous—the two other ponies on Oak’s team—already knew ‘bout my gender situation on account of knowin’ me pre- and post-transition and they had no problems with it. And obviously Twilight and Rarity knew, plus they were trans themselves. No one in this room was gonna hassle me ‘bout my gender.

But there was no way Burnt Oak could’ve known that. He didn’t know Twilight and Rarity, and the casual way he just announced to the whole sunforsaken room that I was trans was nothin’ short of mortifyin’. In another circumstance, that kinda carelessness could’ve gotten me killed.

“You shouldn’t openly declare the details of one’s struggles, Burnt Oak,” Igneous, the brown male with sideburns, spoke with a detached and elderly voice as he stood up and tapped his teammate on the shoulder, “especially matters so intimate and personal to one’s identity.”

“Ah,” Burnt Oak looked remorsefully at Igneous and then back at me, takin’ his hat off and bowin’ his head. “My apologies, Applejack.”

If Burnt Oak had turned from Igneous and punched me real hard in the head I would’ve been less shocked than by his sudden apology. The old man I knew never apologized, never took responsibility, “Igneous is right, of course, I spoke without thinking and put you on the spot. I am sorry.”

“Uh, yeh, it’s fine,” I said awkwardly, timidly pattin’ him on the shoulder. He put his hat back on and gave me a nod and a pleasant smirk, and that was that.

“Just, y’know, don’t go announcin’ my uh… situation…” I cleared my throat. Look, I was proud as heck to be trans but that didn’t mean I wanted to talk about it, and I definitely didn’t wanna talk ‘bout my transition, and I absolutely didn’t wanna talk about it with my darn family!

“Of course,” Burnt Oak said with a nod. “So have you been in contact with your aunt Orange at al—“

“So, Applejack!” Rarity chimed in and needled me in the ribs with her elbow, shovin’ me to the side. I couldn’t thank her enough fer doin’ that and helpin’ me dodge yet another extremely awkward conversation with the old man.

“You haven’t introduced us! My name is Rarity, and this-” Rarity moved me further aside and motioned for Twilight to stand next to her, the younger mare doin’ so with a good deal of hesitance, “-is my sister Twilight! It’s a real pleasure to meet a member of Applejack’s family… or three?” Rarity said with a smirk, looking at Igneous.

“My name is Igneous Rock, son of Feldspar Granite,” Igneous said his monotonous, rehearsed introduction and I smiled at myself for not rollin’ my eyes this time. “This is my wife, Cloudy Quartz,” the gray mare stepped beside Igneous and did a little bow. “While we are not members of the Apple clan, our families have known each other and been allies for generations.”

“Iggy and I grew up together!” Burnt Oak said as he wrapped a foreleg around a clearly bemused but used to it by now Igneous. “But this is our first time competing in Bifrost as teammates, it’s pretty exciting. And I’m not a member of the Apple clan myself either, just a family friend.”

Not a member of the Apple clan indeed. Far as I was concerned, only two ponies left in Equestria who had a claim to the Apple family name were Pinkie Apple Pie and her boneheaded sister Applejack.

“Ah, I see,” Rarity did the polite giggle of a woman humorin’ the dull speech of the person she’s talkin’ to. She was a natural at it, “Then I guess the three of you have competed in Bifrost before, although not as teammates?”

“You dunno the half of it,” I interjected with a laugh, steppin’ up to the other side of Rarity and givin’ Twi an out, the poor girl clearly uncomfortable bein’ on the frontlines of this impromptu family reunion, “Igneous and Cloudy have been in the last four Bifrost competitions. Bifrosts? Eh, it sounds weird that way.”

“You don’t say!” Rarity said cheerfully and batted her hoof. “I suppose it’s some rough luck for our team to be facing you in the first round then,” she did another polite giggle, but this one was more like the one you use to ingratiate yerself to people and show ‘em you don’t take yerself too seriously.

I’d been around Rarity long enough to figure the different meanings behind all her little social cues and it was makin’ me smile how easily I remembered ‘em. Like how a four-chuckle laugh means somethin’s mildly funny, but a three-chuckle laugh means ‘don’t ever say that to me again’.

“Perhaps,” Igneous said stoically. “We shall simply have to wait and see when the fights begin.”

“Indeed,” Rarity said with a nod, affecting a serious attitude for the sake of appearances. She quickly brushed it off though and said cheerfully, “On that note, we should probably go to our own waiting room and prepare our strategy, wouldn’t you say, girls?”

“Likewise,” Igneous said with a nod, turnin’ toward the door on the right. “Know that we shall not hold back, even against you Applejack.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I gave Igneous a confident smirk and casual shrug to show him I wasn’t intimidated.

“Great seeing you again, Applejack,” Burnt Oak tipped his hat to me and I returned the gesture. “And hey, I’m going up first and I would love the opportunity to square off against you! Just saying.” The man said with an unsubtle wink.

“I’ll see if I can take ya up on that,” I replied with a polite laugh as I headed toward the left door.

As the three of us left the waiting room and walked into the empty hallway beside it and away from Team Rock Farm, I breathed the biggest possible sigh of relief and said to Rarity, “I owe ya one.”

“Think nothing of it, darling,” Rarity replied with a shrug and a cute smile. “I know all too well the headache that family can be,” she added wistfully, Twilight silently noddin’ in agreement.

I could’ve dwelt on that statement but I elected to ignore it. Probably came out unbidden and I didn’t wanna make Rarity’s business my own if she didn’t want me pryin’.

I let out a soft sigh as I walked down the length of the hallway, lost in my thoughts. All this talk of ‘family’ was gettin’ to me and I just…

I miss my sister.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

I walked back into the waiting room with my head hung in shame and if I could have just curled into a ball and made myself disappear, I would’ve done it gladly.

Having the eyes of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash on me after my pathetic failure was a million times worse than having all the eyes of the crowd on me. I was so sure that Rainbow was going to be mad and yell at me and call me a stupid loser idiot failure or something and all I could think was that I totally deserved it.

“I’m sorry, you guys,” I said immediately as I walked into the room, unable to look at them as my ears flattened against my head while I silently begged myself not to start crying even as tears stung my eyes.

They were both sitting on the couch, and as I forced myself to turn my gaze to them after a few seconds of silence, I could see that neither of them looked angry… but they weren’t happy either.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow shrugged. “Can’t win ‘em all.”

She didn’t yell or insult me but… I knew she was disappointed in me and it really hurt. When Pinkie Pie won her fight, we all cheered and hugged, but for me… a shrug and half-hearted words of encouragement. Which was more than I deserved, but it still hurt.

“It’s okay!” Pinkie hopped over to me and pulled me into a hug, “You’ll get ‘em next time!”

“That’s right,” Rainbow concurred, stomping her hooves on the couch before jumping up and hovering in the air.

I appreciated that my teammates were trying to not hurt my feelings but their words were completely empty to me. I knew they were disappointed, I knew I did a bad job and that I let them down, even if they didn’t say it explicitly.

“I’ll be right back,” Rainbow suddenly said, my ears twitching as I cringed for fear that she was about to start the yelling and the blaming, “I gotta go get in the right headspace… need to make sure I ace this.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie beamed up at Rainbow as the pegasus headed into the hallway outside the waiting room, Pinkie’s forelegs still wrapped around me in a comforting hug.

I tore myself away from her though and sat down on the couch, feeling I didn’t really deserve to be hugged. I curled up into a ball and covered myself with my wings, hooves over my eyes as I tried so, so hard not to burst into tears.

Go figure, I failed at that too.

****

-RARITY-

“Wait, Miss Rarity.”

I stopped myself as me and my companions walked down the hall toward our waiting room, turning around to see none other than Mr. Igneous Rock standing in the open door frame of the shared waiting room and staring me down, almost though he were analyzing me.

I didn’t much care for it but I decided to humor him, waving Applejack and Twilight off and walking back toward Igneous as my friends continued to trek down the hallway.

“You are too weak, Miss Rarity,” Igneous said without a single blasted shred of tact.

“Is that right?” I said courteously and flicked my mane, feigning some veneer of the politeness that Igneous was so sorely lacking even as I was already fuming mad at him. “That’s a rather bold claim to make out of nowhere, is it not?”

“I have a profound connection with the Earth Aura,” he explained, if you can even call that an ‘explanation’. “Everypony is connected to the Aura, even unicorns and pegasi in their own way, so I can sense things about people, and I can tell that you. Are. Lacking.”

I scowled at the older gentleman, hoof agitatedly tapping against the glossy floor of the hall.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said tersely, harrumphing as I turned my head away from him and added, “And even more sure that I don’t care!”

I began to trot away from him, but he soon spoke up again, “Applejack and Twilight Sparkle are strong,” I froze in my tracks at those words, swallowing a pang of anxiety. “You are not.”

My, what a rude, boorish… JERK!

“If you cannot get your affairs in order, strengthen your motivation, you will remain weak and drag your team into oblivion.”

“I see,” I said dryly, my reply nearly coming out as a bitter hiss. “Forgive me if I don’t take a stranger grilling me about my comparative lack of strength terribly seriously,” I looked over my shoulder to glare at the man, the utterly taciturn expression on his face fueling my ire even further, “but why are you telling me this and why should I listen to you?”

The man was silent for a moment, looking me up and down as I continued to glare daggers into him, until he finally said, “Perhaps we shall simply have to settle this on the battlefield.”

“Perhaps so,” I clicked my tongue in frustration. Was that it? Was he just goading me into facing him? Why me? What did he stand to gain from it? Urgh, the longer I stood here listening to his inane prattle, the more frustrated I became.

“I will see you in the second round, Miss Rarity…” he turned around to leave and started walking but paused for a moment to look over his shoulder at me and say, “If you believe you have the courage to challenge me, of course.”

And without another word he walked back to his waiting room.

I stamped my hoof on the ground and groaned furiously.

He thought I was holding the others back? Was he right? It’s not like I hadn’t thought the same thing…

I shook my head and tried to shake those thoughts out of it; holding onto them would be a recipe for disaster with my diseased brain.

Still though, even though his challenge was a bare and obvious attempt to get me to face him personally and it was probably a trap of some kind… I begrudgingly had to admit that I wanted to take him up on it.

No, I had to take him up on it, I had to prove him wrong!

That jerk.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I paced into the hallway connecting Team Rainboom’s waiting room to the big waiting room and as soon as I was far enough away that I figured the others wouldn’t hear, I groaned in frustration as I conked my forehead against the wall.

I was so frustrated with Fluttershy’s loss; I really wanted to make an amazing first impression for our team and keep people in suspense about what I could do, but now I had to play cleanup in our first match. Not only that, but she made me look like a total punk for all that trash talking I was doing earlier. What a mess.

But on the other hoof, I knew it wasn’t her fault or anything and that being mad at her didn’t do anyone any favors. Besides, it was pretty obvious that she was taking the loss hard enough already without me having to be a jerk about it.

I couldn’t help being frustrated about it, but like… I was more mad at myself for being frustrated than anything.

“Frickin’ idiot. Geez,” I grumbled under my breath, referring more to myself than to Fluttershy.

“Are you talking about your teammate?” Sweetie Drops had been walking toward me from the other end of the hall but I didn’t see her since I was so focused on my own thoughts.

She looked really mad, and I guess I get why she’d be mad based on what she saw, so what I needed to do was explain that I was talking about myself and not about Fluttershy, and that I was just expressing frustration in an admittedly immature and selfish way.

So naturally, I didn’t do that.

“Maybe I am,” I shot back agitatedly, turning to face Drops and taking a step toward her, “what’s it to you?”

“Your friend just went out there and fought in front of a crowd of strangers,” Sweetie Drops lectured, “and she looked really devastated by the loss, and here you are smacktalking her behind her back?” she said indignantly, stamping a hoof on the ground, “That’s really messed up!”

“Funny, I don’t remember asking you,” I waved my hoof limply and dismissively, but a little voice in the back of my mind was screaming at me to just tell her the truth that I wasn’t talking about Fluttershy at all.

That’s all it would’ve taken to diffuse this situation probably.

But I couldn’t do that.

I couldn’t do that because then I’d be admitting that I was at fault.

Never take blame, never admit fault, never admit that you could be wrong.

Those were the rules I lived by to protect the image I had of myself, and I wasn’t about to abandon those rules and let the truth of me being a dumb stupid failure idiot cave in on me now.

“What are you even doing here anyway?” I asked irritably, trying to change the subject.

“Well, I was wanting to talk to you,” Sweetie Drops scoffed and turned her glance away from me in an obvious show of disdain, “because I wanted to wish you good luck and ask if you were excited for our match, but now—“

“Feh, if there’s something you want to say to me,” I shrugged and turned back toward Rainboom’s waiting room, “you can say it with your hooves. I’ll see you in the arena, loser.”

My eye twitched as I heard that unnecessary insult leave my mouth but I just kept walking toward the waiting room.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

Like, geez past-Rainbow, way to commit to just digging yourself deeper and deeper.

I slammed the door behind me as I re-entered the waiting room, the noise visibly frightening Pinkie and Fluttershy, who looked at me with concern. I realized then that I still had a pretty brutal scowl from my talk with Sweetie Drops so I softened up my expression and tried to release some of that tension with a sigh.

“I gotta go out there…” I said tiredly and walked past my team toward the arena door, but I stopped short and turned around when I heard a sniffle from Fluttershy.

She’d been crying, I could see it in her eyes that were all red and puffy, plus there were wet streaks in the fur on her cheeks, and Pinkie was sitting next to her with her forelegs around her.

“Fluttershy…” I said, the yellow mare looking at me like a wounded dog, ears flat against her head, “I’m sorry if…”

What’s the right thing to say here? Why am I sorry?

Truth be told, I probably had like a million reasons to apologize but I was drawing a blank as I stood there—cuz, y’know, never apologize—but then it hit me what to say, “I’m sorry that I didn’t celebrate your fight, that I didn’t appreciate how far you went to win for the team.”

“But I didn’t win,” Fluttershy whimpered, Pinkie holding her a little bit tighter, “I lost.”

“That doesn’t matter,” I shook my head and forced a soft smile. Saying something that I knew was true but at the same time didn’t really believe was a trip. “What matters is that our team wins, and I’m about to ace this fight, and you…”

I took another deep breath as I figured out what to say. This sorta mushy stuff was so not what I was good at, and the last thing I needed was to make things worse with Fluttershy like I’d so adeptly done with Sweetie Drops.

“So you lost one fight, big deal,” I shrugged. “You gave it your all out there, and that’s awesome. I want you to know that I’m super glad to have you on Team Rainboom and that I haven’t lost faith in your abilities or worthiness to be on this team at all. And I’m sorry that I made it seem like I wasn’t proud of you, cuz I super am. We’re gonna ace this thing, together.”

I gave a super genuine smile as I finished my little speech and realized that all the stuff I said was actually true!

Fluttershy looked at me with more tears in her eyes and said, “Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” she wiped her eyes and continued, “Now go out there and, um… ace this thing.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!”

I jumped toward the couch the two girls were sitting on and raised my hoof, Pinkie pounding hers against it right away and motioning for Fluttershy to do the same. The timid pegasus shakily and softly placed her hoof against mine and I gave her a wink and a bright grin that made her smile.

Maybe I’m not such a bad captain after all?

With the support of my teammates, and Pinkie’s consistent cheering ringing in my ears as I walked out the door, I headed into the arena to take my place in the fight.

I had to admit, I was nervous about joining Bifrost, and even now stepping into the arena for the first time I felt goosebumps and a knot in my stomach. I really didn’t want to let my team down… but talking with them briefly made the nerves go away, cuz no matter who tried to get in my way it didn’t change the fact that my team was the best.

****

-APPLEJACK-

I sat on the ground of the waitin’ room gettin’ ready to meditate but I saw out the corner of my eye that Twilight pacin’ back and forth, lookin’ pensive. Her eyes kept flickerin’ over to me, then away just as quickly, like she wanted to say somethin’ to me but didn’t wanna bother me.

“Bit for yer thoughts, Twi,” I said with a smile, closin’ my eyes in meditation.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” she chuckled nervously, “don’t let me bother you.”

“No big deal,” I said with a casual shrug. “Looks like ya got somethin’ on yer mind. What’s up?”

“I was just… thinking, I guess,” Twilight said wistfully, accompanied by the sound of her hooves tappin’ agitatedly on the desk.

“Not that,” I said teasingly, Twilight giving a sweet laugh in reply.

“That was your family… huh?” Twilight said abruptly, her voice tense like she wasn’t sure this was ground she should be walkin’, but I didn’t mind fieldin’ a few questions, “I guess I just don’t know what to make of… whatever it was that I saw in there.”

“Sure,” I hummed and ran a hoof through my mane, takin’ off my hat and puttin’ it beside me on the ground. “Burnt Oak was married to my aunt Orange for a bit. They got divorced while I was still pretty young, but he was there for a decent chunk of my childhood.”

“Your aunt… did she raise you?” Twilight’s question was answered by a simple nod of my head, since the exact tale of how I came into my aunt’s ‘care’ after my ma’s death was not somethin’ I was about to comment on. “He mentioned you haven’t spoken with her recently. Is that true?”

“Not in a few years,” I said with a shrug, carefully twistin’ a bitter scowl into a forced smile, “got nothin’ to say to her, and she’s got nothin’ to say to her niece. She still wants to think I’m her nephew, after all.”

I could hear Twilight suck air in through her teeth and the fact that she could relate so hard to my sentiment warmed my heart, “Couldn’t stay with her anymore so that’s why I…” I groaned and hung my head, my cheeks burnin’ with the shame of a distant bitter memory, “that’s why I ran away to Dodge.”

“Hmm…” Twilight mumbled ponderously, “Rarity ran away from home too, so I guess you guys had that in common.”

Twilight’s tone began rather neutral, but with every word she spoke about her sister’s leavin’, her voice became colder and bitterer, “She never really told me any of the specifics of why she left. I mean, she left me a note, but that was it. That stung pretty hard…”

I looked over at Twilight with an eyebrow arched in concern and she flashed a nervous smile at me and gave a big theatrical shrug, “Oh well, all water under the bridge now, I guess.”

“Rarity never talked much ‘bout her family,“ I said casually, turnin’ my head away from Twi and shuttin’ my eyes to continue my meditation.

“No surprise,” Twilight scoffed, and now I was the one pensive ‘bout continuin’; Twilight and Rarity must’ve had family baggage of their own, and by the sound of Twilight’s voice I could hazard a guess that there were some demons between the two of them that had yet to be sorted out, and the last thing I wanted was to kick a hornet’s nest by accident.

“Twilight, are you telling Applejack dirty secrets about me?” Rarity’s teasin’ voice chimed into the conversation and I looked up to see her stalkin’ up behind Twilight and delicately tracin’ the girl’s ear with her hoof, takin’ Twilight by surprise and makin’ her jump.

“Just a little bit about our old family life,” Twilight chuckled nervously, frettin’ with her bangs and backin’ away from Rarity, “Nothing scandalous or anything.”

“I see, fair enough,” Rarity said with a smile, but it was the kinda cold smile that you had when you were tryin’ to pretend like everythin’s fine when it ain’t.

“Somethin’ the matter?” I stood up and walked over toward Rarity.

“Hm? No…” Rarity shook her head but I wasn’t buyin’ her act for one second. I think she could tell that I knew somethin’ was up cuz she grimaced and said firmly, “I want to fight Igneous, he says he’ll be going second…” she looked at Twilight and I with a fiery look in her eyes and said, “Is that alright with you both?”

“It’s fine with me,” I said with a forced smile and tried to keep myself from grumblin’ under my breath.

I knew I shouldn’t have just left her alone with him. Igneous wasn’t a bad guy or anythin’, but he was blunter than a hammer and I had a bad feelin’ he was gonna set Rarity off with some bitin’ remark or ‘keen insight’, masqueradin’ his smug arrogance as ‘enlightened wisdom’.

Oh well. Nothin’ I could really do ‘bout it now; wasn’t any of my business.

“I guess I’ll face off against Burnt Oak in the first round and Twilight can go against Cloudy in the third.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Twilight chirped and gave Rarity a warm smile, the pale white unicorn giving an anxious half-smile in return, and somethin’ about it put a real nasty knot in my gut.

Maybe it’d be better if she didn’t fight—

“Although Applejack,” Twilight interrupted my train of thought ‘fore it could really get rollin’, “will you be alright fighting a member of your own family?”

“You won’t hold back, will you?” Rarity added mischievously, cockin’ her head to the side and puttin’ a coy hoof up to her mouth.

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” I said with a grin and batted my hoof to dismiss their concerns. “How could I hold back ‘gainst a member of my own family? That’d be shameful! It’s a matter of pride more’n anythin’ else.”

Twilight and Rarity looked relieved, and I gave ‘em both a reassurin’ smile. There was no way they could’ve known, of course, but their concerns were actually totally unnecessary; how could I hold back in a fight against Burnt Oak when I’d been waitin’ for this exact moment practically my whole life?

More’n anythin’, I’m glad the fight takes place in an illusion so that I don’t have to hold back at all.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I walked into the arena and the crowd started to cheer as Sweetie Drops and I squared off.

I took a sec to really drink it all in.

This had been my dream for a decade, to be on this stage in front of this crowd and absolutely wreck another pony for their amusement and to prove my dominance.

For half a second I imagined the crowd chanting my name but I knew I wasn’t at that level yet. But I was determined to get there. People from Manehattan to Las Pegasus would know the name Rainbow Dash and speak it with reverence and awe.

As for Sweetie Drops, there was no need for more words between us. She still looked bitter as she glared at me from across the arena, but as far as I was concerned she was just the first in a long line of obstacles that needed to get knocked over.

The illusion was cast and the magical fantasy fighting location I got saddled with was a gross, muggy swamp. I don’t know how they chose who got what illusory arena, but I wanted to slug whoever gave me a swamp almost more than I wanted to fight Sweetie Drops.

Sticky and gross water? Check. Obnoxious foliage and fog that obscured vision? Also check. Twisting branches that covered the sky, thus cutting off my advantage of flight? Oh, of course.

I grit my teeth as I took in the surroundings and sighed in frustration. There was nothing to be done about the unfortunate landscape, so I needed to let that be and focus on the fight, which meant first and foremost, actually finding Sweetie Drops.

I heard the sound of a music box in the distance and figured that would lead me to her; in fact, it was almost too obvious.

I snuck through the difficult foliage and headed for the sound of the music box, jumping from root to root in order to avoid falling in the sludge water; even if it was just an illusion, being in that water looked like it’d be super gross, plus it’d put me at a disadvantage if my wings got too wet, mucked up and heavy to fly.

The music box sound suddenly stopped and I felt my hind leg get caught by a cable, and in the space of a second I was being lifted up upside-down by my leg via a wire. I flapped my wings and threw a blade of wind at the wire, cutting through it easily, and fell toward the water. A net sprang out from the trees to my right and I blew it away with a gust of wind, using the opportunity to reorient myself as well.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep myself airborne and landed right in the water, where a bear trap was waiting for my unsuspecting foreleg. I bit my tongue and refused to scream as the trap closed around my leg and gored it, the greenish-brown swamp water suddenly being tinted red.

I didn’t want to reveal my position to Sweetie Drops by screaming, thought that was probably a moot point cuz even if she didn’t hear the wire or net traps go off, she definitely heard the loud metal clamp of the bear trap even if it was under water. More importantly though, it would’ve been super embarrassing to scream in front of the crowd.

Still, I was stuck now. I moved my leg up but the trap was attached by a chain to the ground, and trying to take flight or blow the thing off with my wind magic would be less likely to free me and more likely to tear my whole leg off.

So yeah, this fight was off to a great start.

Before I could spend too much time getting mad about that, I heard the sound of something being blown out of a tube and instinctively threw a barrier of wind around myself, knocking the darts that were headed my way into the water. I rolled my eyes and hoped to myself that they didn’t carry some kind of waterborne toxin to boot.

It was obvious that these traps were all Drops’ doing. She must’ve known I would follow the music box sound and laid traps— and alarmingly quickly at that— along the path. And I, like a an utter goober, fell into every single one.

Still, I had to give credit where it was due; it was good work on her part to set such a multi-layered trap, she definitely wasn’t a pony to underestimate.

Since this was just an illusion I had half a mind to let my entire leg get torn off by the trap and just deal with the pain, but I didn’t know if dismemberment qualified as an auto-disqualification, like they thought I somehow couldn’t fight with just three legs, pfft.

I heard some small objects flying through the bushes and put up another wind barrier. At first I wondered why it took so long for her to launch another attack, and then I wondered why she just tried the same weak trick she knew I would counter, but then I saw the knives landing in the water and an inky substance on the end of the blades was turning the red swamp water blue.

Crud, she really IS using a waterborne toxin!

Oh well, no way to know but to try…

With an intense flap of my wings I threw a torrent of wind toward the ground, lifting myself out of the water despite the bear trap attached to my right leg. To my pleasant surprise, the force pulled the chain out of the ground instead of tearing off my foot, although the trap was still goring my skin. But whatever, that I could deal with!

I had seen where the knives had been thrown from and responded with a huge gust of wind that tore through the trees in that area and revealed where Sweetie Drops was hiding as she braced herself and dug her feet into the ground to stop herself from getting blown away.

Taking advantage of this small opportunity and flying through trees as they bent and danced around from my wind attack could give me control of this fight, but if I messed up even a little I would fly smack dab right into a branch and that would probably be an instant loss. No coming back from a bleeding leg, a concussion and whatever Drops would do to me while I attempted to recover.

It was a terrible idea, and I was better off playing things safe. So naturally, I dived right for her.

Like I figured, the trees were all snapping back into their original position after my hurricane attack, the branches swinging at me every which way. Dodging between the already tightly packed foliage was nearly impossible and took every bit of focus that I had, and there was at least one close call where the leaves of a tree grazed my back… but I nailed it.

I reached Sweetie Drops, her jaw dropped in stunned recognition of my awesomeness, and grabbed her. I soared into the air with her helplessly caught between my forelegs, and I heard the crowd cheering which put a huge grin on my face.

I rose into the air past even the tall, tall trees, and into the clear sky above. No obstacles or trickery to get in our way, just me and Sweetie Drops in a plain blue sky.

And only one of us had wings.

“You wouldn’t,” she said with a grimace, looking right into my eyes as I gave her a sinister smirk.

I didn’t say anything as I let go of her, sending her careening into the foliage below, but before she could hit the trees I snatched her out of the air and threw her upwards, slashing at her with a blade of wind that hit her dead on, blood spraying from the side of her barrel and landing on my face, which only made me laugh.

With no way to control an aerial battle, plus my quick reflexes, she was pretty much out of luck.

I grabbed her again and threw her upwards, flying up to her at the speed of sound and laying on two punches to her face and one to her stomach faster than she could even blink, before grabbing her again.

She was bleeding from the mouth now and out of breath— being at an uncomfortably high altitude and having the wind knocked out of you repeatedly will do that— and I wrapped my forelegs around her, holding her own forelegs behind her back.

I was using my wings to hold us in the air, obviously, but I wrapped them around her instead and reversed direction so we were both plummeting face-first into the ground.

“You wouldn’t!” she screamed and coughed up blood.

I needed to concentrate on my trick so I couldn’t snap back with a witty retort, but using my wind magic I was able to start spinning us at high speed as we rocketed toward the ground, surrounding us in a shield of wind that ripped through tree and water alike. Just as we were about to hit the ground I threw her away, sending her slamming into a tree. If this weren’t an illusion, she would be dead, but thankfully this was an illusion so she was able to stand up after that.

I bolted toward her and punched her right in the head with the bear trap on my leg, causing her to crash into the water. Even after that she was still able to climb onto a tree root and stand up… just long enough to throw up blood and fall into the water.

“The winner!” Starlight exclaimed, “RAINBOW DASH!! That’s one win for TEAM RAINBOOM!!”

My heart was racing and my body was shaking as the illusion was dispelled. I instinctively looked at my leg and was kinda relieved to see no indent where a bear trap had been.

Sweetie Drops grimaced and left for her waiting room without a word to me, but that was just as well. I shrugged and headed back into my own waiting room with a giant grin on my face. Pinkie was ready with a jumping hug as soon as I walked into the room and I embraced her heartily.

I opened my eyes and looked over at Fluttershy who was just sitting on the couch with a sad smile on her face. I bobbed my head and waved at her to signal she should come over and join the hug but she just glanced away. I tore myself away from Pinkie and walked over to Fluttershy and embraced her in a hug.

“I’m sorry you lost your fight,” I whispered in her ear as I placed my chin on her shoulder, “but I’m super glad you’re on our team.”

I leaned back, my hooves on Fluttershy’s shoulders, and saw Fluttershy start to tear up. Pinkie jumped between us and grabbed us both, dragging us into a hug. None of the three of us could contain our laughter, so we just laughed like big doofuses, me and Fluttershy wrapping our forelegs around Pinkie and each other in a big victory celebration group hug.

Like I said before, my team was the best.

****

-APPLEJACK-

I shook hooves with Burnt Oak as we stepped into the arena to face each other. Not much more to say ‘tween us that couldn’t wait til after I was done pummelin’ him into the dirt.

“Good luck,” was all he said before we paced back to our starting locations and the illusion was cast.

I dunno what I expected bein’ in the illusion to feel like but it wasn’t as weird as I imagined it. I guess I thought that bein’ in some kinda phantasm would feel funny or somethin’, but it was just like bein’ in a normal location but with like an almost translucent dome placed on top. Pretty normal.

Or at least it would’ve been normal if I couldn’t still feel the chilled winter air in frickin’ lava world!

Oak and I weren’t really the types to delay things or try and outwit our enemies with a bunch of plans and stratagems and shenanigans; we both preferred to do things the straightforward way, so we found each other pretty quick, standin’ on black charred dirt on either side of a river of lava, with two stone platforms sittin’ in the river between us.

“This looks like a fun spot to hang out,” I said calmly, tipping my hat to my opponent.

“Aye, I’m considering taking a vacation here in the summer,” Oak’s deadpan delivery and straight face as he said that made me laugh.

“You ready, old man?” I said confidently, scrapin’ a hoof ‘cross the charred ground.

“Not quite,” He jumped to one of the platforms and sat down on his haunches, and I watched him confusedly. He pulled out a bottle of cider and two glasses, fillin’ ‘em both and placin’ one on the other platform. Then he motioned for me to sit down.

“Really?” I said incredulously, “Ya wanna have a drink first? Aren’t the people gonna get bored?”

“I hope not,” Oak chuckled and took a drink of his cider, and I tried not to think of Aunt Orange scoldin’ him for drinkin’ or for startin’ a meal ‘fore everyone was ready.

“To be honest,” Oak said as he put down his cup, “this is my first time doing this sort of thing, but Igneous insisted. He said its part of the ritual of his team. Apparently they’ve done it every time they’ve fought in a tournament, at least in the preliminaries, for the last forty years.”

“I guess I can’t say no to that,” I shrugged and jumped over to the platform, sittin’ down on my haunches before the glass and takin’ a drink from it. To my surprise, it actually tasted like cider even in the illusion; good cider, too! “Gotta respect tradition, after all.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Oak said with a laugh, raisin’ his glass toward me. “That was my reason for even agreeing to this idea in the first place!”

“So what now?” I said, finishin’ my glass right quick and eagerly stampin’ my hooves. “Now that we’re boozed up does one of us just punch the other into the lava?”

“Not quite,” Oak’s demeanor suddenly became very serious. He looked at me like he could see right through me, sendin’ a shiver up my spine and puttin’ a sour taste in my mouth that made itself known through a bitter grimace on my face, “Applejack, why are you here? What are you fighting for?”

“That’s uh, an outta the blue kinda question…” I said, “don’tcha think?”

“And you don’t have to answer,” Oak shook his head calmly and took another sip of cider. “But if you don’t, isn’t that a mite suspect? Is your motivation so weak that you can’t stand behind it?”

“Tch,” I scoffed and grit my teeth, my grimace from before bein’ replaced by an irritated grin. “My motivation’s stronger’n anythin’.”

“Then what is it?” Oak asked, taking another sip of his glass that, by the satisfied sigh he made, emptied his cup, “What are you fighting for?”

I took a deep breath, eyes locked on Burnt Oak, and just… seethed. This guy was askin’ me about my motivation? What gave him the darn right to know why I fought? After everything, now he wants me to be honest?

I remembered bein’ a kid and wantin’ to build a little toy racecar, like the kind ya make outta wood and stuff. I saw some of the other church kids doin’ it and I got so excited that I wanted to make my own. I was still so young I remembered I still spoke with a little lisp. I told uncle Oak, beamin’ with excitement about how I was gonna build a racecar and all he did was laugh and ask, “Why? What’s the point?”

I was really shaken by that right away but I collected myself and said, “Cuz they’we cool! And it wooks fun!”

All he said was, “You’re such a little kid,” but the dismissive way he said it as he ignored me and went back to his drink always stuck with me.

I never built that racecar. I thought it was stupid after that. When another kid asked me why I never built the car I said I was gonna build, I told him it was stupid and cars are for little kids, and he ran to his mom in tears. Seein’ how my words hurt that kid gutted me way more than uncle Oak’s dismissiveness ever could’ve.

I was a child, and seein’ my uncle who I looked up to stomp on the thing that made me happy, and seein’ me ruin it for somepony else, it left me with a real pit in my stomach that never really left. I didn’t internalize it then, but from then on I always just wanted to say what people wanted to hear, a habit which got a thousand times worse durin’ my uncle and aunt’s divorce.

Gettin’ back to the present, I stood up and spat at the lava river. “I don’t owe you a blasted thing, old man,” I said gruffly. “Now stand up or I’ll knock you out right here and now.”

“I’m disappointed, Applejack,” Oak said, his tone bringing back that memory of him dismissing my car, the same kinda attitude. Like, it wasn’t good enough for him so it just wasn’t good enough period, “I thought you would have a better answer than that.”

“My answers are my own,” I said sternly, glaring ‘cross the river at the old man, “and I don’t have anythin’ to prove to you with words that I can’t prove with my hooves.”

“Alright then, Applejack…” Burnt Oak sighed as he stood up and adjusted his hat, “you had best bring everything you have, because I am not going to hold back.”

“Couldn’t ask fer anythin’ more,” I said, bracing myself for this fight to finally start.

PRIMARY LOTUS!!

Remember, kids: never, EVER out your trans friends. Don’t be a jerk now.

-FLUTTERSHY-

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and myself left the arena laughing and smiling, basking in our first ever Bifrost victory. My individual loss was still weighing heavily on my heart but laughing alongside my teammates, celebrating a shared victory… it made it a little easier to bear.

The sun was high in the center of the grey sky, albeit barely visible through the foggy clouds hanging in the air, and the reminder of the time suddenly had me thinking about something that I had wanted very much to see.

“Um, excuse me?” I said timidly to Pinkie and Rainbow, stopping as they continued onward. “Um, excuse me, girls?”

Despite my hushed voice Pinkie heard me and turned around, Rainbow following suit, “What’s up, Fluttershy?” Pinkie said, bouncing toward me.

“Um, I was wondering if you girls…” I felt a little embarrassed that I wanted to say this, “do you want to see some of the other fights? I wanted to watch the one in arena B right now…”

Specifically, according to the schedule I’d leafed through this morning, right now Rarity’s team was fighting.

We may have been on opposing teams but Rarity would always be my friend. I was elated when I saw that she had made it here to the tournament like I was hoping she would, and I would kick myself if I let myself miss her first fight.

“Really?” Rainbow said curiously. “You do? I figured you wouldn’t be interested in that kinda thing.”

“Normally… I wouldn’t be,” I said, grabbing a lock of hair in front of my face and running my hooves down it repeatedly. I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell Rainbow about Rarity—I knew for sure that Rarity wouldn’t like it at any rate—so I tried to think of an excuse to watch the fight…

But then I realized I really did have another reason, “But… I want to get stronger. I want to see what some of the other teams can do, and see if I can learn anything from them.”

“Ooh, that sounds like fun!” Pinkie said excitedly, looking back toward Rainbow and pouncing like an overexcited puppy, and I had to work hard to stifle a giggle. “What d’ya think, Rainbow?”

Rainbow took a deep breath and looked to the sky, “That is a good idea, Fluttershy,” a warm smile crossed her lips as she continued to gaze at the sky. “Seeing with your own eyes what some of the other teams are capable of is a great way to gain intel and get ahead of the competition,” she looked back at me, still smiling, but reservedly so, “but I also want to read those team pamphlets and actually have the information in my hooves…”

“Why don’t we check out the pamphlets after?” Pinkie whined, shaking her hoof in furious dismissal, “Not like they’re going anywhere.”

“True, but…” Rainbow blushed and fretted with her mane. She bit her lip and moved a hoof up to her mouth, and it was only then that I saw that her legs were shaking, “I’ve waited a decade to go out on that stage and compete in Bifrost, to show everypony what I could do and how strong I am, to hear the roar of the crowd and feel the rush of victory on that stage… ten years… and I’ve finally done it!”

“You need some time to drink it in,” I said with a bright smile. It was really cute how passionate Rainbow was getting over this.

“Yeah, exactly,” she nodded, her cheeks becoming even more flushed as she smiled ear to ear. “So how about you guys go check out some of the other fights, I’ll go grab as many pamphlets as I can get my hooves on, and tonight we’ll have like a celebration feast together!”

“We don’t have any money for that,” I said dourly, Rainbow’s shoulders slouching in response with a groan.

Pinkie slapped my leg and said, “But we do have a whole bunch of snacks we took from the train and some complimentary breakfast stuff that I saved, so we’ll have like a broke-pony improv buffet!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow lurched her head up excitedly, her voice ringing with such joy, like the idea of a broke-pony improv buffet was the best idea she’d ever heard in her life, that I couldn’t help but smile as well. “That sounds awesome, actually!”

“I agree,” I muttered, biting down on my own lip self-consciously, almost as though I were nervous to let anypony see me smiling genuinely… which I think I honestly was.

“Then I guess it’s settled!” Pinkie cheered and jumped in the air before wrapping me up in a hug and waving to Rainbow. “We’ll catch ya later, Rainbow!”

“Have fun, you guys!” Rainbow said and ran off, practically leaping for joy as she ran off.

“She’s too cute,” I said aloud without thinking, immediately regretting it and blushing as Pinkie side-eyed me with a wide grin. “Not—not like that!” I stammered, frantically waving a hoof at Pinkie that probably didn’t help my case at all, “I just mean it’s really adorable how excited she is!”

“I know,” Pinkie let out a soft giggle, almost like a breath of relief after a long work day. “Rainbow has that edgy tough-girl vibe but when she lets her walls down for a sec, she’s totally precious.”

That was a pretty apt description honestly, and it made me smile. Pinkie leaned against me, squishing her cheek right up against mine and cheerfully adding, “The three of us together, we’re almost too cute to handle!”

“If you say so,” I said with a smile, gently pushing Pinkie away as she continued to laugh before walking with her toward the other arena, listening to her chatter furiously about Rainbow and about baking and parties and all the things she wanted to do when we reached Manehattan.

For the first time since we reached Baltimare, I felt totally and completely unworried. My faith in Rainbow and Pinkie was strong, and I couldn’t imagine not getting stronger with them by my side.

****

-APPLEJACK-

Burnt Oak and I stood opposite each other, both standin’ on floatin’ stone platforms in a river of lava with only a small stream separatin’ us.

“It shames me that you would keep your reason to fight so close to the chest, Applejack,” Burnt Oak sighed.

I clicked my tongue angrily and said, “Nopony gives a fat flank how you feel, Burnt Oak.” I was hopin’ those words left as much an impact on him as they did me. After all, even if he wasn’t the one who said ‘em when I was a filly, he darn sure believed ‘em back then.

“Ah, so that’s how it is,” the old man muttered and adjusted his hat. “I suppose you haven’t changed much at all since then, have you, child?”

I dunno if he was tryin’ to get me ticked off to throw me off my game or what, but he was about to regret it. I jumped back and off the floatin’ platform and onto the solid, if charred black, ground. I knew the trick to Oak’s magic and I knew that fightin’ in the enclosed space and lettin’ him take advantage of those platforms was a bad idea.

The old man followed me and I backed up a few more steps, keepin’ a suitable distance ‘tween me and that river of lava. Molten magma bubbled under the surface of the ground though, so my guess was that the ‘solid’ ground wasn’t all that sturdy either. I’d need to watch my footin’ and be extra careful.

Oak came runnin’ at me, typical for him since he was always the direct type. I dodged his first few kicks and jumped back again, keepin’ away from him. I was achin’ to knock his teeth out but this was no time to lose my head. I figured I had a good read on Oak’s style but I hadn’t seen him fight in eons, so I needed to test if he’d learned any new tricks.

“Going on the defensive so soon, Applejack?” he said mockingly. “Perhaps you have changed… you’ve gotten weaker.”

I smiled and forced myself not to run at him and try to punch his lights out. After all, that was pretty obvious bait. I thought about snipin’ back with a witty retort or somethin’, but I had nothin’ more to say to that man that I couldn’t say with my hooves. That said, I couldn’t say nothin’ with my hooves if I didn’t hit him with ‘em.

The two of us were watchin’ each other warily, neither of us havin’ an inclination to make the first move. ‘sides, now that he’d tried to land the first blow and failed, plus set down his taunt, he’d probably try to go on defense now, wait for me to get in range and take me down with one attack.

Burnt Oak’s magic, true to his name, caused an aura of convection around his body when he activated it, and the more kinetic energy around his body the hotter the aura. So basically, even if he didn’t hit you with a punch he could still leave you with nasty burns thanks to his magic, and any kind of fast movin’ physical attack would leave burns on the attacker thanks to his aura too. Nasty setup, but nothin’ I wasn’t prepared to handle.

The trick was bein’ able to get in range without gettin’ taken down first. No matter who laid the first blow, this match was gonna have to be settled in one hit… I hoped.

I ran at him quick as a runnin’ bull, figurin’ he’d try to just knock me out with a perfectly timed counter. I was right and he moved his right foreleg to hook me, but I dodged into its direction and ducked under it, just barely avoided the aura, and readied my own attack.

I tried to hit Oak with an uppercut but he brought his foreleg down and slammed his hoof against mine, burnin’ my hoof pretty badly. I tried to ignore the pain and get him in the face with my other foreleg but he blocked it with his own free foreleg, deflectin’ my attack and givin’ me another nasty burn.

I jumped back and cringed as my burned legs touched the ground again. He was faster than he oughtta be, given his age. My left hoof was now seared to the point of near uselessness and my right foreleg had a distractingly painful burn on it. He’d definitely won that scuffle… but those were barely punches. Pardon the pun, but I was just gettin’ warmed up.

Oak came runnin’ at me this time, and he outstretched his left foreleg, most likely to hit my head… but I could tell that was a feint and he was gonna come in low. I jumped left and dashed toward him, meanin’ to hit him with a straight applebuck, but ‘fore I could turn around and gear up my hind legs, the old man brought his leg down square on my chest.

I cringed in pain cuz I felt like I was hit with a brandin’ iron and I jumped back yet again, cursin’ myself for takin’ so many darned hits. The pain was startin’ to catch up to me too and it was makin’ my reactions slower, so this was only ‘bout to get worse from here.

As he closed in on me again, I tried to hit him with a pretty feeble punch, but he just batted my wounded leg away and moved for my head. In a desperate gambit, I dropped down and hit the ground on my side, sweepin’ Burnt Oak’s legs with a hind leg, but he just jumped over it and landed right on top of my chest, raisin’ his forelegs and stompin’ down on my head.

I screamed bloody murder as I felt like my whole face was gonna get burned off.

This, uh… wasn’t goin’ great.

All in the flash of a single second I thought about Twilight and Rarity, I thought about Pinkie Pie, I thought about that idiot Rainbow Dash and I thought about my ma. But more’n all of that, I thought about the person that I really wanted to be. I couldn’t let ‘em all down, not when I’ve come as far as Bifrost, and I wasn’t about to let myself down neither.

I still had a bit of feelin’ in my right foreleg so quick as I could I grabbed my hat and threw it at Oak. He didn’t miss a beat as he batted the hat out of thin air and burned it to ash in a second, but that one second where one of his hooves was off my face was enough.

I slammed my leg into his other foreleg on me and weakened his grip, allowin’ me to roll away from him and get back to my feet as he stood back up to his. Granted, I was a sorry sight to be sure, with both sides of my face burned black, searing wounds on my right foreleg and limpin’ painfully on my left where my hoof had been burned. I was a mess.

“Give it up, Applejack,” Burnt Oak said wearily, his breathin’ gettin’ heavy. I dunno if age was catchin’ up to him or if he’d just overexerted himself, but seein’ him standin’ there tryin’ to catch his breath clued me in that my moment to strike was comin’ up on me. “This is a farce. Just look at yourself.”

I didn’t say anythin’ to Burnt Oak as I shut my eyes and connected with the Earth Aura.

Burnt Oak’s magic may have been strong, but mine was stronger. No one had a stronger connection to the Earth Aura than me and I proved it by healin’ the wounds he had dealt in two seconds. Healin’ myself like that wasn’t easy, it took an awful lot of magic, but it was worth it to see the shocked look on the old man’s face.

“Wh-what?!” he stammered, steppin’ backward, “That’s—“

I leapt off the ground and slammed him hard in the head. I may have underestimated the number of hit I’d need to take him down, but this was still gonna be the end of it. With him dazed and weary from usin’ his own magic, now he was the one who was too slow.

I turned on my heels and hit him in the head with an applebuckin’ kick, knockin’ him to the ground a few inches away. ‘fore he could get back on his feet I slammed my hooves into one of his legs, causin’ him to yowl in pain. And it’s true that his aura was still burnin’ my legs every time I hit him, but I had two more healin’ charges left so I didn’t bother to pay the burns any mind.

Burnt Oak stumbled back, managin’ to get back on his feet and into a defensive stance as I healed myself a second time, closin’ in on him slowly as the man kept takin’ steps back. His original plan must’ve been to wear me down with burns ‘til I couldn’t fight back ‘gainst his final blow, but with my ability to heal and his magic slowly runnin’ out, the tables turned on him in a big way.

He kept walkin’ back as I slowly approached him— the old man probably tryin’ desperately to think of a plan B— until he couldn’t walk back any further without fallin’ straight into the river of lava at his back.

“Applejack, you—“

“You talk too much, old man,” I interrupted with a wicked grin as I turned on my heels and bucked the old man in the head, sendin’ him straight into the river.

His terrified scream nearly shook me out of my confident victory feelin’… for one second the old stallion meltin’ into a river of lava in front of me wasn’t the old man who walked out on me after leavin’ me with an emotional anchor around my neck, he was the old man who taught me how to throw a punch and played ball with me every weekend.

I clicked my tongue and reminded myself that it was just an illusion.

“The winner!” Starlight exclaimed to my relief. “APPLEJACK!!”

Burnt Oak looked at his shakin’ hooves as the phantasm disappeared. He looked really bothered and shaken up, but… I just shrugged and turned around. I already said everything I needed to.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

Pinkie and I got settled into the large crowd sitting in the stands watching the fight in progress in arena B. We arrived just after the first round wrapped up so I was hoping I still had a chance to see Rarity.

And to my pleasant surprise, after only a few moments of waiting, Rarity stepped into the arena!

“It’s Rarity!” I gasped and jumped to my feet, a big smile on my face.

“No kidding!” Pinkie said excitedly. “That’s your friend, huh?” I nodded, a big dorky grin still on my face as I sat back down. “No wonder you wanted to get here in a hurry. I’ll root for her then!”

“That’s very kind of you!” I said gleefully, hooves up against my mouth and I couldn’t believe that I was actually getting excited for a fight!

It was interesting to watch one of these fights after experiencing it for myself in the stage. When you watched, the illusionists threw a giant bubble of magic vision over the stage so you could see the fighters more clearly and track their movements. I suppose that makes more sense than just watching two small little blips… standing still while their fight takes place in a phantasm.

The pony Rarity fought against was a light brown stallion with grey sideburns and a black broad-brimmed hat. He seemed stoic and a little stuffy, but even from up in the crowd I could sense the strength within him.

“Do you know that pony she’s fighting against?” I asked idly, not expecting any real answer.

“That’s my dad,” Pinkie said nonchalantly.

“He’s what?!” I asked in shock, nearly choking on my own spit and letting out a hacking cough. “The—the pony who’s been in like sixty Bifrosts or whatever?! That’s him?! He’s fighting Rarity?!”

I was starting to hyperventilate. This wasn’t good at all, if this guy was so strong Rarity couldn’t possibly beat him and if she lost that would be really bad for her and I didn’t want her to lose and—

I was breathing heavily, my hoof over my heart. Pinkie grabbed my other hoof and gently rubbed hers against it until my breathing slowed down and I was able to focus.

“I’m sorry, that was—“

“It’s okay,” Pinkie said soothingly. “But yeah, that’s my dad. And this is his fifth Bifrost, not his sixtieth. But don’t worry, he’s old as heck! I’m sure your friend has nothing to worry about, so let’s cheer her on!”

“You don’t want to cheer for your father?” I asked concernedly.

“Nah,” Pinkie shrugged and batted a hoof. “I know he’s gonna get into the next round no matter what, so he’s not the underdog here. And what kind of friend would I be if I left your friend hanging? So let’s cheer for her together!”

“O-okay…” I said worriedly, my mind racing with a million awful reasons why she wouldn’t want to root for her dad… but I cleared those thoughts away and tried to focus. I was really touched by Pinkie’s concern and I hoped that Rarity would feel invigorated by our cheering, so I didn’t press the matter any further.

“GO RARITY!!!” Pinkie screamed, standing up on the chair and taking me by surprise. “KICK THAT OLD MAN’S BUTT!! YOU CAN DO IT!!”

“G… go Rarity,” I said softly. Pinkie looked over at me and arched an eyebrow.

“C’mon, Fluttershy!” she gently scolded, a serene giggle leaving her lips. “Let’s really cheer for her!”

“Okay!” I said confidently and puffed up my cheeks. I stood on my hooves, took a big, deep breath and, at the top of my lungs, said, “Go Rarity.”

“That-” Pinkie plopped onto her hindquarters in her seat, looking at me mouth agape in silence, which made me want to hide as my cheeks flushed and I shielded my face with my hair, “-was pretty terrible.

“C’mon! Let’s really scream! Like, really let her hear you! Hearing her friend cheering her on will give her the confidence and power she needs to win this!”

“You really think so?” I said hopefully, my breathing still a little tense and heavy.

“Of course!” Pinkie stood on her hind legs and threw her forelegs into the air. “So let’s do this! GO RARITY! YOU RULE!”

I centered myself, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. A pang in my stomach resonated through my whole body. This wasn’t something I ever did… I never drew attention to myself like this… as soon as Pinkie stood up I saw people giving her weird looks, even now with my eyes closed I heard people chattering amongst each other that she was being a nuisance… but if she could throw caution to the wind for Rarity’s sake… then I could too.

I flew into the air and screamed, “GO RARITY!!” I flailed my legs in the air and yelled, “YOU CAN DO IT!!”

“That’s the spirit!” Pinkie said with a huge smile that burned away any reservations I have as it filled me with joy, and then we both screamed together, “GO RARITY!!!”

****

-RARITY-

“Are you ready, Rarity?”

Twilight said as she dusted off my shoulders and futzed about with my mane, as though she were some kind of professional hair dress. A fairly lousy professional, as all she actually did with my mane was bat weakly at its curls, but I couldn’t blame her for being fascinated by pure distilled perfection, now could I?

“I am…” I said casually before giggling at Twilight’s antics, “…but it’s not like you to get so fussy about my appearance, Twilight.”

“It’s not like you to not be fussy about it…” Twilight said tersely, standing behind me and rubbing my shoulders, “I try not to say anything, but I can see you losing yourself, Rarity. And that scares me sometimes… so somepony’s got to watch out for you, and I nominate myself!”

I turned around and looked into Twilight’s gleaming eyes. My lovely sister was kinder than I could bear sometimes and I wished with all my heart that I could repay her support in kind.

“Thank you, Twilight,” I put my hoof on Twilight’s cheek, the lovely unicorn giving me a sweet smile in return… a smile which paled in comparison to the one I flashed back at her, “and I promise you, someway or somehow, that I will find myself by the end of this year. By the end of Bifrost.”

“End of the year, huh?” Applejack snickered as she walked back into the waiting room, having been wonderfully victorious in her bout. “So yer serious about takin’ this all the way to the end?”

“There’s no other way to do it,” I replied matter-of-factly, almost perturbed by Applejack’s inquisitive tone.

“I like yer attitude, Rarity,” Applejack couldn’t help letting a wide grin appear on her face and that made me smile in turn.

“Yes! Team Destiny, number one!” Twilight said exuberantly, dancing awkwardly and throwing her forelegs in the air, “Woo!”

“That’s right, darling,” I said with a wink toward my sister. “Now, allow me to show you both and all the ponies watching exactly why Team Destiny is number one!”

“Go get ‘em, girl!” Applejack cheered.

“You can do it!” Twilight added.

The morale-boosting support of my companions backing me up and lifting my spirits was almost enough to make me forget how woefully out of my depth I was in a fighting competition of this scale.

It wasn’t until I left the waiting room and found myself in the arena with the daunting murmurs of the crowd all around me, my opponent staring stone-faced at me from the other side, that I began to truly think that I had made a mistake in coming here.

Igneous Rock’s statue-like expression didn’t help matters, but I was determined to shake it off and prove myself worthy of being here, worthy of fighting alongside Twilight and Applejack. And if this gentleman was as strong as his reputation as a five time competitor suggested, then this would be a perfect opportunity to showcase my worthiness.

The illusory area we would fight in was a barren wasteland with some rocky crags placed here and there. It didn’t take long to find Igneous in the nearly featureless gray space, and find him I did, the man sitting on his haunches with two glasses of cider placed before him.

“Join me for a drink, Rarity?” He said calmly as he filled the two cups.

“I can’t drink,” I said coldly.

“Can’t?” Igneous looked up at me curiously.

“I’m an addict,” truth be told, I finally kicked a nasty smoking habit only a few years ago, yet the gnawing of that addiction still felt fresh on my heart, so seeing alcohol in my presence made me a little ill since I knew it had the same effect on me that cigarettes did.

Igneous quickly poured both glasses out, spilling the cider into the dirt where it quickly dissipated, then waved his hoof over the glasses and jug, returning them to whence they came via his magic.

“My apologies,” he bowed his head. “I did not know.”

“It’s…” I stammered, not sure how to react. On the very few occasions I’ve had reason to share my history with addiction, I’ve always gotten eye rolls, scolding or mockery in return, except from Twilight and Fluttershy, obviously. “Don’t fret about it.”

I sat down on my haunches in front of Igneous and watched him calmly, as he did with me. I was still angry at the man for what he said to me in the hall, but the least I could do was show him the proper respect that he had just shown me.

“I am glad that you are willing to speak with me regardless,” he bowed his head again and I did the same, partly just by my polite instincts but admittedly partly out of respect.

“So this is your team’s shtick, I take it?” I said with a soft, polite laugh. “Sit down with your opponent and talk things out before a fight?”

“I like to challenge my opponents’ spirits,” Igneous said firmly, “not just their bodies or minds. I’ve been doing it since my first Bifrost and it’s become a tradition of mine. I ask for a fighter’s motivation, their reason to fight, and if their reason is not strong… then they lose.”

“How many people have beaten you in the prelims before?” I asked casually, trying not to betray the fear that was slowly drowning my mind.

“Hard to keep track over forty years,” he said ponderously, “but very few.”

“Naturally.” I sighed faintly, dreading my chances even more than before. Perhaps I should just surrend—

“GO RARITY!!!” Suddenly I heard an unfamiliar voice screaming my name and I looked all around for the source of it before realizing it clearly came from the crowd, at which I now stared perplexedly, “KICK THAT OLD MAN’S BUTT!! YOU CAN DO IT!!”

“I see you have friends who believe in you…” the man said, his mouth ever so slightly curved into a smile as he looked up into the crowd.

“I’m sorry to say,” I explained, my baffled eyes still locked on the stands surrounding us outside the illusion, “but I don’t know who that was. I don’t recognize their voice.”

“It is the voice of my daughter,” Igneous said proudly.

“Oh, dear, that must sting,” I said regretfully, turning my attention to the father, “to have your own daughter cheer against you like that?”

“It does not bother me,” Igneous shook his head. “If she has found friends worth cheering for, then that is something to celebrate.”

“As I said, I’m afraid I don’t—“

“GO RARITY! YOU RULE!” the sound of that girl’s cheering cut me off.

“You may not know her,” Igneous gave a very slight chuckle, “but she clearly knows you. How do you think that is?”

I pondered for a second. How did that girl know who I was? I thought about it for a second but before I could properly articulate my thoughts I heard something that shook me to my core, something I never expected, that answered the question better than I could have on my own.

“GO RARITY!!”

That was Fluttershy’s voice!

Her and the other girl screamed my name in unison a few times before quieting down, presumably on order from the arena staff… but to hear Fluttershy of all ponies cheering so loudly and energetically, and for me… it was an incredibly uplifting feeling.

I couldn’t help smiling like a goof until I realized… if Fluttershy was here watching me… Rainbow Dash likely was as well, and that made my blood run cold.

“Your daughter-” I said solemnly, unable to take my eyes off the crowd as though I could somehow scan the rows and rows of people barely visible through the phantasm’s vaguely translucent surface and find her watching, “-does she… do you know a pony named Rainbow Dash?”

“I do,” Igneous said and a pang of nausea resonated through my stomach. “I have met her many times, she is basically family.”

“I see…” I groaned, shaking my head and dragging a hoof across my face, “I hate to break this to you then, but my ‘reason to fight’ is to defeat her.”

“Is that so?” Igneous said, completely unfazed although I suppose I should have expected that. “And why is that? What will defeating Rainbow Dash get you?”

“I don’t…“ I scoffed, immediately and rather abruptly realizing that I had no answer, “that’s not what matters. It’s not about me, it’s about her. Rainbow Dash is a coward and a bully, yet somehow she had a ticket to Bifrost just fall into her lap! I can’t just…”

I growled, trying to make a rather flimsy justification for my actions sound like some magnanimous goal; I wasn’t exactly lying about the nature of Rainbow’s character, at least as I knew it at the time, but the truth was simply that Rainbow Dash made me angry—

No, more than that—she hurt me, and I wanted to hurt her in return.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“I can’t just let her get everything that she wants!” I harrumphed, turning my head in defiance and flicking my fabulous mane.

“Do you know what motivates Rainbow?” Igneous asked, his expression cold and his tone nearly a monotone.

“I don’t care!” I said flippantly, scowling terribly at Igneous. “Some selfish nonsense, probably, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, she does not deserve it. And I’m going to take it from her, to pay her back for…”

I grit my teeth and dug my hooves into the ground as I stood on all fours, “I need to settle things between us, and she needs to pay. I will defeat her, that is my motivation, my reason for fighting!”

“I see,” Igneous stood up slowly. “So you seek revenge against an enemy you fail to even understand… it is no wonder I sensed weakness in you right away.”

I glowered angrily at Igneous but he just held that same stony expression, looking into my eyes with such little emotion, as if I were nothing more than some statue or other such object, meant to be observed and discarded once it was no longer of interest.

I was starting to become seriously peeved with him!

“Rarity, I find your motivation lacking, and you will be defeated.”

“We shall see!”

My horn began to glow with a pale blue light as I surrounded myself with several blue flames, jumping back and firing them at Igneous. To my shock they completely dissipated upon coming into contact with the air around him.

I was more than a little shaken and before I could come up with a plan B, Igneous was already in my face. He moved far faster than any old man had a right to! He hit me hard in the face, hard enough to send me to the ground and even after my blurring vision returned to normal my jaw felt like it had been knocked out of place.

I ran from him and fired several bolts of flame at him as I tried to escape. He simply walked slowly toward me, every one of my shots failing to hit him. This was very, very bad. I could only assume his power was some sort of anti-magic aura, which put me at an enormous disadvantage, especially with my lack of non-magical combat expertise.

Still though, I had a plan if I could just reach one of those crags.

I ran for one of the rocky outcroppings, firing bolts of energy at Igneous as I egressed in order to at least slow him down. My attacks were seemingly unnecessary as he never bothered to run after me, merely keeping his same brisk pace as if he had all the time in the world and was not entertaining me as a serious threat at all… which he undoubtedly was not, and who could honestly blame him?

I made it to one of the crags and placed my back flat against it. This would be an all or nothing attack. Using my magic I tore strips of stone out of the crag and fired them at zooming speed toward Igneous. Even if he could block my magic, there was no way he could stop ten or twenty rapid-fire stone projectiles!

To my dismay, as the projectiles came close to him they started falling quickly to the ground, only a few remaining on target, which he effortlessly crushed with his hooves, taking no apparent damage himself in the process.

I was terrified as I leaned flat against this stone wall and my opponent inched ever closer to me.

“You are far too weak, Rarity,” the man said coldly.

Before I could even process what was happening the man was suddenly in front of me. He raised a foreleg and winded it back, and I felt my heart drop into my stomach as I realized what was about to happen.

As the man hit me in the head with his hoof, I heard a firm CRACK as my skull was slammed into the stone behind me, and then nothing, just a ringing in my ears. He took back his hoof and walked away, and through the piercing pain throughout my skull I felt something warm and wet trickle down the back of my neck.

I had just enough awareness still to know it was my blood as my vision started to fade. My legs buckled and I slowly fell to the ground, my head sliding down the stone wall and smearing it with my blood and other fluids as the open wound and my shattered skull caressed it on the way down.

I didn’t even hear Starlight announce the winner. Just a snap of complete darkness and next thing I knew my life was flashing before me and then I was back in the real world, staring at my trembling legs with wide, barely working eyes. My vision was still blurry and I started to panic before I realized it was merely from tears as I felt them rolling down my cheeks.

It felt so real. The memory of my skull being shattered against a stone resonated in my mind like it had actually happened. The fact that it was an illusion meant nothing, and I had no means of wrapping my brain around the phenomenon of feeling my own life being snuffed out.

“Rarity—“

Igneous tried to approach me but I shrieked at him, “GET AWAY FROM ME!”

My stomach was in knots and I was dead certain I was about to vomit. I couldn’t stop shaking or crying and I needed to be off this stage as soon as possible, away from the penetrating eyes of this massive crowd, away from... from that man. The thought crossed my mind that if Rainbow Dash saw that pathetic display I might honestly want to throw myself off of a building.

Inside the waiting room Applejack and Twilight tried to say some words to console me, and at least one of them tried to touch me, but I couldn’t hear or even acknowledge them. I made a beeline for the corner of the room, clutched my still ringing head like I was trying to keep it from exploding, and fell on the ground.

I wheezed and gasped until I just couldn’t hold my emotions inside any longer and I started screaming and crying like a child throwing a tantrum. I felt pathetic and for just an instant, just a fraction of a moment, I wished that my skull had been shattered and that I hadn’t woken up from the illusion.

****

By the time I stopped crying I was still sitting—well not so much sitting, more like curled into a ball— in the corner ready to just crawl into a hole and disappear from life. Twilight had left for her fight but I said nothing to her, gave her no words of encouragement; by the time I realized she had left I didn’t even have any idea how long she’d been gone.

Time melted away from me while I was sinking into the ocean of dark thoughts I was trapped in. Applejack left me alone but I knew she was watching me, either to make sure I was okay somehow or just to make sure I didn’t hurt myself. Either way, I appreciated it.

I don’t think it was long before I heard the guard outside our door talking to someone.

“I’m sorry, you can’t come in here!” the deep voiced man said in an exaggeratedly exasperated tone. “This room is for the current fighters only!”

“PLLEEEEEEASSSSEEEE!!!” a loud, high-pitched voice begged, catching my attention.

Applejack was staring bewildered at the door as well, and I thought it was because she was wondering who was so desperate to get in here, though in retrospect I realize she must have recognized the voice before I had.

“It’s an emergency! A dire, terrible, no-good, sadness-inducing, life-threatening, hug-requiring emergency!”

“Alright, alright!” the man yelled desperately. “Just make it qui—“

Before he could even finish, the door swung wide open, a chubby pink pony barging into the room… with Fluttershy standing right behind her.

“Fluttershy!” I exclaimed, jolting upright and quickly rubbing tears out of my eyes.

“Rarity!” she said gladly, her eyes lighting up as they locked with mine.

“Pinkie Pie!” Applejack said with a start, standing up quickly.

“Pinkie Pie!” the pink girl said with her forelegs in the air. “Oh, I mean, Applejack!”

Applejack laughed and the pink girl, ostensibly Pinkie Pie, ran at her and jumped into her open forelegs, Applejack catching her and spinning around before embracing her in a big hug.

I pulled my attention away from them and over to Fluttershy who was still standing by the door, gently tugging on some hair in front of her face.

“Hello,” I said, not knowing what else to say, honestly.

“Hi,” Fluttershy meekly waved her hoof. “It’s good to see you here.”

“Indeed…” I forced a smile despite being painfully aware of the running makeup all over my face and how I must have looked like an absolute ghoul, “I wish it could be under better circumstances…”

“I’m sorry!” Fluttershy said with tears in her eyes, rushing over and grabbing me into a hug, and after only a brief moment of being rather startled by her abruptness, I was happy to return her hug in kind. “I’m sorry you didn’t win your fight… I lost mine too…”

“Did your team…” I said worriedly, finding my hooves instinctively running gently through Fluttershy’s long mane.

“Rainbow and Pinkie won,” Fluttershy sighed, letting go of me and wiping tears from her face. “They’re both so strong…”

“Hey, hey!” Pinkie shouted suddenly, pointing a hoof at Fluttershy. “You’re strong too!”

“C’mon Pinkie,” Applejack grabbed Pinkie’s tail and dragged her away, “let’s leave ‘em be for a sec.”

“She is right though,” I said to Fluttershy, gently grabbing her chin and directing her to face me, “I think you are strong. It took a lot of guts to come here and compete… I know how much you hate crowds and performing.”

“Yeah…” Fluttershy chuckled nervously and pulled on her hair again, “it was pretty brutal, but… but I want to get stronger!”

She said confidently, a positively devilish smirk flashing across her face and I found myself taken aback by her conviction, “I really want to be strong enough to help my teammates… and to prove to you that I’ve changed, that we can both change!”

“Fluttershy…” I said weakly, heat creeping up into my cheeks as a ghost of a smile formed on my lips.

I had no idea Fluttershy was so serious about getting through to me, and the confidence she spoke with was so unlike her… I almost thought that maybe she had already changed… but then I remembered that people can bend and stretch but they’ll always snap back.

“I hope you’re right,” I said with a sad smile.

Fluttershy smiled back at me and seeing her happy was a breath of fresh air. I didn’t realize how much I needed to see her smile and hear her words again until she was right there. I missed her. But then I had a sudden pang in my chest as I realized something.

“Um,” I said painfully, my cheeks turning bright red, “Rainbow Dash isn’t… she wasn’t watching… was she?”

If Rainbow had heard all the stuff I said to Igneous about her, then watched me completely blow it during the fight, not to mention my hysterics right afterward… I would have been mortified.

“N-no…” Fluttershy said, twiddling her hooves and glancing away. I couldn’t tell at first if she was lying or just being Fluttershy, “I didn’t tell her that I wanted to see your fight, so she doesn’t know that’s why I came here… but she wanted some time alone to soak in her first victory.”

“Ah…” I breathed the biggest sigh of relief I’d ever had in my lifetime, “will you please do me a favor then? Can you just… not tell her that I’m here? I’m not even sure that she’d care anyway, but I…”

“Okay, I won’t,” Fluttershy said with a sweet smile, and it warmed my heart that she didn’t require me to explain myself. “Although, she went to look at all the team pamphlets… there’s more than a hundred of them so it might take a while, but she’ll learn you’re here eventually.”

“I know,” I said grumpily, impotently kicking a hoof against the floor. “But I… I don’t know, I just want to delay the inevitable, I suppose.”

“Hopefully we won’t get pit against each other then!” Pinkie said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere between Fluttershy and myself and startling us both.

“Where did you—“

“Sorry!” Applejack cut me off as she ran back to our side of the room. “Couldn’t keep her under control, she’s a squirmer!” Pinkie giggled and nodded effusively, clearly quite proud of herself.

“But I promise I won’t tell her about you, Rarity,” Fluttershy said, getting back to the matter at hoof.

“Same here!” Pinkie said with a salute. “So that makes it a Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie’s words were accompanied by a series of odd gestures that left me thoroughly confused, but honestly delighted.

“Right,” Fluttershy giggled. “Cross my heart and hope to fly… stick a cupcake in my eye.” Fluttershy repeated Pinkie’s words, and her gestures, perfectly. And seeing how quickly she was getting along with her new teammates made my heart sing.

“Thank you,” I said to Fluttershy, giving her a hug. “Both of you.”

I turned to Pinkie who opened her forelegs wide. I shook my head and she pouted and stamped her hooves. But something about her demeanor was so warm and inviting that… despite myself, I couldn’t help it and wrapped my forelegs around her, the precious pink pony reacting with a brief moment of surprise before happily squeezing me.

It was… very nice. She was quite good at giving hugs.

****

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

I didn’t have time to think about Rarity before heading off to the arena. I suppose, to put it more honestly, I didn’t give myself any time to think about her. She had ignored Applejack and I when she returned to instead cry herself into a near coma in the corner, and what could I do?

Nothing.

There was nothing I could do.

Feelings and emotions weren’t something I understood terribly eloquently, and consoling someone through their tears was a more terrifying task to me than slaying a dragon would have been.

So I said nothing. Did nothing. And walked into the arena in silence.

A moonlit grassy plain was the battleground of choice for my round of combat, which was perfect for me; I always enjoyed staring at the night sky and stargazing. Just like her teammates, Cloudy Quartz wasted no time in showing herself, marching straight up to the center of the plain and sitting down in front of me.

“So you’ve been doing this thing for a while now,” I said teasingly, “does anypony ever try to just kick you while you’re sitting there?”

I thought that perhaps joking with my opponent would help me take my mind off of the image of Rarity, black makeup streaming down her face alongside her tears as she screamed in panic and frustration. If that vivid description wasn’t an obvious indicator, it didn’t entirely work.

“Some have tried,” Quartz said calmly, grabbing a pair of cups and a bottle of cider which definitely piqued my interest. “Although I must confess, those that attempt such low tactics are often the most quickly defeated.”

“Naturally,” I said casually and sat down across from her, holding up one of the cups for her to fill. “If you feel the need to use dirty tactics to win, you probably aren’t that strong to begin with, right?”

“I’m glad that we can see eye to eye,” she said as she filled her own glass. We touched the two cups together and each took a sip. “So, I suppose I will not waste your time and I will cut right to it… what is your reason to fight?”

“And I suppose that if I don’t feel like answering,” I chuckled, “you’ll be upset and you’ll unleash some kind of devastating super attack?”

“No,” Quartz shook her head and smiled, “I will be disappointed, admittedly, but it is not my place nor that of my teammates to decide your path for you.

“If you wish to keep your reason close to your chest, that is your prerogative. But know that I have seen many fighters over the past forty years, and those who don’t believe in their cause enough to declare it openly are often crushed against the waves of destiny.”

“Perhaps…” I said ponderously, swishing my cider around a bit and taking a sip. “I’m still not sure if I believe in destiny though, despite our awesome team name. I used to… I used to think all I had to do was wait for that perfect per—er, opportunity to arrive in my life and it would make everything better…”

I groaned in frustration, “But all that did was leave me with loneliness and heartache.”

“I am sorry for the pain you’ve experienced,” the old woman said kindly. “You may rejoice in the realization however, that you can use your pain to build yourself up and build a bridge over the pain for others.”

“True, true…” I sighed. She wasn’t wrong, my experiences made me the person that I am and I could use what I had learned to help others, but… “I suppose to answer your original question, about my reason to fight… I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer. I don’t really know the reason I’m here myself.”

Cloudy Quartz took another sip of her cider and looked at me intently, and it took a moment for me to realize she was waiting for me to explain myself.

“I joined Bifrost to help my sister,” I said, “although there’s a part of me that’s always wanted to do this, to learn all about different kinds of people and magic and watch different personalities clash…”

I grumbled dismally and bit down on my lip, “I dunno… I have—had— a lot of romantic dreams I wanted to fulfill, and I mean romantic in the classical sense and not the literal one…”

I took another sip of cider, and let myself lie on my back to look at the bizarre combination of a starry night sky and the edge of the illusory dome that was just barely visible inside it.

“I don’t know…” I said wistfully, “…why I’m here.”

It occurred to me that I didn’t just mean ‘here at Bifrost’ but in a more general sense, I didn’t know why I was even alive, “Any dreams I had when I was a child have been drowned by the waves of time, and I’ve been drifting aimlessly in a pitch black sea for as long as I can remember. I want to help Rarity… but I don’t… know… anything else.”

“I see… a crisis of identity,” Cloudy said. I just nodded sadly, feeling embarrassed as I sat back up and faced her, “It is a journey we all must take; to carve out our own identity is no easy task, least of all when there are voices all around you trying to drag you this way and that…”

I laughed softly while preparing another sip of cider. She couldn’t have been more on the nose.

“I respect your motivation, Twilight Sparkle,” Cloudy said to my surprise, nearly causing me to spit cider out my nose. “You are at a tumultuous time in your life and you cannot see clearly. But you acknowledge your lack of understanding and have forged a clear path ahead of you to find your answers. That is respectable.”

“Thank you,” I stuttered bashfully, quickly bowing my head.

“The only advice I can offer is this…” Cloudy said as she stood up, taking her cider cup with her. “You should not give up on your romantic dreams, but you should know that they likely won’t appear to you in the manner which you expect.”

I stood up, levitating my cider cup in front of me, and muttered, “Thank you. I…”

I grinned proudly and looked Cloudy in the eye… only for like a single second, mind, before I started looking over her shoulder instead, but still!

“Cloudy Quartz, I thank you for your kind words. But now it’s time for me to defeat you.”

“A toast, then,” Cloudy said serenely, a sincere smile on her face, “to the waves of destiny, and the paths we forge to lead ourselves to them.”

I happily touched my cup against hers and we both drank the remaining cider inside. Once I threw the cup away, I said politely, “Now then, let’s dance.”

“Agreed,” Cloudy bowed her head and scraped a hoof across the grass, getting into a combat stance.

Her magic was undoubtedly strong and I had no way of knowing what she was capable of, so I jumped back to put some distance between us. The one thing I could be certain of is that, because she was an earth pony, her magic couldn’t have had very much range.

Earth magic generally gives its user control over their own body to some degree; healing, strengthening, etc. although having control over the space around them, the space inside their own personal aura, wasn’t unheard of either, nor was earth magic that could control the bodies of others, but even that required the earth user to be close to their target.

Point is, as long as I kept my distance, I was safe. At least, safe-er.

I cast a barrier of crystalline glass in front of myself just in case and watched Cloudy’s movements. She idly moved to her side, trying to slowly walk around my barrier, but I turned with her movements and kept the shield between us.

Cloudy galloped at me suddenly, taking me by surprise by how quickly she could move. When I watched Applejack and Rarity’s fights they both seemed surprised by the agility of their elder opponents, and I stupidly fell for the same trap. Even having seen her two elder teammates move so quickly and suddenly I wasn’t prepared for the speed with which she approached me.

She slammed her hoof into my shield, shattering it into quickly disappearing shards of light. I jumped back, fearing what would happen if that magic came in contact with my body, but Cloudy was on top of me before my feet even hit the ground, hitting me hard in the ribs and shattering two of them instantly.

I formed a giant fist of glassy violet light that slammed into her as hard as I could manage in order to push her away. She was sent back a fair distance but she kept her feet planted firmly on the ground and wasn’t as far away as I would have liked. I tried to grab her with the fist but she slammed her hoof into it and crushed it to pieces like it was nothing.

Feeling the agonizing pain in my shattered ribs, I suddenly concluded that her magic allowed her to break things. If I was right, I could use this information to my advantage.

I’m sorry, Cloudy. I dreadfully anticipated what would happen if my plan was successful, and tried very hard to ignore the idea of what would happen should it fail.

I took in a deep, silent breath as I channeled the magic of the Space Aura through my horn, and I conjured a bright flash of violet light that covered the ground three feet around me in all directions with an icy glass sheen.

Skates of light appeared on my feet and I did a jumping twirl to show my mastery of the new terrain, fumbling slightly on the landing though as I remembered I had no idea how to skate. Cloudy, meanwhile, just looked down at the terrain with a scowl.

The glass would mess up her traction, so she couldn’t super speed over to me, and if she took the time to break the glass first, I could seize that opening and end the fight.

Cloudy stomped onto the glass, shattering the area just around her foot. Her range wasn’t strong enough to disable the entire sheet and I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

I danced around on the glass, skating and twirling and jumping while trying to both keep my balance and make it look effortless, which was easier said than done. Not to mention I needed to keep Cloudy on edge by throwing bolts of violet flame in her direction.

I expected none of the projectiles to actually hit her but the lack of traction and several missiles flying in her direction at any given time would be enough to keep her off guard, though to my delight but also terror, Cloudy was a rather accomplished dancer as well.

As I threw missiles from various directions she jumped and spun and danced, destroying my attacks with graceful precision then landing on the icy sheet and crushing it underneath her hooves each time.

At this rate she would likely close the distance between us fast and I would have to deal with her at melee range, which would not be good for me… in theory.

As I suspected, Cloudy inched closer to my position with every attack she deflected, leaving holes in the icy sheet that I needed to awkwardly glide around. Even as I kept moving with my attacks she always managed to come just a little closer with every wave… until she smashed the ice directly in front of me, the wave of force causing me to lose my balance just enough that I had to banish the skates off my feet.

Without my skates we were on equal footing, but with her ability to destroy the ice underneath her now it was me who was at a disadvantage. I needed to dispel the sheet entirely but I had no time… Cloudy’s hoof was coming at my head quickly and I only had a split-second to dodge…

But I didn’t.

Instead I summoned a mirror of light in front of my face. As Cloudy’s hoof hit the mirror, i.e. the magic-reflecting spell I had cast, her magic backfired and shattered the bones in her leg, reducing them to tiny splinters likely no bigger than a baby griffon’s fingertip.

She stumbled backward from the pain and the mirror became a radiant sword floating before me. A quick slash across Cloudy’s throat was all that was needed to end the fight, her blood spraying from the wound and spattering across my violet fur in a rather gruesomely beautiful display of my strength.

“The winner!” Starlight exclaimed. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE!! THAT’S ONE WIN FOR TEAM… DESTINY!!!!”

The crowd roared and cheered. I wouldn’t know until later, but my victory had sealed Team Rock Farm’s first preliminary loss in thirty years. Team Destiny was now one of the major teams to beat and the crowd immediately knew it. Even though I wasn’t aware of the exact details, I knew what happened was a big deal as soon as the crowd started chanting my name.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

After the fights were over the two teams were given a few minutes in the waiting rooms in case there was anything left to be said between them. I kinda wish I’d known that after we’d beaten Team Sweetheart, but eh, then me and Fluttershy wouldn’t have gotten to Twilight’s fight when we did and then the Butterfly Effect would’ve caused the end of the world or something. Probably.

Anyhoo, Twilight and Rarity had nothing to say to my family’s team so they left right away with Fluttershy. Applejack wanted a few minutes with Burnt Oak in her team’s waiting room, so I went to the big room to talk to my parents.

I immediately embraced my mom in a big hug. She held me and for a sec it was just like old times. It had been suuuuper long since I’d seen my parents and I’d forgotten how much I missed hugging my mom.

I turned from her to my dad, opening my forelegs wide with a big grin on my face. My dad was never one for physical intimacy or anything like that so I was just kinda joking around with him, figuring the best I’d get from him was a pat on the head or something.

But to my surprise he came in and hugged me, me gripping him tightly like he was gonna disappear if I let go. I wasn’t expecting it at all and I started crying “I missed you guys!” I said weepily.

“We missed you too, sweetheart,” mom said as she walked up behind me and hugged me and dad.

“I trust you have been doing well?” dad said as we stopped hugging. “And that Rainbow is doing well?”

“And that she’s treating you right!” mom added worriedly, prodding me on the shoulder.

“Mom, I’m fine,” I said with a laugh and brushed her hoof away. “Rainbow treats me really great, and yeah dad, we’re both doing fantastic! I suppose you didn’t see our fight earlier today… it was like, less than an hour ago.”

“Unfortunately not,” dad shook his head.

“That’s a shame,” mom pouted. “I would have loved to see my daughter and her best friend’s first Bifrost fight. We’ve been waiting so long for you to join!”

“Do not coddle them, Cloudy Quartz,” dad said, “we will see their first fight in the tournament proper. The preliminaries are hardly a concern.” Easy for him to say, he’s been in like a million of ‘em.

“Just so you guys know,” I said confidently, flicking a hoof through my mane, “me and Rainbow both aced our fights.”

“I would not expect anything less from my own daughter,” dad said. Pretty sure that was his way of saying he was proud of me, but ehhhhhh… hard to tell with him.

“That’s absolutely wonderful, Pinkie,” mom said, giving me another hug.

“We should be going, Cloudy Quartz,” dad cleared his throat and walked toward the door.

“Ah, I suppose so,” mom sighed, giving me a sad smile and putting her hooves on my shoulders. “Now Pinkie, make certain that you say hello to your sisters during the preliminaries. They would very much like to be kept abreast of your progress.”

“Of course!” I said with a salute, trying not to giggle at ‘abreast’.

“Remember dear, you are always welcome among your family,” mom brushed a strand of hair away from my face and it made me smile. She was always so fussy about the littlest things and I loved that about her. “There is always a spot for you on our teams.”

“I know, but Rainbow…” I muttered.

“Rainbow Dash does not wish for our help,” dad said abruptly. “And we shall not offer aid unsolicited.”

“Right,” I said curtly.

Honestly, Rainbow wasn’t the only one who didn’t want help from my family, but it was super embarrassing to admit that I felt… overshadowed by how amazing my parents and my sisters were, and if I could get them to believe that it was just Rainbow who was stubborn and wanted to work on her own, then I wouldn’t have to admit anything to them!

“Anyhoo!” I said with a big grin, “You guys gotta get going! And don’t worry, I’ll make you both proud of me!”

“We are already so proud of you, Pinkie Pie,” mom said, giving me one last hug before walking to the door my father was already standing beside. “Your father’s proud too, are you not, dear?” Mom put her hoof on dad’s shoulder and smiled at him, leaning up to his face.

“Hm,” was all he said. He tipped his hat to me and gave a nod before walking out the door.

“He’s proud of you,” mom said awkwardly before leaving right behind him and I smiled at the two as they left, plopping down onto the couch with a grumpy frown once they were gone.

Wouldn’t kill him to say it once in a while.

****

-APPLEJACK-

There was a palpable tension in the air as me and Burnt Oak stood silently in the waitin’ room. I knew I needed to say somethin’ but I had no idea where to start.

“Applejack…” I tensed up at hearing Oak’s voice. Didn’t know what he was gonna say if he got the first word but too late to do anythin’ ‘bout it now, “I want to apologize. I want to sincerely apologize for hurting you when you were younger… I didn’t know any better… I tried my best… but I wasn’t a good enough uncle, father figure, what have you… so I am sorry.”

Never in my life did I expect to hear those words comn’ from the mouths of any of my family. All this time I’d been carryin’ a grudge, absolutely certain I’d never get an apology but deep down a part of me always wanted one. And to actually hear it…

…meant nothin’.

“I don’t know what to say,” I said, tippin’ my hat in front of my eyes and shakin’ my head. “I’d be lyin’ if I said I could forgive you… but also if I said I didn’t want to.”

“That’s understandable,” Oak said morosely. “Your aunt and I were…” ‘Your aunt and I’? “…neither of us were ideal role models for you. We took you in after your mother…” he stopped himself short and just sighed, “well, we could never have replaced them.”

“That’s not…” I scoffed irritably. Would it kill this guy to take some kinda responsibility? All this ‘I tried my best’ guilt-trippin’ and ‘your aunt was bad too’ blame shiftin’… geez.

“Tell ya what…” I cleared my throat, “yer team might’ve gotten its butt kicked by my team, the much stronger and cooler team, but we all know yer makin’ it to the tournament proper. Meet me in Manehattan and we’ll settle this like—“ I almost said ‘men’ and absolutely cursed myself as soon as I realized.

“Adults?” Burnt Oak’s suggestion was way better than what I had.

“Right,” I said with a smile, grabbing Oak’s hoof and shakin’ it firmly. “Until then…” I let go of his hoof and just shrugged.

“You’re a remarkable young woman, Applejack,” Burnt Oak said, “and no matter what happens, it is my privilege to know you, and to call you family.”

With those partin’ words Burnt Oak was on his way out the door.

Instead of just followin’ Oak out the door from the waitin’ room, I had a gut feelin’ to go to the big room, and sure enough when I got there I saw Pinkie Pie mopin’ on the couch, all curled into a ball and her normally fluffy hair startin’ to deflate.

“What’s up, Pinkie Pie?” I said as I sat beside her, wrappin’ my foreleg around my little sister and pullin’ her close.

“I talked to my parents,” Pinkie groaned. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen ‘em. I just… I dunno how I feel right now.”

“I think I know what you mean,” I sighed exhaustedly myself, nuzzlin’ against my dear ol’ sis and delightin’ in the flustered giggles she made. “Parents, or adoptive parents in our case, can be… a lot.”

“Right?” Pinkie chuckled, sighing as she leaned up against me. “Like, I just want them to be proud of me…”

“Ain’t they though?” I said confusedly. I always got the impression the Pie family was closer’n anythin’.

“I mean, well, yeah…” Pinkie stammered, a flustered look on her face as she hopped off the couch and started pacin’ agitatedly around. “My mom is, and I guess my dad is too… I just want him to say it.”

“Pinkie, let me tell ya somethin’,” I said sadly, lyin’ on my stomach and lettin’ my forelegs dangle limply off the couch. “You can wait yer whole life for somethin’ and then get it and realize… it wasn’t what you wanted in the first place. That the hole you thought that’d fix is still inside you, and you need to figure out how to patch it on yer own.”

“That’s depressing,” Pinkie grumbled.

“Yup!” I said through gritted teeth, and then we laughed together for a moment. Pinkie jumped back onto the couch and sidled up real close to me, and I sat up so she could rest her head against the side of my chest.

“I wish you could be on our team,” she said.

“Instead of Fluttershy?” I asked confusedly.

“No! Absolutely not!” Pinkie bolted up and spoke like I’d offended her.

“S-sorry! I didn’t mean to imply—“

“No, no, it’s okay!” Pinkie said bashfully. “I just didn’t mean to imply that either. Fluttershy’s been a total joy to be with…” Pinkie leaned in and started to whisper, “…but she’s been feeling a little on the outs since she lost her fight, and if she heard us say that it would really hurt her feelings.”

“Oh,” I nodded and suddenly felt really bad. “Like I said, I didn’t mean to imply anythin’, so my bad. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Pinkie batted her hoof dismissively before sidlin’ up next to me and restin’ her head against me again. “But I wish, like… that we could have four member teams. You and me, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, all working together!”

“You know I can’t work with Rainbow,” I chuckled wryly.

“I know,” Pinkie groaned, cradlin’ her face in her hooves. “Most people can’t work with Rainbow.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” I laughed, and Pinkie couldn’t help but appreciate the humor and laugh a little despite herself. “You and Fluttershy seem to be doin’ okay with her though.”

“She’s super good to me,” Pinkie said wistfully. “And she’s been really good with Fluttershy; being honest with her and stuff, and being sensitive to her sensitivities and whatnot. She’s really trying to be a better person.”

“I see.”

I didn’t mean to sound cold but Pinkie picked up on the implications of my words, minimal as they were.

“Applejack…”

“Yeah?”

Pinkie looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes, “Do you believe people can change?”

I paused for a moment and took a deep breath, then just sighed and shook my head, “Nah.”

“I want to…” Pinkie sighed, and her voice started to crack like she was about to cry. “I want to.”

You, a fool: the main character of my fighting story should be the strongest character

Me, a wizened sage: the main character of my fighting story shouldn’t be able to fight AT ALL

Y’know, Twilight and Rarity’s roles in this fic were originally gonna be reversed. It would’ve taken some strong suspension of disbelief to be like “yeah Twilight, whose special talent is MAGIC, just can’t fight. Go figure.”

Oh, and I should point out that Rarity is my favorite pony, and I’m the type of author who LOVES to see my faves suffer. You think her getting her skull smashed against a rock is bad? You haven’t seen ANYTHING yet.

-FLUTTERSHY-

I stared out the second story window onto a sunny morning in Baltimare, sitting by a small table in our hotel room with a cup of warm tea.

Pinkie and Rainbow had already gotten an early start but I tended to loiter a bit behind them. It had been a long few days for Team Rainboom; we got into our first match and won, even though I lost, then we celebrated with stolen train and buffet food, and Rainbow spent the last two days after that going through a bunch of the informational pamphlets about the other teams.

She never did get to the one for Team Destiny though…

Anyway, loitering was nice but I needed to join the others. We had a fight today against Team B-Listers. The name didn’t have much intimidation factor but Rainbow said to always bring our A-game so I needed to be prepared for a tough fight no matter what! I finished my tea and took a deep breath to steel my nerves as I prepared to head out.

And then I heard a knock at the door.

I yelped quietly in surprise and wondered who it could be. I thought that Rainbow and Pinkie both had keys so they didn’t need to knock, but maybe one of them forgot their key? I shrugged it off, still feeling a little scatterbrained from waking up and trying to prepare myself for the fight today, so I wasn’t really thinking when I opened the door.

Standing outside the door were two peculiar stallions. One was a pegasus dressed as a mime, with a black and white striped shirt, a black beret and long black hair, with white face paint all over his face. He had black tears painted under his eyes but even without them he looked very dour, with a stern scowl adorning his face.

The other man was significantly more cheerful, a greyish beige unicorn with a pharaoh headdress and a lot of gold jewelry, a slightly goofy smirk on his face.

“Um, can I help you?”

Seeing these two strange ponies I’d never met before show up at my door while I was alone made me very uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to be rude to them.

“We’re looking for Team Rainboom’s room,” the pharaoh pony said jovially. “This is it, right?”

“It is…”

Maybe I should have said it wasn’t to make them go away, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t have helped.

“Good,” the mime pony said, which surprised me because you would figure he wouldn’t talk. “You’re coming with us.”

I slammed the door as hard as I could, the pharaoh pony howling in pain as he stuck his foot in the door and it got crushed, but it was enough for him to keep the door from closing, the mime pony swinging it wide open and the two men coming inside, shutting the door behind them.

I was terrified but I needed to be calm for a second… if I could just disable these two for a few seconds with my magic, I could escape either through the door or the window. I bolted at the mime but he just flew above my head.

The pharaoh pony reached out to grab my hair with his magic but I was close enough to quickly hit him with my hind leg; it was just a tap, but it was enough for my magic to debilitate him, the stallion stumbling back before falling on the ground. One down!

I reached for the door but the mime pony grabbed my leg and yanked me backward. I managed to squirm out of his grip and took flight, trying to jab him in the stomach but he dodged me.

I looked over at the closed window for a brief second and wondered if I could just throw myself through it, glass and all, but that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. My back was to the door and I wondered if I’d be able to open it and run down the hallway, and down the stairs, and into the lobby to find Rainbow and Pinkie before the mime guy caught up to me, but that seemed… very unlikely.

I guess I just had to take him out, just like I took out his friend.

He released some kind of gas from his shirt sleeve that drew slowly close to me, the man likely trying to drive me into a corner. And me being me, I started to back myself into one right away, but then I thought what would Rainbow or Pinkie do?

I grit my teeth and dashed forward, plowing into the mime at full force and taking him by surprise. My breath was held so I didn’t inhale any of his gas and as soon as I reached him I cocked my left foreleg back for a second and slammed it into his chest, hitting him as hard as I could manage, then hitting him with several additional little punches just for good measure, his foggy cloud dissipating as he could no longer control his magic.

The mime crashed to the ground and grabbed onto the bed in an attempt to stand up. He threw up a copious amount of blood onto the sheets and moaned agonizingly, “What did you do to me?”

To be honest, I had no idea. I didn’t know my magic would have that kind of effect; I thought it would just stop him from using his own magic. I couldn’t waste time feeling sympathy for him though because I needed to escape while I had the chance.

To my dismay, before I could turn around I felt my hind legs being grabbed by something sticky, looking down to see some kind of magical bandages were wrapped around them. I tried to tear my legs away from them or take them off, but it was no use and they just pulled me straight to the ground where the pharaoh pony was waiting and he stood over me.

I tried to kick him in the leg but he got out of the way and said, “Oh no! Not this time!” before placing a gold collar around my neck that snapped into place with a firm KRCHNK sound, cutting off the flow of magic inside me.

I was sweating and almost ready to break down into tears I was so terrified. I wasn’t able to escape and I had no idea what these ponies were going to do to me…

“What are you—“

I tried to plead for them not to hurt me or something but the unicorn lifted me off the ground by my hind legs and another roll of bandages wrapped around my mouth and muzzle to silence me.

“Quiet you,” he said irritably. “And you!” he yelled at his friend who was still lying on the ground and moaning in pain. “Get up already! We gotta get out of here!”

“What did she do?” was all the mime said in response, the pharaoh grumbling in frustration.

“Making me pull out my secret weapon… feh!” he mumbled as suddenly a large golden sarcophagus appeared behind him.

I made muffled pleas through my gag as tears started forming in my eyes, begging him not to lock me in there, but he just said “Ah, shut up already” and stuffed me inside the sarcophagus, more bandages wrapping around my entire body below the neck before he closed the lid on the sarcophagus and left me in total darkness.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I was pacing the hotel lobby waiting for Pinkie and Fluttershy and getting more agitated by the second.

We were supposed to meet in the lobby an hour before our match with Team B-Listers, but Fluttershy was a no-show. Pinkie said we should be patient with her but fifteen minutes of waiting and she was starting to get anxious too and ran up to the room to find her.

“Rainbow Dash!” she screamed as she ran through the lobby in a panicked frenzy. “RAINBOW DASH!!”

The sight of her barreling toward me with tears in her eyes, plus the distraught tone in her voice, instantly put a knot in my stomach. Pinkie had a tendency to antic and was prone to loud histrionics, but this was different. She had a desperate urgency in her voice that told me that something was seriously wrong.

“What is it, Pinkie?” I said sternly as she approached me and she took a moment to catch her breath. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen and Pinkie was holding a letter in her mouth. Presuming it to be the cause of her distress I snatched it away from her and read it.

I clicked my tongue and grit my teeth as I read the contents, “A ransom note? ‘Forfeit the match and we’ll give your friend back’? Are Team B-Listers really that pathetic that they need to resort to sabotage?”

“This is bad, Rainbow!” Pinkie said on the verge of tears. “What’re we gonna do?!”

“Obviously, we’re gonna rescue Fluttershy,” I said with a shrug, crumpling up the note with a seriously irritated scowl.

“But how? We don’t even—“

“Hold on,” I said as I detected something… a scent, coming from the paper in my hoof. I closed my eyes and held it up to my nose. Cigarettes, alcohol, seabreeze… very tacky old-timey pirate aesthetic… “I know where this came from.”

“Wha, how?” Pinkie asked confusedly, tapping her hooves together nervously.

“You think I’ve just been sitting around the last two days?” I said with a proud grin. “I’ve been to every seedy bar in town, watching members of the other teams. The seedier the place, the more likely for a fight to break out, and if a fight breaks out, I can see what other competitors can do when they think no one’s watching.”

“That’s… really smart actually,” Pinkie said, a slight smile coming to her face. “So you know where Fluttershy is, then?”

“Thanks, and I think so,” I nodded and spread my wings out, there was no time to waste after all. “I know where this letter came from, the smell of that bar is unmistakable, but who knows if that’s where she is now. I’ll fly over there and look around, I have a good idea of who I’m looking for and I should be able to find a lead at least.”

I ran out of the hotel and prepared to fly off but Pinkie stopped me by yelling, “WAIT!”

I turned to look at her, my face a mix of annoyance and surprise.

“What do I do?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” I scoffed. “You gotta get to the arena. I don’t think they’ll let you fight in all three rounds but if they do, then do that. If not just stall them until I get there with Fluttershy.”

“That’s… a lot…” Pinkie said timidly, her ears flattening against her head.

“Yep! Good luck!” I said as I took off to find Fluttershy.

I knew Pinkie was scared, but probably not half as scared as Fluttershy right now, and she needed my help more than Pinkie. I didn’t know a pony stronger than Pinkie Pie, and I knew she could handle the responsibility.

She’ll do great, no biggie.

****

-RARITY-

Today was the third day since Team Destiny’s battle with Team Rock Farm. I had managed to regain some composure after the traumatizing fight that I’d had and our team had yet to be scheduled for another fight since then… but Team Rainboom had a fight today.

Twilight, Applejack and I stood outside Arena B where they were scheduled to fight in just a few minutes… but I wanted a chance to see them first. I was so nervous, shaking and stomach pains don’t even begin to describe it, but I had a strong urge from my gut to make myself known today… to see Rainbow Dash…

But the door guard wouldn’t let us in.

“This isn’t a visiting room,” he said, “it’s a waiting room for the fighters only.”

“Yes, of course,” I said, putting a hoof up to my lips before walking toward the guard, “but you did let the members of Team Rainboom into this room before…”

I stepped gently a few inches from the man’s face and looked straight into his eyes before turning to my right and walking past him, delicately flicking him with my tail, “I just wished to return the favor and offer them-” I placed a hoof on the man’s cheek and whispered into his ear “-my best wishes.”

“Um…” he muttered nervously and tugged at his shirt collar. “Fine. But be quick about it.”

“Of course, darling,” I said and blew the man a kiss as I walked through the door, an embarrassed Twilight and snickering Applejack in tow.

I was feeling a mite better, a bit more confident after that performance, and was rather eager to confront Rainbow Dash, if only to have it over and done with… but the only pony we found in Team Rainboom’s waiting room was Pinkie Pie, nestled into a ball on the couch rocking back and forth.

“Pinkie Pie? What’s wrong?” Applejack said fretfully and dashed to Pinkie’s side, putting her hooves up on the couch. “Where’re Rainbow and Fluttershy?”

“No Rainbow, no Fluttershy, only Pinkie,” Pinkie Pie muttered as she rocked back and forth, barely aware that the three of us were even in the room.

“Rainbow Dash doesn’t seem like the type to miss a fight,” Twilight said concernedly, looking to me for some kind of explanation that I was unfortunately unable to provide. “Did something happen?”

“No Rainbow, no Fluttershy, only Pinkie,” Pinkie repeated.

Applejack sighed dismally and softly grabbed the pink pony’s cheeks, tilting Pinkie’s head up to look her in the eye.

“Pinkie Pie!” Applejack said. “Tell us what’s goin’ on here.”

“Fluttershy!” Pinkie burst into tears and Applejack let go of her and stepped back a few inches, looking very embarrassed, and if I knew Applejack—which I did—I was certain that she was blaming herself for Pinkie’s sudden outburst.

I walked up to the tearful pink mare and placed my hoof gently on her leg. “Did something happen to Fluttershy? Will you tell us all about it so we can help?”

“Sh-she, she got kidnapped!” Pinkie said between sobs, a collective gasp and feeling of dread washing over the members of Team Destiny. “Rainbow went to go after her but she left me here all alone to fight all of our opponents! I can’t beat three guys, and I’m worried about Fluttershy!”

Pinkie cradled her face and sobbed heavily. I sat beside her on the couch and gently rubbed her back and stroked her hair. “Pinkie Pie, can you tell us where Rainbow has gone? If we can track her down we can help her rescue Fluttershy and have them back here before you know it, okay?”

“Oh… okay.” Pinkie sniffled, wiping copious amounts of tears from her face. “She went to a bar… I think? I dunno!”

Pinkie Pie grabbed a crumpled up letter from her mane and gave it to me, though the stench of booze and cigarettes on it was nauseatingly overpowering so I levitated it over to Applejack immediately.

“She just said that note smelled like some place she knew and took off.”

“I think I know where she went,” Applejack groaned, throwing the note away and giving it an appropriately disgusted glare. “I recognize the smell; think it’s called the Flaxon Saxon? Some silly rhymin’ name like that. Place is a real dive, perfect for the type of low creeps that’d resort to kidnappin’ and the like.”

“How do you know it?” Twilight asked curiously.

“I’ve been tryin’ to study the other teams,” Applejack explained, sounding rather proud of herself, “figure seedy bars and such are the perfect place to watch people gettin’ into scuffles, and if I watch ‘em when they think they aren’t bein’ watched, I might learn a thing or two ‘bout our opponents.”

“Oh, that’s pretty smart,” Twilight said cheerfully, Applejack just giving her a delighted grin in return.

Pinkie Pie let out a giggle and said, “Rainbow said the exact same thing.”

“Eh, great minds, I suppose,” Applejack said with a shrug.

“So, you can lead us there, Applejack?” I said hopefully as I hopped off of the couch, my blonde comrade nodding in reply.

“Wait! You can’t just leave me!” Pinkie shouted desperately and grabbed onto my hind leg.

“We wouldn’t dare, Pinkie Pie,” I said politely and gently grabbed her hoof. “Would it be alright if Twilight stayed with you?”

“Me? Why me?” Twilight said nervously, ears shooting straight up as the blood drained from her face. “Not that I mind, or anything, it’s just, why me?”

“Applejack knows where the bar is,” I explained, “and this whole experience is likely to be more than a little traumatizing for poor Fluttershy. I want to be there to comfort her if she needs it. No offense, but that’s not exactly a task we can trust to Rainbow Dash.”

“You’re not wrong,” Pinkie said with a weepy laugh. “O-okay. That’s a good idea. I’ll stay here with Ms. Twilight.”

“Uh, okay,” Twilight fretted with her bangs and a nervous half-smile crept onto her face. “I can… I can do that.”

The poor dear was clearly anxious about being left alone with a stranger, especially one in the emotional state that Pinkie Pie was in, but I wasn’t about to leave Pinkie alone and Twilight was the only one who could afford to stay behind.

“You both take care of each other,” I said as Applejack and I headed for the door, “and we’ll be back before you know it!”

I gave the pair a wink and they both waved goodbye as Applejack and I headed out on our bold rescue operation!

****

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

Pinkie Pie was still a complete mess as Rarity and Applejack left me alone with her. I wished there was something I could do to console her, but my pathetic anxiety-riddled brain was doing nothing but blaring the I’M UNCOMFORTABLE alarm which made it unbearably difficult to focus.

But I had to do something. I needed to find a way to release her fears. I couldn’t stand idly by while another pony was suffering and do nothing!

“Pinkie Pie,” I said softly as I walked over in front of where Pinkie was curled up on the couch, anxiously fretting with my mane and trying to take calm, measured breaths, “everything is going to be okay. Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity, and even Fluttershy, are all so strong. There’s no need to worry about them, right? Y’know, we just gotta… keep on keeping on, and all that…”

I nearly cringed myself in half as soon as I heard those words come out of my mouth, and I don’t even know how to describe the bewildered face Pinkie looked up at me with. I started turning really red and now I wanted to curl up into a ball, but then Pinkie started laughing and wiping tears from her eyes.

“You’re… you’re really bad at this!” she laughed.

“I know!” I couldn’t help but laugh at myself, to be honest. “I’m not exactly a motivational speaker!”

“Thank you though,” Pinkie sniffled and rubbed her eyes. “I appreciate the sentiment, but what I really needed was a good laugh, so thanks.”

“Anytime,” I said with a shrug, feeling oddly proud of myself.

“Still though…” Pinkie made a loud sniffle and curled back into a ball, “I’m not worried about them anymore… Rainbow’s so smart and cool and strong, I know she’ll fix it… and nopony’s more dependable than Applejack… so I know they’ll rescue Fluttershy…”

Pinkie was on the verge of tears again during that whole spiel but she finally broke down into sobs.

“I’m worried about me now!”

“Ah, of course,” I said softly, anxiously pitter-pattering around the waiting room which was much too small by the way! “But hey, I’ve got good news!”

“What’s that?” Pinkie looked hopefully at me while wiping tears from her face.

“Um…” I stammered, not actually having any good news to share and cursing myself for saying that I did. “Uh, if you lose this you still have another match that you can win, so it’s not that big a deal, right?”

Pinkie looked at me with a look of utter bewilderment and I felt my posture shrinking down as my cheeks burned like I’d put my face on the stove.

“Wow, you are really bad at this,” Pinkie giggled and the sound of her laughter made me smile so I just nodded along with her. She took a deep breath and hopped off the couch, walking over to me and saying, “You’re a sweetheart, Twilight. But why are you helping me? We don’t even know each other and we’re kinda on rival teams?”

“I guess?” I muttered, giving a half-hearted shrug. I looked at her and donned a serious expression as I explained, “But I can’t turn my back on a pony in need. Simple as that.” Pinkie smiled brightly at me and it filled me with hope and determination.

“I believe in you, Pinkie Pie,” I said confidently, the words coming out of my mouth almost by instinct. “You’re gonna do great.”

Pinkie took a deep breath and put her hooves on my shoulders, flashing a bright smile and saying in a low growl, “You’re gosh darn right I am.”

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

This was definitely the right place, just as I figured. A bar as seedy and gross as you’ve ever seen, this place was absolutely the kind of place you’d find stereotypical kidnapping thugs hanging out.

I didn’t know exactly who I was looking for but I had a hunch. It wasn’t gonna be a member of Team B-Listers, obviously they were all at the arena, but going through the pamphlets I found a team of pretty suspiciously similar ponies… Team Mane-iac.

Sure enough I found a member of Team Mane-iac lounging at the bar, shoveling food into his smug face without a care in the world. A pegasus stallion dressed like a mime, with the monochrome striped shirt and beret and white face-paint and all.

Everything about this guy’s aesthetic rubbed me the wrong way. I really did hope this guy was the one who kidnapped Fluttershy since it gave me a reason to beat him up instead of just an excuse.

“Hey buddy,” I said smarmily and tapped the mime on the shoulder.

“What d’ya want, buddy?” he replied in a fittingly grim tone without even looking at me. “Tryin’ to enjoy a meal here. Had a long day.”

“I bet,” I growled. “Kidnapping probably works up a real sweat, huh?”

The man suddenly looked back at me and his eyes widened as he recognized me. Before he could pull any trick I grabbed him by his shirt collar and lifted him off the chair and, with a little extra oomph from my wind magic, threw him against a wall.

What I did not expect was for him to crash through the wall, I didn’t think I threw him that hard, but when I looked closer I saw he didn’t crash into a wall at all, but a door that was hidden inside the wall.

I gave the bartender a confused look but all she did was shrug at me so I shrugged it off myself and went through the door, walking down some stairs behind it into a stone basement. I saw the mime guy lying on the ground and groaning so I was pretty confident that he was both alive and no longer a threat, making me snicker in satisfaction. Always a pleasure to get the one-punch-knockout.

Just down the stairs and behind another door was a mostly featureless stone room with several doors lining each wall. I dunno what kind of crazy dungeon labyrinth they built under this bar of all things but I groaned in disgust as I realized it was gonna make finding Fluttershy a lot more difficult, if she was even here to begin with.

Granted, guy kidnaps pony and then hangs out at bar with creepy dungeon underneath it? Odds were high that Fluttershy was being held here, and I tried not to think what I would do if I found other ponies being held here; now was not the time for that anxiety nightmare.

I considered yelling out to Fluttershy to see if she’d respond but I had no idea what kind of enemies were waiting for me down here, and let’s be honest, even if Fluttershy could holler back to me, she likely wouldn’t be able to raise her voice above a dull squeak.

Before I could begin my search and try one of the doors at random, a black sludge creature shambled its way into the room. At first I was a little taken aback by it but I quickly realized it was just a pony using some kind of weird magic.

“And who’re you supposed to be?” that question was rhetorical; by the time I said it I’d already recognized the guy as Smudge, another member of Team Mane-iac. Good news for me, I could take down two of their number right off the bat!

“GRMFGRMBL,” the sludgy dude said.

“Well Grmfgrmbl, I hope you’re ready for a fight,” I said with a snide grin as I scraped a hoof across the dingy stone floor.

I started out by jumping into the air and flapping my wings, two blades of wind flying toward Smudge. The dude was quicker than I expected though and effortlessly dodged them without even leaving an inky trail or anything behind him.

I didn’t know what would happen if I got that stuff on me and I really didn’t want to find out so I needed to think of a way to end this fast.

Smudge stretched out an arm to grab me but I dodged out of the way and cut the arm off at the elbow with a blade of wind, the inky substance evaporating into thin air as it dropped to the ground and the man controlling it seeming no worse for wear.

Before I could focus too much on that though I saw Smudge rushing at me out of my peripherals and I flew up and over his tackle, hitting the ground with a hard slam and throwing a bullet of wind directly into Smudge’s back. He didn’t even grunt or anything, he just turned around and glared at me with his piercing red eyes.

At this point I was starting to become a little concerned as I realized my attack didn’t do a freakin’ thing to him. Looks like I wasn’t gonna be able to just hit him until he fell down, I needed to find a way to pierce through the magic surrounding him, which wasn’t gonna be easy since I had no idea what kind of magic it was.

Smudge swung his arm at my head and I ducked under it but he dropped a few ink blots onto my wings as the limb went over me, the ink burning my skin as it touched me. I grit my teeth and charged backward, needing to find some major distance between us. The blob shuffled forward a little as its swinging arm molded back into the rest of its body and grew back into its proper place.

My guess at this point was that he was using earth magic. I couldn’t think of a way for pegasus elemental magic to do what I was seeing here, plus if he had any wings he sure wasn’t using ‘em, and his apparent lack of ranged ability made unicorn magic unlikely. So yeah, probably earth magic. Still though, that wasn’t a huge help, especially with the burning ink on my wings still being a major distraction.

I threw two more blades of wind to test a theory and he just tanked them both. Didn’t even bother to move out of the way, I guess he figured there was no point in dodging now that I knew his technique made it unnecessary.

Still though, my theory panned out alright; ranged attacks weren’t gonna work on this guy and I needed to get in close. Not an easy tactic given his advantage at close range— and I didn’t even want to think about what other tricks this guy had that I hadn’t seen yet— but it was my only option and I did have a few tricks of my own up my sleeve.

I dashed forward, using my wings and magic to burst forth with tremendous speed. Smudge threw up a barrier of sludge in my way and I surrounded myself with a hurricane barrier, crashing through his shield and getting right up next to him. Now it was time to kick him right in his belly and tear him up from the inside with a tornado!

At least, that was the plan.

I’d used a lot of magic already during this fight and crashing through his shield wasn’t exactly painless, in fact it gave me a really splitting headache and left some of his burning ink on my neck and both sides of my torso, the ink burning straight through my jacket and onto my skin.

I thought I could fight my way past the pain but one half-second of painful hesitation was all it took for Smudge to grab both my forelegs and squeeze, crushing my legs in his magic and making me scream in pain.

I tried to get away with another gust of wind into Smudge’s ugly face but Smudge wouldn’t budge, he just held onto my legs and his slimy goop started spreading up my legs and onto my chest. It felt like putting my hooves into that really greasy water that you get when you’re trying to wash a cooking pot that had like fat grease in it. It was gross.

Not only that, it was both really hot and cold, I honestly couldn’t tell which but it was painful. I grit my teeth to keep from humiliating myself by screaming again and tried to fire blasts of wind into him with no real luck.

This was bad, real bad. His inky grossness was slowly covering my chest and threatening to rise up toward my neck. His powers had completely absorbed my hooves to the point I couldn’t even feel them anymore and I was, embarrassingly enough, starting to panic. I had no way out. This guy was just straight-up immune to my attacks and there was nothing I could do.

As I felt his ink searing through my legs and I clamped my teeth down as hard as they would go so I wouldn’t scream, the first thought that ran through my head was I can at least die with a little dignity.

But then I realized what I’d thought.

Die?

NO.

I am NOT going to die.

I felt something burning inside me… something intense. I thought at first that it was just Smudge’s ink but this was different, it wasn’t a physical burn, more like an overwhelming rush of adrenaline. My vision started to blur and my ears rang… and then…

“Duck!”

That familiar voice snapped me back to reality and I bolted my head down and forward as fast as I could manage. I heard a thick SLAM right above my ears and before I knew it, my feet were on the ground and soon enough so was my flank.

I inhaled sharply to try and regain my senses and noticed that my legs were no longer coated in the black sludge but they were also turning purple and I couldn’t feel them.

Then I looked to see what happened to Smudge and saw him plastered against the wall but slowly reforming himself. A pair of rough hooves gently pressed themselves onto my own hooves, a warm light caressing my body as the mare cast a healing spell on me.

“About time you showed up!” I said, trying and failing to not smile widely.

“Don’t act like you ain’t shocked to see me,” Applejack said coolly, releasing my mended hooves and helping me back to my feet. “Ya think ya can help me out here? Better not slow me down.”

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing,” I said with a confident smirk, although the weightlessness of that comment, given that I was powerless against Smudge on my own, was not lost on me.

I was both over the moon grateful to still be alive but also infuriated and humiliated that I had to be saved, and by Applejack of all ponies. Not to mention…

…what was that weird feeling before?

Oh well, didn’t matter. Me and AJ had a mook to smash.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

I made sure my tears were all dry by the time I walked into the arena. This was no time for crying! Even though the odds were against me and I didn’t have Rainbow or my family or even Fluttershy around for emotional support, I had to find it inside me to win these fights!

I had to win for Rainbow, for Fluttershy, for myself and for Applejack… and hey, even for Twilight and Rarity who were so kind to me! I had to repay their kindness and generosity by making them proud and winning this battle!

And besides… Twilight said she believed in me! I know my dad and all my sisters and Rainbow believe in me—at least, I’m pretty sure that they do—but Twilight’s the first person since my mom to actually say it. And that felt really nice.

Alright! I can do this!

I glared angrily at the smug grin of Mr. SmellyJerk McPharaohGuy as he walked into the arena. I didn’t have anything nice to say to him so I just prepped my Party Cannon, breathed in the magic of the Earth Aura and tried to center myself for the upcoming fight.

“I hope you put up a better fight then your friend,” PharaohJerk said haughtily, my teeth grinding against each other instantly.

I puffed up my cheeks and thought about screaming at the guy, asking him what happened to Fluttershy and berating him for being SUCH A JERK, but I knew that was a waste of time. I just shrugged off his obvious taunt instead.

ANYWAY PHANTASM TIME.

The world went all swirly as the illusion was cast and the fight began and I wanted to freakin’ scream when I saw that our fighting arena, of all places, was a goshdarn desert with a giant pyramid temple thing RIGHT IN THE CENTER!!! Like, geez. Just hand the kidnapping jerk-face the home field advantage right off the bat, why don’t’cha?

I really didn’t want to go inside that temple thing but I heard Jerk McJerkington yelling mean stuff out from inside it. I was starting to think that this was all like a conspiracy to give him an easy victory, but I was still gonna show him who’s boss (it’s me, I’m the boss)!

I rolled my Party Cannon up the stairs and walked inside the temple where Jerksworth von Jerk Esquire was standing on a large platform in the center surrounded by stairs, doing a goofy dance which would’ve been funny if he wasn’t, like, a big kidnapping jerk.

“Are you ready to deal with all this?” he said while doing his weird dance.

“Uh-huh,” I said bleakly. I really wasn’t in my usual chipper mood and just wanted to end this guy as fast as possible.

I aimed my Party Cannon but before I could fire it at him he stretched out sticky bandages from his forelegs and wrapped them around my cannon! He yanked on the bandages and stole my cannon right out from under me, and as it landed right next to him he pointed it at me and slammed on the button with a very self-satisfied “HaHA!”

But when it did absolutely nothing he just stared at it with a bewildered expression. Instead of telling him that the Party Cannon could only be activated by my magic, I bounced toward him and slugged him in the face, knocking him through the air and onto the stairs on his back!

I spun the Party Cannon around and fired it, launching confetti all over the poor sap as he struggled to get back to his feet, sparks of fire and electricity launching between all the confetti and enveloping Lord Jerky Jerkinstien in a raging pink and blue inferno!

The magic only had a short attack time though so after a second or two he was out of the flames, his fur singed and a furious berserk look in his eye, and he started tromping toward me. I had a feeling this guy might be a little bit sturdier than Dizzy and that just one shot from the Cannon wouldn’t be enough to defeat him…

So I just fired the cannon at him again.

He yowled in terror as he saw the blast coming for him and screamed in agony as he was wrapped up in another torrent of pastel party flames. I wasn’t usually one to laugh at someone’s misfortune but I couldn’t help but think this was a satisfying bit of serendipity for the beef jerky who kidnapped my pal.

While the flames were pretty strong, I knew they wouldn’t keep this guy down forever so as soon as the second wave had passed over, while Jerkface was still reeling from the red-hot double-scoop from heck, I bounced toward him and punched him in the head, knocking him down the stairs and to the ground.

I moved to stomp on his stomach but he wrapped a bunch of his gross sticky bandages around my forelegs as they hovered over him. Thinking quickly, I bounced from my hind legs and tried to reach the ceiling, but the bandages stuck pretty firm and only let me go half that height before pulling me back…

Buuuuut, the snapback of the bandages added force to my momentum and I curled into a cannonball as I barreled through the air toward a screaming jerk pharaoh, smashing him in the stomach with even more force than I’d planned, not to mention crashing through the floor of the temple.

The basement of the temple was a dark room covered in sand, my feet sinking a little as we fell into it, with the only light coming from the hole I put in the ceiling. Despite my valiant bouncy cannonball strategy, even after falling into the basement my legs were still covered in those gross bandages and the guy connected to them was nowhere to be found, either hiding in the dark or under the sand.

Suddenly several of those bandages appeared out of the sand and wrapped themselves around my hind legs! They started pulling me under the sand and despite my struggles I couldn’t get free of them or resist the pull, so I sat down on my haunches to keep my head above the sand, my body being buried up to my shoulders .

It was then that the man controlling the bandages like puppet strings appeared to gloat. “HaHA! Now you’ve done it! You thought you could defeat the incredible Pharaoh Phetlock on my own turf?! Naïve! Foolish! Obscene!”

“You talk too much!” I shouted in the middle of his monologue. “And coming from me, that says a lot!”

“I agree,” Jerk Guy said irritably, “one of us definitely speaks TOO MUCH!”

He threw another bandage out from his foreleg that wrapped around my mouth. I tried to yell and holler but it only came out as muffled “MMPHS!” I continued to struggle against this creep’s gross power but every time I tried to move my legs above the sand he just yanked them back down, only giving me enough freedom that it would hurt as he took it away.

I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating that this guy is a HUGE JERK.

“And now,” he continued to gloat, feeling very proud of himself no doubt, “I will bury you in this ancient temple! I will smother you in sand and give you the burden of a slow and crushing death, a fitting end to one who would DARE to challenge the GREAT PHARAOH PHETLOCK!!”

I rolled my eyes and groaned at this guy’s theatrics. Maybe he’d have a leg to stand on if he wasn’t such a creep but… eh. Even without that, I feel like his presentation really could’ve used some work.

I tried to struggle and move my legs as I was slowly being buried up to my neck now, both my forelegs now pinned at my sides and under the sand. Between the bandages and the sand I couldn’t get any momentum for my bouncy attacks and my Party Cannon was still upstairs!

Things were looking pretty grim, so it was time for Plan C! My super ultimate dangerous forbidden technique!!!!

I closed my eyes and focused. Doing this was an all-or-nothing gambit and it needed a truly staggering amount of magical energy, but if I pulled it off not only would I win this fight, I’d win it in style.

Pharaoh Jerkface had stopped trying to bury me and was ranting about something but I wasn’t listening. I think he was mad that I was meditating instead of paying attention to him. I felt the bandages wrapping around more of my body, covering my chest and stomach and flank, and I felt them tightening and threatening to crush me, all in a vain effort to force me to pay attention to him, I guess.

But even despite all of that, my eyes remained shut as I channeled the power of the Earth Aura… I felt it welling up inside me… felt the magic of the earth, the faith of my friends and the love of my family all at once, and it gave me the power to win this!

BLINK.

My eyes shot open and faster than Jerkface could blink I was just gone. No bandages or sand could stop me, I had just disappeared… and reappeared just as quickly behind him.

That was the true power of my magic; for just a fraction of a second I could just kinda… bend space, disappearing and reappearing wherever I wanted to, within reason. It had a whole lot of useful applications but also made me feel like throwing up all of my internal organs anytime I did it!

But no time for that now! Now it was time to lay the finishing touches!

I threw my hooves into Jerky Jerkface’s jerky jerk face… and chest, and stomach, and legs… just punching wildly anywhere that would leave an impact, howling gibbering battle cries the whole time, of course!

My hooves were way too fast for the slow, plodding pharaoh to keep up with, plus he was still disoriented from me suddenly blinking out of his trap, so he couldn’t defend against a single hit and just took every single punch I landed on him with the resistance of a wet paper plate.

My punches ceased as my fatigue started to catch up with me and pharaoh Jerkbutt fell on the ground in a heap. His bandages started to extend from his forelegs yet again so he could recapture me… but I wasn’t the only thing that suddenly appeared behind him when I blinked, and only after my flurry of punches did he have time to see it.

He looked up with wide, terrified eyes directly into the barrel of my magically-appearing-out-of-nowhere Party Cannon and the look of horrified realization as he knew what was about to happen to him was priceless.

I fired the cannon and a shower of confetti rained down upon him, covering him in pink and yellow flames. The special-unique-amazing-oneofakind curse on the confetti, specifically engineered for me and my fighting style by my dear sister Marble, had a cool secondary special effect!

While it burned anyone who was not me, the same enchantment had a minor restorative effect on me, so while Pharaoh Jerkyjerk was burning alive I was also punching him a lot with reinvigorated stamina, my hooves only getting faster and stronger the longer they made contact with the flames! It ruled!

After about two seconds of burning and punches, the pharaoh was down for the count, lying on his back and sinking into the sand, and Starlight called it. “The winner! PINKIE PIE!!”

I breathed a massive sigh of relief at that noise but it was a little premature. Before I could properly get used to being back in the real world, the jerky pharaoh was running at me and whipping out his bandages to attack me in real life!

I didn’t have any time to react and I was still reeling from the fight. I didn’t even know how he had the strength to attack me! Lucky for me the bandages were swiftly cut to ribbons in midair and two pegasi in blue uniforms stood in front of me to defend me, a third pegasus walking over to the pharaoh.

“Don’t disgrace your team with that kind of behavior,” the fiery-haired orange pegasus said with a raspy voice. “One more antic like that from any of your members, and your team will be disqualified.”

Pharaoh JerkyjerkMcJerkingtonjerkfacejerk groaned and clicked his tongue, either at me or the pegasus, I couldn’t actually tell which, and left the arena to go back to his waiting room. I breathed another sigh of relief.

“You okay, kid?” one of the pegasi in front of me, a teal mare with white hair, asked.

“Y-yeah. Thanks.” I said nervously.

“No problem,” the orange one said as she walked over, the two in front of me making space for her to stand ahead of me as she reached out her hoof. “Competitors like that make me sick. Can’t wait for our chance to kick their butts.”

I shook the woman’s hoof awkwardly, still a little disoriented from the fight.

“That was a great fight, sis,” the fiery-haired pegasus said. “You’ve got some real powerful magic. Don’t waste it on dishonorable behavior like that guy.”

“I won’t,” I said with a smile, then tilted my head and asked confusedly. “Who are you, by the way?”

“Name’s Spitfire,” the orange mare said with a confident grin. “We’re working security detail around here. If there’s anything shady going on with some of the other teams, just let us know.”

“Actually…” I couldn’t believe my ears as she said those things. What luck! “Could I get a chance to talk to you guys in the waiting room?”

The three pegasi looked concernedly at each other but Spitfire soon eased their expression with a soft smile. She nodded and the three followed me back to the waiting room.

I had some mixed feelings about this… on the one hoof, it was an absolute blessing to meet these ponies who might be able to help Fluttershy! But on the other hoof, I knew how much Rainbow hated getting outside help.

Fluttershy’s safety was the most important thing so I tried to put Rainbow out of my mind, but I still had that nagging feeling that she wasn’t gonna like this at all.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

As Smudge tried to reconstitute himself, Applejack slammed into him again with another hard punch, knocking his sludgy butt to the ground. I had no idea why Applejack’s attacks seemed to work on him but mine didn’t but I couldn’t just let her show me up!

I stamped my hoof on the ground and threw a bullet of wind at Smudge. The inky barrier surrounding him was actually starting to dissipate around his face, revealing a tan pony whose eyes widened as he saw my attack heading straight for him.

He spun around and created a small whirlpool of ink around his body that deflected my attack, causing me to grit my teeth, stomp on the ground and groan in frustration. I was really tired of him shrugging off everything I threw at him!

Applejack jumped toward me and landed beside me.

“So what’re we dealin’ with here?”

“Earth pony magic,” I said confidently, wanting to sound like I knew more than I really did. “It looks like that sludge is just—ergh!”

In all the commotion I’d forgotten about the inky that was still burning holes into my wings— the sludge having dripped down and burnt through my jacket and onto my back— and the pain distracted me from what I was saying.

“Make this last,” Applejack put her hoof on my back and a warm light enveloped me, completely erasing the pain. “I only got one more today.”

“Right,” I said, ignoring my embarrassment at getting saved by Applejack again and watching Smudge carefully as he reformed. “I’m pretty sure that stuff is just the shape of his magic aura.”

“Ah,” Applejack chuckled. “In that case, back me up. I’ll clear a path through it and you knock ‘im out!”

“Right!” I said with an ecstatic grin. Even though it was awkward working with Applejack again after so long, and after all the stuff we’d said to each other over the years, not to mention the whole embarrassing rescue thing, I was just excited to kick this jerk into the dirt where he belonged.

Applejack lunged forward and tried to strike with a hard punch but Smudge threw a shield between them, his desperation evident in the sloppiness and rushed nature of his defense, and the shield completely fell apart as soon as AJ’s hoof went through it.

Smudge slid over to the side to avoid Applejack’s followup attack, and good thing for him too because her hoof left a freakin’ indent in the stone wall where Smudge’s head had just been. He tried to grab me with an elongated tendril but now that I was back at 100%, or close enough, dodging his clumsy attack was easy and I cut the tendril with my own magic.

Applejack rushed at him again and he knew he couldn’t let her hit him so he desperately tried to slide away from her, toward me, and I stopped him in his tracks by slamming down onto the ground in front of him and throwing a wall of wind between him and myself, allowing Applejack to nail him hard in the chest, his sludgy aura separating and breaking apart around Applejack’s hoof.

His magic was still providing enough resistance to her attack that it couldn’t quite get through but it was obvious he was running on fumes now as he jumped away and clumsily fumbled upon landing, ooze spraying in several directions and dissipating quickly.

Applejack and I split up, AJ attacking from our enemy’s left and me from the right. Smudge rushed toward me and tried to grab me but I wasn’t about to let him get even a drop of that gunk on me again and pushed myself back with my wind, knocking him back as well and right into Applejack’s applebuck.

Smudge was able to just barely defend himself from AJ’s attack by throwing most of his aura into a defensive wall between him and the mare, but Applejack just spun on her heels and started punching rapidly, the wall of ooze deteriorating and the now exposed enemy’s expression getting more desperate and frightened the closer she got to him.

And that’s where I came in.

I flew toward Smudge who saw me coming and grit his teeth in a pained cringe, jumping back and trying to throw a large ball of gunk at me that I just dodged underneath, getting closer to him at mach speed.

I grabbed the tan stallion by the neck and threw him toward the high ceiling, the sludge following him up like it had a will of its own but it was too slow to catch up to him before I did.

I shot up like a bullet and grabbed the man again, this time wrapping my forelegs around his barrel, and spun around like a tornado as we headed straight for the ground, throwing the dizzy, spinning stallion away before we hit the stone… and sending the man right into Applejack’s kick.

Applejack was stronger than a tank and her kick sent the man flying right into the wall, leaving a big crater in the stone behind him. He groaned as he slid off the wall and hit the ground in a heap, weakly muttering “You win…” as he presumably lost consciousness.

I landed on the ground next to AJ and the two of us firmly pounded our hooves together. She may have gotten on my nerves but there was no doubt in my mind that Applejack was one heck of a fighter and fighting alongside her was always awesome.

“Come on,” Applejack said, adjusting her hat, “we gotta go find Fluttershy.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” I nodded seriously, then followed Applejack through one of the doors lining the walls, one that was conspicuously open even though I was sure they were all closed before. Oh well, good a door as any I guess.

****

-RARITY-

When Applejack and I arrived at the bar it didn’t take long to notice the giant hole in the wall and put together that Rainbow Dash was responsible for it. We went down the stairs behind the hole and found Rainbow Dash locked in combat with a black sludge-like creature.

As much as I detested the pegasus, I wasn’t so petty that I was about to stand around and watch her get maimed so I moved to attack the creature, but was stopped by Applejack extending a foreleg to stop me.

“Let me deal with this,” she said urgently. “You go find Fluttershy. You’ve got some divination, yeah?”

“Some,” I said sheepishly, my bitterly supbar magical talents weighing ever present on my mind since my battle with Igneous. I cleared my throat and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll find her.”

“I know you will,” Applejack said with a confidence-boosting warm smile. “Leave a path for me to follow.”

“I will,” I said softly. “Don’t be long.”

“Please,” Applejack scoffed, her utter self-assuredness bringing a smile to my lips, “I’ll be done with this guy ‘fore you even find Fluttershy.”

With that, she rushed off to assist Rainbow Dash and I lit up my horn, activating my mediocre divination spell and trying to detect Fluttershy’s presence.

Whether it was the spell or simply a gut feeling I don’t know, but I had the urge to go through a specific door on the side of the rather large room where Applejack’s confrontation was taking place, quickly sidling into the room to avoid the battle itself and through the door, leaving it open for Applejack to follow.

The basement of this random tavern was like a dungeon I had many questions regarding the safety and purpose of its design, so I wasn’t having an easy time locating Fluttershy in the midst of this labyrinth, even with my spell.

At first I thought it was an ancient wine cellar from the prohibition era, but there were prison cells. Maybe it went back even farther, to pre-Equestria war times… although that didn’t explain why a seedy bar of all things rested on top of it now…

That wasn’t important though! I needed to find Fluttershy.

I looked around to see if anyone saw me and when I could tell I was alone I tried to go into a trance. As I said, my divination spell was mediocre, and magic in general wasn’t my strong suit, but I hoped that with a bit of concentration, I would be able to track Fluttershy with my spell.

I felt the soft hum of the Space Aura flowing through me and for a brief moment, I had a mental map of the labyrinth. It was actually quite tiny, with most of its many doors all leading toward the same few rooms in a circle.

More importantly though, the place was nearly empty. I could detect seven magical auras in the small space; myself, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, the unconscious mime we passed on the way in here, the sludge creature… and the other two were almost certainly Fluttershy and one last enemy.

I breathed a sigh of relief at not having to rescue anyone other than Fluttershy; I think it goes without saying, but I would not simply stand by and rescue my friend but leave behind other prisoners. Thankfully, it was a non-issue, and I tried to focus on the magical auras I could ever so faintly feel with my spell and see if I could detect Fluttershy among them.

Turns out I didn’t need to, for as soon as I quieted my thoughts to concentrate I heard moans echoing through the halls.

I followed the sounds of Fluttershy’s pleas and found her inside one of the prison cells, chained to the wall by a collar around her neck and a bridle stuck in her mouth.

I ran to the door of her cell and sliced it open with magic.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy, darling! I’m going to get you out of here!”

I thought she would be happy to see me but she looked frantic and had tears in her eyes as she pleaded and shouted, but I couldn’t understand any of it thanks to the bridle.

I wasn’t stupid though so I immediately turned around.

“Now, now…” a purple mare with extremely long green hair dressed in a tight, gaudy purple and yellow body suit was sitting on a throne that looked to be made of her own hair, her forelegs crossed disapprovingly over her chest. “Why the rush? Can’t you stick around for a little bit?”

“I take it you’re the ringleader of this sleazy operation…” I said, a blue sword of light appearing over my head thanks to my magic.

“I am!” the woman said proudly with a giant, unsettling grin. “I’m the Mane-iac, and I’m oh so pleased to make your acquaintance!”

She did a mock curtsy and her smile grew ever wider, looking through me with her blood red eyes. “Granted, not half as happy as I will be to make you the newest member of my collection! But still, we all gotta start somewhere!”

“Well,” I harrumphed, “if you need to resort to kidnapping in order to coast through Bifrost, instead of just fighting your opponents fairly, then you can’t be all that powerful, can you?”

The Mane-iac just laughed uproariously, dispelling any shred of confidence that I had. “Oh, you think we kidnapped that girl to move forward in the tournament? No, it was just for fun! Both my teams have won two matches each already!”

“I see,” I grit my teeth and tried not to dwell on how powerful she must have been if she had already cleared the first preliminaries barely a week into the tournament.

She was clearly very strong, likely much stronger than I was, but more than that I could tell she was dangerous. This fight wasn’t going to be like the one with Igneous, where a lethal blow could simply be waved off by the dispelling of an illusion; my life was on the line for real now, and against an enemy that I had barely any prayer of defeating.

Oh well. There was no way I was going to let her keep Fluttershy without a fight.

I really like the juxtaposition between the incredibly dramatic title of this chapter and the fact that nothing of consequence actually happens in it.

Wait, or do I have that backwards?

-PINKIE PIE-

I sat in the waiting room alongside Twilight and explained to Spitfire, Fleetfoot and Soarin, the three pegasi who protected me after my last match, what happened with Fluttershy and Team B-Listers. It was kinda a long story but I think I hit all the high notes and explained it pretty well, I just wished I’d held onto the ransom note instead of letting Applejack take it, in case they didn’t believe me.

“That’s… a pretty serious story…” Spitfire said, giving a groan that sounded as tired as it was baffled.

“You believe me though…” I said desperately and tapped my hoofsies together, “right?”

Fleetfoot and Soarin both looked suspiciously at Spitfire who frowned skeptically and closed her eyes, which put me on pretty serious edge.

“Yeah, I do,” Spitfire finally said, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief and her two friends to react in shock.

“What, really?” Fleetfoot asked curiously. “You don’t think she’s just—“

“Just what, exactly?” Spitfire laughed. “She doesn’t strike me as the ‘win at all cost’ type, her two teammates aren’t here but she’s determined to fight regardless, plus that guy she fought was sketchier than the Take on Me video.”

Fleetfoot and Soarin both backed up and glanced at each other. They didn’t look as convinced as Spitfire seemed to be, but they didn’t seem too skeptical either; I think Spitfire made a better case than I did though.

“Besides,” Spitfire continued, an earnest smirk on her face, “I’d rather investigate this and find out she’s pulling our leg than to ignore it and find out there was really a problem. Taking care of ponies and solving problems are what the Wonderbolts are for and if we can’t do that, then what’s the point of being one?”

“You’re not wrong,” Fleetfoot sighed, Soarin nodding his agreement with a smile.

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do,” Spitfire looked at her two companions before her gaze settled on me, the fiery intensity in her eyes making me jump to my feet, “I’ll go to the bar you mentioned and scope out the scene.

“I’ll call for some of our friends in the reserve or the local authorities as needed when I get there,” Spitfire turned back to Soarin and Fleetfoot, “and you guys stay here to make sure no more shenanigans happen on our watch, deal?”

Soarin and Fleetfoot nodded, both smiling confidently. Spitfire shot them a wry smirk and then bolted out of the waiting room, leaving a blazing stream of color in her wake. Something about her confidence and poise was really inspiring and cool and not only did I feel a lot more comfortable about Fluttershy and the others, I was inspired to kick some serious butt out in the arena!

“Still though,” Fleetfoot said, kicking her front hoof, “there’s one teeeeensy problem we’ve all overlooked.”

“What’s that?” Twilight asked cautiously.

“Pinkie Pie, you’ve already fought one round,” Fleetfoot said. “The Bifrost rules say each team member fights one round per match. Without your two teammates here, your team automatically forfeits.”

“No, that can’t be right!” I recoiled, my ears flattening and a hoof bolting up to my mouth. That’s right I thought Rainbow said as much, that I probably wouldn’t be able to fight all three… HUMPH. That won’t do. That won’t do at all!

“There’s gotta be some way I can fight again!” I stamped a hoof on the ground. “I can’t let Rainbow down!”

“Sorry, kid,” Soarin said, shrugging a hoof and frowning sympathetically. “The rules are—“

“No, no!” I yelled frantically and barreled past the two pegasi and into the arena. “I’ve gotta try something!”

I bandied into the arena, Twilight and the two pegasi following me to watch what I’d do— and to make sure I didn’t cause trouble, no doubt— but they didn’t step into the arena behind me. I looked over the crowd and saw a tempestuous mixture of hype, eagerness, excitement, frustration and impatience.

I could work with that.

“Um, Starlight!?” I yelled to Starlight in her little announcer booth. “Can I talk to you!?”

I felt a little ping in my ears and Starlight said, “You’re on the mic, Pinkie Pie. What can I do for you, and, more importantly, why are you wasting everypony’s time when the next fight is supposed to begin?”

“That’s just it,” I said, a little dumbfounded by how loud my voice suddenly was but I was just rolling with it, “my two teammates aren’t here yet, and I dunno when they’re gonna show up.”

“Then I guess that’s a forfeit for Team Rainboom,” Starlight said dismally, a loud groan sweeping across the audience. Ponies were stomping their hooves and shouting incoherently, some were still bemoaning loudly and others were looking around for things to throw.

Starlight looked seriously ticked staring into the crowd and I couldn’t tell if she was mad at me or them. “I guess we’d better just cance—“

“Hold on!” I yelled defiantly, stamping my hooves into the stone floor of the arena and flashing my winningest of winning smiles! “These ponies have come from all over Equestria to watch the preliminaries of Bifrost! They deserve a good show and I’ve got plenty of steam left!”

“The rules say—“

“I don’t give a fat flank about the rules, Starlight!” I scoffed dismissively and looked out into the crowd, raising my hoof to gesture at them. “What about you guys?! Did you come to see a show!?”

The crowd roared enthusiastically, stomping their feet and raising their hooves into the air, sometimes both at once. Starlight glowered at them and then at me but I just smirked back at her.

“Did you ponies come to see a fight!?” I yelled, the crowd roaring approval in response. “I got a lot of magic left! I can give you ponies one heck of a show! What d’ya say to that!?”

The crowd was going nuts now, throwing stuff into the air and clamoring for another fight.

Starlight looked peeved for a sec but a bright, excited grin started creeping across her face almost eerily. She shot me a glance and there was a chill in her eye, but it gleamed with excitement still. Something about it was weird… something about Starlight was weird.

After a moment of painful silence from Starlight, she suddenly stamped her hoof on her podium and clamored, “THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!” and the ponies in the crowd went completely ballistic for it.

I gotta admit, I was getting hyped as heck too. I was really winded after exerting so much magic in the last fight but now I was charged with adrenaline.

I was ready for this! Bring it on, Team B-Listers!

****

-RARITY-

I stared down the Mane-iac with a glowing blue sword in front of me and poor defenseless and chained up Fluttershy behind me.

The green-haired mare who kidnapped my friend was sitting on a cushion made from her magical tail hair, leaning against the wall opposite me with her front legs crossed, a relaxed smile on her face. She wasn’t taking me seriously as an opponent, which I hoped that I could use to my advantage.

I summoned several needles of glassy light in the air around me and fired them at the Mane-iac as I charged toward her.

She simply swatted my projectiles out of the air with her elongated hair, forming a tendril out of her mane that snuck up on me and wrapped around my hind leg, swiping it out from under me and causing me to fall on my back to the ground with a pained grunt.

With another tendril of hair she sliced through my sword and shattered it, leaving me wide-eyed in despair and shock as I realized the gulf of difference between our power.

That tendril wrapped itself around my foreleg and two more tentacles appeared out of her hair and wrapped themselves around my remaining limbs, the Mane-iac yanking me harshly by my hind legs into the air, leaving me hanging upside-down and glaring at her as a fifth tendril wrapped around my mouth.

“Wow, that was it?” the joker cackled as she sauntered toward me. “All that hype, all that bravado… and this is what it amounted to? Frankly, I’m disgusted,” she said with a smiling sneer before gently tapping me on the nose, my muffled disgusted protests only making her laugh.

I briefly tried to struggle— though I should have known better— and the Mane-iac tightened her grip on my limbs and began crushing them the more I tried to escape. I realized there was no way out of her grasp with my meager abilities and resigned myself to being her helpless captive.

“So what should I do with you?” she pondered, walking around me like a vulture readying itself to devour a carcass, slowly spinning me around so her eyes were always peering into mine. “I can’t just kill you, you’re too valuable a collector’s item. You are quite-” she snickered “-a Rarity, after all.”

My groan was audible even muffled as it was by her hair although I wasn’t sure she could hear it past her own howling laughter. I wasn’t even sure how she knew my name exactly, or how unnerved I should be by that, but it was entirely possible she simply saw me in the pamphlet for Team Destiny.

“Aaaaanyway, enough of me being hilarious and witty,” the pompous windbag said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “If my charming cohort Smudge hasn’t already dealt with your friend… friends? More than one friend? Eh, most likely more than one friend. Anyway, if he hasn’t dealt with them himself I’ll have to do it and I’d rather not—“

Her incessant monologuing was blissfully cut short when she was slammed into the wall by a burst of wind, the blast rattling her concentration enough that her tendrils released me from their grasp.

Unfortunately I was still upside down and a few inches off the stone floor so I fell and only thanks to midair course correction did I not land on my neck, instead sticking the landing right on my dainty hooves.

“You are gonna pay,” Rainbow Dash snarled at the Mane-iac from the entryway to this dungeon room, glowering at her and beating a hoof across the ground.

“I woulda said somethin’ a little more… impressive?” Applejack said bemusedly and motioned her hoof in a forward-circle, Rainbow sighing and rolling her eyes.

“Not really the point,” Rainbow bickered at Applejack.

“Please, Rainbow Dash…” the Mane-iac said, regaining her posture albeit on wobbly legs. “You shouldn’t be so short with your friend,” she said with a cackling sneer, the diminutive pegasus replying with a low growl.

“See?” Applejack laughed, no doubt amused at Rainbow’s obvious irritation. “That was better.”

“Also,” the Mane-iac continued, “I would have said ‘get ready for a bad hair day’.”

“That’s also pretty good,” Applejack said enthusiastically, needling Rainbow in the side.

“I’m really gonna enjoy turning you into a red paste on the wall,” Rainbow sneered at the Mane-iac, ignoring Applejack and her continued snickering.

Fine time for her to be laughing, but I couldn’t deny that I felt a great deal of relief wash over me as the two arrived, even despite my embarrassment at needing to be rescued. Unlike me, they were quite strong. So while I tended to poor Fluttershy and released her from her bonds, I knew they would have no trouble dealing with this ruffian.

At least… that is what I hoped.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

A cream colored unicorn with gorgeous, flowing purple hair dressed in a distractingly form-fitting red bodysuit walked into the arena opposite me, smiling at me with a gleam in her eye. She would’ve been really cute in a different light, under a different set of circumstances.

“That was a brilliant speech,” she said in a breathy tone.

“Thanks,” I said flatly, grimacing at this woman who had worked with the jerks who kidnapped my friend.

I had no kind words for her either so I just stamped a hoof and let the Earth Aura flow through my body, hoping it would rejuvenate me enough to give me the strength to win this, and not have to go into a third match.

The illusion was cast and the arena of choice for this match was that of a dimly lit ruined mansion, with me standing in the center of the foyer, a majestic staircase standing in front of me that led to a balcony that stretched across all the walls around me.

My opponent, known as High Heel, was standing at the very top of the staircase, looking down at me with a haughty sneer. Something about her gaze was very intimidating but I glowered back at her with my best game face. There was way too much riding on this fight for me to lose it.

Just like I had my Party Cannon sitting beside me, High Heel had an item she brought to the fight with her. A sack made from a fancy-looking burgundy silk with a gold string tied around the top.

“What’s in the bag?” I asked tepidly, pointing at it with a hoof and standing firm in place.

High Heel chuckled and untied the string with her telepathy, the sack toppling over and, to my surprise, spilling a stunning collection of expensive shoes!

“Shoes, of course!” High Heel said jovially, dancing in place as she revealed her collection.

“That’s, uh… neat!” I said confusedly, my feelings caught between being perplexed and being worried; she must’ve had some reason to bring those to a fight and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what she would use them for. “It’s pretty impressive, but how’re you gonna fight with ‘em?”

“I’m glad you asked,” the breathy whisper High Heel spoke with send a shiver up my spine.

She grabbed a pair of glass slippers from the bag with her telepathy and threw them with incredible force in my direction. I jumped out of the way of both attacks, not wanting to know what glass shattering against my skull feels like.

I turned a knob on the Party Cannon and hit the button, firing a stream of streamers at blazing speed toward High Heel. She gasped in shock and dived out of the way, abandoning her shoe sack in the process. The streamers were engulfed in a flame that quickly spread across the entire balcony, forcing High Heel to jump down to the ground floor and face me head-on.

I quickly turned the Party Cannon around toward her, firing another streamer blast in her direction. She jumped toward me in order to dodge and slid on her hooves, closing the distance between us and hitting me in the side with a powerful kick that launched me toward the stairs.

She kicked the Party Cannon into the eastern wall so it wouldn’t be easy for me to reach, at least not without busting out my Blink spell, which I didn’t think I had the energy for. But that was fine, I’d gotten enough use out of the Cannon for now. This girl had a pretty strong kick but with my earth magic I still had the advantage at close range.

I stared High Heel down, the woman just smiling smugly at me in return, and I channeled the Earth Aura through my legs.

I pounced toward her, my magic giving me an extra spring in my step, but instead of attacking her head on like she expected I bounced right behind her, forcing her to quickly spin on her heels to face me but she was too slow and I managed to kick her right in the head, launching her into the stairs.

“Not bad,” she said, wiping the blood from her mouth with her hoof. “But I’ve already won this.”

“That’s alotta guff comin’ from somepony who’s already bleeding!” I said sharply, readying another pouncing attack.

“You don’t see it, do you?” she clicked her tongue and laughed softly, shaking her head. “I’ve led you right into my victory,” she pointed a hoof behind me and I looked with my peripheral vision.

My eyes widened as I realized what her game was.

The shoes.

I hadn’t been paying attention to where they landed after I dodged them, I just figured she was using them as basic projectiles, which was a really stupid mistake for me to make that would soon prove costly.

The two glass slippers sitting barely more than a foot away from me began to glow with a red aura and they jumped out to hit me. I jumped back to avoid them but one of them changed direction mid-flight and hit me right in the neck. I grunted in pain but before I could react any more than that, the shoe began to change!

It glowed with a red light and melted into a paste that creeped around my neck, solidifying into a black collar that forced itself tightly around my neck and yanked me headfirst to the ground. I tried to pull myself back up but despite my best efforts my neck and head were stuck to the ground even as the rest of me flailed about to escape.

“I really shouldn’t be revealing my tricks, buuuut…” High Heel sauntered toward me haughtily, chuckling to herself, “What can I say? I do love to show off. Nopony ever takes my collection of shoes terribly seriously, so they never think until it’s too late that I can simply use my transmutation spells to turn them into whatever I like.”

“Yeah, well…” I coughed, struggling to speak with this collar around my neck, “…you’ve kinda shown off your whole shtick to everyone in the crowd now, right? You don’t think that’ll bite you in the butt later?”

“Oh honey,” she grinned wickedly, the second glass slipper hovering around her head and inching toward me, “I haven’t even begun to show you what I’m capable of.”

There was no other way out of this mess except to Blink. If I tried my rubbery bouncy trick I was liable to tear my own head off and that would probably be bad. It took everything I had the first time and I didn’t know if I could do it again, I’d only ever managed it once per day before now, but Rainbow needed me to win this! I had to find some measure of strength and…

BLINK.

In the blink of an eye I was gone, High Heel’s magic collar clattering to the ground as she gasped dramatically in shock. She looked around for me for half a second before finding my hind hooves colliding with her face and sending her flying into the eastern wall.

I was charged up with adrenaline and magic, bouncing this way and that to build momentum, slamming into High Heel and sending her crashing into the eastern wall, then into the northern wall, then onto the ground in the middle of the room, knocking the wind out of her over and over in the course of my mad bouncing spree.

I finally ran out of steam and planted myself right next to my Party Cannon, backed up against the eastern wall and leaning on a support beam underneath the balcony, High Heel standing dead center in the middle of the foyer where this fight began.

I slammed the button on the Party Cannon, blasting a spray of blazing streamers in her direction, then tilting the Cannon upwards and twisting the knob, smashing the button a second time to rain down a cascade of cursed confetti!

No holding back! I needed to end this now, if I could win this then that would be a win for Team Rainboom and I didn’t know if I had the strength for a third fight!

This ends right here!

High Heel was engulfed in the fire of the streamers and the electrical charge of the confetti, completely absorbed by my elemental attacks. After the flames died down a couple seconds later all that remained was a pale red sphere that had been badly singed until it was nearly soot black, sitting in the space where High Heel had been.

I arched an eyebrow but quickly grit my teeth in anger and fear as the sphere cracked and fell apart, revealing High Heel to be safe. She looked winded and bedraggled, but mostly unharmed. I slammed on the Cannon again to attack with another streamer assault but as the streamers flied toward High Heel they were absorbed in a red light and transmuted into a harmless array of red flower petals.

“You’re stronger than I thought,” High Heel said grimly, the first time during this match she wore a serious cold frown on her face instead of her usual smug grin. “But not strong enough.”

The support pillars on either side of me were enveloped by red light and became small flowers, my eyes widening in despair as the balcony that they held up crumbled from the wall and fell down on top of me.

I didn’t have the energy to move out of the way so I just shut my eyes tight, grit my teeth and braced myself as the falling sections of the balcony hit me right on my back, knocking the wind out of me and buckling my legs out from under me, planting me flat on the ground before I was quickly covered in debris.

I was still breathing and the illusion was still holding. My Party Cannon was equally covered in rubble but if I could just get to it, I had one more trick up my sleeve… but then the debris was bathed in red light and I bit my lip, a painfully whimpered “No” squeaking out of my lips. Whatever happened next was about to be much worse than just being hit with the falling rubble.

There was more than enough material among the shattered remains of the balcony for High Heel to turn them into whatever she wanted, and what she wanted was to transmute them into leather belts that bound my legs together, along with a black leather collar and matching leash around my neck that she used to slowly drag me toward her, and to top it all off, another strip of leather wrapped over my muzzle and around my mouth with a little rubber nozzle on the inside to keep me quiet.

I was exhausted, I was badly hurting and at this point I was feeling pretty embarrassed to be seen like this in front of an entire crowd. I needed to do something to win for Rainbow’s sake but I… just…

“So sad, so sad,” High Heel said as she dragged me in front of her, stomping her front heel onto my neck and yanking the leash into the air to choke me. “I was hoping to be able to play with you longer but you’re half-dead already. Pathetic.”

She spat right on my face and stomped hard on my ribs, me just grunting in pain and sinking my teeth into the rubber nozzle.

“Guess there’s no point in dragging this out too much, but I still want everyone to see how pitiful you look.”

Using her magic she raised the leash into the air. I tried to protest but my muffled squeals weren’t exactly getting through and I barely had enough energy to limply protest against the bonds on my legs.

The leash rose higher into the air, bringing my fat, limp and pathetic meat prison with it as the collar tightened around my neck until she was suspending me in mid-air, the oxygen slowly being choked out of my body.

I coughed and tried to squirm and started crying as I just waited for the ordeal to end already, completely humiliated in front of everyone. For the first time since the fight began I was really glad Rainbow wasn’t here to see this.

I was hanging in the air for roughly, maybe a minute? Less? More? I had no way to tell and it all felt so slowed down anyway that it didn’t matter. Point is, I eventually blacked out and when I came to, the illusion was dispelled and Starlight was announcing High Heel’s victory, but I was barely able to process that through my ringing ears.

I wobbled backward and tried to stumble to the waiting room but I fell almost immediately and couldn’t get myself back up. I felt two ponies put their hooves on me and lift me up but I was still too disoriented to notice that it was Fleetfoot and Soarin, who had still been watching my match from just outside the arena alongside Twilight.

The two pegasi hoisted me onto Twilight’s back and, although she struggled due to my weight and her tiny stature and skeleton thin frame, she carried me back into the waiting room in my dazed stupor.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I didn’t waste any time charging at the Mane-iac; if this idiot thought she could just kidnap my teammate and sabotage my chances of succeeding in Bifrost without getting ground into a bloody pulp, she was about to be badly shocked.

I was pretty much ready to throw myself into a berserker rage as I charged, taking flight and kicking her right in the head with a hind leg, moving way too fast for her to even hope to react or defend my attack.

She definitely felt the hit, reeling back and putting on her game face, but I was ready and slammed down on her head with a front leg before kicking her in the face and knocking her back with a hind leg then billowing a gust of bladed wind at her that she threw her hair up to defend but it still tore up her hair and face, leaving bloody scratches all over her face.

While my pre-emptive strike was pretty effective, the Mane-iac was now on her guard and jumped back, using the tendrils from her tail to balance herself and keeping three tentacles from her mane between me and her.

Applejack took a defensive stance between the Mane-iac in front of her and Rarity and Fluttershy behind her, the yellow pegasus now free from her shackles thanks to—wait, RARITY?!

I shook my head and retrained my eyes on the Mane-iac, filing away the shock at seeing Rarity of all ponies as something to deal with later.

“You’re a lot stronger than your friend,” the Mane-iac said with a chuckle.

“I’m a lot stronger than most ponies,” I laughed back, pretending to be oblivious to the looked of shame that burned Rarity’s face.

“You’re certainly quick to boast about yourself!” the Mane-iac said with an awful cackle and grinned at me.

“That one was pretty weak!” Applejack shouted from the side, making me smirk.

“No one asked the peanut gallery,” Mane-iac pouted angrily. She shrugged her shoulders and suddenly wore a wicked beaming smile as she launched three hair tendrils in my direction.

Dodging her attacks was too easy; compared to flitting between those swinging tree branches in my fight with Sweetie Drops, this was child’s play. I was inches from landing another hit on her smug face when I suddenly got yanked from behind, looking back to see a tendril had branched out from one of the attacking tendrils and wrapped around my leg.

I billowed my wings and surrounded myself with a gale, Mane-iac forced to retract most of her tendrils in order to defend herself and allowing me to slip away. I threw another burst of wind toward her but she easily deflected it with her hair, but it was more a diversionary tactic regardless.

Right on cue, Applejack took advantage of Mane-iac’s distraction and slammed right into the Mane-iac’s head with her forehooves, then planting a massive kick against her chest that sent the green haired freak flying toward the wall.

Mane-iac peeled herself off the wall with a glove of hair and gently placed herself back on the ground, her serious game face back on for only a second before her cackling grin returned.

“Wow, you really jacked me up good there!” she let out a wheezing laugh and Applejack just groaned and rolled her eyes.

“That stuff was really only funny when Rainbow was gettin’ annoyed by it,” Applejack said.

“No need to be sour about it, Applejack,” Mane-iac said with a grin.

“Apples are sweet,” AJ replied tersely, narrowing her eyes.

“Wh—they can be sour!” Mane-iac responded irritably.

“Eh, sounds like you got some second-rate apples,” AJ shrugged, and I couldn’t help but snicker at how masterfully Applejack turned Mane-iac’s pun game against her.

“The only thing second-rate here-” Mane-iac’s grin widened as she sent out several spiky tendrils of hair toward me and Applejack, forcing both of us to weave and jump between needles of hair “-is you two!”

“Your banter could use some work!” I grunted as I flew into melee range and slammed a kick right into her… hair. She threw a hair barrier, a hairrier, in front of her face to guard my attack and my eyes widened and I cringed as the hair started wrapping around my leg.

With a solid grasp on my leg, Mane-iac slammed me against the wall, causing me to get really disoriented. My ears were ringing and I was certain my head was bleeding but I couldn’t tell where. I tried to refocus my vision but I felt myself being lifted into the air as she prepared another slam attack.

“I gotcha!” Applejack said as she jumped up and threw her front hooves into the tendril of hair grabbing me, sure enough dispelling the magic around it and loosening its grip on me.

Unfortunately AJ rushed to free me without properly taking her surroundings into account and now we were both freefalling, with me still a little too woozy to right myself in the air, with several tendrils surrounding us both.

“Now I’ve got you!” Mane-iac shrieked, wrapping hair around Applejack and myself and slamming us against each other back to back with our forelegs bound in front of us. She wrapped us up together and covered our mouths with her hair, which was really disgusting.

Applejack and I struggled furiously but that only made our bonds tighter, nearly crushing our bones and this wasn’t an illusion that we could just bounce back from with a headache so we both realized we needed to stop struggling, at least to wait for an opening… provided one ever came.

“You know, I like you both better like this,” Mane-iac said casually. “You’re quieter, and you both look so cute trussed up together.”

I felt my cheeks burning up and I’m not sure if it made it better or worse to see the blush on Applejack’s face as well. In a lifetime of continuous disgraces and disappointments, this was definitely among my top ten most embarrassing moments.

Mane-iac looked away from us over toward Fluttershy, and Rarity who was standing guard in front of her. The two looked frightened but Rarity tried to put on a brave face, although she knew already that she wasn’t a match for the Mane-iac. Heck, I wasn’t a match for her!

As the Mane-iac silently walked toward Fluttershy, looking to do who knows what to her and Rarity, I felt a torrent of emotions inside me. I tried struggling against my bonds again but they just kept tightening until I heard a concerning cracking sound and felt sharp pain in my front legs.

I was breathing heavy and looked back at Applejack who was staying still as the coils of Mane-iac’s hair wrapped around her neck. Something about Mane-iac’s magic was keeping ours locked down so we couldn’t free ourselves.

She was stepping ever closer to Rarity and Fluttershy and I just… felt so helpless. My teammate needed me and there was nothing I could do. I so badly wanted to save Fluttershy but I was… useless.

But not just that…

As I struggled to get free, the same thoughts echoed in my head, quieter and quieter as I lost myself to the pain and fury.

They need me…

I felt a fire start tearing up the inside of my stomach. It was like something was roaring inside me and scratching at the walls and doors to get out of me.

Fluttershy needs me…

The fire was pouring up into my throat and it was like I felt my teeth getting longer, stronger and sharper. My wings were on fire like the skin was too small for the bones and they wanted to cut themselves loose.

Rarity needs me.

And I won’t… I won’t let her get hurt again!

For an instant I felt absolutely no pain at all, not even in my fractured legs, but instead… pure energy, pure momentum and adrenaline… and rage.

I felt a black flame destroy me from the inside out and consume me. I could move my mouth despite my bonds and opened wide, chomping down on Mane-iac’s hair with razor sharp teeth.

She howled in pain suddenly and looked irritated and confused at me and Applejack. She dropped Applejack as she realized the black flames licking my body were engulfing her hair and completely erasing it.

Mane-iac jumped back and recalled her hair, several of the tendrils having uneven, jagged edges that had been burned away by my flames.

Freed from my bonds I felt the bones in my wings cut themselves out of the skin and grow to their full potential, a cascade of black flame restoring the flesh and feathers around them.

I landed on the ground with a triumphant pound, my legs restored to their true glory and resounding with new muscle as they grew as well.

I was getting bigger and taller and stronger until I eclipsed even Applejack, my frame still thin yet muscular as it always was but my wings when brandished in their full majesty covered the room in darkness like the shadow of the moon.

My rainbow mane and tail shone as bright as ever, but my pale blue fur had been consumed by the dark fire and was now jet black.

“What’s the matter, Mane-iac?”

I heard my own seductive voice as if I was out of my own body, the wicked chuckle I made sending a chill up my own spine, but it was a chill of eager anticipation as I saw the horrified look on Mane-iac’s face as she realized her meager powers were dwarfed by that of my radiant transformed persona.

I walked regally up to her and stared right into her eyes, giving a sharp smile as I said, “You look like you’ve had a terrible nightmare.”

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

I don’t know what was happening to Rainbow Dash but I could feel cold waves of magical energy billowing through the room from her. The Mane-iac was visibly distressed by the power of Rainbow’s aura and stumbled back to take a defensive posture.

Rainbow chuckled, a horrible sound like a bell that only chimes for death. Rainbow blew gently into the air before Mane-iac and a gale force bullet hit the purple mare in the side and sent her flying until she hit the wall with a loud CRACK and THUD.

Rainbow cackled wickedly, “I know you don’t understand the wit of that pun, Mane-iac. But you don’t have to worry about that much longer because,” Rainbow leaned down to stare into the prone mare’s eyes, “I’m going to kill you.”

I wanted to say something, maybe try to reach out to Rainbow and stop her before she did what she was planning, but I was petrified. Whatever that black pony was, it was not the Rainbow Dash that I knew.

The Mane-iac lashed out with several of her hair tendrils but bolts of black lightning rained from Rainbow’s wings and incinerated every particle of hair they touched, leaving Mane-iac a ragged and hopeless mess as her tendrils grew smaller and smaller with each desperate attack.

“So unlike you, Mane-iac.” Rainbow’s soft and airy voice was like a twisted mockery of the woman who had been so kind to me and it terrified and disgusted me to hear it come from this… this monster. “Nothing to say? No sharp-tongued barb to lay at my feet? No smart remark to pinch my nerves? So sad…”

Rainbow— no, that black pony was not rainbow— the Nightmare cornered Mane-iac up against the wall, the normally cocky and jovial kidnapper now cowering helplessly in front of the Nightmare’s crushing strength.

“Too bad,” the Nightmare flicked her ethereal rainbow hair to the side and grinned cruelly. “I would’ve thought your last words to have some measure of wit.”

A bolt of black lightning struck the Mane-iac dead center, her blood-curdling scream piercing through my ears. Rarity and Applejack looked as horrified as I was but none of us could intervene. We couldn’t even defeat Mane-iac, let alone whatever this monster was, and I couldn’t blame Rarity or Applejack for not wanting to endanger themselves for the sake of an enemy.

But still… I couldn’t do nothing. I couldn’t stand by and watch someone be killed right in front of me, not even someone as awful as her! And I couldn’t just let Rainbow fall into whatever pit of darkness was dragging her in!

I had to… I had to do something.

But my legs wouldn’t move.

“I suppose it’s just as well,” the Nightmare’s words were punctuated by another bolt of black lightning that caused Mane-iac to scream in pain. “You were weak from the start.”

Another bolt, another scream.

I was cowering and crying until I couldn’t even see straight, but… I had to do something!

“You were born a pathetic weakling and that’s how you will die. Nothing can change the pony you are.”

Before the Nightmare could tear into Mane-iac with another shot of lightning I stamped my trembling hooves on the ground and screamed, “Rainbow Dash, STOP!!”

The Nightmare slowly turned her head toward me, her violet eyes staring into my soul with a deadly intensity that made my whole body feel weak and heavy… but I stood my ground.

“Please…” I begged, tears falling down my cheeks. “Please stop this.”

For the first time I detected an emotion in the Nightmare’s eyes that wasn’t rage or self-satisfaction, but honest sympathy. She looked back at the whimpering, cowering mare she had broken underneath her power and silently walked away from her.

She closed her eyes and a black flame slowly began crawling along her body, burning parts of her flesh and bones away to ash until the Nightmare was no more and the petite, pale blue hero I knew was back in our midst, her body battered, bloodied and burned and her eyes closed with a heavy frown on her face.

I breathed a sigh of relief and started sobbing as Rainbow returned to us, my friend opening her eyes and looking at me blankly but I could see just the barest glimpse of a smile on her face.

But the Mane-iac wasn’t done yet. She didn’t have much hair left on her head but her tail was still full and she lashed out with three tendrils, leaving no time for the four of us to react to it…

And just as quickly as they lurched out, the tendrils were drenched in flame and turned to cinders by a golden flame. Rainbow turned to look at the Mane-iac, then followed her gaze westward to the door of this dungeon room, looking upon a golden, fiery-haired pegasus standing triumphantly in the doorframe.

“Mane-iac,” the woman had a raspy voice and spoke with a proud smile adorning her face; I recognized her as Spitfire from Team Wonderbolts, “you look like you’ve been hit by a train, and I’ve been watching competitors fight for three days straight without getting any action of my own. So go ahead and make my day.”

She stamped a hoof on the ground and scraped it, but Mane-iac took the cue and bailed, running past the pegasus and back through the door she came from.

“Yer just lettin’ her go?” Applejack asked indignantly.

“Hardly,” the yellow pegasus scoffed and batted her hoof. “The local cops are waiting just outside to deal with her. They already jailed her two friends. We won’t be seeing much from Team Mane-iac, or their known associates Team B-Listers, anytime soon.”

“Team B-Listers…” Rainbow said distantly, her legs wobbling before her ears suddenly jolted up in realization. “Fluttershy! We gotta go!”

Suddenly she was alert and agitated and my own ears perked up and my legs straightened despite my own fatigue-induced knock-knees.

“R-right!” I yelped. I only had the barest hint of what was going on but I knew Rainbow Dash and I knew how important winning that match was for her. “Let’s head to the arena!” I felt like I was ready to collapse at any moment but I wasn’t going to disappoint my team captain.

“Hold on,” the yellow pegasus said worriedly, “you two need to go to the hospital!”

“Yeah, we can do that later!” Rainbow sneered and defiantly stomped a hoof. “Right now we need to be in that arena alongside Pinkie so we can win our second Bifrost match!”

“Some tournament match isn’t worth your life, kid,” Spitfire said agitatedly.

“Yes, it is,” Rainbow said coldly.

I walked up beside my team captain, struggling to move in a straight line or without falling down, “I’m standing by Rainbow Dash. Miss Spitfire, if you want to take us to a doctor, you’ll have to take us by force.”

“That’s my girl,” Rainbow said with a smile and gently pounded her hoof against my shoulder, making me blush and for the briefest of seconds forget my wounds.

Applejack and Rarity didn’t say much, I’m not sure how much they really wanted to intervene, especially considering we had no idea of knowing how dangerous Rainbow might be if her strange black flame powers reactivated…

Spitfire didn’t say anything and just shook her head with a frown, so Rainbow spread her wings and quickly charged out the door. I spread my own wings and attempted to follow but I was too beaten down… even after getting beaten up by Long Face and Phetlock and dragged into a dungeon, Mane-iac didn’t go easy on me either and left me with some pretty severe bruises, especially on my wings…

Rainbow looked back at me and clicked her tongue. I was worried that I was letting her down and that I was a failure and that she would hate me and abandon me and leave me behind… but instead she charged under me and jumped, knocking me off the ground and onto her back. She struggled, but… she carried me as we flew all the way to the arena.

I didn’t deserve a teammate like her… she was too good to me.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

I was sobbing and wheezing as I stumbled into the waiting room, collapsing onto the couch as a very concerned Twilight approached me hesitantly. Tears were streaming down my face as bloody snot dripped out my nose.

Just because the damage to my body wasn’t real doesn’t mean I didn’t feel it, and that much mental strain is baaaaaaaad for you. I suddenly understood why they only have each fighter do one fight.

“I gotta…” I was breathing haggardly and suddenly coughed “I got one more. One more fight. Gotta get out there.”

“Pinkie, are you nuts?!” Twilight said frantically. She jumped in place and gesticulated something but between the tears and the disorienting pain, she was just kind of a blur. “You’re practically half-dead at this point! If you try to fight again, you might get seriously hurt!”

“So?” I coughed and put up my leg to keep it contained, but I groaned as I saw specks of blood on my hoof. “I have to fight. Rainbow’s counting on me.”

“Pinkie, your life is more important than winning some fight—“

“NO, it ISN’T.”

I threw myself onto the ground and stomped a hoof, wobbling back and forth as I glared at Twilight and desperately tried to maintain my balance and not collapse.

Twilight recoiled from my abrupt change in attitude but she took a step toward me and gingerly raised a hoof, “Pinkie Pie, you can’t—“

“I need to win this for Rainbow,” I growled, my breathing slow and painful. I felt bad for snapping at Twilight but if I let my focus drift for even a second to anything other than ‘fight fight fight fight fight’ I knew I would topple over immediately.

“I need to win for her so she can complete her dream. If I can’t even do that, then what good am I?!” I shrieked, causing Twilight to flinch again and take a step back.

I shook my head and took a single, shaky step forward.

“Rainbow’s counting on me and I… I can’t let her down. I would honesty rather…”

The word ‘die’ got stuck in my throat and threatened to choke me so I just spat blood onto the ground and walked past Twilight, who nervously let me pass.

I felt the weight of the world crushing me with every step into the arena. I hoped that my body would feel lighter after the illusion was cast, though I didn’t think it would.

My opponent was a shadowy looking girl in like a cloak? I couldn’t tell if she was all shadowy looking because she was wearing a shroud or because I couldn’t see straight and everything look blurry. Maybe both?

None of that mattered. I needed to find some reservoir of inner strength so I could win this for Rainbow.

“Hey, uh, are you okay?” Starlight said nonchalantly through her microphone. “Competitor Pinkie Pie? Are you certain you want to do this? The Bifrost Oversight Committee really does not want to see you die on their watch and none of the ponies in the crowd want to see that either.”

“I’ll be fine!” I snapped at Starlight. There was a part of me that was genuinely grateful for her concern, even if it was just to protect Bifrost’s reputation and avoid a lawsuit or something, but all I could think about was winning this fight.

Nothing. Else. Matters.

“Ehhhh, if you’re sure…” Starlight said, but before she could give the word to begin the illusion, a raspy voice cut through the sky.

“Hold on!”

My heart soared and I looked into the sky with stars in my eyes as I recognized Rainbow’s voice. She flew above the arena holding Fluttershy on her back and gently landed in front of me, Fluttershy stumbling off of her and clattering onto the ground in a heap.

Rainbow confidently pointed to Starlight in her announcing booth. “I’ll be taking over this fight!”

“You don’t look too good yourself, Rainbow Dash!” Starlight said, trying to act like she wasn’t impressed by Rainbow’s entrance. “But let’s see what you’ve got! All non-fighters please leave the arena so we can begin the fight!”

“Good work, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow placed a hoof against my shoulder and smiled at me graciously as tears started to fill my eyes; but these were happy tears this time!

Although…

It wasn’t until Rainbow was looking into my eyes and touching me that I realized the shape she was in. She didn’t look any better than me, with her body all bloody and battered and it looked like she was having trouble seeing straight.

Fluttershy looked even worse, like she was practically catatonic. I was worried about her… but I trusted Rainbow. I knew she would have everything under control.

I tried to say “Thank you” but the words came out a garbled, bloody mess so I just nodded and assisted Fluttershy off the ground and helped her limp out of the arena.

Before we could make it back to the waiting room though we heard a thud and turned around to see Rainbow lying on the ground.

I just didn’t have the energy to scream her name but I tried to run to her side… but I couldn’t do that either. I got halfway to her before collapsing myself, Fluttershy falling to the ground right behind me.

I heard Starlight say… something. I don’t know what, my ears were ringing badly. And then everything went dark.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

I was really sore when I woke up and my limbs felt really heavy, but it was nothing like the agonizing pain throbbing through my whole body before I lost consciousness. I felt clean sheets wrapped around me and when I opened my eyes I saw a clear white ceiling. My guess was I was in the hospital.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Rarity’s voice said gently and I moved my head to see her sitting on a chair beside my bed.

“I am,” I said weakly and attempted to smile at her. “What happened to Rainbow, and Pinkie?” I asked concernedly, my heart starting to beat faster as my mind raced with all the possible terrible answers to that question.

“They’re both okay,” Rarity said soothingly and delicately put a dainty hoof on my twitching leg as I breathed a sigh of relief. “Pinkie Pie is sleeping off her injuries but the doctors say she’s completely stable and will make a full recovery in due time. And Rainbow…”

Rarity groaned and rolled her eyes and I had a bad feeling that I knew what she was about to say. “She’s also stable, although last I checked she was trying to get out of her bed against doctor’s orders.”

“That sounds like Rainbow,” I said with a weak laugh, relieved that it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

I took a deep breath and let it out as a weary but contented sigh; I couldn’t even begin to explain my relief to hear both of them were safe. My ears perked up and a blush crept across my cheeks though as I suddenly remembered it wasn’t just the three of us who were in danger.

“And what about you and your team, Rarity? You’re not hurt are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Rarity giggled and bat her hoof. “I’m sore in places but I didn’t suffer anything close to what the three of you went through. Twilight didn’t even get involved in the fights and Applejack, well she’s a tank. She was hurt pretty badly and administered to the hospital as well, but the doctors let her go early because her wounds were already healed.”

“That’s great to hear,” I breathed another tired sigh of relief and snuzzled up against my pillow, content to get a little bit more sleep if nopony needed me for anything.

“In fact,” Rarity continued with a chuckle and I opened a sleepy eye to look at her, the soothing sound of her voice making me smile, “I asked Applejack to keep an eye on Rainbow Dash. Applejack’s the only pony I know who could have a chance at keeping that woman in line.”

“Oh, will you please make sure someone’s taking care of Pinkie?” I asked concernedly and lifted my head. “I don’t want her to be alone when she wakes up.”

“Twilight’s already on it, darling,” Rarity said calmly, inspecting her hoof with a dazzling smile.

“Wow, you thought of everything,” I said happily and let myself fall back onto the pillow.

“I try.”

Rarity laughed softly, and seeing her smiling face made me feel at ease for the first time since… this morning? It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that I didn’t know how long I had slept for, and to be honest I wasn’t keen on finding out just yet. Still though, I couldn’t have been happier to see Rarity watching over me when I woke up.

“Thank you, Rarity,” I said gently as the sandpony began to lull me into its dream land. “For being there to rescue me.”

“Ah, it’s…” Rarity looked away and shrugged her shoulders listlessly, concern suddenly washing over me once again. “I just wish I had been able to do more, to do anything really, to help you.”

“Rarity, if you hadn’t been there…” I shuddered as I recalled some of the awful memories of being chained up in that place, but I bit my lip and forced those thoughts away, at least for now.

“I don’t know what I would have done. I was terrified, and seeing you coming to my rescue… made me think there was hope.”

Rarity smiled sadly but I could tell she wasn’t entirely hearing me.

“And when Rainbow turned into that…” I muttered, my breathing becoming quicker and harder as I recalled that… that thing that she turned into, which was almost scarier than the kidnapping and the dungeon.

“…that horrible black pony… that terrified me even more. I was so afraid that something had happened to her and that I would lose her forever, and if you and your friend hadn’t been there… I don’t think I could have called out to her…”

I thought for a second and chuckled, “Of course I couldn’t, I would still have been chained up.”

That made Rarity laugh a little too, which made me happy. I weakly grabbed Rarity’s foreleg and held it in my trembling hooves. “I needed you there, Rarity, and there you were. And I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart that you were looking out for me.”

“It’s…” Rarity eyes lit up and glistened with tears, a shaky smile on her face. She took her hoof back and wiped her eyes before bowing her head and saying sweetly, “It was my pleasure, darling.”

I smiled back at her and closed my eyes, falling into a soft and dreamless sleep.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I finally managed to get away from those infuriating, obnoxious doctors trying to keep me chained to the bed and flew up to the roof of the hospital. I slammed my front hooves onto the floor and screamed.

I was so angry. I was angry at Team B-Listers and Team Mane-iac, I was angry at Fluttershy for getting kidnapped, at Pinkie for losing one of her fights, at myself for not being strong enough to do… anything. And just like before, I was even more mad at myself for being mad at my teammates and what a jerk that made me feel like.

I was so full of furious, pained energy and I had no idea what to do with it so I just paced back and forth on the rooftop, snarling and stomping, sometimes kicking the big tin things on the hospital roof or even throwing my whole body into them, which hurt but I didn’t care.

The door leading back into the hospital stairwell opened and I jolted my body around to see who it was.

“Figured I’d find you up here,” Applejack said dismally as she closed the door behind her.

“What do you want?” I said tersely.

“Just wanna make sure you don’t hurt yerself or nothin’,” Applejack shrugged and frowned. “Kinda wonderin’ why yer up here instead of checkin’ on yer teammates.”

“If my teammates weren’t such losers, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” I sneered, and if I could’ve cringed myself to literal death I think I would have instantly but instead I just dug myself deeper by huffily turning away from Applejack.

“Whoa now,” Applejack walked toward me, an angry scowl on her face.

I lowered my head and glared at her, scraping a hoof across the ground to make it clear that if she took another step she’d have a fight on her hooves. She stopped and scowled at me in pure disgust, not that I could blame her.

“Yer not seriously blamin’ Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy for this mess, are ya?”

No. it’s my fault. I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t—

“Of course I blame them!” I yelled angrily, more to silence the rampaging thoughts in my head than with any concern for Applejack. “It’s their fault! Fluttershy for being kidnapped and Pinkie for not being strong enough to win two fights. Two! That’s not a very big number, Applejack!”

Never take blame.

“Have you seen the condition Pinkie was in?” Applejack yelled in frustration and stomped a foot on the ground. “She pushed herself to the limit and then some. She ain’t part of the problem, she went above and beyond for you and you repay her with blame? What is wrong with you, Rainbow Dash?”

Never admit fault… but…

“It’s not like I’m letting myself off the hook!” I said desperately, pointing an accusing hoof at Applejack. “I know I’m just as much at fault as they are! I’m a worthless garbage monster, but I already knew that! I’m good at one thing, fighting, and it turns out I’m not even very good at that.”

I turned away and started trembling.

There it was, stated plainly. The truth I’d been trying to deny for so long.

I’m the one at fault, I’m the one to blame, I’m the one who’s worthless.

I wanted so badly to scream or to just break down and cry but there was no way I was going to do that in front of Applejack.

“Rainbow Dash…”

Applejack sighed but then got distracted for a second, and right then I felt a droplet of rain fall on top of my head. It wasn’t long before a steady rainfall was pouring down onto us. Applejack quickly retreated underneath the covering above the doorway but I just let it drench me.

“Rainbow, yer never gonna be strong enough to win every fight,” Applejack said. “No one is.”

“Sombra is,” I said in disgust without thinking.

I looked back at Applejack and she was staring up to the sky. She shook her head and frowned disapprovingly at me, a look that was all too familiar to me.

“Look, I don’t pretend to know what yer beef with Sombra is, but yer teammates, both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, really put themselves out for you today. For you, Rainbow Dash. The very least you could do is repay ‘em with a little kindness.”

With those words Applejack opened the door behind her and went back inside the hospital, leaving me alone in the rain with my thoughts.

“Rainbow, your father is struggling.”

The words of my mom echoed through my head and I felt nauseous.

“We need to be patient with him.”

“Shut up, mom,” I said aloud and spat at the floor.

“My name’s Pinkie Pie!”

I suddenly remembered the first time Pinkie introduced herself to me.

I was a scared kid just starting to grapple with the reality that the adults in my life didn’t really care about me. I was nervous and flighty and fidgety, and every stranger that my dad tried to manipulate made me uncomfortable. I hated strangers and meeting new people, but dad was constantly trying to cozy up to other strong fighters to use them for this or that.

The Pie family was no different at first, but Pinkie… somehow she really squirmed her way into my heart. She understood where I was coming from and the pain that I struggled with, because she was always so nervous too, and we both had the whole… trans… thing, in common.

“Sometimes I just feel like there’s a hole inside me.”

I remembered those words that she said to me when we were kids, clear as day.

She was always so bubbly and happy and friendly, and I finally started warming up to her just a little.

That day I was trying to get away from my parents and just forget about my life for a few hours and I thought of Pinkie Pie and how she always seemed like so much fun. Somehow I worked up the courage to go find her and I was going to ask her to hang out, but she was crying when I found her.

She tried to play it off like it was no big deal but I recognized those tears. She was lonely, I recognized it from seeing it in myself. We didn’t go anywhere or do anything that day, we just sat in her hotel room and talked for hours.

I ended up spending the night in her room and when I woke up she had brought free hotel breakfast up to share with me. It was the very first time I ever really understood that another pony might actually care about me, and it was baffling.

And now here I was, berating her in my mind because she couldn’t do the impossible, despite the fact that I had no lack of shortcomings myself. I sat in the rain cursing myself for being such an idiot. If Pinkie had heard the things I said about her, whether I ‘meant them’ or not, she would be devastated and she didn’t deserve that at all.

I thought about what Applejack said, about showing kindness to her and Fluttershy. For a second I thought maybe I should go check on them and see how they were recovering, but…

They didn’t deserve that…

They didn’t deserve to put up with someone like me.

I climbed up onto the plaster railing along the hospital rooftop and stared down at the ground floor below. It was a long way down and for half a second it seemed really inviting. I shook my head and grit my teeth, refusing to pay those thoughts any mind.

I looked up at the gray clouds as the rain poured down my face, taking the place of tears that I couldn’t shed, no matter how desperately I wanted to.

Rainbow Dash definitely seems like the type of pony who listens to a lot of A7X.

Also it’s worth noting that Pinkie Pie is my second favorite pony and remember what I said about enjoying the suffering of my faves?
…
…
…
See cuz she’s fast like a JET, and now she’s literally turned BLACK. It’s like, a pun or something!

-PINKIE PIE-

I groggily groaned as I gathered gumption to get up and, uh… attack the morning… I ran outta G-words. Anyhoo… the first thing I noticed as I slowly woke up and blinked sand out of my eyes was OW I’M IN A TON OF PAIN!!!

The second thing was that I was in the hospital, and while the pain wracking my whole body made my heart try to beat out of my chest, knowing I was safely in the hospital made me feel a little bit relaxed… until the thought occurred to me that maybe I was in critical condition or something and that I would never recover and maybe die!

So naturally I did what anypony would do and PANICKED IMMEDIATELY!

I jumped up suddenly and fumbled around with the sheets covering me as I tried to get onto my hooves but the sheet quickly smothered me and suddenly I was in pain, in the hospital and now blind!

Thankfully all my shenanigans were abruptly stopped when I was softly levitated in the air and separated from the sheet by Twilight Sparkle, who was sitting at my bedside.

“Oh hey, Twilight!” I said cheerfully and waved at her. “I didn’t see you there! Follow up; am I dying?”

“No,” Twilight shook her head with a little chuckle and a sweet smile.

I breathed a loud sigh of relief and Twilight gently placed me on the bed where I quickly collapsed back into rest mode, my minimal measure of strength totally depleted from that whole episode with the sheets just now.

“So, um…” I didn’t know how to ask what I needed to ask, and honestly I didn’t think I really wanted the answer, but… “So what happened? With Team B-Listers? How long have I been asleep even?”

“I don’t know exactly how long you’ve been out,” Twilight looked around her and frowned, “I’m not super great at keeping track of time or anything and it’s been a lot to deal with…” Twilight looked at me and blushed, jumping backward and onto the floor. “N-not that it’s anything compared to what you guys went through!”

“Sure, sure…” I giggled at Twilight’s flustered antics before taking a deep breath and asking again, “And the match?” I grumbled and felt my hair start to deflate. “We lost, didn’t we?”

Twilight’s posture slumped as she answered, “Yeah. You did. Team Rainboom’s now 1-1 with one match left. And it’s tomorrow.”

“WHAT?!” I screamed in shock, jumping straight to my feet but my knees buckled under the sudden pressure causing me to fall on the bed flat on my stomach with a pained whine. “We’re fighting again!? Already?! But how?! We just, we can’t—“

“It’s—it’s gonna be okay, Pinkie,” Twilight said soothingly, awkwardly jumped back into the bedside chair and pat my fluffy hair with her hoof. “These doctors and such are going to take good care of you, I’m sure you’ll be back on your hooves in no time!”

“By tomorrow?” I said grimly, Twilight just glancing awkwardly at the floor. I sighed super droopily. “Rainbow’s gonna be so mad at me…”

“Why would she be mad at you?” Twilight tilted her head. “You were amazing!”

“I lost,” I grumbled grumpily. “I couldn’t even win two fights and I was strung up and humiliated for everyone to see. That’s not really amazing in Rainbow’s book… or mine, to be honest.”

“Pinkie, you can’t beat yourself up over not being able to do the impossible,” Twilight said softly. “Team B-Listers were really strong, it’s frankly impressive you beat even one of them, let alone nearly beating a second. Just because you lost, that doesn’t diminish your efforts.”

I stared blankly at Twilight and then blinked a couple times before bursting into hysterical laughter.

Twilight blushed and asked, “What’s so funny?”

“You’re just—“ I wiped a tear from my eye as I tried to stop laughing but it was too funny. I eventually got control of myself and said, “You’re so bad at motivational speeches!”

Twilight blushed and looked away but then she snickered and we started laughing together.

“I really am, aren’t I?” she said with a giggle.

“Just the worst!” I replied. We laughed for a few moments and when we quieted down I said earnestly, “Thank you, Twilight. For being there by my side while I was struggling with those fights. If you hadn’t been there, I would’ve…”

I shuddered to think of how I could’ve possibly managed those grueling fights alone and sighed under my breath when I realized the honest answer was that I just wouldn’t have.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done. It means the world to me that you stuck around.”

“Hey, what are friends for?” Twilight said with a shrug of her hoof and a charming smile.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” I smiled brightly, feeling my cheeks heat up and feeling very bashful and grateful that Twilight called me her friend.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

After I was able to get a couple hours of sleep, I asked Rarity to leave me alone in my hospital room for a little bit so I could try walking around, and plus she looked exhausted too and it wasn’t fair to have her just sit at my bedside all night.

I was badly injured from the whole experience with Team Mane-iac so I was a little knock-kneed but I was starting to get my legs back under me. That said, I wasn’t so recovered that I felt comfortable letting other ponies watch me wobble around like a newborn.

Every step was a challenge and the doctors told me I needed a few days of bed rest before I would be recovered enough for any strenuous physical activity, which for my pathetically weak body included walking, but I needed to push myself for Rainbow’s sake. No, I needed to push myself for my own sake too.

If I had been strong enough to defeat Long Face and Pharaoh Phetlock, none of yesterday’s events would have happened. Maybe that was asking the impossible from me, but… I had to try. I needed to be stronger than I was if I was going to keep up with Rainbow and Pinkie, if I wanted to make them proud of me and not let them down again.

I was taking tiny little baby steps from the door to my bed and back again, inch by inch struggling to move without pain. I thought I was doing okay but ‘okay’ wasn’t good enough, I needed to be better. I started taking bigger steps but it wasn’t long before my knees buckled and I fell.

I closed my eyes as I felt myself falling, bracing myself for the painful impact with the ground, but instead something caught me. Something firm yet soft. I opened my eyes and saw that it was that orange pony that was helping Rainbow Dash earlier, and I struggled to remember her name, but then it suddenly dawned on me.

Applejack!

I hadn’t even seen her come in since I was spending so much energy focusing on just walking.

“Oh! Um, hello,” I said bashfully, blushing as I felt her warm body underneath mine. She helped me back on my hooves and even though I wobbled a bit I was able to stay upright and I fidgeted about with my hair a little bit. “I didn’t see you come in.”

“No problem,” Applejack said casually. “I just came from Pinkie’s room to check up on her—“

“Is she okay?” I worriedly interrupted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.

I was worried about Pinkie since I hadn’t been able to leave my room to see her yet, and I was worried about Rainbow too, but that’s no need to be rude and interrupt; still though, I let my worries get the better of me again and added, “But, um, is Rainbow okay too?”

“Yeh, they’re both fine,” Applejack smiled and waved off my concerns with a hoof, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief that made my whole body feel lighter. “Rainbow’s—” she groaned and rolled her eyes before looking at me with a bemused frown. “How well do you know Rainbow?”

“I’ve only known her for a few days,” I answered honestly, “but I feel like I understand what she’s about, for the most part. She seems pretty straightforward.”

“She is that,” Applejack chuckled. “I guess it won’t surprise you then to know she left her hospital bed ‘gainst doctor’s orders.”

“Oh no!” I said fretfully and started chewing on the edge of my hoof. “What if she hurts herself?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout Rainbow none,” Applejack shook her head slowly. “She’s a strong girl, and me an’ Rarity are lookin’ after her. She’ll be fine. Anyway, you asked about Pinkie and she’s doin’ good too. Twilight’s keepin’ her company so I figured I’d come down this way to see how yer doin’.”

“I’m doin’—uh, doing—”

I blushed as I realized I accidentally copied her accent and then corrected myself like I was mocking her which I wasn’t and I was really embarrassed and I thought she was going to get mad at me for making fun of her even though I didn’t mean to…

But she just laughed and smiled, and her smile was so warm and kind that I… I melted a little bit, which only made me even more flustered so I just started talking to try and distract from what a hopeless mess I was.

“I’m doing quite well, all things considered,” I said meekly, absentmindedly sweeping some hair out of my face.

“That’s good to hear. Oh, hey!” Applejack’s eyes suddenly brightened and I perked up, invested in knowing what had caught her attention so suddenly.

She had a brown plastic bag with her, I hadn’t seen it before she started rifling through it, and procured a bouquet of flowers from it, making me like, super blush.

“These’re from Rarity. She said it’d help liven this place up a bit and smooth yer recovery. She’s smart about stuff like that.”

Applejack trotted past me and headed to the table by the bed, placing the bouquet in a vase that was waiting there.

“It’s always good to have a little greenery in yer surroundin’s but I’d’ve never thought about it myself,” she chuckled. “I’m always so dense when it comes to environment stuff like that. I just don’t ever think about it ‘til somepony brings it up.”

“That’s very thoughtful,” I said with a smile, delighted by the gift but admittedly slightly disappointed that they weren’t from Applejack, which took me by surprise and felt very rude! “Thank you for bringing them.”

“No problem,” Applejack said and trotted back over to where the bag was laying on the ground in front of me, “I got somthin’ else fer ya too.”

She pulled out a red box with a golden ribbon string around it.

“Chocolates?” I said in surprise. “That’s very thoughtful, but it is a rather big box…”

“You wanna eat ‘em together?” Applejack suggested cheerfully, my ears perking up and a warmth caressing my cheeks at the suggestion.

“If you want to…” I said softly and lowered my head, my unkempt mane falling all over my face.

“It’d be my pleasure!” Applejack said with a smile and stamped on the chocolate tray, knocking a candy out of its little cubby into the air and catching it in her mouth. “Good stuff! Try one, Fluttershy!”

“O-okay,” I said nervously, gently taking a candy with a shuddering hoof.

Getting the candies out of the tray and trying to bring them up to my mouth with my shaky, shuddery, wobbly legs was… difficult. I dropped the candy and when I tried to pick it up again I dropped it a second time.

I was so embarrassed and just leaned my head down to grab the candy right off the floor with my mouth but bending my knees to do so made my whole body tense up and I fell over again into a heap. I was so embarrassed that I just wanted to cry.

Applejack, without a word, stepped over to me and gently helped me get back up. She picked the candy off the ground with her hoof and held it in front of me. I blushed and for the briefest second looked her in the eye and saw her kind, warm smile which made me… feel safe.

I ate the candy out of her hoof and it was… really delightful. Soft and warm and chewy… it was wonderful.

“Um, Applejack…” I said nervously.

“What’s up, Fluttershy?” Applejack popped another candy out of the tray and held it in front of me, wiggling her eyebrows as she offered it to me which made me giggle.

I ate the candy from her hoof and enjoyed it slowly, taking my time to take deep breaths and calm my frayed nerves a little bit.

“Will you stay here with me tonight?” my whole face was now cherry red and I quickly added, “Um, if you’re not too busy. I don’t want to impose.”

I took a few steps back and hid my face behind my wings.

“I just… I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

“My pleasure, sugarcube,” Applejack said with a smile, popping another candy into her mouth.

Thank you I thought to myself as I watched her eat another candy. I let out a disgruntled sigh under my breath, quiet enough that she didn’t hear me, as I bemoaned my stupid brain that equated ‘this person was nice to me once’ with ‘I am head over heels in love with this person now’.

I’m so stupid.

But… maybe… maybe for once… I can just… enjoy having a crush. I don’t have to act on it, it’s not like I’ll be seeing her again anytime soon.

And she was really cute.

****

-RARITY-

“I’ve come to relieve you of your post, darling,” I said with a dainty chuckle as I walked into Pinkie Pie’s hospital room, carrying with my telepathy a plastic bag that had some flowers sticking out of it.

“Yeah, okay,” Twilight yawned, closing her book that she was reading and stumbling sleepily out of her chair.

“Thanks for keeping me company, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said with a delightful smile, Twilight looking back at her and mirroring said smile.

Twilight and I walked past each other and affectionately nuzzled each other’s necks as we walked by, Twilight exiting the room as I took a seat on the chair beside Pinkie’s bedside that Twilight had been using.

“I hope you don’t mind, Pinkie Pie,” I said bashfully. I hadn’t even thought to clear my idea of keeping her company with her fist, and I wouldn’t want to intrude if she desired solitude instead. “I simply didn’t want you or Fluttershy to feel alone, I know how unnerving a hospital stay can be.”

“Eh, I’m pretty used to it,” Pinkie said sadly and shrugged. I was a little taken aback by this, but her cheerful disposition soon returned as quickly as it left. “But thank you, that means a lot that you’d go through that kinda trouble for Fluttershy and me!”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, darling,” I scoffed and batted a hoof dismissively, making Pinkie giggle which made me do the same.

“Besides,” I glanced down at the bag on the ground beside me and used my magic to present a bouquet of flowers, “I brought you flowers to liven up this drab room of yours! Just because you need to relax in a clean environment for recovery does not mean your surroundings shouldn’t be beautiful.”

“Thank you!” Pinkie said gleefully, watching intently as I placed the flowers into a vase sitting on the bedside table and fretted with them for a moment or two to make sure they were absolutely perfect. Between them and Pinkie’s adorable smile the room was already feeling brighter!

“Also…” I procured something else from her bag, a red box with a gold ribbon seal. I opened the box to reveal an assortment of delectable looking chocolates and with a charmed cadence to my voice I said, “I have candies!”

“Gimme the candy!” Pinkie Pie pawed at the air and drooled with the silliest blissful look on her face; it was quite a welcome sight as the image of her face stained with blood and tears as she was brought into the hospital was still fresh in my mind.

“Here you are, darling,” I said happily, gently placing the open box in front of Pinkie Pie as she licked her lips. “I got them all for you, although if you wanted to share, I suppose I couldn’t stop you…” I looked at Pinkie with a coy smirk and she laughed.

“Of course I’ll share, Rarity!” she said, happily handing me a chocolate. “We can go halfsies! I’m just…” I could see that Pinkie was trying to hold back tears in her eyes as she reached for another chocolate. “Thank you so much for this. It means a lot…”

“It is my pleasure, Pinkie Pie,” I said softly, putting a comforting hoof on the mare’s shoulder and eliciting a giggle from her that turned out to be rather infectious.

And then the two of us sat together and ate chocolates, simply enjoying each other’s company for a while and exchanging chatter and small talk as if nothing was wrong, as if neither of us had almost lost their lives earlier that same day.

Talking with her was a welcome reprieve from the stress Bifrost had been putting me under. Pinkie Pie was a kind mare, and I thought it almost a shame that she was shackled to Rainbow Dash. She didn’t deserve that.

****

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

I was getting pretty tired and wanted to call it an early night… day? Evening? Honestly the events of the last twenty-four hours sort of destroyed my concept of what time does or is.

Point is I kinda just wandered randomly through the hospital hallways until I found myself in a stairwell heading upwards. I was lost in a fog of thought and sleepiness, not to mention mental preparation since Team Destiny had a fight in the morning, so I wasn’t really sure why I was going up the stairs, but I just let it happen.

When I reached the top I realized that it went to the roof! For some reason I thought the roof of the hospital would be a great place to sleep so I wandered out there and lied down but I suddenly had the feeling somepony was watching me and looked around, and sure enough…

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash, perched on the railing on the edge of the roof, asked me coldly.

“Ehhh…” I tried to think of an honest answer to that question other than ‘I actually have no idea’ but I came up with nothing and just went ‘eehhhhhhhh’ until I totally zoned out. “What are you doing up here?”

“I…” she turned her head back out toward the city below, “I just needed some time alone… to think.”

“What are you thinking about?”

I climbed up onto the roof railing and perched alongside Rainbow, looking over the twinkling lights of Baltimare below. It was a long way down but I knew how to teleport, so it didn’t bother me.

“Your friends really miss you. I guess they haven’t seen you all day? Not since the whole incident?”

“Friends?” Rainbow asked tensely, giving me a sideways glance.

“Pinkie and Fluttershy?” I replied, weirded out by her response.

“Right, yeah…” Rainbow stammered, kicking her hoof softly at the plaster she was sitting on. “My team. They… I don’t want to bother them.”

“I… don’t think it’ll bother them if their teammate visits them in the hospital,” I said curiously, still taken aback by Rainbow’s behavior. I mean, even I had better social grace than her right now! “Come on, what’s really troubling you?”

Rainbow Dash looked at me listlessly and I could see from her slumped posture and the heaviness of her eyes that she was tired.

Not just tired because of the events of the last twenty-four hours, those were the eyes of someone who was tired from living, someone who carried an enormous burden on their shoulders every day.

And it probably didn’t help that her and the age-old, beaten up bomber jacket that adorned her were both absolutely drenched in rainwater.

She didn’t respond to me except with a half-hearted frown and a slightly shrugged shoulder.

“You don’t have to carry that weight alone, Rainbow Dash.”

I don’t even know where those words came from, I just… had to say them. I wanted someone to say them to me when I was younger, and I couldn’t not say them to her when she was so obviously hurting.

“Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are your friends, they can help you carry your burdens…” I paused for a moment and let a sheepish smile cross my face as I leaned forward to look at Rainbow’s eyes, “…and I’ll help you too, if you’ll let me.”

Rainbow looked at me like she just saw a ghost and I smiled back at her. She scoffed but I could see she was trying to bite down a smile.

“Let me show you how I can help…”

I bathed Rainbow in a violet light. I didn’t move her or budge her though she was fidgety at first, but she looked at my calm smile and reluctantly relaxed as my magic washed over her, drying her fur, feathers and clothing.

“You need to rest, Rainbow Dash. You’ve had a long day.”

“I know.”

Rainbow sighed and nodded, a small but tender smile appearing on her face as she looked down at the ground.

“Thank you…” Rainbow suddenly looked to the black and cloudy night sky and a pained frown marred her face. She looked at me for but a moment and squinted and I just tilted my head in confusion as she flicked her face away from me. “Uh, thank you, um… y-you…”

She blushed and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“My name’s Twilight Sparkle.”

Rainbow’s ears perked up and a light suddenly shined in her eyes. She smiled and pointed a hoof at me. “You’re Rarity’s sister!”

“Y-yeah! I am!” I stuttered, not expecting that reaction at all. “How did you know that?”

“Back when Rarity and I used to, like, actually talk,” Rainbow explained excitedly, “she used to talk about you all the time!”

“When was this?” I said confusedly. It must have been after Rarity ran away from home but before I moved in with her… which would’ve been a while ago; a really, really long while ago.

“It was a really brief time, like a million years ago,” Rainbow said gruffly, her smile quickly fading away, “me and Applejack… we were pretty much inseparable for a while… but then Applejack started dating Rarity…”

“Is that why you guys hate each other so much?” I asked skeptically, “Because Applejack chose Rarity over you?”

“Eh, not exact—”

Rainbow fidgeted around and trailed off. I could tell she wasn’t giving me the whole story but I wasn’t about to pry into hers and Rarity’s business.

She shook her head and groaned. “Point is, it’s nice to finally meet you. And I…” Rainbow spread her wings and flew up into the air behind me, visibly surprised for a second by the ease she did so now that her wings were dry.

She looked down at me with a pained smile, “I hope I can be a good… a good f—“ she groaned again and buried her face in her hooves. “Thanks, Twilight Sparkle. I owe you one.”

“You can pay me back by getting some rest,” I said with a smile, feeling really pleased at Rainbow’s more-or-less acceptance of my friendship.

I didn’t really have any friends outside of Rarity for the longest time… and now I had Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, and now Rainbow Dash! It was a little overwhelming and honestly made me really happy and proud of myself!

“After all, you do have a match tomorrow.”

The mood shifted immediately as Rainbow’s wings retracted back onto her back and she fell onto the roof with a thud and a pained grunt.

“WHAT.”

“Geez, am I the only pony that checks the itinerary?” I grumbled and rolled my eyes.

“Been a little busy?” Rainbow snarked. “In the hospital?”

“Fair enough,” I awkwardly tapped my hooves together. “Anyway, Team Rainboom is scheduled for a match in arena A tomorrow morning at nine.”

“That’s…” Rainbow looked around and was visibly panicking. She stomped her hooves and tried to kick up dust behind her, but she just slipped on the rain-slick roof and fell on her chest, quickly taking flight again and brushing herself off. “Already?! We’re in no condition for that!”

“Well, that’s…” I didn’t know what to say exactly that would help, especially since—as Pinkie so eloquently put it—I am disastrously bad at motivation speeches. “You need to get some rest, Rainb—“

“How am I supposed to do that?!” Rainbow yelled. “How am I supposed to rest when I know that my team is gonna get its butt kicked tomorrow?!

“Do you know what that means for me?! It means this whole farce is over! My dream is going down in flames because me and my teammates are path—“

Rainbow scoffed angrily, her face twisting into a furious scowl.

“Because my garbage self can’t just pull itself together! Cuz I wasn’t strong enough to protect them! If I can’t win tomorrow, I’ll…”

Rainbow started looking around frantically and panicking again, slowly descending back down onto the roof.

I jumped off the railing and walked in front of her, tilting her chin up with my hoof. “It’s going to be okay… please. Just trust me.”

Rainbow looked desperately into my eyes and I tried to give the warmest, softest smile I could to maybe ease her fears at least a little. Her furious expression softened but became cold.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah.”

Rainbow nodded and brushed my hoof away, jumping back onto the railing. “I need a little time to gather my thoughts… but then I’ll go to bed. You have my word.”

“Alright,” I said softly, trying not to express in my tone that I was worried about her, because I got the feeling she wouldn’t like that. “I’m going to bed now, but… Rainbow?” Rainbow looked back at me with a furrowed brow and dismayed frown and I said with a bright smile, “I trust you.”

Rainbow quickly turned away and didn’t say anything but I could see her body trembling. I wanted to believe I got through to her, at least a little, but I had no way to know.

Still though… I wasn’t lying when I said I trusted her.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I was trying to gather my thoughts under the dim glow of the moonlight barely filtering through the clouds. My talk with Twilight gave me a lot to think about.

Friends?

I mean… Pinkie Pie… we’d known each other since childhood…

We were comrades, teammates. But… friends? Did Pinkie see us that way? I… I dunno if I did. Friendship was… it wasn’t something for me.

It wasn’t something I deserved.

And Fluttershy… I barely even knew her. Any yet… I couldn’t help but remember the desperate, terrified look in her eyes when she called out to me in my Nightmare state. Why was she so concerned? Did she care about our enemy? Maybe, but…

I shook my head and growled. It didn’t make any sense to me. People don’t change, and it’s in our natures to use others and take from them to achieve our own goals, and sometimes we allow ourselves to be used either because we’re weak or as payment for using others. That’s all.

Friendship… it isn’t a real thing.

“Thought you’d still be up here.”

Pinkie Pie’s quiet, tired voice distracted me from my thoughts and I turned to face her. Her normally bright smile was missing, instead replaced by a battered and bruised frown that spoke volumes of the burden she’d carried the last twenty-four hours.

“Yeah,” I replied coldly, turning away from her. I had no excuse not to see her or Fluttershy, not to check on them, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. “I just—“

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Pinkie sighed before slowly walking over to the railing and climbing up to sit beside me, looking up at the clouded moon. “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” I asked curiously, looking up at the moon as well.

“Are you aware of the grudge Rarity has?” I was not prepared for Pinkie’s question and I felt a shiver crawl through my entire body. Pinkie looked at me and continued. “The grudge she has against you? How do you feel about her, anyway?”

I felt nauseous and jumped onto the steel roof, pacing back and forth. How did Pinkie Pie know about Rarity? I mean, it didn’t take long for me to put the pieces together, that Rarity and Applejack must’ve been here for Bifrost and if Applejack was here in the hospital, Rarity must have been too… but did she talk to Pinkie Pie? Did she talk to her about me?

Obviously, I didn’t realize it was anything as simple as Rarity told everyone in the giant crowd of spectators how much she hated me. That little revelation would come a bit later.

“I’m… aware of Rarity’s grudge. Never paid it much mind,” I started to sweat as I told that lie, worried that Pinkie would pick up on it. She stared at me, her icy blue eyes feeling like they could peer into my soul.

“Okay,” Pinkie shrugged a shoulder and frowned briefly before forcing a weary smile onto her face. “I trust you.”

“Thanks,” I said bluntly, a pang of guilt burning my throat.

“I think you two would get along, honestly,” Pinkie continued, lying her body down against the railing. “You’re both nice.”

“I guess,” I looked away from Pinkie and started pacing again. I’m not sure which of those sentences I disagreed with more. “Rarity has good reasons not to like me.”

Not even I like me.

“You say that about everyone,” Pinkie grumbled, “and you’re always wrong.”

I looked back at Pinkie and she was staring me dead in the eyes, a frustrated scowl on her face as one foreleg hung limply off the railing and the pale glow of moonlight illuminating her from above gave her bulky frame a really intimidating presence, even with her sluggish posture.

Or maybe I was just intimated because I was afraid of her judgment. Who knows.

Her face softened and she looked at me with a sad smile. “I know you can’t see the good in yourself, Rainbow. I know what that feels like…”

Pinkie sat up and held her front hooves to her heart and started to tear up. I really wanted to fly up there and comfort her but the thought of actually opening up like that, of expressing genuine concern and revealing my real emotions to someone… it terrified me.

“I just want you to know that I love you.”

I froze in my tracks and my whole body stiffened up as Pinkie said those words. She was still smiling sadly, knowing that I could never say them back to her but somewhere deep in her heart she still longed for them and hoped to hear them.

I knew exactly what that felt like.

“We have a match tomorrow,” I said coldly, flying into the air. “You should get some rest.”

And that was all I said as I left, the distant sound of Pinkie crying ringing in my ears as I flew away.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

I’d like to say I ‘stumbled’ out of my hospital bed but it was more like I flopped out and crashed into a puddle on the ground.

But whatever!

I majestically and gallantly regained my regal posture by which I mean I crawled to the door and slowly slid upwards until I could open it and then fell down again in the hall, and ran valiantly to Fluttershy’s room by which of course I mean I fell over a lot and found one of those moving wheely trays that I guess they have in hospitals and flopped on top of one and asked a nice nurse if she would drag me to Fluttershy’s room.

“Are you ready, Fluttershy?!” I said triumphantly as I barged into the room, my body charged with spirit and vigor and also pain but mostly the first two!

Fluttershy nodded and groaned quietly as she stepped gently out of her bed, her legs wobbling as they hit the ground but she had the cutest proud smile on her face when she managed to stop herself from falling over.

“Are we sure about this, Pinkie? I don’t know if either of us can actually win a fight today.”

“We have to win, Fluttershy!” I pleaded desperately. “Rainbow Dash is counting on us! I totally blew the Team B-Listers fiasco, so I gotta make amends here! And I need your help!”

“I know you’re right, but…” Fluttershy sighed and shook her head. She puffed up her cheeks and looked at me with a tiny determined fire in her eyes. “No, you are right, Pinkie Pie! We just need to believe in ourselves and muster up some kind of super hidden strength! We can do this!”

“That’s right!” I jumped into the air and immediately regretted it when I hit the ground and a wave of pain shot through my body. Through gritted teeth I cheered, “For Rainbow Dash!”

“For Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy said confidently. “And for us too!”

“Right!” I said, trying to raise a hoof into the air but only managing to barely get it off the ground before it got too heavy and I had to drop it back to the ground. “All we have to do is just pretend our bodies aren’t completely broken! No problem!”

“R-right…” Fluttershy said with markedly less confidence. She glanced around nervously and said, “Do, um… do you know who we’re fighting today?”

“Nope!” I said cheerfully, Fluttershy sighing dismally in response. “But hey! We can beat ‘em, right?”

“Right,” Fluttershy took a deep breath to calm her nerves and nodded stalwartly. “Right!”

And with that, the two of us headed to the arena.

Rainbow Dash was waiting for us in front of the waiting room as we arrived, the two of us just barely making it in time since for some reason we were really slow to walk from the hospital to the arena.

“Glad you guys could make it,” Rainbow said with a proud smirk.

I beamed back at her and Fluttershy bowed her head bashfully.

“I know our last match was-” Rainbow bitterly sighed “-not great,” she drew herself up and cleared her throat, “but this is it, you guys! This is the last match of the preliminaries, at least for us. If we win this, we won’t have to worry about another fight until next month, but if we lose… then that’s it. All of this will be for nothing.”

“No pressure or anything though,” I laughed awkwardly, Rainbow sighing bleakly and Fluttershy just shaking like a leaf and trying not to cry.

“We’re…” Fluttershy whimpered. She took a deep breath and puffed up her cheeks. “We’re ready, Rainbow Dash. We’re scared, nervous and in a lot of pain still, but we’re ready. We won’t let you down, promise.”

“What she said!” I added loudly, puffing up my chest proudly.

“That’s my girls!” Rainbow said excitedly, pumping a hoof into the air. “Let’s go in there and show everypony what Team Rainboom is capable of!”

The three of us boldly stepped into the large waiting room, expecting to see our opponents waiting for us and trying to intimidate them with our impressive posture… but only Starlight Glimmer was sitting in the room instead.

“Oh, hey you guys!” she said cheerfully, the three of us looking at each other confusedly. “Congratulations on making it past the first preliminaries!”

“W-what?” Rainbow stuttered, her eye twitching and taking a few angry steps toward Starlight.

“Your opponents forfeited the match so you win by default,” Starlight explained with a cute smile on her face and shrugged. “Good for you!”

“What?!” Rainbow shouted irritably, stomping a hoof on the ground which made Fluttershy and me jump, but Starlight just looked vaguely annoyed. “They forfeited?! Why?! What coward just forfeits a match like that?!”

“Um, Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy timidly chimed in, “maybe we shouldn’t argue this… it’s kind of a good thing?”

“I don’t need pity, Fluttershy!” Rainbow snapped, making Fluttershy whimper and take a step back, and I put a consoling hoof on her shoulder and glared at Rainbow behind her back.

“Your friend’s right, you know,” Starlight chimed in, “I mean, look at the state your teammates are in.”

It was obvious to anypony that Fluttershy and I weren’t in any condition to win a fight but I was still feeling pretty proud of myself for making it to the arena regardless, especially now that I knew we didn’t actually have to fight anyone!

Rainbow ignored Starlight and just kept yelling at her, “Why did the team forfeit? Who were these cowards anyway that they didn’t even bother to show up?!”

“Why don’t you ask them yourself?” Starlight, having heard quite enough of Rainbow’s ranting, said flippantly.

Starlight took a deep breath and something about it put me on edge, like it was a bad omen or something. And the next words that she said put a pit in my stomach that justified that edgy feeling pretty hard.

“I mean, you’re familiar with Team Destiny, right?”

****

-RARITY-

“Are you sure about this, Rarity?” Twilight asked anxiously as we departed from the arena, or at least the officiating area where we registered our desire to forfeit our match with Team Rainboom.

“I am,” I said sternly.

I couldn’t exactly blame Twilight for feeling uncertain, I wasn’t terribly confident myself… but I had to believe I was making the right choice.

“I have no desire to take advantage of the weakened state of Rainbow’s team, and I can’t allow a horrible circumstance beyond their control to ruin the dreams of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.”

And as for Rainbow Dash, well… I don’t know.

I had stated, over and over again, that my desire was to crush her and ruin her dream, yet here I was turning my nose up at an opportunity— one which was nothing short of miraculous— to do just that.

Circumstances like this would not present themselves to me again, and yet as soon as I saw that our battle today was supposed to be up against those three ponies, I knew right away that the only way I could proceed in good faith was to forfeit.

Twilight had given me the fight schedule earlier this morning, clearly written on it was ‘Team Destiny vs. Team Rainboom’ and the thought of standing over a broken, pitiable Rainbow Dash while a crowd of onlookers observed my glorious victory tore through my mind instantly.

And it sickened me.

“It’s gonna put us in an awkward spot fer our next match,” Applejack stated brusquely, tearing me out of my recollection.

“I suppose,” I huffed, “but it doesn’t change that much. It just means we lose our safety net and have to make sure we bring our A game to our final encounter.”

“I agree,” Twilight, bless her heart, was trying to sound confident but her voice was shaky. “And honestly, I’m glad we did this. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy seem like super nice girls, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for stomping them out of the competition. Besides, trans solidarity, right?”

“Couldn’t agree more, to be honest,” Applejack laughed heartily, and I couldn’t help but crack a smile myself. In a way, trans solidarity had brought the three of us together, and it was a major part of why Fluttershy—and by extension, myself—was even here at Bifrost to begin with. Certainly, it wouldn’t let me down now.

“We can afford to lose this match and they can’t,” I explained at length to my comrades as we walked down the lightly raining streets of Baltimare looking for a place to hole up and gather ourselves, “and in their weakened state there’s no way they could’ve beaten us. I think this was the right thing to do.”

Applejack added with a good-humored sigh, “To be honest, even if we had gone through with the fight I probably would’ve just forfeited myself.”

I stopped in my tracks and smiled to myself, turning to my two companions behind me with a faint smile.

“Thank you both,” I said softly, “it means the world to me that you two would both have my back on this matter. I admit I was a little worried that you both would be upset, but I… I just couldn’t continue this fight in good faith.”

That image, the one of me standing over a broken Rainbow Dash, flashed through my mind again and I felt an intense pang of heat and nausea rip through my stomach.

Twilight and Applejack simply smiled kindly at me, Twilight nodding approvingly and Applejack tipping her hat. Seeing the unconditional support my team gave me made me very emotional. I couldn’t help smiling ear to ear, and I could have sworn I felt the presence of tears gracing my eyes, before rather suddenly…

“RARITY!!”

Rainbow Dash’s voice cut through the crowded city streets like a lighthouse beacon in the middle of a dead fog, which was fitting considering the fog lingering in the air was even thicker than the crowds.

“What is the matter with you!?” Rainbow screamed at me as she landed directly in front of me, the two of us staring each other down with fire in our eyes.

I didn’t know what exactly I expected from my belated reunion with the blue pegasus, but here it was, and here we were; staring each other down with irritated, furious glares.

It almost made me giddy to see her direct actual anger at me instead of just wry dismissal, and this time when the thought of her broken under my hooves crossed my mind, I almost regretted my decision to forfeit.

“Listen here, Rainbow,” Applejack said curtly and stood between Rainbow and I, taking a defensive stance on my behalf, “think about yer teammates! Ya really think they could’ve survived a match with us in their condition?!”

“That’s not the point!” Rainbow sneered and pointed an accusing hoof past Applejack and toward me. “I don’t need pity! Least of all from someone like you, Rarity! If my team can’t win even in their current state…” Rainbow grit her teeth and snarled before stomping her forelegs on the ground and screaming, “then we’re just too weak!”

“Rainbow Dash…” Applejack growled through gritted teeth.

“Applejack, Twilight,” I said coolly with my head poised in an elegant manner, flicking a hoof nonchalantly through my mane. “Will you two please leave Rainbow and I to discuss this matter in privacy?” I looked around at the crowds of ponies whose attention had been drawn by the sudden shouting match and sighed, “For given value of ‘privacy’, obviously.”

“Really?” Applejack looked back at me with a confused and frustrated expression.

“Uh, if you’re sure, Rarity,” Twilight said, trotting over to Applejack and nudging her. Applejack simply groaned in frustration and walked away with Twilight, looking back once to glare at Rainbow who returned the favor before the pegasus settled her furious gaze on me.

“This was the right decision, Rainbow Dash,” I said firmly, staring down into the woman’s fiery violet eyes.

Seeing those eyes so close to me again after so many years sent a flood of memories coursing through me, of shared laughter and heartache, but then just as quickly the memories turned to ones of bitterness and hatred.

“Why am I even alive?”

I remembered thinking those words while I laid in the shallow river underneath a bridge, having been thrown there by the pegasus as her idea of a cruel joke. The older she got, the more her ‘jokes’ went from humorous pranks to cruel bullying.

She obviously wasn’t the only reason why my late teens and early twenties were spent flirting with suicide, but she certainly played her part.

“I did not do this for you,” I said in the present, glaring coldly at my hated enemy and former friend, “but for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.” Rainbow clicked her tongue and scoffed, and I just groaned irritably and rolled my eyes at the childlike tantrum she was throwing. “They’re too good for you, you know.”

And to this, the pegasus responded.

She recoiled, took two steps back, and grit her teeth into a snarl. “You don’t know what you’re talking abo—“

“Don’t I though?” I responded with a disgusted sneer. “You think I don’t remember the person that you used to be? The person that you still are if this little tantrum of yours is any indication?”

“You don’t know anything about me!” Rainbow snapped and stomped her hoof.

“I know that you’re a cruel, heartless little demon!” I shouted in return, stomping my own hoof toward the woman who flinched reflexively. I took a step back and sighed, keeping unbroken eye contact with the pegasus as I did so.

Rainbow shook her head and growled, “Why did you do this? Just for Fluttershy’s sake? You don’t owe us anything… even if she’s your friend, she’s still your rival. She chose me over you… so why are you… helping us—her. Why are you helping her?”

“Nothing has changed between us, Rainbow Dash,” I rolled my eyes. “Clearly. But Fluttershy is my friend and Pinkie Pie…”

I became sad thinking about my encounter with the pink pony last night— the one who pushed her body and mind to the limit and ended up in the hospital all for Rainbow’s sake, and Rainbow didn’t even have the good sense to see how she was doing— and shook my head miserably.

“She deserves better than the treatment she’s received. She pretends she isn’t broken but I recognize the brokenness in her like I’m staring into a mirror.”

A moment of silence passed as a chill winter’s wind blew through Baltimare.

With nothing left to say, Rainbow Dash simply turned and walked, disappearing into the morning fog. I sat on my haunches and released a tense breath I didn’t even realize I had been holding as I wondered what I was doing.

That was the pony for whom I held so much rage? That girl, broken into shards of self-loathing and regret, who could barely lift her own body under the burdens of her life? That was who I was so angry at? No matter how much I hated Rainbow, it was obvious it could never be more than she hated herself; a feeling I understood quite intimately.

I felt my hoof reflexively brushing up against the pink ring around my neck underneath my soaking wet scarf.

That woman deserved neither my pity nor my sympathy, but curse her and curse me too, for she had them both. My sympathy did not outweigh my rage, nor did it absolve Rainbow of the damage she had done to me— damage that I was not able or willing to look past— but how could I not sympathize at least a little when there but for the grace of the Goddesses go I?

There was no room in my heart for someone who had hurt me so thoroughly, and there was absolutely nothing about that girl that persuaded me to the idea that she wasn’t every bit as awful as I remembered her being, but perhaps…

Perhaps I need a different motivation. I don’t know…

This one’s a little bit pathetic.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

The rain was picking up again and the fog was getting heavier as I paced back and forth on the docks. I wanted so badly to return to my hotel room and talk to Pinkie and Fluttershy, to apologize for being just the WORST, but I…

I just…

I was too much of a coward.

Thinking about the things Rarity said, and the things I said to her, I started feeling panicked. I wasn’t dense, I knew the thing Rarity did for me and my teammates was a generous, kind thing I should be grateful for but I just…

“I don’t need pity!”

I groaned as I thought back on that horrible line. What was I thinking saying that to her?

I’m the worst.

“Rainbow Dash?”

Fluttershy’s voice surprised me and I jumped, turning around quickly to see her and Pinkie Pie, their rain-drenched manes covering their faces, approaching me from the docks.

“Guys, I…” any normal pony could have just said ‘I’m sorry’ but a garbage pony like me just choked and hacked instead. “I don’t know what to say…”

That’s a lie.

“I don’t know… how to be.”

At least that’s true.

“Yeah,” Pinkie chuckled, her eyes totally invisible past the waterfall of wet hair in her face, “I know that feeling.”

“Same here,” Fluttershy added with a half-amused sigh. “Rainbow, we’re your friends and we care about you. We want you to succeed and to realize your dream, and we’re both happy to stand by your side to help you do it. You don’t need to be afraid of us or worry that we’ll turn on you.”

“That’s right!” Pinkie said with a beaming smile, which with her eyes hidden behind her hair looked really silly and made me snicker. “But we’re not gonna take any guff from you either! We’re all adults and we’re all friends, we gotta act like it!”

“I can’t…”

I started getting really choked up, nauseated and panicked all at the same time. I sharply exhaled and forced myself to just let it all go. For one single second I forced myself to let go of all the baggage and the fear and the anger and the uncertainty.

“I can’t pretend I’m not broken.”

“No one’s asking you to,” Pinkie walked toward me and lifted her hoof to touch my chin but she couldn’t actually see me past her hair so she just kinda batted around in the air for a second before I grabbed her hoof and guided it over to me. “But you aren’t the only one who’s broken and none of us can play pretend forever. Maybe being broken together can be the first step to not being broken.”

“I would…” Fluttershy said timidly, nervously approaching the two of us on the edge of the dock, “I want to help you both. None of us are the ponies we want to be. We’re all too weak and too damaged but… I believe that people can change. And I joined you, Rainbow Dash, because I think we can help each other to change… to become better.”

“You guys…” I said, breathing heavily and blushing.

If my broken heart had allowed me to cry there would’ve been tears in my eyes. Instead I walked away from the two, lifted my head to look into the dark rain clouds as they poured over me, and then looked back at my two sorry companions… my friends.

“Thank you both. I still don’t know how to be, but… somehow I’ll figure it out for your guys’ sake.”

“We all have a lot to learn together,” Fluttershy said with a soft giggle.

“Yup!” Pinkie added with a bright beaming smile, bouncing in place. “But for now…” Pinkie collapsed onto the ground in a heap. “I think we need a vacation or something.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled and walked toward Pinkie, helping her off the ground with my snout and then getting underneath her and picking her up onto my back, “let’s get some rest you guys. You’ve… we all have really earned it.”

With Pinkie clinging to my back, me and Fluttershy flew back to the hotel and headed straight into our room, the three of us collapsing on the beds waiting for us there.

And we just… slept. For as long as our bodies would allow us.

Another fave title of mine tbh.

Is the Appleshy in this too obvious? Is it too clichéd or forced? Too soon, perhaps?
*welcome to the black parade voice* I! DON’T! CARE!

Oh and hey, psst! Just so y'know, I live for that sweet, sweet Validation(tm) so if y'all like my story, please leave a comment! It'll make my day, I promise!

-RAINBOW DASH-

I was trying to chillax alone in my team’s hotel room relatively early in the morning… or at least early in the afternoon. Pinkie and Fluttershy had left to go watch Team Destiny’s final bout, but I wasn’t interested in that… well, not as much as I was interested in having the time to collect my thoughts.

A lot happened since the fight with Team B-Listers. I unlocked the Nightmare Force for the first time in my life—which was a whole thing that I would have to deal with eventually but I didn’t have the spoons to even think about it right now— Team Rainboom was now confirmed to be moving on to the second preliminaries, and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy made it extremely clear that the three of us are… that we’re fr—

Well.

That we’re more than just teammates anyway.

I groaned and rolled over so I was face-down against my pillow. The idea of friendship was hard for me. Pinkie and I had known each other for the better part of a decade but I never considered us ‘friends’ exactly, because the idea of giving somepony my trust and not having them use that trust to hurt me… was kind of unthinkable to me. Like, I honestly couldn’t even conceive of that being a realistic possibility.

I learned from my parents that trust is something you use, that you make other people trust you so you can more easily defeat them later or so you can gain something from them. It wasn’t something that was given, only taken and abused.

But, shockingly, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie aren’t my parents. They don’t behave the same horrible ways that my parents always did. But even more shockingly, that’s a really hard thing for me to accept. The idea that something you thought you knew your entire life could just be wrong. It’s… a lot.

And to top it all off, there was Rarity.

Pinkie had asked me if I was aware of Rarity’s grudge, and I told her no but that wasn’t true at all. I was painfully aware of Rarity’s hatred toward me, mostly because I encouraged it. Thinking about the mean pranks I pulled on her or the terrible things I said to and about her when we were teenagers… ugh, it made me start feeling sick.

But the damage was done and it was too late to fix it… even if it wasn’t too late there was no way that I could fix it. I’m way too stupid.

I remembered the first time Applejack introduced me to Rarity and how much I wanted her to like me. I really showed off for her back then, but eventually I realized that I, like, really wanted her to like me, and that scared me. So I pushed her away with my stupid pranks and before I even realized what I was doing Rarity hated me and by the time I did realize I couldn’t course correct without admitting that I had really messed up, and that I was wrong.

But I couldn’t be wrong, at least not without it becoming a domino effect in my brain. Like, somehow I figured that if I was wrong about one thing, then that means I’m wrong about everything and that I’m a stupid idiot moron failure who can’t do anything right and… ugh. It just sorta snowballs from there.

Never admit weakness or failure, that’s what my parents taught me.

And now I was in this place of knowing what I did was wrong but being unable to course correct without admitting that it was wrong and if I admitted it was wrong than that made it real… somehow…

I screamed into my pillow as this horrible tide of self-defeating thoughts ran rampant in my brain. There had to be a way to make things right between me and Rarity… right?

I mean, it was so easy to believe that there wasn’t, that everything was messed up forever and there was no way to fix it, an easy excuse to keep going in the same horrible direction I was going in and not go through the painful effort to fix my mistakes or make things right…

I flew off the bed and landed on the ground with a heavy, reluctant sigh. I needed to apologize to Rarity… for a lot of things… but I felt a stabbing pain in my chest and my body became heavy when I thought about that.

To my parents an apology was the greatest sign of weakness. It was, somewhat ironically, the most unforgivable thing you could do. Never apologize, never admit you were wrong or that you failed or made a mistake…

What terrible advice.

And yet I lived by it.

I groaned as I dragged myself over to the door. The least I could do was watch Rarity’s fight and wish her good luck.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

“Please! It’s LIFE or DEATH!!”

I pleaded on my knees to the doorguard standing in front of the waiting room where Team Destiny was preparing for their final bout. “It’s URGENT! A matter of GRAVE IMPORTANCE!!”

Fluttershy just shifted nervously behind me. I knew she was kinda embarrassed by my antics but, like I said, GRAVE IMPORTANCE.

The guard rolled his eyes and groaned irritably, “Ugh, fine. Just make it qui—“

Before he could even finish his sentence I’d already barged through the door, Fluttershy timidly following me and offering a quiet “Thank you” to the guard, which was really sweet of her.

Applejack, Rarity and Twilight were all standing inside the waiting room and looked pretty surprised to see us.

“Hey gals, what can we do for y’all?” Applejack said politely as I barged in and Fluttershy delicately trotted up beside me. “Did Rainbow Dash ever apologize to y’all like she was supposed to?”

“She did,” Fluttershy answered with a smile, me nodding vigorously to confirm. “She gave us a very sweet apology and everything’s smoothed over between the three of us. We’re a team after all, we need to look out for each other.”

“Yeah, exactly!” I added with a beaming smile.

“Hmph,” Rarity turned her head and spoke tersely, “well I’m glad Rainbow Dash was able to take some measure or responsibility for once.”

“Come on, Rarity,” Twilight groaned and bashfully covered her face with her hooves, “don’t be like that, at least not in front of Rainbow’s teammates.”

“No, she’s right,” I said with a nod, the three mares of Team Destiny all fixing me with curious glances.

“It’s not like Rarity’s grudge with Rainbow is a secret…” Fluttershy added quietly, Rarity just shrugging with a haughty chuckle as Twilight groaned irritably.

“Gettin’ back on track fer a sec,” Applejack cleared her throat, “what’d y’all come all this way for? Ya wanted to say somethin’ to us ‘fore our match today?”

“Not exactly…” I bounced toward Applejack and wrapped my hoofsies around her big strong neck, but like in a hugging way and not a strangling way! I gave her a smooch on the cheek and said, “We just wanted to wish y’all good luck in your match today!”

“And to let you know we’re rooting for you,” Fluttershy said, shyly kicking at the ground.

“That’s so sweet!”

A clear lady’s voice chimed into the conversation and took our group off guard. I had forgotten that we were in the shared waiting room until we all looked toward the door on the east end of the room and saw three ponies standing there. I immediately recognized the mauve unicorn standing at the front of them.

“Starlight Glimmer?” I said in surprise, eyebrow thoroughly arched.

“That’s me!” Starlight said with a pleasant smile.

Starlight was standing in front of two mares, one a pale teal unicorn with short pink-highlighted purple hair and a sun hair pin who had a really warm disposition, the other a pale purple earth pony with snow white hair tied into twin tails and big orange glasses, who had a much colder air about her.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in your announcing booth?” Twilight asked skeptically. “What are you doing here?”

“We came to wish you good fortune in our match today, and to introduce ourselves!” Starlight said cheerfully.

“Wait, we’re fightin’ y’all?” Applejack said, tracing her chin with a hoof.

“Starlight,” Rarity added, “I thought that your position as a fight announcer exempted you from these preliminary competitions.”

“That’s true,” Starlight explained, “in exchange for the use of my beautiful voice and regal stage presence as a fight announcer, Team Shadowstar was granted free access to the second preliminaries.”

“We’re here because we want to be here,” the sunny unicorn said perkily, dancing in place.

“So you could have completely skipped the entire first preliminary,” Twilight said inquisitively, “but you chose to fight us.”

“That’s right,” Starlight said with a nod, her eyes narrowing at Twilight before settling on Rarity. I found myself frowning despite myself; something about the way she was looking at Rarity made me feel uneasy.

“I mean, after all, your team has gotten a lot of buzz around it in the audience,” Starlight continued, her voice measured and pleasant, “as the first team to beat Team Rock Farm since… geez, I don’t even know when. Then you mysteriously forfeit your match against Team Rainboom to allow them to go to the second prelims in your stead? It’s almost too interesting!”

“I guess…” Applejack said, unconvinced. This whole thing seemed pretty fishy and the five of us were all still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“We wanted to fight Team Rainboom,” the purple earth pony bluntly stated, “you’re just the next best thing.”

The five of us stared in complete silence at Starlight’s team after that remark, Starlight’s unicorn friend slapping her forehead with her hoof and Starlight just scowling and rolling her eyes.

“A little on the nose, don’t you think, Sugarcoat?” Starlight turned to the earth pony and said irritably, Sugarcoat just giving a half-hearted shrug. Starlight sighed, “Well, I suppose there’s no sense in hiding the truth. We did want to fight Team Rainboom, buuuuut… the three of you will do just as nicely.”

“If ya wanted to fight Team Rainboom so bad,” Applejack sneered, “why didn’t’cha just ask to fight ‘em when ya had the chance?”

“What would the point of that have been?” Starlight scoffed. “We weren’t interested in them before the whole B-Listers fiasco and fighting them in their weakened injured state would’ve been a waste of time.”

The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed drastically, all of Team Destiny plus Fluttershy were now totally on edge, watching the members of Team Shadowstar warily. I felt really out of the loop but I could tell that these three ponies were a lot more dangerous than I took them for at first.

“I…” Fluttershy whimpered sadly, “this room is really crowded…”

“Uh, I’ll get ya outta here, sugarcube,” Applejack walked toward Fluttershy and escorted the yellow pegasus to Team Destiny’s waiting room. Something still felt really off though and I didn’t know what and that was driving me crazy!

Once the two had left, I tapped my hooves together and abruptly spoke up. “Sooooooo…” I figured my best bet to figure out what the heck was going on would just be to ask, “why are you guys so interested in me and my friends’ teams?”

Starlight and Sugarcoat glowered at each other, likely communicating whether it was okay to just blurt out the reasons or not. Starlight nodded and Sugarcoat said in her monotonous deadpan voice, “We’re interested in the Nightmare Force.”

My whole body went stiff and my eyes widened, but I shut my eyes quickly and forced a pleasant smile on my face.

How do they know about the Nightmare Force? How do they know that Rainbow has it?

I felt like ten times as sick as I did a second ago and it didn’t make it any better that Twilight and Rarity seemed completely unfazed by this realization.

No. Rainbow, please don’t tell me that you…

No.

She couldn’t have. She wouldn’t have.

“I figured as much,” Rarity said with a cold sigh. I wanted to scream and ask why that was what she figured but I was still having a hard time dealing with my heart trying to beat itself out of my chest.

“So you wanted to test yourself against this ‘Nightmare Force’,” Twilight said cautiously, “but because you couldn’t fight Rainbow, you want to fight us, or at least Rarity and Applejack, because they’re the only ones you know who have seen it firsthand.”

“Something like that,” Starlight said with a cunning grin on her face. She gave a soft giggle and added, “Although, I also have to admit I’ve taken something of a shine to your team regardless. After all, your fight against Team Rock Farm was certainly…” Starlight’s eyes fixed themselves on Rarity again, the ivory unicorn simply returning Starlight’s gaze with a cold stare, “…something.”

The teal unicorn snickered, “I mean, we also know that Team Rainboom and Team Destiny are weirdly joined at the hip. So when we say you guys are ‘the next best thing’, it’s weirdly literal.”

“On that note,” Starlight’s demeanor had completely changed from perky and friendly to cunning and seductive and I did not like it! “Rarity, will you join me in the hallway? I would like to speak with you one-on-one…”

“I…” Rarity looked toward Twilight who gave a concerned frown and a slight shrug. Rarity took a deep breath and meandered off the couch. “I suppose that would be fine.”

Starlight and Rarity walked into the hall and left me and Twilight alone with Sugarcoat and… the other one, didn’t know her name.

“So, um,” I said nervously, Twilight walking over beside me for solidarity, “what are your names? I’m Pinkie Pie, and this is Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight awkwardly raised her hoof to greet them.

“My name is Sunny Flare,” the teal unicorn scoffed and swept her hair with a hoof, “and my compatriot here is named Sugarcoat.”

Sugarcoat just blinked. She didn’t seem terribly interested in small talk.

“Ah, that’s nice. Those are great names,” I said cheerfully, nodding along with a strained smile. I walked a step or two ahead of Twilight and wiped my smile away with a stern glare, stamping a hoof forward and growling, “Now how in the name of Celestia do you three know about the Nightmare Force?”

“Please, sweetheart,” Sunny Flare said mockingly as she walked up to me and batted at the strand of hair that hung out in front of me, “you didn’t think you were the only one to know of such things, did you? We know more than—”

“We saw the security footage,” Sugarcoat said abruptly, making Sunny Flare freeze in her tracks and blush. Twilight and I couldn’t help but snicker at her embarrassment, “Starlight’s technically a fight official until the second prelims, so she was able to request the footage since it involved Bifrost competitors.”

“Kind of undercutting my dramatic moment there, Sugarcoat!” Sunny stamped her hoof angrily at her friend, Sugarcoat just shrugging nonchalantly.

Sunny groaned and turned back to us, trying to affect her previous dramatic disposition but her moment was kinda lost.

“The point is,” she said, “the Shadowbolts have a vested interest in the Nightmare Force. But the reason is top secret and, frankly, beyond your comprehension so good luck getting it—“

“Hey Sugarcoat, why are you guys interested in the Nightmare Force?” I asked cheerfully.

“There is no reason,” Sugarcoat replied, “we just want more power.”

Sunny Flare screamed in frustration with her forehooves up to her face before stomping them on the ground.

“Sugarcoat! Stop revealing all of our dark secrets!” she said angrily, glaring at Sugarcoat.

“They’re not secrets, Sunny Flare,” Sugarcoat said drolly, glaring irritably at Sunny Flare in return. “It’s not like these plebians can do anything about it anyway.”

“Still!” Sunny harrumphed. “Where’s our sense of mystique if you just blab everything to anyone who asks!”

“That’s it?” Twilight asked perplexedly. “You just want power? For no reason?”

Sunny Flare glared at Sugarcoat who just shrugged. “We have our reasons.”

“Not really,” Sugarcoat grumbled under her breath, her voice nearly being drowned out by Sunny Flare loudly clearing her throat.

“ANYWAY,” Sunny Flare growled, “we’re not going to speak with you any longer! Anything else that needs to be said between us can be said in the ring!”

Sunny harrumphed again and turned around to stomp haughtily out of the room but was stopped by Sugarcoat.

“Starlight’s not back yet,” she said, “we can’t go anywhere.”

Sunny started blushing, and me and Twilight snickered at her expense. She sighed huffily, “Well we’re still not going to talk to you!”

The four of us just sorta sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes before, of all ponies, Sugarcoat was the first one to leave, and she headed out the door straight to Team Destiny’s waiting room for some reason!

“Wh—Sugarcoat!” Sunny said indignantly. “What about ‘we have to wait for Starlight’?!”

“I don’t actually care about Starlight, I just wanted to step on your moment,” Sugarcoat said without looking back as she headed to Team Destiny’s waiting room, “bye.”

I wondered if we should do something about that and looked to Twilight, who simply shrugged with a confused expression. I shrugged it off myself. Applejack was more than capable of handling that pony if she gave her any trouble, and I’d rather wait here for Rarity.

After all, who knows what she and Starlight were talking about.

****

-APPLEJACK-

I decided to get Fluttershy out of the crowded waitin’ room for a bit and into Team Destiny’s waitin’ room cuz I could see she was gettin’ nervous.

“Y’alright?” I asked as she took a seat on the couch and I stood in front of it.

“Y-yeah,” she nodded and absentmindedly batted at a lock of hair fallin’ in front of her face. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” I shrugged, wearin’ a proud grin. “What’re friends for?”

“Oh,” Fluttershy’s ears perked up and her cheeks turned pink but she quickly hid her face behind her hair, “are we… we’re friends?”

“Yeah, why not?” I laughed casually. “You’ve been friends with Rarity for years and you’re on Pinkie Pie’s team, and they’re both my friends, so I don’t have any reason not to consider you a friend too.”

I gave the cute mare a wink and added, “Plus, you’re a total sweetheart, so I’m happy to be yer friend, sugarcube.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy squeaked and her whole face was now hidden behind an adorable wall of pink hair. “That’s…”

I started to worry that maybe I was a bit overeager and that I was overwhelmin’ her… that hadn’t even crossed my mind at first but now it was all I could think of and my face turned red as I took my hat off my head and nervously chewed on the edge of it.

“Thank you, Applejack,” Fluttershy said suddenly, revealin’ her face, and I quickly put my hat back on and tried to pretend like I wasn’t anxious. “I’m glad to be your friend too.”

She gave the cutest shy smile I ever seen in my life and I couldn’t help smilin’ brightly back at her in return.

My smile faltered for a sec and became a bit more sheepish. I took my hat off again and fanned myself with it. “So I wasn’t comin’ on too strong or nothin’?”

“No, not at all!” Fluttershy giggled and coyly bat her hoof. “I think you’re sweet, like-” she snickered and her laughter turned into an adorably undignified snort “-an apple.”

Fluttershy immediately registered how cheesy that was soon as she said it and hid her face again and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“That’s adorable,” I said happily. I put my front legs up on the couch and gently brushed Fluttershy’s hair out of her face. “And yer beautiful like a flower.”

She just stared silently at me with her cheeks turnin’ bright red and suddenly I felt like I was inside of an oven.

“That was, uh, I mean—“ I stumbled backward and bumped into a snack table, which startled me and made me jump, makin’ me even more embarrassed. I tried to laugh it off but my cheeks were as red as my namesake. “Sorry, I didn’t, uh—“

“Thank you,” Fluttershy whispered, holdin’ herself with her forelegs and lookin’ at me with a timid smile. “I don’t think anyone’s ever called me beautiful before.”

“Huh,” I didn’t actually think she’d be receptive to my awkward compliments and I didn’t know where to take it from there. “That’s a crime, cuz… you really are beautiful.”

Nice job, Applejack. That’ll really win her over.

Fluttershy poked her head out from the waterfall of hair and just stared into my eyes with her gorgeous teal eyes. She smiled at me and it was like I was suddenly restin’ on a fluffy cloud without a care in the world…

“Ugh, get a room, you two.”

A terse, irritatin’ voice I vaguely recognized suddenly said and ruined the moment, Fluttershy hiding behind her hair again and I was gettin’ seriously ticked off.

“This is our room,” I said angrily as I turned to face whoever was talkin’. It was one of Starlight’s teammates, that icy purple pony with the white hair and big orange glasses and whatnot.

“I meant a hotel room, genius,” the girl groaned.

“How ‘bout you get outta here,” I walked slowly over to the pony and spoke coldly, glowerin’ at her with half a mind to just start our fight right then and there, “before you need a hospital room?”

The mare just stared me dead in the eyes like she barely even registered my presence, Fluttershy shudderin’ anxiously on the couch and me about ready to buck this girl’s head clean off.

“Hey, guys?”

I wasn’t expectin’ to hear Rainbow Dash’s voice and it took me by surprise, my ears perkin’ up as I looked confusedly at the door she’d suddenly come through.

“Maybe you should save it for the fight, huh?”

Rainbow had just walked in the door from outside the arena and could already sense the tension in the room. It surprised me a bit that her first instinct was to defuse it instead of gettin’ popcorn or somethin’, but she wasn’t wrong.

I huffed irritably at the purple mare and walked back over to Fluttershy, but I still kept my eye on my opponent. Me and Rainbow Dash both glared at her until she just shrugged and walked back out the door she came in from, back into the hallway.

“What was that about?” Rainbow scoffed.

“Dunno,” I shrugged, feelin’ a little restless that I didn’t get to wreck that girl like I wanted, but I supposed it’d just have to wait ‘til later. “Y’alright, Fluttershy?”

“Y-yes,” Fluttershy nodded but her face was still behind her hair. “She’s scary.”

“Eh, I guess so,” I said casually, sidlin’ up to Fluttershy on the couch to keep her company. “I’ll buck her right into next week if I get the chance though.”

“So where’s Rarity?” Rainbow asked abruptly. “I wanted to talk to her before the match.”

“You wanted to talk to Rarity?” I said suspiciously with an eyebrow raised and an amused half-smirk.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said bitterly, like she was bein’ forced to do a school project or somethin’ ‘gainst her will. “So where is she?”

“She went to talk to Starlight Glimmer,” I explained, rollin’ my eyes at Rainbow’s attitude. “Over thataway,” I pointed my hoof toward the door Starlight’s friend came from.

“Got it, thanks.”

Without another word Rainbow dashed off through the door. I was glad to see her leave but I still sighed irritably once she was gone. That mare gave me a headache somethin’ fierce.

“Sorry about all that, sugarcube,” I looked at Fluttershy sittin’ next to me on the couch and smiled weakly at her. “Didn’t expect all this fuss in what was supposed to be a private waitin’ room.”

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy breathed a soft sigh and let go of her hair, letting it fall all around her face but only coverin’ one eye this time. “I appreciate you trying to help me, and…”

Fluttershy blushed and moved her hooves to grab her hair again but she stopped herself, placing all four legs on the couch and smilin’ at me.

“I really like that you-” she blushed again and couldn’t help but avert her eyes from mine “-that you called me beautiful.”

“Anytime, sugarcube,” I said with a proud smile and bright red, flustered cheeks. Fluttershy’s bashful smile that she returned nearly melted my heart into a puddle.

What a sweetheart.

****

-RARITY-

Starlight Glimmer and I stepped into the hall to have a one-on-one chat. Something about Starlight’s demeanor was off-putting to me but I couldn’t quite place it.

This whole situation was fishy though, with her team specifically wanting to challenge our team even though they had already gotten a free pass to the second preliminaries. Something strange was going on and I did not like it one bit, but I was determined to get to the bottom of it and what better way than to just plunge straight in?

“So,” I said politely as the two of us stood facing one another in an empty, almost eerily featureless gray hallway, “what can I help you with, Starlight Gimmer? What is it you wished to speak with me about?”

Starlight chuckled softly, putting on an air of polite elegance.

She was a pony I could very much see myself in at times, but there was still something about her that disturbed me, and that element of her came much more to the forefront when she suddenly stared daggers at me, a delicate smile still on her face as she said, “I just wanted to give you some friendly advice.”

“Is that right?” I said skeptically, putting on an air of polite composure that rivaled—nay, surpassed—hers. “And whatever would that be?”

“Drop out of the tournament,” Starlight said, venom pouring from her words even as she spoke them in the most pleasant of tones. “You’re too weak for this.”

“Ah…” I chuckled nervously.

Where did THAT come from?

“That’s uh, a very odd request. Why do you bring this up?”

“Please, Rarity,” Starlight rolled her eyes and began pacing around me in a circle, “I don’t need to tell you how pathetic that ‘fight’ against Igneous Rock was. You were there.”

I backed myself against a wall so that Starlight could no longer walk around me, since trying to keep up with her was going to make me dizzy, but she walked right up in front of me and cornered me instead, so maybe that wasn’t such a good option.

“And… your point would be?” I asked indignantly.

Starlight let out an acerbic chuckle, “You were pathetic,” she hissed, that ever present smile still on her face before she raised her hoof to her mouth and gave a haughty laugh.

“Don’t even get me started on your attempt to defend your friend from the Mane-iac!” Starlight exclaimed. “She defeated you in less than thirty seconds. You think you can compete in Bifrost with that kind of power? Don’t kid yourself.”

Starlight laughed softly, every breath exhaled like a sharp dagger in my ears.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” I said angrily, lightly yet firmly stomping my hoof on the ground in front of me, even as I felt my cheeks burn from the truth in her words.

I couldn’t deny it of course, as much as I would have liked to. The evidence spoke for itself. I was weak, and I knew it.

Everyone knew it.

“Are you trying to get me off my game? Is that it?” I asked defiantly. “Trying to intimidate me, perhaps? Come now, Starlight Glimmer, what is it you’re after?”

“I’m just looking out for you, Rarity,” Starlight smiled at me and gently brushed a hoof across my inflamed cheek, the mock concern in her voice making me ill.

She stepped ever closer to me even as I was cornered against the wall until my back was practically flat against it.

“Isn’t that what trans solidarity is all about?” Starlight said. “So as a concerned friend, I just want to tell you that you should just give up. It’s hopeless.”

Just give up. It’s hopeless.

There was no way Starlight Glimmer could have known the power those words had over me, could she? After all, how could she have possibly known?

She wasn’t there as a frightened teenager cowered underneath her bedsheets, the bloodied shards of a shattered mirror lying all over the ground as she dropped them, recoiling from the pain of slicing them against her legs.

It’s hopeless.

She couldn’t have known about the teenage mare staring into the empty mirror with a shard held in her magic, pressed tightly, painfully, up against her neck, the voice in her head urging her that just one clean cut would take the pain away.

She didn’t have to know. The effect was the same.

I said nothing and simply stood as firm as I was able on trembling legs, my scowl losing its intimidation factor from the tears that presented themselves unbidden and began to ruin my makeup. I said nothing to the mare as I walked past her, back to my team’s waiting room.

“If you want to prove me wrong…”

Starlight said as she walked the opposite direction to her own waiting room, her poisonous voice sounding so much like the voice in the head of that teenage mare that it caused me to stop in my tracks and turn around to face her.

“I’ll be fighting in the first round,” Starlight looked over her shoulder at me, and there was a gleam in her eye. Bloodlust, perhaps? “Maybe I’ll see you there?

With another soft ladylike laugh, Starlight returned to her room and left me in the hall alone, haunted by the inarguable truth of her knifelike words and the feeling of anger and helplessness brewing inside me.

My nerves were shot and I was trembling as I just stood there, staring at the empty space that Starlight had just filled… it killed me inside that I couldn’t bring myself to deny any of Starlight’s accusations and I grit my teeth in frustration as I realized the utter burden that I placed on my team…

I didn’t feel any better when I finally found the strength to turn back and walk toward the waiting room, only to see a familiar pony standing in the doorway staring at me with her cold violet eyes.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” Rainbow Dash said.

****

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

Pinkie Pie and I were extremely bored sitting around in the large waiting room watching Sunny Flare do her makeup in silence as we waited for Rarity or Applejack to return, but thankfully Sugarcoat came back instead, which was enough of a signal for me that it was okay to leave, Pinkie Pie reluctantly following me at my insistence.

I just… I just needed to get away from that room, and all the weird stuff that was said there. I knew Rarity would be fine with Starlight Glimmer, nopony I knew was stronger than Rarity, but I was starting to get really antsy and I wanted to just sit in Team Destiny’s waiting room and calm down a little.

Also Rainbow Dash charged through the room and into the far hallway? No idea what that was about.

As for Pinkie and I, we walked back to the Team Destiny room, Pinkie’s tail trailing along the floor behind her as she shuffled her feet behind me with a huffy scowl like a kid being dragged out of a toy store. I tried to ignore that and just head straight for the room where, once we stepped inside and closed the door behind us, we were greeted by the sight of Applejack and Fluttershy locking eyes with each other.

“Are we interrupting something?” I asked innocently, the implications of their interaction one hundred percent lost on me.

“Uh, no,” Applejack said, her cheeks turning red as she turned to look at Pinkie and I.

Pinkie had a very penetrating smirk on her face as she looked at Applejack, and my teammate was seemingly becoming more flustered the more her sister stared at her.

“Me and Fluttershy were just complimentin’ each other, that’s all.”

Applejack smiled wide, a little too wide to the point where it looked a little weird, and Fluttershy smiled and nodded also.

“Okay,” I said cheerfully with a smile. “You’re both great ponies, I suppose a few compliments are only natural.”

“Did somepony say condiments?” Pinkie said abruptly, holding bottles of ketchup and mustard.

Fluttershy and Applejack were both snickering at Pinkie’s antics and my bemused and bewildered face but all I had to say was “No?”

I looked at AJ and Fluttershy who were both still laughing a little and just felt even more confused.

“Eh, that’s okay,” Pinkie shrugged and threw the bottles in the air but I swear I didn’t see them ever land. Pinkie was a strange pony.

“So,” Pinkie stood on her hind legs and pointed at Applejack and myself, completing forgetting about what we had just been talking about or the stuff in the public waiting room, “are you girls ready for your big fight?!”

“I think so,” I said ponderously, tapping my chin with a hoof and wondering if I really was prepared, then I thought what if I wasn’t and started thinking about if there were any supplies or spells or anything that I might’ve needed that I didn’t have—

“I’m absolutely ready to knock some heads, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said with an assertive smirk, her voice breaking me out of my anxiety spiral.

“Awesome!” Pinkie Pie said in a sing-songy voice.

“Do you think you two will be okay?” Fluttershy asked quietly. “Did you get a good read on your opponents already?”

“Eh, we’ll be fine,” Applejack shrugged and put a foreleg over the back of the couch, her entire body radiating with pure confidence. “Like I said before, everythin’ we need to know ‘bout our opponents we’ll learn durin’ the fight.”

“I agree,” I said, trying to pass off an anxious sigh as merely a deep breath. “Besides, Applejack and I are strong. We won our last fights, I’m sure we can win this time too.”

The entire room went dead silent as we all realized what I had accidentally just said about Rarity and every one of us looked over our shoulders to make sure she was definitely not here or listening.

“Anyway,” Applejack broke the icy silence as I just hung my head and lightly slapped my burning cheeks, “we ain’t gonna let y’all down. That’s a promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?” Pinkie Pie leaned up toward Applejack and stared her right in the eye.

“Of course!” Applejack laughed. As she prepared to do the whole Pinkie Promise thing I suddenly had a flashback to when she showed me it and I remembered it clear as crystal, so I joined her in reciting the Pinkie Promise.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Applejack and I said in unison, doing the silly gestures in nearly perfect sync.

The imagery of me and Applejack doing that silly chant together was too much for the four of us and we all burst out laughing, Pinkie grabbing the rest of us and pulling us into a warm and comforting hug, and suddenly my fake projected confidence disappeared, replaced instead with real excitement and pride.

Team Destiny was going to ace this, I just knew it.

****

-RARITY-

“What do you want, Rainbow Dash?” I said cautiously. I had no idea what in Equestria could possibly possess Rainbow Dash to want to speak with me before my match but I was certain that no matter what it was my afternoon was about to take another turn for the worse.

“I wanted to wish you good luck,” Rainbow Dash said, pawing at the ground with her head hung shamefully, “and to apologize, obviously, for being, like, the worst earlier. The other day, when you…”

Rainbow grunted and softly kicked the ground with a hind leg. She seemed… genuinely humble, which made me wonder if Starlight Glimmer had cast some sort of illusion on me or something because the Rainbow I knew would never act like this.

“You did my fr—“ Rainbow cleared her throat and said, “You did my team and I a big favor, and I don’t know how to pay you back. But I wanted to apologize for being a real jerk about it… and to wish you the best of luck. Your team absolutely deserves to go to the second prelims as much as our team… and the three of us…”

Rainbow kicked the ground again and grunted painfully, as if she were being prodded to talk by a thousand needles poking into her skin.

“Me, Pinkie and Fluttershy all really hope you’ll be in the second prelims with us. So… good luck!”

With that Rainbow nodded with a stern expression on her face and lifted off in order to leave but I stopped her by saying “Hold on a moment, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow landed back on the ground and looked anxiously at me as I walked closer to her.

“Thank you for that,” I said. My tone sounded rather cold, although that was not my intention, I just had no idea how to contextualize the woman in front of me with the bully that I knew. “I appreciate that you would come all this way to support my companions and I, and I accept your apology.”

“Yay,” Rainbow said meekly, making me absolutely lose it and erupt into a snorting laugh, which caused Rainbow to snicker as well.

I walked past Rainbow to return to my team’s waiting room, an oddly enchanted smile on my face, but Rainbow said something that caught me off guard.

“Do you, um…” She took a deep breath and I looked over my shoulder at her and waited for her to speak. “Do you miss… the past? I mean, like… childhood time… when you and I… used to be… when you, me and Applejack used to hang out?”

It struck me as odd that Rainbow would recall such a time. It was so long ago, and the three of us only got along for maybe a few months, maybe a year, before everything went downhill… very strange of her to ask. Still, I couldn’t lie to her.

“No.”

I couldn’t bring myself to conjure any pleasant memories I had of Rainbow Dash, if there were any to recall whatsoever they had been long since buried under a mountain of humiliating pranks and mean-spirited bullying.

“Ah,” Rainbow said, turning her head to look away from me.

I shrugged it off and returned to the waiting room where my team would prepare for our match. I had more important things on my mind than dissecting whatever was going through Rainbow Dash’s mind.

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I left my talk with Rarity feeling… really embarrassed. I think my face was still all red by the time I left the waiting rooms and stood outside the arena, letting the rain wash over me and remind me what an idiot I was.

“Rainbow Dash!”

I didn’t have long to contemplate that though, as Pinkie Pie’s voice immediately distracted me. I turned around to see her bouncing toward me with an umbrella hat on, Fluttershy walking timidly behind her as usual, trying to cover her head from the rain with her wings.

“Hey, Pinkie! Hey, Fluttershy!” I said with a confident smirk, shoving my embarrassment down into a dark crevice where no one could see it and putting my game face on instead. “I came to watch the match with you girls.”

Pinkie Pie gasped in delight and hovered off the ground for a second and, quick as lightning, ran over to me and hugged me, nearly strangling the life out of me too. “That’s so great! Ah, I wish I’d brought cotton candy or something! We could have like a snack-and-cheering-for-our-friends party!”

“I don’t think cotton candy is good for rainy days,” Fluttershy said with a soft giggle, her hoof pressed against her mouth.

Pinkie looked up suddenly like it hadn’t even occurred to her that it was raining, despite her umbrella hat, and then got rain on her face and bounced away from me to shake her head violently.

“Still though!” she said suddenly, hopping in place excitedly, “I’m really glad you decided to join us, Rainbow!”

“Me too,” Fluttershy added.

I nodded and smiled but kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to share what happened between me and Rarity and I didn’t want to disappoint my teammates by… I dunno, letting them see what a big stupid embarrassed loser I was.

The three of us walked into the stands to take our seats for the fight, Fluttershy trembling with anticipation and anxiety and Pinkie jittery and excited, a big smile on her face as she rubbed her front hooves together.

As for me, I played it cool but all I felt was sick. Not just from embarrassment, or at least not just from firsthand embarrassment. But quite frankly, I didn’t have to watch Rarity’s first fight to know it was a disaster, and that couldn’t have been easy for her.

Rarity… she had that ego, that haughtiness. I recognized it in her since I had something similar going on, and I knew better than anyone that the bigger the ego, the lower the self-worth. Losing another match, especially after being the one to decide to throw her team’s fight with my team, would be devastating for Rarity.

And that’s not even going into if another member of her team lost… to fail to reach the second prelims, all because she wasn’t strong enough? And because she sacrificed her team’s easy victory for my team? Ugh, like I said… I was getting sick thinking about it.

“Are you okay, Rainbow?” Pinkie asked me, gently nudging me with a hoof. “Do you need my umbrella hat?”

“I…” I looked upward and suddenly realized I was soaking wet. “Uh… if you don’t need it.”

“Nah, I have a spare,” Pinkie pulled another umbrella hat out of her hair and handed it to me. She pulled a third out for an eager Fluttershy, who happily put it on her head.

I placed the umbrella hat on my head and even though I knew I looked like a total knob, I didn’t care. I felt better not just because I stopped getting rained on, but because… it was really sweet of Pinkie to look out for me like that.

Acknowledging that feeling was really embarrassing and it took an awful lot of willpower not to rip the hat off my head and throw it but I forced myself to keep it on because… well because I deserved to be happy, I guess, and to appreciate the gestures of… of my… teammates.

I took a deep breath in through the nose and slowly let it out through the mouth, letting go of my anger and embarrassment, or at least letting them just be.

As the three of us sat eagerly in the stands we finally saw the first two fighters enter the arena… and one of them was Rarity. I put my hooves together and silently wished her the best of luck.

Please don’t blow this, Rarity.

****

-RARITY-

“You super sure about this, Rarity?” Applejack said cautiously, pacing nervously across the floor of the waiting room just as I had finished explaining my desire to fight Starlight Glimmer in the first round.

“I am,” I said with a confident nod, though I was anything but confident, not helped in the slightest by the painfully furrowed brow on Applejack’s face, my old friend looking more concerned than I had perhaps ever seen her before.

“I dunno…” Twilight anxiously tapped her hooves together as she sat on the couch, her breathing slow and steady and methodical, but above all else, very nervous. “Starlight’s the leader of her team, right? Wouldn’t she be the strongest?”

“Well technically Rarity’s the leader of our team,” Applejack said, “so not necessarily.”

Applejack’s eyes widened suddenly as she realized what she said and she tipped her hat bashfully to me as her gaze drifted toward anything but my eyes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean—“

“It’s quite alright, Applejack,” I sighed bitterly, unable to deny the truth in Applejack’s accidental statement, no matter how much that truth stung at my pride. “I am well aware that I am the weakest of the three of us…”

To be honest, it was quite likely I was the weakest of the six of us, counting Rainbow Dash’s team.

“And that’s why I need to do this,” I said, “I need to prove I’m not completely worthless.”

The others both fixed me with concerned looks and I added with a polite chuckle, “In a fight, I mean.”

No, I meant it quite literally, and while neither pony questioned me, I think they both knew what I meant.

“Like I said,” Applejack sat on her haunches and shifted uncomfortably, giving me a piercing –if gently concerned— stare, “if yer sure this is what ya wanna do, I ain’t gonna stop ya. But I got a bad feelin’ about this.”

“Likewise,” Twilight added, taking a rather painfully slow deep breath before she continued speaking. “I would really rather face Starlight myself… I’m pretty sure I’d be a match for her…”

Twilight groaned and I couldn’t help but laugh at her awkward realization that she also unintentionally insulted my abilities.

“No offense.”

I let out a polite chuckle that elegantly masked the cold bitterness that chilled my entire body as I was faced with not only the reality of my inadequacy, but the unambiguous confirmation that everyone knew it.

“Listen, girls,” I said, “the fact that you are both so antsy about me accepting this challenge is exactly why I need to do it.

“I know that, because of me, we have a loss on our record… and the outcome of this fight will determine whether or not we can continue in Bifrost, but…”

I groaned sadly, almost pitiably, and hung my head. I exhaled sharply through my nose and looked sternly at the others. “If I cannot even win a single bout on my own, then what business do I have in Bifrost?”

“I get that,” Applejack said tersely, “but why her? Why does it have to be Starlight Glimmer? I dunno why, but that girl gives me a seriously dangerous vibe.”

“Because, darling…” I rolled my eyes and realized… that I didn’t really have an answer to that. Not a good one at any rate. Was it just because she challenged me?

No, not exactly. It was because I needed to prove her wrong. She was like the little voice in my head that haunts me given flesh, saying all the horrible things that I always say about myself but from an outside perspective. I needed to prove her wrong, prove myself wrong…

“Think of it this way, Applejack,” I said wistfully, giving a cold smirk to the orange mare, “it’s a matter of pride.”

Applejack stared at me in silence for a brief yet seemingly endless moment before taking a deep breath and releasing it with a slowly exhaled sigh.

“We’ve already given our answer, Rarity,” Applejack said, her head hung low so that the shadow of her hat framed her brow and shielded her eyes from my view. “We support you, even if we would advise against this.”

I turned towards Twilight, satisfied with Applejack’s response, and gave my sister the most charming smile I could muster. The poor dear looked like she was going to sweat herself into a puddle but all she did was smile back at me and nod slowly.

“Thank you both,” I said with a respectful bow of my head, “I won’t let you down.”

When I walked into the arena, Starlight Glimmer was already waiting.

“I’m glad to see you, Rarity,” she said with a polite smile and venom dripping from her soft voice. “I didn’t think you would show up.”

“I suppose I don’t know when to give up,” I said regally, flicking a hoof through my illustrious mane.

“We’ll see…” Starlight said ominously with a smile.

The two of us stared each other down, glaring icy daggers toward one another as we measured the strength of the other’s grit and determination. This would be an intense battle and we both knew it.

“Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy the show!” Starlight exclaimed suddenly, putting on a cutesy demeanor and waving to the crowds.

“Will you focus on what’s important?!” I shouted in annoyance and stamped my hoof.

On any other occasion, I would happily have been waving toward the crowd right alongside her, eager to lap up the affections of the enormous audience. I suppose the fact that I was solely focused on her and on our fight was a clear sign that she was already getting underneath my coat.

Starlight chuckled with a hoof raised in front of her mouth. “This is a public spectacle, Rarity. Making sure the audience is entertained is important,” she put her hoof on the ground and narrowed her eyes at me, her aura cold as ice. “But you should already know that, right?”

She wasn’t wrong. I looked into the stands full of agitated and eager spectators and marveled at their sheer number, before just as quickly finding myself sweating under their gaze as though a heat lamp were right above my head.

My mind flashed back to the sensation of feeling blood dripping out of my shattered skull and down my neck, and I nearly retched as I considered the notion of how many of these spectators here had seen that shameful display.

“I suppose I’m just focused on winning,” I said flippantly, flicking my hair to the side with a shake of my head.

“What a conceited thing to say,” Starlight said with an irritating smirk.

I simply glowered in response.

No more words, it was time for battle.

The illusion was cast shortly after and I found myself alone in a crisp, dimly lit forest under a grey sky, the sun barely peeking through sickly green-grey clouds, the land dense with trees and other plant-life that would make it difficult tracking Starlight’s movements… although not nearly as difficult as I expected as I immediately heard her voice among the trees.

“Rarity.”

Her calm and pleasant voice made me anxious as I stalked the brush looking for a visual cue to her location. “I want to ask you a question. You don’t have to answer, mind you, but I’m going to ask regardless.”

“By all means,” I said calmly, my gait becoming a more relaxed walk with my head held high. Projecting confidence was key, I didn’t want to look like she had me on edge right out of the gate… even if she absolutely did. “Ask away, Starlight Glimmer.”

“What do you think is the most powerful school of unicorn magic?”

Starlight’s question was odd to me, I was expecting something much more personal, or at least philosophical.

“I wouldn’t know, Starlight,” I said drolly, my eyes still darting through the gaps between the trees for any sign of Starlight but coming up empty thus far. “I believe all the schools have their own strengths and weaknesses, isn’t that right?”

“Oh, sure,” Starlight chuckled and I could practically hear her rolling her eyes. “But in any competitive field, there will always be a hierarchy where someone or something reigns over all the others. So what do you think, is it… divination?”

Starlight’s voice echoed through the trees and I suddenly realized that I had been following her voice like a complete fool without even considering that she was throwing it with magic.

I stopped dead in my tracks in an eerily lit clearing. I tried to make use of my own divination to find the source of Starlight’s magical aura. Even though my divination wasn’t terribly strong, finding a pony in the midst of casting a spell should have been a simple feat… but I found nothing.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t find a trace of a magical aura, but rather that in this phantasm the entire world around me was composed of a magical aura and I was having difficulty disseminating Starlight’s aura from that of the illusionists who controlled the phantasm.

“The answer is no, Rarity,” Starlight’s voice echoed through the air again, sending a shiver up my spine. “It is not divination. Perhaps it’s… conjuration.”

I turned my head to the sky and saw several large spheres of teal flame crashing down into the forest around me, setting several trees ablaze. I was able to dodge the thrown fireballs with quick footwork and a few minor abjurations, but it was still far too close for comfort, and then I had to worry about the burning trees as they began to fall toward me.

I dodged the first falling tree but I had nowhere to go but further inside the forest as it continued to burn with teal fire. It felt like the flames were being controlled as they licked the air around me, my barely-competent skill at abjuration the only thing rescuing me from severe burns.

Before I knew it I was set upon by a pack of timberwolves who ran out of the fires to attack me. I ran further into the forest but the fire was spreading faster than I could run, eventually barring my egress as another tree was set ablaze and fell before my path.

I couldn’t exactly make my way past a solid wall of fire and bark so I turned on my hooves to face the timberwolves.

“Nope, that’s wrong too.”

Starlight’s voice suddenly ringing in my ears didn’t do my concentration or morale any favors as I stared down the snarling, flaming timberwolves with a wall of fire at my back.

“Hmm… what about transmutation?”

Suddenly the trees that still towered over me were no longer ablaze, which would have been marvelous if not for the fact that their roots coiled around my body and my limbs, trapping me in place as the blazing timberwolves slowly approached, forcing me to think quickly if I wanted to survive this.

I may not have known how to cast powerful spells but years of being present for Twilight’s magical experiments certainly taught me how to screw them up!

I funneled all the energy I could muster into my horn and just let it explode out of me, a bright blue light enveloping the area around me for several feet, annihilating every tree, fire and wolf in its path and leaving me standing breathless and weary in a dimly lit clearing yet again.

“Well done, Rarity.”

Starlight walked slowly out of the forest into the area of desolation I had wrought, and sweat dripped down my brow as I stumbled back, my breathing still heavy as she slowly drew closer and closer.

“But my question has yet to be answered,” Starlight said. “Oh, what if the strongest magic is necromancy?”

My eyes widened as I felt the cold touch of bony fingers on my legs and I looked down in horror as black skeletal clawed hands crawled out of the dirt and grabbed all four of my legs, binding my front legs and hind legs together and bringing me to the ground.

I tried to struggle against them but every second they touched me made my limbs feel colder and weaker until I could barely feel them anymore.

“Let me… go!” I struggled more and tried to channel more magical energy but another hand crawled out of the dirt and grabbed my horn, sucking the energy from it and making me feel weak.

Last but not least, another pair of hands wrapped themselves around my muzzle, silencing me.

“Mmmrmfgh! Frrmgh!” I tried to open my mouth but only those pathetic squeals came out, immediately searing my cheeks with embarrassment.

“The answer, darling Rarity,” Starlight spoke with a cold, almost sadistic cheer as she paced over to my location, “is that the most powerful school of magic…” she lowered her head toward mine with an eerie smile on her face and whispered, “…is illusion.”

My eyes widened as the pieces of the puzzle all clicked into place and I was beginning to realize the scope of danger that I was in.

“Do you know why illusion is the strongest magic, Rarity?” Starlight stood above me and looked at me with a sneering smile.

I tried to weakly struggle against the ghoulish bonds keeping me captive but my strength had severely waned from their magic and I had no fight left in my limbs.

“What’s the matter, Rarity? Why won’t you answer my question?” Starlight said teasingly, my red cheeks burning a little brighter at her mocking.

Starlight paced around me in a circle just like she did in the hallway and began her tiresome monologue.

“The reason illusion is the most powerful magic,” she said, “is because ponies believe what they see. It’s a fact of our existence, we all believe what we see. If you change what someone sees, you can change what they believe, and if you can change their beliefs you can control them just as easily.”

Starlight looked around at the forest clearing surrounding us, completely shattered or charred black trees as far as we could see, as the sky was quickly covered in darkness that was meagerly lit by a blanket of stars.

“This fact of our existence,” Starlight continued, “is true in an obvious literal sense, but is much more interestingly applied to the mind. Take history for example. If you encounter loss after loss after loss in your life, you begin to see yourself as a loser, and you believe it. On the other side, if you hit a vein of good luck and go on a winning streak for a bit, you believe yourself invincible.”

Starlight sighed and stood in front of me but she couldn’t help but chuckle at my pathetic visage, any color in my limbs sucked away by her ghoulish magical attack. Given her whole spiel I knew she was using illusion magic on me, but I had no idea how it was keeping me physically bound or how it sapped my strength so easily.

“That’s why anxiety, depression and dysphoria are such nightmares,” Starlight said, her tone becoming noticeably more grim than before. “These things trap you in a prison inside your own mind, they cast a wall of words, expectations, painful memories… this wall in your mind isn’t real but slamming into it is as painful as hitting a wall of brick or stone.”

Starlight clicked her tongue and grinned viciously. She walked over to me and gently placed her hoof atop my cheek, bearing down just enough to make me feel it but not enough to cause injury.

“Bringing it back to the history thing I mentioned,” Starlight continued as she ran her hooves tenderly across my blushing face as my mouth was sealed shut by the hands wrapped around it, “nopony can see the future, but we can all see the past so we let our history guide and control our future.”

She roughly tapped her hoof against my cheek once, twice, thrice, a painful wince coming from my sealed lips each time.

“Somepony says we’re this or we consider ourselves that and suddenly that’s what we see and what we believe, so we become that thing and we never consider just how arbitrary every facet of our existence really is.”

Starlight suddenly stomped on my ribs with her front legs, sending a wave of crushing pain through my body, a pained grunt kept sealed inside my throat by these cursed bony hands.

Starlight climbed on top of me and placed one hoof on my neck, tearing away the dark teal scarf and pressing down with a hoof against the bright pink mark underneath ever so delicately, just enough to make me sweat.

“At the end of the day,” Starlight said with a sinister smile, “the things we see aren’t real, they are completely arbitrary. But we can’t help believing in them regardless. We’ll cling to anything that claims to make sense of the chaos in our existence, but every single thing is arbitrary and meaningless.”

Starlight hopped back onto the ground in front of me and as she was finished toying with me the black hands melted away, returning to me some modicum of strength.

I was able to stand back on my legs, shaky though they were, without Starlight’s interference and we stood in the clearing for a moment simply staring at each other without words.

“Control what someone sees,” Starlight said with a serene smile, “and you can control their entire life. And that’s why the strongest magic… is illusion.”

I felt my strength returning to me and backed up a few inches. This battle was just about to start for real… but suddenly I felt a heat inside my body and began to breath heavily, my cheeks burning as I felt the eyes of the entire audience on me out of nowhere. I wasn’t blind to their presence before now but for some reason… I couldn’t separate myself from their gaze in my mind.

“Now then, darling,” Starlight said, a black leather leash appearing in front of her, held in the air via her magic, “this where the fun begins.”

Fun fact: as of this writing, Rarity’s fight with Starlight here is the longest single scene in the entire fic, at over 3000 words.

There’s a clip from some movie I’ve never seen where Jeff Bridges is like “you’re not wrong, you’re just an ASSHOLE!” and that pretty much describes Starlight’s monologue in this chapter.

Also also, there’s only six schools of unicorn magic because evocation is basically just pegasus magic and enchantment is just a huge pain in the neck to write and not worth it.

-RARITY-

Before I could even blink Starlight wrapped the leather leash around my neck and choked me with it, dragging me toward her despite my attempts to dig my feet into the charred grass to stop her.

She bound my front legs together then my hind legs with similar leather straps and placed one around my muzzle as well. I tried to scream and struggle, but her magic weakened my already exhausted body and drained me of any fight humiliatingly quickly.

She dragged me across the grassy dirt until I was sitting bound and helpless at her feet and she placed a single hoof delicately on my face, pressing down against my cheek and making me grunt in displeasure before raising her leg and stomping on my face several times, leaving me with a bright red gash across my cheek.

As I braced myself for more of Starlight’s abuse and tried to formulate a way to escape her clutches, I tried to decipher the truth behind her magic. She had used nearly all the six schools of unicorn magic during our fight, mastering all six schools should be a lifetime of work and research.

However, it was not impossible that all of those magical abilities that I had seen were simply illusions, but the bite of the Timberwolves and the licking of the flames were all too real…

And only after it was too late to defend myself did I realize just how powerful Starlight really was.

Her mastery over illusions wasn’t limited to simply visions or hallucinations… she had taken control of the very phantasm that contained our fight. Her power was that strong, enough to control every blade of grass, every leaf in the wind, right down to the very hairs on my body.

As if in answer to my question I felt the hairs on my torso stand on end, Starlight painfully plucking a few from my body with her magic.

“You figured it out, Rarity?” she said with a sneering smirk. “I’m so happy for you.”

How did she know? Could she read my mind as well?

“You’re wondering if I can read your mind, Rarity?” Starlight chuckled, her accurate deciphering of my thoughts causing me to start panicking and struggling harder against my bonds, although I was already aware it would do me no good. “Rarity, darling, your mind is an open book to anyone who bothers to give you a second glance.”

I looked around and could see through the phantasm. I could see the crowd of people, thousands likely, that were watching me bound and struggling helplessly in front of Starlight. My cheeks burned red as I tried one last pitiful attempt at freedom but I knew what I really needed to do was surrender… but I had no way to do that with my mouth sealed.

“Do you want to surrender, Rarity?” Starlight said with a polite grin. “If you do,” Starlight kneeled down to look me in the eyes and playfully patted me on the nose, “just say so.”

She chuckled and I grunted angrily at her, trying again in vain to move so I could at least kick my captor in the leg as a pathetic and impotent display of defiance. Starlight’s smile disappeared and she looked down at me with disdain.

“Stand.”

She pulled on the leash around my neck, choking me as she dragged me to my feet via her magic, although bound as they were I could only stand completely still, breathing heavily as my face burned from the attention of the crowd, my eyes darting around agitatedly looking desperately for some place I could turn my gaze that wouldn’t deepen my humiliation.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Starlight sneered and I suddenly felt a sharp pain tear through the side of my torso as Starlight struck it with a sharp whip, leaving a nasty red mark in the weapon’s wake. “To be punished?”

I grit my teeth as yet another lash of the whip struck me on the hip, right across my Cutie Mark. I looked back at Starlight shamefully, tears in my eyes and begging her silently to stop… to not bare my shame in front of these people… and then I remembered that Team Rainboom was in the audience.

The thought that Rainbow Dash was seeing this pathetic display made my knees weak and I almost fell were it not for the strangling leash around my neck that choked me until I regained my standing posture. I tried to scan for her in the crowd but the ponies in the stands all blurred together, obscured as they were by the foggy visage of the phantasm as well as the tears glistening across my eyes.

“You do deserve to be punished, Rarity.” Starlight said coldly, as though she were simply relaying an obvious fact, slashing me yet again between my leg and torso with her whip and causing me to release a pathetic, muffled yelp.

“Running away from your family, leaving Twilight behind, failing Applejack…”

How does she know about any of this?!

I heard her faint chuckle in my ears, not from where she stood but in the air around me. “And what about Rainbow Dash?”

My tears began to fall down my face as I struggled and screamed for Starlight to stop talking, managing to loosen my gag just enough to squeak out a pathetic “P-please…”

“Still talking, Rarity?” Starlight scoffed but then a wicked grin appeared on her face. “No one wants to hear you.”

I felt a disturbing sensation in my mouth like I had swallowed foaming soap before the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. I opened my maw as wide as my gag would allow, which was barely anything, and let the blood pour out. I tried to speak or make some kind of noise but my tongue had simply been erased, replaced by this fountain of blood.

“That’s better,” Starlight said with mock cheer, daintily raising a hoof off the ground. “It suits you. In fact-” the whip that Starlight held aloft began to transform “-a whip is too good for you.”

My eyes widened and I grunted and tried to scream as the leather whip became a collection of leather belts with shards of stone and broken glass sewn into them.

Starlight slashed the instrument of torture against my bare skin, shredding the side of my torso to bloody scraps as I let out a gargling scream of anguish. The leather strap around my muzzle fell to the ground and I immediately inhaled sharply through my mouth but the leash around my neck tightened, causing me to choke as blood filled my mouth again.

The leash loosened and I began to fall, my whole body feeling heavy as I hit the ground and the pool of blood seeping into the dirt and grass. Blood was pouring from my mouth and the wound across my torso, and I couldn’t breathe with the leash around my neck.

I just needed this to be over.

I heard whispers, murmurs, laughs and suggestive comments from the ponies watching this horrible display, watching in enraptured awe as I was laid bare in front of them to mock my humiliation.

“What do you think Rainbow Dash would say?” Starlight said. “If she saw you like this? Do you think she could ever look at you the same way again? What about your sister? Or Applejack?”

I said nothing. Did nothing. Just glared at her, for that was all I was capable of. I cursed her for bringing my rival’s name into this, much less my sister… but I was powerless and all too aware of that fact.

“Hmm… I guess it’s over then,” Starlight said with a lax shrug. “The only thing left is for you to die.”

She brandished her sadistic weapon again and struck me across the face with it again and again and again until my face was nearly unrecognizable, just a bloody scarred mass of destroyed flesh and tissue barely held together as if by string.

She tightened the leash and I could feel the air being choked out of the miserable carcass that was left of my body. But I suppose even that was too good for me. The bindings, all of them, disappeared suddenly and I vaguely heard Starlight command me to stand. I did so without thinking, not even realizing I had the energy left to do so.

“Look at you,” Starlight laughed uproariously as I stared deadeyed into the crowd gazing at me from all directions. “This is the fate you deserve, Rarity. To be mocked and humiliated in front of every pony in Equestria. Everyone should know just how pathetic you are.”

I felt a rope coil around my hind legs and wrap tightly around them before lifting me off the ground and hanging me from a tall tree branch.

“There won’t be a quick death,” Starlight hissed, “no sudden end to your torment, simply the passing of time as you hang there helpless to stop everypony in Equestria from seeing your shame and imagining anything they want about your pathetic, disgusting body.”

Suddenly everything became white… and I found myself back in the arena opposite Starlight, ready to vomit and collapse on the ground. She was announced the winner just before or after, but I didn’t hear it…

“What did you-“ I stammered weakly, every ounce of my energy being pooled into the simple act of trying to remain upright “-do to me?”

“That’s the beauty of it, Rarity,” Starlight laughed, “I didn’t do anything. I just gave your mind the keys to the illusion and let it create a prison of your own worst nightmares.”

I suddenly felt far more humiliated standing there in the arena than I had for the entire duration of the torture.

The revelation that she wasn’t simply peering into my mind and taking bits she thought would torment me, but that I was airing every nightmare and self-punishment fantasy I had for the entire country to see… nothing could be more humiliating than that.

“Honestly, I couldn’t have created a better illusion if I tried,” Starlight said teasingly, batting a coy hoof at me. “You’re way kinkier than I could ever be.”

Without a word I turned away and headed back into the waiting room with my tail between my legs, cheeks burning in utter disgrace. I didn’t even have it in my heart to feel angry, just… pathetic.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

I was shaking like a leaf as me and my friends watched the brutal ending of Rarity’s fight. Fluttershy was just straight-up huddled into her seat in tears and Rainbow just stared blankly into the distance, her expression so intense and angry that I thought she might actually explode.

I didn’t think to say anything to them as I got out of my seat and began to leave the arena.

“Where are you going?” Rainbow asked concernedly, her eyes still fixed on the arena.

“I… I need to go see her in person,” I answered desperately, fighting back tears, “I need to go… cheer her up… or something. I dunno, I’ll figure it out when I get there!”

I didn’t wait for Rainbow’s permission before I erupted into full galloping speed to get to Team Destiny’s waiting room.

When I got there the same old door guard was standing in front of the room and I mentally prepared a big speech about how important it was that I go in. I took a deep breath as I approached him but before I could launch into my speech he said, “Just go in,” and moved out of the way.

“Thank you, you’re a life saver!” I said happily as I trotted into the waiting room, any sense of cheer in my body immediately leaving as I saw the grim scene inside.

Rarity was unconscious, laying on the couch and breathing heavily, her face stained with tears and running makeup. Applejack and Twilight were both totally silent, their demeanors cold as ice but with a noticeable fury. They were both really scary.

I inched my way inside, wary of the two and wondering if I had made a mistake in coming here. Applejack turned to me and forced a smile onto her face, saying “Hey Pinkie Pie” and not much else.

“Hi,” I said, “I came to see if…”

I looked at Rarity’s unconscious body and bit my lip to force back tears. Nopony deserves to be treated the way Starlight treated her and it broke my heart to see her like this, especially a pony as kind and sweet as Rarity.

“I need to go out there,” Twilight said abruptly, marching toward the door.

“Are ya sure ya don’t want me to go first, Twi?” Applejack asked though I suspected by her tone that she already knew the answer.

“I am.”

“Can ya give us one sec, Pinkie Pie?” Applejack said cautiously as she took Twilight over to the far side of the room and exiting out the door to the arena together.

I sat on the couch next to where Rarity was sleeping and just took some calming deep breaths, my entire body feeling like it was on fire with nervousness and anxiety. Are those the same thing? Well, both of them at any rate!

A few minutes passed before I saw on the monitor that Twilight had entered the arena but Applejack wasn’t back yet, likely either taking a sec to herself in the little ramp area that leads to the arena or just wanting to watch Twilight’s match close up, I dunno.

I heard a groggy groan and looked over at Rarity who was slowly waking up, opening her eyes wearily and listlessly wiggling her leg dangling off the couch. I didn’t know what to say at first, or if I could say anything without her getting upset, but then she looked over to the monitor and her eyes widened.

“Twilight’s fighting…” she said coldly.

“Yup,” I said casually.

I guess Rarity hadn’t noticed me sitting next to her because she suddenly jolted up and leapt off the couch in surprise but her body wasn’t quite ready for that kinda movement so when her hind feet hit the ground her whole body just collapsed in a heap.

“Uh, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity forced a laugh and I pretended not to see her blushing cheeks, “I didn’t see you there.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” I said, walking over to Rarity and helping her back to her wobbly feet.

“Ah, well, I…” Rarity’s eyes were guided over to the monitor again. “I can’t watch Twilight fight right now. Pinkie Pie, darling, will you help me into the hallway please?”

“Yeah, of course,” I said and let Rarity lean on me as she hobbled toward the door and into the hallway.

We were the only ones in the hall, naturally since it was the Team Destiny hallway and the other team members weren’t allowed in unless they were invited, and Rarity took a few steps forward before sitting down sadly.

“I’m really pathetic, aren’t I?” she said distantly, like she wasn’t entirely herself. It broke my heart to see her like this but I had to keep a strong face on for her sake!

“No, Rarity,” I said with a hopefully calming smile as I walked up next to her and sat down. “Nopony blames you for anyth—“

“Nopony has to blame me, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity hissed, a bitter grin marring her face. “That doesn’t change the fact that if Team Destiny doesn’t make it to the next round… it will be my fault. You don’t blame a fire when it burns your house down, but it’s still the cause.”

I heard sirens in the distance and felt the poisonous scent of smoke and burning wood tingling my nose.

No. We’re not going back to that right now.

“Nopony’s to blame, it was just an accident,” I said with a cheery smile forced onto my face, Rarity arching a suspicious eyebrow at me. “And in this case, Starlight’s at fault here, not you!”

“Starlight didn’t exactly begin this fire, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity shook her head, slowly and sadly.

I didn’t know what to say. I could see the spiral of bad thoughts Rarity was barreling toward, I’d been through it myself more times than I’d care to count, but I was no good with words or anything so… I shut my eyes tight and just hugged her.

At first she didn’t budge at all but after a moment she raised a hoof to take hold of my leg and leaned her head against mine. I heard her start to cry, and try to muffle her own tears so I shuffled closer to her and really embraced her tightly… and then I started crying.

And when I cry I like really cry, waterworks and all, the floor gets all wet and slippery and I holler and sob and it’s just a big mess. But it was honest. Because honesty is really important, even when it’s painful sometimes. Applejack taught me that.

So I cried and hugged Rarity and she started weeping and hugging me back, eventually her crying became a loud, blubbery mess just like mine was and I just kept holding onto her, letting her nuzzle her poor head in my fluffy mane.

We must’ve cried for an hour, or at least a few minutes, before either of us were back to a semblance of a functioning pony.

“Thank you, Pinkie Pie.”

Rarity pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere and dried her eyes with it before offering it to me. I took it and really blew my nose into it which made Rarity look super grossed out for a sec but I smiled nervously and that made her giggle, and seeing her smile after such a hard time made my heart soar.

Rarity walked a few steps away and looked wistfully toward the ceiling.

“I don’t know how to not feel like I’m a burden to my teammates,” she said, “I don’t even know if they will win their fights, and if they don’t…”

Rarity started breathing heavily and I could feel the sobs coming on again so I bounced next to her and nuzzled up against her.

“It’s gonna be okay, Rarity,” I said super soothingly, “we gotta believe in Twilight and Applejack. And nopony thinks you’re a burden.”

Rarity shook her head agitatedly and walked away from me, causing me to fall over. “How can I look at my pathetic history of constant failure and not feel like a burden?”

“Well first,” I sprang up and pranced over in front of Rarity, booping her on the snoot, “you gotta throw out everything that Starlight said. She was just trying to trick you and—“

“But she wasn’t wrong,” Rarity said desperately as she began to tear up again. “How can I not believe what I see with my own eyes?”

I was stunned for a moment by the weight of Rarity’s sadness and the painful reminder of my own sadness.

I puffed up my cheeks and looked Rarity in the eyes. “If you just believe in what you see, then you can’t have any hope! Nopony knows what the future holds, but we can’t move forward without hope for a better life, a life worth living!”

Rarity glanced away from my eyes and narrowed her own. “I don’t… hope has never been my motivator. I’ve always been running away from something. My family, my failed relationships… there’s a hole in my heart and I don’t know… if it can ever be filled.”

I gently placed my forehead against Rarity’s, causing her to look me in the eye again and blush.

“I know exactly what you mean,” I said, “but it’s not enough to just be running away, we have to be running to someplace. And you have a goal, however much I may not like it,” I chuckled at that for emphasis and that made Rarity roll her eyes, but in like a playful way. “Somewhere in your heart is the hope that you can defeat Rainbow, right?”

Rarity’s eyes widened and she took a few steps back, and now I was really worried that I said the wrong thing and made everything a whole lot worse but Rarity quickly defused my fears by saying, “No… that’s not it.”

Actually, that just doubled my fears.

“I don’t think I can defeat Rainbow, but,” she looked around her and a smile crept onto her face as her eyes met mine, “as much as I’m loath to admit it, I do have hope that I can change. I don’t see it, I don’t even believe it… but I hope for it desperately… and I’m willing to do anything to just find out the truth. Can I be the person I want to be?”

“We can absolutely change, Rarity,” I said, forcing myself to believe my own words because oh how I wanted to. “I mean, we were born like boys and we changed our circumstances to reflect the truth, right?”

“That’s true,” a bright smile appeared on Rarity’s face and she ran her hoof through her mane, smiling softly as she pressed her hair against her cheek. She looked at me again and asked, “Do you think I can be… strong?”

“I think you already are,” I said, smiling back at her. “There’s more to being strong than just combat ability… but if you’re asking if I think you can learn how to kick butt as well as Applejack or Rainbow, then the answer is ‘of course, silly’,” I giggled and batted my hoof at Rarity.

“Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said and I could see a light gleaming in her eyes, like just for a fraction of a second she believed what I was saying, and that made me wanna believe it too.

“Thank you, Rarity,” I said with a bright grin, “for letting me be honest with you.”

“Darling,” Rarity said coyly and walked over to me to place her hoof on my shoulder with a serene smile, “it was my absolute pleasure.”

****

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

One of my earliest memories of Rarity, from when I was just a tiny filly, was wandering excitedly into her studio to ask her to play with me. I was so young then and Rarity, several years my senior, had just been integrated into my family. I thought she was the coolest right away.

She had a studio where I knew she went to be alone for long periods of time but I was just a kid and didn’t realize that when she wanted to be ‘alone’ she meant, like, ‘alone’. So I wandered into the studio and was mesmerized by what I saw.

Ten year old Rarity was using her magic to control and slowly spin some kind of metal tube and at the end of it was a clear glass bubble that she was inflating and forming into a certain shape. I couldn’t help but let out a little awed “Wow.”

“Careful, Twilight,” Rarity said with cheer but remained focused on her task. “Don’t come any closer, this stuff is very dangerous.”

“O-okay,” I said, dutifully sitting down right where I stood and watching hypnotized as Rarity molded her glass sculpture.

“Is there something you needed, Twilight?” Rarity glanced over to me and flashed me a gleaming smile for only a second before returning her gaze to her glass.

“I was just-” I got nervous easily when I was young and I didn’t know Rarity very well yet so I was feeling really awkward about asking her to play with me, especially since now I was embarrassed to be interrupting her work “-I was going to ask if you wanted to play with me, but you’re busy so I’ll—“

“I’d be more than happy to play with you once this is finished,” Rarity said with a smile, giving me a warm look from the corner of her eye. “It might take a bit more time, but you are more than welcome to watch as long as you stay clear. Like I said, this stuff is very dangerous.”

“O-okay!” I chirped, my ears perking up excitedly. I felt like I was getting to watch something really secret and special, like only I could know the secret of Rarity’s studio or something. It made me nervous, but also really giddy.

The next day Rarity gave me a present, a glass dragon statue that totally blew me away with how cool it was. I put it up in my room right away but I hadn’t put together at that time that the statue is what she was making that day when I walked into her studio.

I kept the statue for years and when it broke during an accident I was heartbroken. I couldn’t tell Rarity at first but she found out eventually and told me with the sweetest voice as she hugged me, “Only memories can last forever, darling.”

After that day in the studio I made it a point to watch Rarity’s glass blowing whenever I could. It was something she was really passionate about and I always loved seeing her happy and in her element. She hasn’t sculpted anything in a decade, not since she left home, but it’s still something I will always associate with my sister.

Applejack walked with me to the arena and wished me good luck one more time before I stepped up to take my place in the arena against my opponent, Sunny Flare.

The pale teal unicorn gave me a bright smile and said, “I hope you put up more of a fight than your friend.”

“I’m not playing around here,” I said sternly, stomping my hoof for good measure. “I’m going to pay you back for what Starlight did to my sister.”

“Ooh, so fearsome,” Sunny Flare dismissively batted a hoof and rolled her eyes. “Let’s dance then, sweetheart.”

The illusion was cast and Sunny Flare and I ended up in a jungle ruins type of area. The kind of thing you’d see in an archaeological adventure story. Before I could even get used to the surroundings I suddenly found myself jumping instinctively out of the way of a bright orange laser beam!

Sunny Flare blew smoke away from her horn and laughed. “Starlight may be a master illusionist-” she fired another beam from her horn and I jumped behind a crumbling stone wall to avoid it, breathing a sigh of relief as the wall stood firm against her attack “-but I prefer a more direct approach.”

“You’re a conjurer, I take it?” I asked.

If Sunny Flare wasn’t an illusionist, then conjurer was the most likely choice given her method of attack, though I wasn’t quite willing to rule out necromancy either, though it stands to reason her beam would have had a nasty effect on the wall it hit had it been necromancy, and obviously such attacks weren’t divination, transmutation or abjuration, which wouldn’t have fit Flare’s description of the ‘direct approach’, so conjuration seemed the most likely aspect for her magic.

“That’s right, sweetheart,” Sunny said in a mock cheerful tone before a rain of flaming swords appeared over my head and began falling all around me, although I teleported a short distance away and behind another wall, out of the way of the attack.

Before I could formulate a strategy, a giant blazing meteor fell out of the sky and I only narrowly avoided it crashing on top of me by jumping back and away from it. I stared at the smoking rubble that it left behind and quickly conjured my magic-reflecting mirror shield as I realized another laser was shooting out of the smoke.

The laser hit my mirror and bounced back toward Sunny Flare but I couldn’t see her past the smoke cloud, but I didn’t hear her get hit and an instant later another laser, this one a bright yellow, pierced through the smoke headed right for me.

My gut told me to dodge this and not hide behind the shield so I threw the mirror at the laser and moved out of its trajectory in the space of a second, seeing the yellow laser absorb the shield into its form and keep moving until it hit a tree, burning the tree to a charred husk within seconds.

“I hope you enjoy my magic-absorbing laser, sweetheart,” Sunny Flare said and I could see her frame as the smoke between us began to clear.

I didn’t say anything but I did smile. If this girl was the type to explain her strategies immediately after using them, I could use that to my advantage. I initiated plan B, freezing the ground around Sunny Flare in a sheet of icy glass. Even if she could still fire her ranged attacks, keeping her immobile would open the opportunity for me to attack.

“Cute trick, Twilight Sparkle,” Sunny Flare chuckled mockingly, “but I’ve seen it already and it won’t work on me!”

With the smoke gone I could see Sunny Flare standing on the glass sheet clearly as her body began to glow with an orange aura. The glass became orange as it began to superheat into molten form and I tried to teleport away but I was a hair too late as Sunny’s body exploded in a blast of orange magical energy, my teleportation saving me from the immediate blast zone but the shockwave caused by the attack was strong enough to slam me into a tree and hurt me pretty badly.

The ruins around Sunny Flare were reduced to little more than a mass of burnt ash and charcoal as Sunny laughed. “You’re so pathetic, Twilight Sparkle. I guess it runs in the family, right?!”

I grit my teeth and grunted from the pain in my back as I regained my posture, feeling a severe ache in my right legs and ribs as well but nothing serious enough to impair me. I wasn’t about to let a loudmouth who was friends with my sister’s torturer defeat me.

I conjured a thousand tiny knives of glass that hovered in the air around Sunny Flare, my enemy simply scoffing at my spell. She seemed like the ‘go big or go home’ type so I wondered how she would fare against a more ‘death by a thousand cuts’ strategy.

The knives flew at her in tandem but she simply spun around and surrounded herself in a coiling wall of flame, incinerating all the knives before they could even come close to reaching her.

That said, I now had a winning strategy.

I jumped forward and stomped directly in front of Sunny Flare proudly, covering the charred land around her in a glassy sheen once more, ignoring the “This again?” taunt she provided. I then conjured up my thousand knives and gave her a wicked grin.

“Ah, I see,” Sunny Flare chuckled as the knives began racing toward her…

Or rather, as they began racing toward me.

My eyes widened for a fraction of a second before I shut them tight and braced myself for an attack I couldn’t dodge—my reflexes not fast enough to prepare a teleport before the knives reached me— one thousand needles of glass tore through my skin and left me a bloody mess of holes… but still breathing, albeit barely.

I used almost the last of my desperate energy to teleport away behind a tree to examine the scope of my wounds and trying not to panic as I saw the blood leaking from my legs and chest, feeling it drip down my brow like sweat.

Sunny Flare laughed and called out to me, “A clever ploy, Twilight! Surround me with that slippery glass so I couldn’t gain enough traction to spin! But you were deceived by what you thought you knew, by what you saw with your eyes! You didn’t realize that Starlight’s not the only illusionist on our team! And you will reveal yourself to me now, Twilight Sparkle!”

I felt an intense ringing in my head and panic was really starting to set in. If Sunny Flare could simply take control over the phantasm like Starlight had clearly done in her match, then I would have no hope of—

No, she would’ve done that already if that was an option!

Still though, I couldn’t trust what I saw if she was an illusionist. What looked like a safe haven might have been a deadly trap. I had to think for a second and try to figure out how she managed to turn my attack back on me, which wasn’t an easy thing to do when panic was flooding my body again, and was further not helped by the lightheaded feeling and the inability to make the bleeding just stop.

The only thing I could think of is that she must have used an illusion to make herself appear in one position but she was really somewhere else, but then how did I attack myself?

And then it dawned on me. Sunny Flare’s illusions weren’t simply visual hallucinations. She was able to make me feel like I was someplace where I wasn’t. That… was a very dangerous ability. One that may have been out of my league.

What do I do? How can I win this? Can I win this? What if I can’t? What if I lose and our team is kicked out of the tournament and it’ll be all my fault!

Argh, no! I need to avenge Rarity!

I grit my teeth again and slammed the back of my head against the tree I was leaning against in some futile effort to just shake the anxiety out of my brain, I guess. Sunny Flare laughed and I had a bad feeling that she heard the thud my head made against the tree and knew my position, so I teleported behind another tree.

“If you won’t come out, Twilight Sparkle,” Sunny Flare said in a condescending tone like she was a scolding mother, “I’ll just have to draw you out!”

She fired another laser at the tree I had been hidden behind before, incinerating it into cinders in an instant.

She’s going back to conjuration? Why not just use her illusion to get the match over with?

But wait…

I suddenly remembered that I revealed myself before. I jumped in front of her to show off when I used my ill-fated knife attack.

Her non-visual illusions must have a poor range! I can still win this as long as I keep my dista—

Before I could finish that thought, I heard the sound of magic energy charging up and I knew Sunny Flare was about to release a powerful attack. If she hit me with whatever this was, in my battered state, that would likely be the end of it. To make matters worse, I felt that I only had enough energy left for maybe two or three more teleports.

I shut my eyes, nearly losing myself to the grievous pain of my injuries and thought what would Rarity do?

Maybe that wasn’t the right question… as much as I loved her, Rarity wasn’t much of a fighter. Then what about Applejack or Rainbow Dash? Well, they would probably use brute force, which I could not…

Then what about Pinkie Pie?

My eyes shot open and I grinned widely as my body and mind were filled with inspiration. I knew exactly what I needed to do, and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place one after another in less than a second. I just prayed it wasn’t too late as I ducked for cover and threw my reflector shield in front of me.

Sunny Flare fired a laser that cut through the entire jungle area, burning trees to ash as it cut them at the stumps. While I got singed pretty badly on my flanks, I was saved from the brunt of the attack by my reflector, although the power of her attack nullified the actual ‘reflecty’ part since the reflected attack got absorbed by the rest of it. But who cares, I didn’t die!

The only piece of information I needed now was to figure out exactly how I was going to pull off my strategy without getting into Sunny Flare’s hallucination range. Not only that, but I didn’t know the exact scope of her abilities either. You would think, in a battle like this one where I’ve used cover to my advantage so many times, that Sunny Flare could just cast an illusory tree and hit me when I try to hide behind it, yet she seemed to have no interest in using illusions unless it was necessary. Hmm…

I ran deeper into the jungle, hoping the trail of blood left behind me wouldn’t lead Sunny Flare directly to me until I could come up with some plan of attack.

There’s no way to know for sure what her exact abilities are, and therefore my ability to plan around them is limited…

And that’s when it dawned on me. I stopped in my tracks and grinned evilly, looking over my shoulder past the expansive foliage that shrouded me as I realized exactly how I was going to get my winning strategy into play. If I couldn’t know what she could do, she didn’t have to know anything about me either.

Her and Starlight aren’t the only ones who can cast illusions.

I jumped proudly out of the jungle and in front of Sunny Flare again, wearing a satisfied grin.

“Is that all the energy you can muster, Sunny Flare?” I cocked my head and smiled smugly. I had a good feeling that Sunny Flare was the type to get caught up by taunts and I would need to use every angle I had to win this, but I was going to win this.

“I’m surprised you aren’t dead, Twilight Sparkle,” Sunny said haughtily.

“Please, an attack like that?” I scoffed and batted my hoof. “Couldn’t even faze me.”

“You—“ Sunny did a double take and shouted irritably at me, “You’re bleeding from like a hundred puncture wounds! You can’t exactly act tough in this situation!”

“Eh, these wounds are nothing,” I said with a shrug. “It wasn’t even that strong an attack.”

“It was your attack!” Sunny snarled, her eye twitching irritably.

“So we’re in agreement that your attacks are weak, then?” I gave the biggest, smuggest, smarmiest grin I could muster and judging by the shriek of white-hot rage that Sunny Flare released, I’d say I did a good job.

“We’ll see about that!” Sunny said and fired an orange laser directly at me.

“So we shall,” I said ominously as the laser ripped my body apart… or at least, the illusory form of my body that had been talking.

The laser disappeared with the illusion, and as I sulked silently and invisibly around the area watching Sunny Flare, I saw her face twist into a distorted painting of confusion and rage.

“Where did—“ Sunny’s angry questioning was cut short as her own laser hit her in the back and she screamed in anger.

She turned around quickly but before she was even all the way around the laser hit her again on her spine, causing another scream… and then it hit her again in the side of the torso, and again under her chin, and over and over, gaining momentum with each successive attack and moving far too quickly for her to even register, let alone dodge, until she had run out of breath to scream and her whole body was reduced to a charred mess.

The illusion was dispelled with her defeat and I grinned in satisfaction as she stared in bewilderment, her eyes burning and her face twisted in fury “How did you—“

“Elementary, sweetheart,” I explained mockingly. “It’s a new trick I invented; The Pinkie Pie Portal Pounce Pummel!”

“Explain.”

“Pinkie Pie’s magic allows her to bounce this way and that,” I knew that Sunny Flare didn’t care about these minute details but I felt way too proud of myself not to explain my process, “but I couldn’t do that with my weaker physical body. So I simply adapted her technique in my own way.”

“That tells me nothing.”

“Like I said, it was a simple matter,” I said with a proud smile. “By distracting you with an illusion I could sneak around the field invisibly and place portals in the ground and on crumbling walls and trees that were still standing.

“The illusion itself was the first portal and as soon as you fired on it, your laser became mine to control, bouncing through this portal and that, picking up speed as it pummeled you into ash.”

“But how did you—“ Sunny snarled and stomped her foot. “The laser should have disappeared as soon as it hit a solid target, how did it keep attacking my body?!”

“A magician never reveals her secrets,” I said coldly with a smile on my face, delighting in the increasing rage present on Sunny Flare’s expression as she stomped her hoof. “If you can’t even see beyond a trick as simple as that one, then you aren’t a worthy opponent for me.”

I flicked my tail at her as I walked away, my head held high and my entire body poised in a regal, cool manner, despite the fact that on the inside I was freaking out because I WON!!!!

Applejack was still standing just outside the waiting room door and smiled at me as I stepped up to her.

“So how did ya do it, Twi?”

“While I was invisible I snuck up behind her and made her body one of the portals,” I explained proudly. “The damage to her body wasn’t from the laser hitting her, it was from the magical energy shooting through her at light speed.”

“Huh,” Applejack tilted her head confusedly. “You’d think she woulda noticed her body becomin’ a portal.”

“The window of time between me casting the last portal spell, the one on her body,” I said, “and her body being wracked by the laser’s energy, was less than a second.”

“You’re that precise?”

“I’m good at what I do.” I said with a smile.

****

-RARITY-

I asked Pinkie Pie for a moment alone in the hall and the adorable pink puffball happily obliged. Talking with Pinkie Pie helped me put a lot of my troubles in perspective… she was a wise soul, that pink pony. You wouldn’t expect it from her at first glance but that’s often the case with the truly enlightened, I suppose.

Still though… could I really become strong? Or rather, could I become the pony I wanted to be, of which strength was merely one part? To be strong enough to protect myself and others, beautiful enough to see it in myself and for others to be inspired and enraptured, and to be… to be loved. Truly loved, by both myself and others… it seemed too fanciful a dream, too far out of my reach.

But talking with Pinkie Pie, standing with her pressing her gentle head against mine… I felt it… I felt the spark of hope in my heart.

Though, with every positive thought of Pinkie Pie, my mind tried to seize me with thoughts of my sister and Applejack who were still fighting. It tried to remind me of my own disastrous battle and the torture Starlight put me through and humiliation that came with realizing it was a prison of my own making, and knowing that everypony in the crowd, including my own teammates and Rainbow Dash of all ponies, saw my very own nightmares given form.

It would have been enough to make me cry again, had I any more tears left to shed.

“Oh Rarity, have you been crying?”

The cold, mocking voice of Starlight rattled me as soon as I heard it. I looked up through red, irritated eyes to see her standing at the end of the hall with that putrid smile on her face. “Did something bad happen?”

“What do you want, Starlight?” I asked coldly. “You’re not supposed to be in this hall without invitation.”

“Until the second preliminaries,” Starlight smugly placed her hoof against her chest, “I’m a tournament official. I can go wherever I please.”

She chuckled and walked closer to me and I simply didn’t have the strength to move away from her.

“So your friend Twilight won the second round.”

“I see,” I was surprised that the fight was already over but relieved to hear my sister had won.

“Now your team’s hopes all lie on Applejack,” Starlight said, leaning her head toward me and batting her eyelashes at me in a mock display of affection. “If she loses this match, your team is done… and it will be all your fault.”

I staggered back a few steps and scowled. As much as I desperately wanted to refute that statement, I couldn’t. She wasn’t wrong.

“You failed in both of your fights,” Starlight said while walking slowly toward me, forcing me to step back with every step closer she took. “You’re the one who decided to forfeit against Team Rainboom. If Applejack doesn’t win this fight, Team Destiny will have to go back to whatever holes they crawled out of and it will be all. Your. Fault.”

“Shut up, Starlight.”

Applejack’s voice was like the feeling of clean air blowing through a musty cave. She walked between the two of us and took a defensive stance in front of me, glaring at Starlight.

“Nopony blames Rarity for nothin’, and more to the point, I ain’t gonna lose.”

“Ooh, so confident,” Starlight said teasingly. “I doubt Rarity has that kind of confidence though.”

Applejack looked over her shoulder at me and smiled. I simply blinked, my exhaustion catching back up to me and giving me no idea how to respond to Applejack’s cute smile or Starlight’s mocking words.

“Hey sugarcube,” Applejack said gently to me, “why don’t you head back to the waitin’ room? I’ll be right there in a sec to kick Sugarcoat into submission and we can put this whole thing behind us, okay?”

“As you wish, darling,” I said without thinking and walked lethargically to the waiting room.

“You’re just going to walk away?” Starlight sneered. “Just like that?”

“Starlight,” Applejack sighed irritably and there was a noticeable fire in her voice, “if you say even one more thing about Rarity, I’m gonna break yer nose.”

Starlight looked irritably at Applejack but I didn’t wait to hear her oh so witty rebuttal, I simply walked like a zombie back into the waiting room, somehow finding the energy to wear a smile on my face at the thought of Applejack returning to the waiting room with blood on her hooves.

****

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

I had a moment alone with Pinkie Pie as Applejack went to retrieve Rarity, and the plush pink pony jumped me and yanked me into a smothering hug right away.

“That was so awesome, Twilight!” she said giddily. “I mean, I only caught the end, but you did it! You were amazing!”

“Uh, you aren’t mad?” I said nervously, barely managing to squeeze out of her hug before I collapsed from asphyxiation.

“Why would I be mad?” Pinkie tilted her head and frowned confusedly before immediately returning to her chipper disposition. “You were incredible!”

“I kinda used your name in my new spell without asking,” I blushed and fretted with my bangs, “I got really caught up in the moment and just kinda spoke without thinking. Sorry.”

“Don’t be!” Pinkie said with a bright, beaming smile, playfully punching me in the foreleg. “I’m really flattered that you named a cool spell after me! And it’s alliterative, which magnanimously makes it mesmerizingly marvelous!”

“Are you sure you used all those words correctly?” I laughed.

“Mostly,” Pinkie beamed, and I couldn’t help but smile even brighter. Pinkie Pie had a real knack for making me feel good; she was so cool.

Rarity suddenly walked back into the waiting room from the hall and I got nervous. I knew already that she hadn’t watched my fight, what with her being unconscious when it started… but I still wanted to touch base with her.

“Rarity? Are you okay?” I asked like an oblivious doofus.

“I will be, darling,” Rarity said with a pained smile, brushing a hoof slowly through her mane. “Pinkie Pie, Applejack and yourself, you’ve all been so kind and supportive of me… I don’t feel I deserve it all… but I thank you.”

“Of course you deserve it, Rarity,” I said, walking over to Rarity and nuzzling my head against hers.

“That’s what I said!” Pinkie suddenly appeared between us and put her forelegs around both of us, Rarity looked at her with an amused smile and me with an annoyed glare… which softened pretty much instantly at seeing the pink pony’s infectious grin.

That said, she let us both go and looked at us curiously before suddenly blurting out “Oh, this is a sister bonding moment. Right, got it!”

With that Pinkie disappeared again and left us two alone for a moment.

“I want to apologize to you,” Rarity sighed, “for dragging you out to Bifrost like this and being such a burdensome teammate… but I know that isn’t what you want to hear.”

“It sure isn’t!” I frowned in annoyance. “Rarity, I’m glad to be here. I want to help you realize your dream of beating Rainbow and seeing if you can change, and I want to realize my own dream of-” I paused for a moment to consider if I had any real dreams and came up empty “-well, that doesn’t matter. The point is, there isn’t any other pony I’d rather have on my team than you. You’re my sister and I love you.”

“Twilight…” Rarity smiled brightly at me and closed her eyes to breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” Rarity placed a leg around me and pulled me into a hug and I happily returned the gesture. “I suppose now we must trust our dreams to Applejack.”

“There’s almost nopony I’d feel safer trusting them with,” I said confidently.

Rarity let out a soft laugh.

“You’re absolutely right.”

****

-APPLEJACK-

“So, are you ready, Applejack?” Starlight said tauntingly but I just kinda rolled my eyes and frowned bemusedly at her.

Truth be told, I was tired of Starlight from the moment I met her. I knew fake politeness when I saw it and that nonsense wore out its welcome real quick.

“Yours is the last fight for your team,” Starlight was entirely undeterred by my lack of interest, “your last chance to make it into the second preliminaries. You’re not worried about letting your friends down, are you?”

“Nah.”

I shrugged and turned to look at Starlight with a smile on my face. “How could I be? I’m only up against one of your teammates.”

“Well,” Starlight let out a single irritated chuckle, “your teammate did lose to me. And my team is pretty strong so—“

“What you did to Rarity was low,” I sneered and put my nose right up against Starlight’s, and somehow, havin’ an angry pony nearly twice her bulk starin’ her down inches from her face made all her smug confidence fly right out the window. Imagine that. “And maybe yer pal also has some kinda cheap tactics, but I promise ya it ain’t gonna be enough. Not against me.”

“That’s a lot of big talk,” Starlight said, trying to remain poised but cautiously backin’ up a few steps. “After all, just because you defeated Burnt Oak and your friend defeated my ally, doesn’t mean that you’re invincible.”

“Never said I was invincible,” I said with a wry smile, closin’ the distance ‘tween me and Starlight again and delightin’ in the sweat I could see on the unicorn’s forehead. “Just that I’m stronger than y’all.”

“I guess we’ll see,” Starlight shrugged, tryin’ to play it cool and failin’ miserably. “But if you’re wrong, if you fail this test, then it’s the end of the line for your team and it will be all your fault.”

“Whatever, Starlight.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Starlight’s actually really sad attempts to demoralize me and I just turned around to head back to my waitin’ room. I had a fight to win, after all.

But then a thought occurred to me.

“Oh, one last thing, Starlight.”

With Starlight standin’ right behind me, I bucked my hind legs as hard as I could and hit her straight in the nose, hearin’ an incredibly gratifyin’ crack as the bone was shattered by my legs.

“M-my nose!” Starlight stumbled backward and yelped, puttin’ her hooves up to try and stop the blood pourin’ out her nose and wincin’ in pain as she touched her shattered snout. “It’s bleeding!”

“Heh, yer lucky that’s all that’s bleedin’,” I laughed as Starlight glared at me irritably, her intimidation factor goin’ down in flames what with her cheeks bein’ almost redder than her bloodied muzzle. “Let that be a reminder, Starlight, that I keep my promises.”

As I headed back to the waitin’ room I heard Starlight let out a pained, wheezy grunt. For one fraction of a second I almost felt sorry, but just as quickly I remembered what she did to Rarity and I felt proud of myself for lettin’ her off as easy as I did.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

Rainbow Dash guided me out of the arena after Twilight’s match had finished because I was starting to hyperventilate and I needed a moment of some relative peace and quiet. My breathing was still a little heavy even after a couple minutes outside the crowd but I was starting to feel like I could breathe again, so that was good.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, I just—“

“Don’t apologize, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said firmly, but warmly. “Never apologize for getting what you need. You needed a minute to get a hold on yourself? No problem. No need to apologize for that.”

“Th-thank you, Rainbow,” I said with a shaky smile.

I almost thought it was some kind of joke she was pulling on me; no one had ever been that considerate of my anxiety. Rarity was always kind about it, but by the time I met her I tried to keep all that stuff to myself. And sometimes, in little moments and slip-ups, I could tell that Rarity got tired of my anxiousness sometimes too.

But… but I chose to trust her. To trust that Rainbow’s concern was genuine and that… that I could be safe with her.

And that’s what broke the floodgates, as tears that I had been holding back for the better part of an hour burst forth and fell down my face like a waterfall.

“Let it all out, Fluttershy,” Rainbow stood next to me and outstretched a wing over my back to comfort me. She was… just too kind. “I know you’re nervous about Applejack too, there’s no shame in that either.”

“I… I really am worried,” I said through my sobs, “if… if Applejack doesn’t win then Team Destiny is going to…”

I couldn’t get the words out as I broke into more hysterical tears, falling on the ground and covering my pathetic face with my wings, Rainbow kneeling next to me and keeping me covered with her wing.

“It’ll be all my fault.”

“How do ya figure?” Rainbow asked, sounding honestly baffled by what I thought was an obvious statement.

“It’s my fault we lost against Team B-Listers,” I explained, my face still buried underneath my wings, “I’m the one who messed everything up and got Pinkie and me injured, that’s why we couldn’t… that’s why they had to…”

“Fluttershy…”

Rainbow’s voice was soft and tender for a moment but she quickly burst out laughing, taking me by surprise.

“Fluttershy, if we had fought Team Destiny at our full strength we would’ve aced ‘em! You can’t blame yourself for their forfeit cuz if the B-Lister thing hadn’t happened and we’d fought ‘em, they would’ve lost anyway!”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at Rainbow’s confidence and that helped me to control the tears a little bit. I sat up straight and looked at her with cautious optimism. “You think so?”

“Uh, I know so!” Rainbow scoffed and wore a sly grin on her face, which made me laugh even more. “I know you’re worried about Applejack, and I can’t blame you, I’m a little nervous myself. But if anypony can knock this thing out of the park, it’s Applejack! I’ve never known a stronger pony than her!” Rainbow flew up into the air and excitedly did a little aerial spin.

“I…” I stood up on shaky legs and looked up at Rainbow Dash with a bright, eager smile despite myself. “I want to believe you but,” I put my hoof up to my mouth and bit down on it anxiously, “I… I’m just really scared…”

“That’s okay!” Rainbow said enthusiastically, and I just looked at her like I’d seen a ghost. “It’s totally okay to be scared, but we gotta have faith in Applejack and we gotta go cheer her on regardless!”

Nopony had ever told me that it was okay to be scared before. I only ever got laughed at and teased for being so scared of everything…

That’s… wow.

It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to be scared!

“You’re right, Rainbow Dash,” I said with a smile on my face, my legs still shaking and my heart racing, but… feeling stronger. “I want to go cheer on Applejack! And I want… I want to watch her…” I summoned up all my courage and stomped my hooves gently on the ground, “I want to watch her win!”

“That’s the spirit!”

Rainbow Dash grabbed my chest and flew me up into the air in her excitement. I was a little nervous for half a second but I trusted Rainbow and I just let her do what she needed to with me, although she quickly noticed that she grabbed me without thinking and gently placed me on the ground with flushed cheeks.

“Anyway,” she coughed awkwardly, “let’s go cheer on Applejack.”

“Right,” I said with a giggle and a slight nod, following Rainbow back to our seats in the arena stands.

Applejack had just come onto the stage and my guts started turning themselves inside out right away. I was super super super super super nervous and anxious and scared and terrified and horrified and bad things were gonna happen and oh no I can’t watch this it’s going to be hard and—

I was breathing really heavily until Rainbow gently caressed my back with her wing, allowing me to breathe slowly and carefully. I looked at her and she had the sweetest smile on her face that totally melted away my anxiety, if only for a moment.

I took in a very, very deep breath and screamed, “GO APPLEJACK! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO IT! YOU’RE GONNA WIN! YOU’RE AWESOME!”

In my overexcitement I flew up into the air as I cheered but I soon noticed everyone in the audience staring at me and I blushed and floated back down onto my chair in embarrassment, covering my face with my wings.

“APPLEJACK, YOU RULE!” Rainbow started screaming, flying into the air. “YOU’RE GONNA DO GREAT! KICK HER BUTT, AJ! YOU’RE AWESOME!”

Seeing Rainbow cheering loudly and obnoxiously for Applejack, despite all the people in the crowd giving her weird looks or grumbling about her presence or even yelling and throwing things at her, made me think there’s no way I’m gonna let Rainbow out-cheer me!

I flew up into the air and gave Rainbow a wink, which she returned with a joyful smile. The two of us started cheering in unison “GO APPLEJACK!” until the guards had to tell us to be quiet. But this time I was too busy laughing alongside Rainbow Dash to feel self-conscious.

Good luck, Applejack. I know you don’t need it though; you’re going to ace this!

In the first draft, Sunny Flare was a combination evoker\enchanter, so you can imagine how awkward re-writing her fight was when both of her schools got wiped from the canon.

Applejack breaking Starlight’s nose is the catharsis we all deserve.

-APPLEJACK-

I walked into the arena and was greeted by the awesome sounds of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, loudly cheerin’ my name, and hearin’ that gave me all the confidence I needed to ace this fight and then some.

“You’ve got some pretty noisy friends,” Sugarcoat said irritably, standin’ across the arena from me.

“Jealous?” I said with a smirk and a chuckle.

“Hardly,” she replied, rollin’ her eyes.

“I guess there ain’t nothin’ left to do but to do this then,” I said with an eager smile.

“Right,” Sugarcoat replied listlessly.

“Then let’s dance,” I said as the illusion was cast.

Our arena of choice was an ice-covered lake, almost no hidin’ spaces of any kind, just ice as far as the eye could see. I looked down and saw that there was indeed water under the ice and stamped my hoof a couple times to test the thickness of the ice. Didn’t seem like it was breakin’ easily.

“Come on, Applesack,” Sugarcoat said grimly, starin’ at me across the ice, “I don’t have all day.”

“Then why don’t you make the first move?” I said with a smirk, tiltin’ my hat in a show of mock-respect.

“I don’t need to move to beat you,” Sugarcoat said, and sure enough she was standin’ perfectly still.

I glowered at her and remained on guard, scrapin’ a hoof across the icy ground. I paced back and forth a wee bit, waitin’ and watchin’ and seein’ if she would really just stand there. She just blinked.

“Alright then,” I exhaled sharply and swallowed my nerves, “have it yer way.”

I charged toward her, gallopin’ with the speed and force of a freight train and turnin’ on my heels as I slid in front of her, deliverin’ a mighty kick from my hind legs directly into her face… except…

My eyes widened and my whole body shuddered. It took me a sec to realize what’d happened as I stumbled forward, a powerful pain wrackin’ my back legs. I looked back at them and they were bleedin’ badly, like somethin’ had blown them up from the inside.

Sugarcoat turned around and winded up a kick, so I ignored the pain for a half-sec to jump away from her, but landin’ on my busted stems took me to the ground in a heap. I watched Sugarcoat carefully and she just stared at me; not comin’ any closer, and not havin’ a scratch on her.

I used my healin’ charge— the first of three I could use today before the energy cost of it totally wrecked me completely— and went back over what’d just happened in my head. I rushed at Sugarcoat, I kicked her with my magic-powered feet, but I was the one who took the damage.

It seemed like a safe bet to assume her magic was defensive in nature then, that she had some kinda shield that protected her from harm and damaged people who came close. That’s why she felt confident she didn’t need to move, cuz there was no way I could actually harm her with my attacks. At least, that was probably what she was thinkin’.

That left three questions needin’ answered. One, how does her shield work? Two, how do I get past it? And three, how do I figure out the answers to questions one and two without gettin’ killed?

If Sugarcoat suddenly moved to attack me it would probably mean big trouble for me so I needed to watch her carefully, but I still needed to take the time to dissect this situation cautiously. If I just rushed in again like a rampagin’ bronco it wouldn’t end well for me. So how do I figure her ability out?

Well, I had two more healin’ charges to burn, so… rushin’ in it is!

I charged toward Sugarcoat at full gallopin’ speed but instead of kickin’ her in the face I jumped over her and landed beside her, attemptin’ to buck her in the ribs instead. I slammed my feet up against her torso but felt that same wave of shocking pain coursin’ through my body.

“You’re really weak, you know that?” Sugarcoat said and, after a brief windup, she kicked me in the ribs, tearin’ a hole straight into my torso and sendin’ me flyin’. I slammed against the ground a few feet away and cracked the icy shell, not to mention a few ribs. Frankly, if I wasn’t such a tank, that attacked would’ve made me a goner.

I used my second healin’ charge and stood up, tryin’ to size up Sugarcoat who still stood completely motionless in the distance, just starin’ at me behind her glasses with bored violet eyes. I looked down at the crack in the ice below me and then again at Sugarcoat. That was an impressive distance she threw me… her power was more than just defensive.

Then it hit me… my legs got blown open like somethin’ was tearin’ ‘em apart from the inside… cuz she was reflectin’ my magic. But she didn’t reflect nothin’ in order to kick me, and that was one heck of a kick. Maybe she was absorbin’ my magic? But that didn’t seem right; how could she absorb it and reflect it too? Just didn’t make sense.

But then I thought of old man Burnt Oak; the more kinetic energy that went through his aura, the powerful the burns. Maybe it was the same thing here, and motion was the key to her ability? The faster an attack came at her, the more powerfully it was reflected back? That’d also explain why she kept windin’ up her kicks; without the buildup her attacks must not have that much force to ‘em.

Welp, I had one healin’ charge left and that was a gamble I was willin’ to bet on. Only one more question needin’ answered—how big was her range— so I charged at Sugarcoat again, quickly pickin’ up speed as I raced toward her.

“This again?” she groaned in disgust as she saw me approachin’.

I raced toward her til she was just barely outta reach of my kick then jumped over her, landin’ a distance away that was also just barely outta my reach. She just turned her face to me and scowled. I jumped a few more times, landin’ on different sides of her each time at a few different distances, gettin’ closer and closer until…

I jumped right in front of Sugarcoat’s face and immediately my legs gave out from the force of that familiar shockwave. I grinned as I fell to the ground and Sugarcoat sneered, turnin’ on her heels and gettin’ ready to buck me right in the head, an attack I was dead certain I wouldn’t survive against, but before she could do it I activated my last healin’ charged and jumped away.

Sugarcoat kicked harmlessly into the air but I could see the swell of magical energy around her kick. She glared angrily at me and I laughed “Not a lot of range, huh?”

“Whatever,” Sugarcoat rolled her eyes.

Sugarcoat’s big weakness was that she was slow. It took her more than a whole second to react to me landin’ in front of her and fallin’ to the ground ‘fore she turned around to kick me, which gave me more than enough time to dodge. Her lack of speed also probably measured into her choice of motionless combat, but it also implied that her barrier worked automatically.

It was a strong ability and I couldn’t beat it with brute force. I couldn’t beat it with speed either, and tryin’ to get in close slowly was gonna end disastrously if she managed to hit me with one of those kicks. I needed to find a way to disable her without movin’ myself…

I looked over to the cracked ice from where I landed before and got an idea. It was still a gamble… if my analysis of her technique was overlookin’ any key details, or if I was just straight-up wrong about how it worked, I would lose this match.

I began to sweat as I recalled Rarity’s fight with Starlight. She was countin’ on me to win this, so was Twilight who did so well in her own fight. I thought about seein’ how sad Pinkie and Fluttershy were in the hospital and how relieved they must’ve been to not have to fight us… and then I thought about Rainbow’s smug face and how she would never let me live it down if I failed here…

I started gettin’ real nervous… so many ponies were countin’ on me and I didn’t want to let anyone down… but it was still pretty long odds I was bettin’… could I really do this?

I shook my head and stamped my hoof. Forget about Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. Forget about Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie… I need to win this for my sake. This fight is a matter of pride, now.

This is it, Sugarcoat. All or nothin’.

I raced toward the crack in the ice, my eyes fixed on Sugarcoat to make sure she wasn’t followin’ me and didn’t catch on to what I was up to. She just rolled her eyes, so that was probably a good sign. I jumped up and slammed hard on the ice, crushing the sheet with my magic-enhanced hooves and falling into the freezin’ waters below.

The water was way colder than I expected and it sent shivers through my whole body. Only seconds in and I suddenly didn’t even feel cold anymore so much as I felt like I was burnin’… but I focused on channeling the Earth Aura through my body, trustin’ it to protect me as I swam a course directly underneath Sugarcoat.

I could just barely hear her sneer as I made my way directly under her but I had a good feelin’… underneath the water I couldn’t gather the momentum to crush the ice but I didn’t need it, all I needed was to just gently place a hoof right on the sheet that Sugarcoat stood on and expel just a little burst of my magical energy.

My magic, even just a hair of it, was strong and the ice didn’t stand a chance. It shattered and Sugarcoat fell into the water alongside me. In the time it took the painfully slow girl to gather her bearings under the water I’d already wrapped her up tight in my hooves, keepin’ her still as she struggled against me, but as it turns out she couldn’t get any momentum underwater to use her movement-based powers and without ‘em she was way too weak to beat me.

She only struggled for a couple seconds before the water’s chill ended the fight in my favor and the claxon blared, sendin’ us back to the arena. A jovial man’s voice screamed out “The winner is APPLEJACK!! TEAM DESTINY IS MOVING ON TO THE SECOND PRELIMINARIES!!!”

I flipped my hat up into the air and crossed my legs in front of me as it landed back on my head, grinnin’ smugly at Sugarcoat as I saw her bitin’ down a furious scowl. Nothin’ could’ve made me happier.

****

-RARITY-

I watched in awe as Applejack won her battle with Sugarcoat and could hardly believe my ears as the announcer said that our team had made it through. It was almost like an out of body experience and I barely even registered Pinkie Pie screaming joyfully next to me or Twilight prancing about happily in front of me.

Applejack returned to our waiting room with a beautiful and deservedly proud grin on her face and Pinkie and Twilight wasted no time embracing her in a loving hug.

“You did amazing, Applejack,” I said, walking over to the three of them.

“Yeah, I know,” Applejack chuckled and that made me laugh.

When did you get so cool, Applejack?

Pinkie Pie wrapped me up in their hug and the four of us all embraced each other for a moment before Pinkie suddenly gasped, “We gotta go get Fluttershy and Rainbow! We gotta have like a celebration party!”

“I’m down,” Applejack said with a smile, her joyful disposition faltering ever so slightly as her gaze fell upon me, “you up for it, Rarity?”

“I…” I sighed wearily but took a deep breath and composed myself, nodding with a graceful smile, “I think so.”

Twilight smiled brightly as well and it warmed my heart that my dear, socially awkward sister seemed so eager to make friends with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

The four of us left the arena waiting room and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were already excitedly awaiting us outside. Rainbow stomped up to Applejack and raised a hoof, Applejack bumping the smaller mare’s hoof gladly.

“That was awesome, AJ!” Rainbow shouted, unable to contain her excitement.

“I hope you weren’t too intimidated, Rainbow,” Applejack laughed and traced the edge of her hat with a hoof.

“More like super pumped!” Rainbow scraped a hoof across the ground while grinning ear to ear, “I’m really looking forward to fighting you now! So I hope you’re not too intimidated!”

“Eh, I dunno, Rainbow,” Applejack crossed her forelegs in front of her and smirked coyly, “I’m not sure you’re in my league.”

Rainbow laughed and hovered in the air in front of Applejack, the two smiling brightly at each other with fiery determination and conviction in their eyes.

“Hey, Applejack wasn’t the only pony who was awesome,” Twilight said, flicking her hair haughtily, an act with brought a warm smile to my face. I taught her well.

“Heck yeah!” Rainbow said enthusiastically, hovering over Twilight who beamed like a schoolfilly at the attention. “That laser fight, that awesome portal spell, your quick thinking… it was all incredible, Twilight! You girls totally rule!”

“Thank you for acknowledging the objective fact that is our greatness,” Twilight said proudly, tracing the edge of her bangs, and I stifled a giggle at how she was clearly mimicking Applejack.

But then I cleared my throat awkwardly, feeling somewhat unworthy of being implicitly included in Twilight and Rainbow’s praises.

“Rarity…” Rainbow said softly. She landed on the ground in front of me, taking me aback a bit as she looked up into my eyes, “What that girl Starlight did to you was not okay. No one can blame you for losing that match, that was-” Rainbow scoffed and angrily kicked one of her back legs “-that spell of hers was completely uncalled for. I know this is kinda worthless coming from me, but I’m sorry you had to go through that, and I really hope you can kick her butt the next time you guys meet!”

“Th-thank you, Rainbow Dash,” I said bashfully, putting a hoof against my cheek and feeling completely unprepared to deal with her seemingly genuine compassion. I completely expected Rainbow to be the first to mock me for my weakness but instead she greeted me with a sincerely thoughtful display of sympathy. To say I was shocked would be underselling it.

“Yeah, Starlight’s a real jerk!” Pinkie said, puffing up her cheeks and planting her hindquarters on the ground with her forelegs crossed over her chest. But just as quickly she grinned widely and jumped back to her hooves, “But it’s nothing a few dozen cupcakes can’t solve! Come on, Rarity! I can show you all the best flavor combinations! We’ll make like a towering fortress of cupcakes!”

“Um…” I stammered bashfully. Though I said I was up for this when Applejack asked a second ago, now I wasn’t so sure. To be included in a celebration of victory when I had done absolutely nothing but slow everyone down… it felt wrong. It felt unearned. Undeserved.

“Pinkie Pie is right, Rarity,” Fluttershy walked over to me a put a trembling hoof on my chest. “You should take it easy for a little bit. What you went through was really rough… and we don’t want you to burn yourself out.”

“I agree,” Twilight nodded severely.

“Yeah, we need you, Rarity,” Applejack added, playfully nudging her shoulder against mine. “No sense in lettin’ ya get taken out by some jerk’s cheap shot.”

“Even I would need rest after something like that…” Rainbow mumbled, blushing and nervously walking away from me behind Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“You all…”

I began to mist up as I realized that my companions were not looking down on me for my weakness or trying to coddle me because of my histrionics, but that they were actually looking out for me and my health because they cared about me.

I smiled brightly at all of them and Pinkie Pie had her hooves around me in a hug in less than a second, Fluttershy gently nuzzling her neck against mine and Twilight doing the same from the other side, and then Applejack embraced all four of us in a hug… and even Rainbow came over and gently placed her wing across my back.

“Thank you,” I said with a tearful smile on my face, “all of you.”

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

The six of us all got together in a little outdoor restaurant a couple blocks from the arena. This was a cause for celebration!

Team Rainboom and Team Destiny both made it to the second preliminaries! We were all gathered around a table, Pinkie and Applejack happily tossing back ciders as Twilight helped a jittery Fluttershy navigate the obtuse menu, and Rarity and I… were sorta just there.

Rarity put on a smile and brave face and there was no doubt that she felt relief at least to see her team make it to the next round, but I could tell her mind was still in that battle with Starlight.

“Hey, girls?” I said awkwardly, “I gotta bail on you all, sorry,” I had other things on my mind. Something important that I couldn’t put off.

“What, already?!” Pinkie gasped in shock, “But we were gonna have a little feast!”

“What could be so important,” Twilight said curiously, an edge of annoyance in her voice, “that it can’t wait until after we’re done here? This is the first time the six of us have been able to just hang out together… it’s kinda nice.”

“I know, and I’ll be back as soon as I can…” I said with a smile, spreading my wings.

“Hold on a tick, Rainbow,” Applejack raised her hoof before jumping out of her chair and jumping over to mine and putting a hoof on my shoulder. “Can I talk to ya fer one sec before you jet off? Been meanin’ to say somethin’ to ya and it’ll only take two seconds, promise.”

“Ugh, fine,” I sighed irritably. I didn’t want to waste time but I even more didn’t want to make the others suspicious so if Applejack was only going to take ‘two seconds’, I figured I’d better spare them.

Applejack walked away from the table with a smile, guiding me as I followed behind her until we turned the corner away from the restaurant and were out of eyesight of the others. AJ had a charmed little smile on her face the whole walk but instantly became deadly serious as she stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at me, sending a chill down my spine and catching me way off guard.

“Don’t do what yer thinkin’ of doin’, Rainbow.”

Now I was on guard.

I took a defensive stance and looked up into AJ’s eyes defiantly, “What are you talking about? What is it you think I’m about to do?”

“I know you, Rainbow,” Applejack scoffed and rolled her eyes, which ticked me off. “I’ve met you. Yer thinkin’ of killin’ Starlight Glimmer.”

I froze in my tracks and my eyes widened, my ears flattening against my head. I didn’t realize I was that predictable. I cleared my throat and regained my composure. Mostly. “Wh-what are you talking abou—“

“Don’t get smart with me, Rainbow,” Applejack sighed, “Y’ain’t good at it.”

When I glared at her for that comment she frowned and muttered, “Sorry,” before clearing her throat and continuing, “Ya think I don’t remember the way ya used to be, Rainbow? The way ya still kinda are?”

“What’s your point, Applejack?” I turned away from her and looked out onto the dreary Baltimare streets, anger coursing through my body like a fire the more I thought about Starlight Glimmer. “You saw what Starlight did, the kind of pain she put Rarity through,” I looked over my shoulder to glare at Applejack, “do you just not care?”

Applejack glowered and grinded her teeth, clearly struggling to remain composed. “Of course I care, Rainbow. Starlight’s a grade-A jerk and what she did to Rarity was completely unacceptable, but that ain’t a reason for her to be murdered. And besides that, how would you even do it? You saw how powerful she is, do ya honestly think you could get the drop on her?”

“I have my own power…” I said coldly, suppressing an eager yet terrified grin at the thought of using that power again, “And it’s much stronger than—“

“She knows about the Nightmare Force,” I completely froze when I heard those cursed words leave Applejack’s mouth, “and she knows you have it.”

“How—how do you know about the Nightmare Force?” I spun around in alarm but tried to play it cool and not show just how rattled that made me.

“Apparently Starlight explained the events of our fight with the Mane-iac to Twilight,” Applejack said, “and Twilight told me. I don’t know a darn thing about this ‘Nightmare Force’ but I bet you every bit I ever earned that Starlight knows way more about it than me, and I’d wager she knows more about it than you do either.”

I took a few steps back to really absorb what AJ was saying. She was right, I planned on finding Starlight alone and then using the Nightmare Force to kill her quickly before she could react but… between her skill with illusions and my inexperience with the Nightmare Force… even I had to admit my odds weren’t great.

But still…

“She can’t just get away with what she did to Rarity,” I said furiously. “Somepony needs to do something to stop her before she does something even worse to somepony else!”

“Rainbow…” Applejack sighed wearily and irritably, putting a hoof up against her forehead as she slowly shook her head, “I could rattle off a million reasons why I think it’s a terrible idea for you to seek vigilante justice on Starlight Glimmer. The main one for me bein’ that I don’t think anypony has the authority to take another pony’s life. But answer me this… how do ya plan on killin’ Starlight without gettin’ caught?”

Applejack glowered down at me as she asked that question and I… froze again. I actually hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“I…” I needed to think of something witty or cool to say to cover up my embarrassment but I had nothing.

“Even puttin’ the moral issue aside for one sec,” Applejack continued, “the Bifrost management services or whatever saw you transform into that black pony, they know that’s you. And if yer caught killin’ another competitor, yer team’s gonna get disqualified right away. Also jail time. Don’t forget about the jail time.”

“Then what should I do? Nothing?” I growled in frustration and stomped a hoof, wishing I could just rattle the entire building beside me with my anger alone.

“Yeah, Rainbow! Nothin’!” Applejack yelled back, clearly hitting her breaking point.

It hadn’t occurred to me but Applejack had to watch her ex-girlfriend, who she still loved in at least a platonic way, be slowly tortured in front of her, then her teammate nearly getting burned alive and skewered with a bazillion knives, then she had her own fight on top of it all, and now she was here advising me not to throw all my dreams in the trash for the sake of petty revenge.

She had… a lot more stamina than me, and it was honestly incredible she hadn’t hit her breaking point already.

“I think you should forget about Starlight an’ move on!” Applejack continued to yell, “Be a good friend! Support Rarity!”

“Rarity doesn’t want my support,” I muttered dejectedly and glanced away from Applejack, lowering my head shamefully. Or my friendship.

“Then support Twilight and me!” Applejack kept yelling, her voice soon becoming strained. “Support yer own teammates! Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie still need their captain! But for Celestia’s sake, Rainbow, there are so many things more important than playin’ white knight for a pony that don’t even like you!”

My whole body stiffened up as Applejack said those words and my cheeks became red like tomatoes instantly.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Applejack said remorsefully, looking solemnly at the ground and bowing her head, her hat framing her face in shadow. “I shouldn’t’a said that, it was uncalled for.”

“She really doesn’t like me-” I bit my lip and if I could’ve somehow torn the flesh off my own body in that moment, I would’ve done it happily “-does she?”

I phrased that statement like a question almost as if I had some kinda hope that the answer would be different than I already knew that it was.

“Oh yeah, she hates yer guts,” Applejack said with a laugh, laying the final nail in my coffin of shame.

Despite that though, I couldn’t help but laugh back.

“Gee, thanks AJ!” I playfully smacked a hoof across Applejack’s leg, which caused a little wave of laughter to wash over us both. The sun was starting to break through the clouds like an omen and I looked up at Applejack, “I owe you one, AJ.”

“Don’t be thankin’ me just yet,” Applejack said with a smirk, “I got a little more advice for ya, and ya ain’t gonna like it.”

I took a deep breath and waited for AJ’s sage wisdom with ready ears.

“Rarity hates the Rainbow Dash that she sees… the abrasive tough-girl act that you’ve shown her. That façade ya put on to hide yer real feelin’s? Yeah, she hates that. Maybe you should try showin’ her what yer actually like?”

“And how would you know what I’m ‘actually’ like?” I said grumpily.

“I guess you could say,” Applejack chuckled to herself, feeling oh-so-clever I’m sure, “I can see beyond sight. I don’t believe in all that ‘oh they act like a jerk but they got a good heart deep down’ garbage…” Applejack’s speech wasn’t exactly filling me with confidence, “…but…” she smiled warmly at me and put a hoof on my shoulder, “I believe ponies can change. At least, that’s what I choose to believe.”

I blushed and kicked at the ground absent-mindedly, nervously avoiding eye contact with AJ.

“Start actin’ more like the Rainbow Dash who risked her life to save Fluttershy,” Applejack went on, “let Rarity see the Rainbow who gave Pinkie a hug when she was on her last legs against Team B-Listers, or who carried Fluttershy to the arena despite her own injuries, or who carried Pinkie to the hotel.”

“How do you…” I blushed and looked up at AJ, “…how do you know about all this stuff?”

“Yer friends speak really highly of you, and my sister loves to talk,” Applejack laughed. “Don’t be an idiot, Rainbow. Don’t show Rarity the dumb jerk who nearly flew off the handle to seek revenge, be the Rainbow that I know you want to be. The one who’s kind and comforting. The one who’s honest.”

I took a deep breath and sighed, feeling like a massive weight was slowly slipping away from around my neck.

“There’s a lot of layers of garbage between that Rainbow Dash and the one that I actually am.”

“More like there’s layers ‘tween the one you are and the one you’ve been pretendin’ to be,” Applejack said, and I just arched a confused eyebrow at her weird Zen mumbo jumbo. “And realizin’ the person you want to be is the person you are, and the person you’ve been up til now is just pretendin’… I think that’s the first step to uncovering those layers,” she shrugged, “least it was for me.”

“Ehhh… I dunno…” I said wearily, “I don’t think I can do it…”

“Maybe,” Applejack gently punched me in the shoulder, “but when ya need help you can lean on Pinkie, and Fluttershy and Twilight…” Applejack raised her hoof in front of me, “and I got yer back too.”

I bumped my hoof with hers and the two of us smiled as we felt the dusk sun shine down on us and dry our rain-soaked coats.

Maybe… maybe it wouldn’t be so hard after all.

****

-RARITY-

My companions and I retreated to our hotel room, or at least mine and Twilight’s hotel room as Applejack had her own but Twilight insisted the three of us sleep in the same room tonight. I sat on a chair while Twilight sat on one of the beds and Applejack on the ground.

“It’s been… quite an eventful…”

I started to say something but then I realized I had no idea how much time had actually passed since I received my invitation to Bifrost.

“It’s been around two weeks,” Twilight said with a weary smile, breathing the sigh of someone who was very, very tired. “And yeah, it’s been a lot.”

“But hey, we’re movin’ on to the next round now!” Applejack said with a hearty grin, “That’s pretty excitin’!”

“It is, it is…” I yawned drearily, my own exhaustion swiftly catching up to me. I tried to sound excited but the truth was that I was nervous and… rather depressed. “I hope I don’t slow you both down.”

“Rarity, yer not—“

“Applejack, please,” I huffed. “Twilight, this goes for you as well… I do not need either of you to pretend that I am not weak.” Applejack and Twilight looked at each other and then at me anxiously.

“We don’t think that you’re—“

“Twilight, what did I just say?” I frowned bemusedly at my sister who simply lowered her ears and glanced away in shame like a scolded child. “Neither of you can say in good faith that my lack of fighting skill is anything less than a burden on this team. I am well aware of my own weakness and I need to… no, I have accepted that fact. I am weak.”

I looked at my companions with steely eyes. The two had become somewhat accustomed to my histrionics and my history with depressive episodes so they were understandably concerned about the words that I spoke.

I gave them a bright, assuring smile, “I will get stronger. I will get stronger for both of you and for myself as well. I will become strong enough to defeat Rainbow Dash, that is my goal.

“And to accomplish that goal, it will not serve me to turn my eyes away from the truth, and the truth is that I am too weak. I see only weakness in myself, so I believe myself to be weak. To change what I believe I must change what I see, and to that end I will find a way to see power inside me. And I will become strong.”

I smiled sweetly, feeling like a great burden had been lifted off my back by venting all those feelings for my friends. The two of them looked nervous for a second but Twilight smiled brightly back at me and Applejack soon gave a charming grin despite herself.

“It’s almost too bad our two teams are ‘joined at the hip’ now, isn’t it?” Twilight said with a smirk.

“Perhaps,” I chuckled wistfully, ruminating on my friendship with Fluttershy and my rather pleasant encounters with Pinkie Pie. “And I will eagerly accept friendship and comradery from Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie…” I took a deep breath and sighed, “and for the time being… I will see what I can do about Rainbow Dash.”

“She doesn’t seem that bad to me,” Twilight chirped, her voice so full of hope and optimism and her eyes practically shining.

Ever the idealist, Twilight. I hope that never changes.

“Maybe the bully you knew isn’t who she is anymore?”

People don’t change, Twilight.

In lieu of those unnecessarily, if entirely honest, words, I simply smiled at my sister, “Perhaps you’re right, darling,” I sighed theatrically and flung my body over the arm of the chair I sat upon. “As I said, I will attempt to find some common ground with her.”

“She wanted to chat it up with ya ‘fore we left tomorrow,” Applejack said, catching my attention and a raised eyebrow. “I think she honestly wants to make amends for the way she used to be… but it ain’t easy to unlearn yerself.”

“I know,” I groaned and shook my head. “I know all too well…”

I have never seen a pony change. People can bend and stretch and pretend to be something other than what they are… but in the end you’ll always be the person you are.

And yet here I was talking about changing what I see and believe… maybe… change wasn’t so impossible after all.

Or perhaps I was just fooling myself. Who’s to say?

I yawned and stretched my legs before hopping onto the ground. I pranced toward my bed and laid down to rest “I suppose… I will believe it when I see it.”

“Fair enough,” Applejack yawned and laid down at the foot of Twilight’s bed.

“We have a train to catch in the morning, girls,” I said sleepily, resting my head against my pillow with a smile as Twilight extinguished the lights and I drifted casually into slumber. “Try to get some sleep, my dears.”

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

Team Rainboom settled into our little hotel room for the last time before our trip to Fillydelphia tomorrow. We all hopped onto our beds and I declared, “Alright girls, we’re heading out on the noon o’clock train tomorrow for Fillydelphia. Make sure you’ve got your affairs or whatever in order before then.”

“That’s pretty early…” Fluttershy mumbled, already half-asleep on her bed, “I want to have brunch with Twilight before we leave…”

“You should have time for that,” I said casually, relaxing on my own bed with my forelegs resting on the pillow behind my head. “I talked it over with AJ and Team Destiny’s taking the same train so I guess we’re all just gonna go together? But yeah, we’re all gonna grab breakfast before heading out, so you should be fine!”

“Ok,” Fluttershy said with a smile, her eyes closed.

“Do we really have to leave already?” Pinkie asked, lounging on her back and kicking her legs in the air. “Are the first preliminaries already over?”

“They are for us,” I snickered, and quite frankly I couldn’t wait to get out of Baltimare. “The preliminaries themselves won’t end for another couple weeks, and yeah we could stay and watch some of the other teams fighting but after today…”

I groaned and looked at the others, who looked back at me with similarly lethargic expressions, Fluttershy opening a single listless eye, “Does anypony really want to do that?”

“No,” Fluttershy said firmly, shutting her eyes tightly.

“Not even a little,” Pinkie said, her tongue flopping out of her mouth. “I am so burned out on fights right now, it’ll be nice to have a couple weeks to just rest.”

“It won’t be just rest,” I sat up and rubbed my hooves together excitedly. “We’ll all need to train some too, make sure we’re still at the top of our game for the second preliminaries…”

Pinkie gave me a look of really grave concern and Fluttershy’s frown deepened into a dreadful scowl.

I gave a melodramatic sigh, “But it will be mostly rest,” the others breathing a collective sigh of relief that made me laugh.

I yawned and stretched my legs above my head, splaying my wings behind my back for good measure, “Speaking of rest, we got a train to catch tomorrow, so get some sleep everypony.”

Despite my insistence that we all get some sleep, I couldn’t quite manage it even as I laid in bed in the darkness, accompanied by the soothing sounds of Pinkie and Fluttershy’s gentle snoring.

I decided to get some change of scenery and left the room, heading out of the hotel and flying up onto the roof to gaze up at the starry night sky. Despite the rain from earlier there wasn’t a cloud in the sky now and it was really mesmerizing to look at all the twinkling lights in the black sky.

It made me feel small, but almost in like, a comforting way. Something about the vastness of the universe helped me keep my mind aligned in perspective, like it was okay if everything didn’t go right one hundred percent of the time, in the end the universe had a way of making sure everything stayed in balance… at least, that was what I chose to believe… even though it was seriously hard to.

That belief comforted me and helped me to keep going forward on hard days, which I had a lot of as a kid… I really liked playing with puzzles as a kid but they always frustrated me. There were always so many dang pieces and it took me hours to figure out how to put them together. My dad always mocked me for being too slow and too stupid to do them, but I always liked them.

I remembered one time when I was working on a really challenging one as a kid, I was getting super frustrated by the time it was taking me and I started crying, but I tried to stop myself so my parents wouldn’t see me and make fun of me. Anyway, the puzzle was really hard but I looked at all the pieces, and I looked at the box which had the picture of what it was supposed to be like and I realized… the game is fair.

Puzzles won’t ever cheat me, even if they’re really hard and frustrating and annoying… all the pieces are still there. If I bought a puzzle it was guaranteed to have all the pieces I needed to finish it, it was just a matter of time and perseverance. But more than that, if I got really frustrated and decided to give up, the puzzle wouldn’t put itself together.

The puzzle wouldn’t say ‘oh I’m sorry you’re not having a good time let me fix that for you’, it just wouldn’t get done. But as long as I didn’t give up, it was just a matter of time and perseverance until I put the puzzle together.

That realization made me really happy, and I started to think that maybe life was like that. Life was hard and challenging, and frustrating and even brutal, but… I had nothing to gain by giving up.

And as long as I held my ground and dug my feet in, I could somehow make it to the life that I always dreamed of, that life that was worth living.

As I curled up on the roof and felt the embrace of sleep coming to me under the starry night sky, a smile on my face as I thought about the future.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

Twilight was sitting at a table outside the coffee place when I arrived early in the morning. “Sorry I’m late!” I said flustered and took a seat across from her, “I didn’t keep you waiting, did I?”

“Nope,” Twilight smiled brightly and took a sip of coffee, gesturing toward the cup in front of me. “I took the liberty of ordering you some tea, Rarity told me how you liked it. It should still be warm!”

“Oh good,” I sighed and took a sip of the warm tea, humming in delight at the comforting and pleasant feeling of warm tea on a cold winter morning. “I kept tossing and turning all last night because I’m so nervous. We’re leaving for Fillydelphia in only a few hours! It’s all a lot to take in.”

“I know what you mean,” Twilight chuckled anxiously. “But hey, it’ll be nice to go there as one big group, right?”

“Yes, I agree,” I nodded happily, “I was really worried about leaving Rarity behind and coming to Bifrost but now we’re both in the tournament together and I’ve met so many wonderful ponies… it’s almost like a dream…”

“Yup,” Twilight smiled brightly.

Twilight and I… just sorta… sat there, for a few moments. Quietly. Twilight occasionally shifted in her chair or looked up at the sky and I was laser focused on my tea so as not to make myself very noticeable or make eye contact with her…

“It occurs to me,” Twilight said, finally breaking the silence after what felt like at least an hour, “that when I asked you out for coffee, I had forgotten that I am the worst at small talk.”

“I’m not very good at it either,” I laughed bashfully. “What do you usually like to talk about, Twilight? I’m more of a listener, honestly.”

“I like…” Twilight blushed and let out a nervous little groan, “I like magic.”

“Magic is cool,” I said with a smile, taking another sip of my tea.

“It really is cool!” Twilight’s eyes brightened ever so slightly before she quickly looked away awkwardly, “But it’s, like, all I’m interested in. I know every little thing there is to know about magic history and theory but it’s hard for me to get really invested in other things… and I know nopony actually wants to hear about all the magic stuff. I get really overexcited and it’s embarrassing.”

“Oh Twilight…” I said with a concerned frown, “I don’t think there’s such a thing as ‘overexcited’. It just means you’re passionate about something, and I think that’s wonderful.”

“You might be the only one,” Twilight grumbled and rolled her eyes. “Usually other ponies just tell me to calm down.”

“Well, if you want to talk about magic,” I smiled gently and elegantly at the cute lavender mare and folded my forelegs on the table, “I’d be more than happy to listen. And I won’t tell you to calm down or that you’re getting too excited, promise.”

“Ehhhhh…” Twilight groaned and agitatedly tapped her hooves on the edge of the table, “Are you sure? I really ramble.”

“That’s okay,” I giggled and took another sip of tea, “we have an hour or so before our train leaves, so ramble to your heart’s content.”

Twilight just stared blankly and blinked at me a couple times, but as I let my smile grow a little bit she finally said tepidly, “If you insist.”

“I insist,” I chirped.

“Oh… uh, okay…” Twilight took a deep breath and another sip of her coffee, “We haven’t seen a lot of unicorns in Bifrost yet, have we? In fact, I think it’s mostly been earth ponies? Then again, I might be biased since the first team we fought was all earth ponies. Also…” Twilight rubbed her temples embarrassedly and I tried not to giggle at her expense, “There were two unicorns on the team we just fought.”

“I fought a unicorn,” I chimed in, although I pouted right after, “I didn’t win though.”

“Oh? What kind of magic did they use?” Twilight asked curiously, her ears perking up as she forgot about her earlier embarrassedness.

“They had a lyre,” I explained, “and when they played different tunes on it, they got like different power-ups. One of them made them super fast, another made her super strong and one made me feel all woozy.”

“Ah, my guess is some kind of transmutation? Abjuration, perhaps?” Twilight nodded and took another sip of her drink, “Or maybe different tunes correspond to different schools? Hmm… that’s interesting.

“Meanwhile, Sunny Flare and…” Twilight grimaced in disgust, “that other pony-” she sighed and cleared her throat before continuing “-were a conjurer and an illusionist, respectively, so their battle styles couldn’t be more different.

“Though granted, there are many different ways to use conjuration, and I should know since it’s my favorite school, personally. Rarity’s never been terribly fond of magic, but she does know a little bit of abjuration and divination, just basic enough stuff to heal cuts and scrapes and find lost objects but—“

Twilight suddenly cut herself off and took a very shaky sip of her coffee, her cheeks turning bright red, “I did it again, I started rambling. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Twilight,” I laughed softly. “I honesty was very much enjoying listening to you ramble,” I took another sip of tea and asked curiously, “So you use conjuration, Twilight? That’s like summoning stuff, right?”

“Yes, it is,” Twilight explained proudly, “primarily through the usage of portals, although ‘summoning’ can mean anything from conjuring weaponry to elemental forces to giant beasts in some cases! That’s why it’s such a useful and versatile school.”

She cleared her throat and proudly put a hoof over her chest, “And I happen to know a little bit of everything. A lot of people think that knowing more magic is somehow better, and I don’t find that to be the case at all.”

She let out a pitiable whine, which made me have to stifle a giggle with another sip of tea.

“I know so many different spells of varying utility that I sometimes get paralyzed with choice, so I mainly stick to conjuration since it was always my favorite.”

“So what about pegasus and earth pony magic?” I asked, “Are there neat categories for those too?”

“Sort of…” Twilight explained, “Pegasi use magic from the Sky Aura, which grants them control over one of four elemental aspects; heat, light, air and water, and powerful pegasi can combine these elemental powers into different, more advanced techniques such as the use of lightning and ice, which are common, or steam and explosions.”

“Wow,” I was really awed by Twilight’s knowledge and was really intrigued to hear more about what she had to say, I felt like I was learning so much!

“Pegasi are generally attuned to a specific element naturally,” Twilight continued, “and that element is easier for them to control, but any pegasus can use as many elements as they want… it just takes a ton of hard work and training to control more than one element effectively.”

Twilight frowned and tapped her chin for a second, “Speaking of, Fluttershy, you’re a pegasus. What kind of magic do you have?”

“Oh, um…” I blushed and lowered my head, causing hair to fall in front of my eye as I looked away from Twilight, “I’m not very good at magic… I can’t control an element or anything like that… the only thing I can do is I can channel energy into my hoof and briefly stop another pony from using magic by touching them.”

“Huh. That sounds more like earth pony magic… but you’re definitely a pegasus, you have wings,” Twilight chuckled, “You’re not an alicorn in disguise, are you? You don’t have like a horn hidden under all that hair, right?”

“Not that I know of,” I laughed, Twilight giggling as well. “So what about earth pony magic?”

“Earth magic is generally used to control one’s own body,” Twilight explained. “This is colloquially known as the ‘Muscle Aspect’ of the Earth Aura, however powerful earth ponies can also control the physical space around them within their own personal aura,” Twilight smirked at me and said “because of course, as you know, everypony has a magical aura surrounding them at all times, and earth pony magic can physically manipulate the properties of this aura under the right conditions.”

“Wow, earth pony magic sounds really strong,” I took another sip of tea.

“That’s not all!” Twilight said excitedly, standing up with her forehooves on the table, “Really powerful earth ponies can also manipulate the bodies, and in some extremely rare cases even the magical aura, of others! This is colloquially known as the ‘Nerve Aspect’, whereas the control of one’s own aura is the ‘Breath Aspect’.”

“And what about non-pony magic?” I said curiously, reminded of how that griffon from the fair was able to use lightning.

“Oh, ponies aren’t the only ones who can use magic, of course,” Twilight said casually. “While most ponies refer to things such as ‘unicorn magic’ or ‘pegasus magic’, these are outdated terms. Every living creature is connected to the magic of the universe in some way or another, either to the Space Aura like unicorns and centaurs, or to the Sky Aura like pegasi and griffons and dragons, or to the Earth Aura like earth ponies and minotaurs and the like.”

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot today,” I said with a smile and took one last sip of tea.

“I’m glad I could help!” Twilight blushed and fretted with her bangs, “And thanks for listening to me, Fluttershy. I almost never get to really go off on these tangents.”

“Anytime, Twilight,” I said with a bright smile. I really enjoyed listening to Twilight’s ‘tangent’ and I honestly looked forward to hearing another one sometime. “But right now we should probably head to the train station.”

“Ack! It’s late!” Twilight said in shock as she looked at the time, “Let’s go, Fluttershy!”

Twilight hopped off her chair and started running to the station, and as I got up to follow her I couldn’t help but think how happy I was that there were so many nice ponies in my life now. A little cheesy, I know, but… it made me happy to think about.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

“Thanks Applejack,” I said as Applejack and I merrily trotted our way to a hotel, but not the one we were staying at, “for coming with me.”

“Not a problem at all, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said with a smile. “I take it ya haven’t seen yer sisters at all since you entered Bifrost?”

“Yepyep!” I nodded cheerfully, “I didn’t want to see them until I was super-duper sure I’d be sticking around! How sad would it be if I was like ‘hey everypony, I’m here! Welp, gotta catch a train back to my miserable hole cuz I suck and can’t win fights!’?”

“That’s um, hm,” Applejack muttered.

“What about you?” I asked, quickly changing the subject, “How long has it been since you’ve seen our dumb stupid aunt that you don’t like?”

Applejack laughed at my comment which made me smile. “Not since I moved to Dodge, I reckon.”

“Teehee, that’s what I figured,” I snickered, Applejack giving me a playful shove in return.

“So if yer sisters’re teamin’ up for Bifrost,” Applejack said ponderously, “how come you ain’t with ‘em? Or at least, teamin’ up with yer family in some capacity?”

“Because I’m with Rainbow,” I shot Applejack a snide grin. “You know how she is. She wants to win Bifrost with ‘her own power’ and doesn’t want help from my family.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. Rainbow could be so stubborn.

“I guess that makes sense,” Applejack sighed and hung her head, “for Rainbow, anyway.”

“But…” I playfully smirked at Applejack, “I love my family, but I don’t regret my decision at all. Rainbow and Fluttershy are the best partners I could ask for.”

“I know exactly what ya mean,” Applejack said with a bright smile, making me giggle.

We reached the hotel where my sisters were staying pretty soon after that. They were still stuck in Baltimare a little while longer because they had another match to fight soon, but they had already won two matches so there wasn’t any real worry.

My three sisters were all crowded around a seating area in the hotel lobby and my heart burst with emotion as I saw them.

“Maud! Marble! Limestone!” I shouted as I ran over to greet them, jumping cannonball-style into Limestone’s lap and embracing her in the biggest hug. Hearing her familiar groan of resentment as I did this thing I knew annoyed her but was still like our thing made me the happiest pony in all Equestria!

“I’m so happy to see you guys!” I said, planting a smooch on Limestone’s cheek as she grumbled.

“We’re happy to see you too, Pinkie,” Maud said flatly, a dull expression on her face. Just like always! I bounced over and gave her a big hug, pressing our faces together cheek to cheek.

“Mm-hmm!” Marble said shyly, like she always does! I grabbed that cutie and smothered her in a big bear hug.

“Applejack! Applejack!” I said, bouncing up and down, “Come meet my sisters!”

“I’ve met yer sisters, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack chuckled. “Plenty of times.”

“Oh, right. Teehee!” I giggled excitedly. With so many of my favorite people in one room together I couldn’t help but jump for joy!

“Hey Applejack,” Limestone said with a grin, “I saw your fight today. You were real good, I’m mad about it.”

“Heh, thanks,” Applejack smiled back at Limestone and tipped her hat.

“Ooh! Ooh! Did you see my fights!” I bounced eagerly.

“Yeah, Pinkie. We saw your fights,” Limestone said but I detected something off about her tone. “You were good too!”

“We saw you get strangled to death,” Maud said from behind me, immediately taking the wind out of my sails as my cheeks burned. “We weren’t going to talk about it.”

“So why’d you bring it up, Maud?!” Limestone said irritably.

“Mm-hmm,” Marble scowled at Maud also.

“It’s okay, you guys,” I said, trying to keep a smile on my face as my hair deflated and fell all around me.

“Aw c’mon, Pinkie,” Limestone said sadly, grabbing my cheeks with her hooves, “don’t do the hair thing. You were awesome. You fought two guys way above your level and really stood your ground against ‘em. Doesn’t matter if you didn’t win, I was impressed as heck.”

“Thanks,” I said with a weak smile, my hair still all over my face but appreciative of Limestone’s gesture.

I was so embarrassed… not just because all my sisters saw the most pathetic and humiliating fight I’d ever been in, but also because I hated letting my sisters see this moody sad side of me. I always hated burdening others with my sadness, especially my friends and family… but I was soooooo bad at hiding my emotions so I couldn’t stop myself from just sitting there and being embarrassed and sad.

“If anyone’s to blame, it’s Rainbow Dash,” Limestone scoffed. “Where the heck was she?! You’re out there getting brutalized and all she does is make a big grand entrance like she’s some kinda hero, then totally chokes!”

“It’s… a long story,” I said through gritted teeth, caught between my desire to defend Rainbow and not argue with my sister.

“Nopony thinks less of you, Pinkie,” Maud said as she stood right next to me, putting her hoof on my shoulder, “just because you didn’t win every fight. Nopony expects you to do the impossible.”

“Mm-hmm,” Marble nodded and inched up to me, giving me a hug. I hugged her back and felt some of the light returning to my body.

“Did you guys win every fight?” I asked.

“Well yeah, of course,” Limestone said flippantly. “But like, we’re the best team here so that’s kind of a given.”

“Oh,” I sighed, lowering my head and letting my hair fall over my eyes.

“Way to go, Limestone,” Maud said coldly.

“MM-HMM,” Marble scowled in bemusement at Limestone.

“Wh—I didn’t mean to—“ Limestone blushed and stammered.

She pushed Marble and Maud away and grabbed me by the cheeks again, tilting my head up so we were looking eye-to-eye, although to be honest I was just kinda staring into the distance.

“Listen, Pinkie—“ Limestone looked over at Applejack and glowered a little bit, “Give us some space here, AJ?”

“Eh, right…” Applejack said nervously, “I guess I’ll… meet’cha at the door, Pinkie?”

“Yeah, okay,” I said sadly.

Limestone took a deep breath as Applejack walked off and looked me in the eyes again. “Listen up, girl! Yer gettin’ the rockstar speech!”

My eyes twinkled a little bit and the barest hint of a smile crept onto my face. I love the rockstar speech!

Limestone climbed onto a chair and yelled for the whole lobby to hear. “Pinkie Pie! You’re a rockstar! And as a rockstar you gotta be stronk!” Limestone jumped off the chair and stood on her hind legs, “Confident!” she slammed her front hooves on the ground, making a loud thunderous noise, “The baddest pony Equestria has ever seen!”

She grabbed my cheeks again and lifted me off my front legs. “You think ponies go to a rock show to see a sad, mopey baby pony?!”

“Heck no!” me and Limestone said in unison.

“They wanna see a frickin’ star!” Limestone yelled with a wide grin, “And who’s gonna show ‘em that star?!”

“A rockstar!” me and Limestone shouted together again, Marble and Maud mumbling in unison as well.

“And what are you?!” Limestone said.

“I’m a rockstar!” I screamed and jumped off the ground, my hair inflating to its natural, beautiful poofiness once again! “I love you, Limestone!” I said with tears in my eyes as I gave my sister a big hug “And I love you, Marble! And Maud!” I grabbed my other two sisters and dragged them into the hug and the four of us stood there just hugging for a sec.

“We’d better see you in the tournament proper, Pinkie Pie!” Limestone said confidently.

“I’m not gonna let you guys down!” I said tearfully.

“Pinkie Promise?” Marble said hopefully.

I nodded my head and the four of us said altogether, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” doing the gestures together and everything. It was so silly the four of us couldn’t help but laugh, even Maud let out a single “ha” which was basically laughing out loud for her.

“We love you, Pinkie,” Maud said, “and we’re proud of you. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Mm-hmm,” Marble nodded vigorously.

“And hey, if you ever need help,” Limestone added, punching me playfully in the shoulder, “we got yer back. That goes for that conceited jerk Rainbow, too. She’s basically family.”

“Thank you,” I said, wiping tears from my face. “All of you. I promise I…” I stamped my front hooves on the ground and smiled confidently, “I’ll be way stronger than any of you guys next time we meet!”

“Ha!” Limestone gave a big, sly grin, “That’s a big promise, Pinkie. We’ll hold you to it!”

“Good luck, Pinkie Pie,” Maud said and waved as I readied myself to leave.

“Safe travels,” Marble added with a cute smile.

“Goodbye, you guys!” I said joyfully even as tears still stung at my eyes, “I’ll see you all in the tournament proper, promise! Wait, I already promised that… well anyway! Seeeeeeee yooouuuuuu!!!” I didn’t actually move farther away as I said that, I just kinda made my voice go quieter to mimic distance.

“Get outta here,” Limestone said, shoving me playfully and making me giggle.

I walked up to Applejack who was waiting outside the hotel.

“Y’all right?” she asked and gently nudged me.

“Yeah,” I nodded, drying my eyes, “I’m really embarrassed… that my sisters saw…” I blushed and groaned as I recalled my fight with High Heel, “that whole… thing.”

I shook my head and bore a confident and determined expression.

“But I know my sisters don’t think any less of me for it. They’re really good to me and I love them a whole lot! And I’m not gonna disappoint them or let them down! And even more than that, I’m not gonna let me down!” I jumped in the air and screamed, “Come on, Applejack! We gotta train to catch! And a tournament to win!”

“Couldn’t’ve said it better myself, Pinkie!” Applejack said happily as we galloped to the train station together.

****

-RARITY-

“You wanted to speak to me…” I briefly considered referring to Rainbow as ‘darling’, as I often did out of habit, but reneged at the last moment.

She had asked me to see her before we left for Fillydelphia, but when I went to her room she had been asleep so it was only now at the train station, the two of us sitting alone on a bench away from the other four, that we had the time to talk.

“Yeah…” Rainbow said nervously, kicking at the ground as she paced back and forth in front of the bench. “I wanted to, um… apologize. Again.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow, not exactly enthused at the prospect of a fake apology but trying to keep an open mind for Twilight’s sake. And after all, Rainbow had surprised me before. I suppose it was only fair that I give her a chance.

“Mm-hmm…” Rainbow fidgeted around anxiously. She was clearly distressed about something although I had no interest in hazarding a guess as to what it could be. “I know… things between us… aren’t great.”

“That’s an understatement,” I said flatly, feeling rather proud of myself that I managed to keep a particularly venomous sigh from being released.

“Right…” Rainbow laughed very awkwardly, “and I know that… an apology can’t make up for the stupid stuff I’ve done in the past… and I’m not asking you to forgive me, or to stop hating me, or to give up on trying to defeat me or whatever…”

I slapped my forehead against my hoof and sighed detestably at Rainbow’s mumbled apology, but moreover at the fact that she was aware of my intentions in this tournament. Although I suppose after my ill-fated bout with Starlight Glimmer there wasn’t much I could hide from her, or anyone for that matter.

“My point is…” Rainbow took a deep breath and puffed up her chest. She looked up at me into my eyes for a second before anxiously averting her gaze. “Our teams really get along. It’s kinda just you and me that don’t. So, like, for our f—“ Rainbow grit her teeth and stomped a hoof, “For our teams’ sakes, I’d like to… to do what I can to make things okay between us.”

I remembered spending months of savings on a few classic novels from one of my favorite obscure authors. Books that were almost impossible to find and I had them in my hooves thanks to several months of determination and grit.

Before I even returned home with them Rainbow Dash threw me into a river and the water destroyed the books. I cried the rest of the day.

“Rainbow…” I growled.

I remembered leaving my home after an hour’s preparation on my makeup to go on a date with Applejack. I was still learning how to do my own makeup to hide my masculine features at the time and I almost never felt good about how I looked, but Applejack had complimented my makeup before and I did it in such a way that I knew she would love and compliment me.

As soon as I left my home Rainbow dropped a torrent of rainfall from a storm cloud on top of me and laughed as I let out a horrified shriek.

I paced the steel ground of the train station as Rainbow Dash awaited my answer in the present. I looked at her as she bowed her head apologetically, and thought about the Rainbow I had seen in Bifrost. The Rainbow Dash who not only risked her life to rescue Fluttershy, but carried her on her back to the arena.

I remembered finishing my first ever line of dresses. Without a studio in which to blow glass, after I left my family and moved to Dodge I took up dress making and thoroughly enjoyed it… at first. I was so proud to show off the fruits of my labor to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who at that time I was still speaking with.

I knew Applejack didn’t know a thing about fashion but she still complimented me on how hard I worked and that’s all I really wanted to hear.

“They look bad,” Rainbow said. “Like, they look like something clowns would wear.”

When Applejack asked me what happened to the dresses the next day I told her I wanted to fine-tune some of the details so she couldn’t see them, but the truth was that I had thrown them all in the garbage. I was so proud of them, but so unsure of myself… I was a teenager for pony’s sake, I had just left my toxic family and was starting to find myself… and Rainbow’s words cut me like a knife.

No matter what it was, whenever I tried to express my identity, Rainbow would always be there with a snide putdown or mean-spirited joke. I hated myself for being too weak to stand up to her, and maybe that was a failing on my part… maybe I should have been upset with Applejack, who always told Rainbow off whenever she would say things like that but never drew a line against her, always let the abuse continue.

But no, at the end of the day it was Rainbow who bore the true mark of my anger. It wasn’t until I had become an adult that I realized the ways in which she had hurt me and how it wasn’t me who was the problem, I wasn’t ‘too weak’ for being upset at her for tearing down my identity and way of expressing myself.

I remembered Rainbow apologizing to me in the hall, speaking kindly toward me in my weakened state after my friends’ victory, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy’s high praises of her. Perhaps, in a way, she had changed. Perhaps I could see beyond her past abuses and look upon the person she is today, and find it in my heart to bury my grudge.

“Rainbow…” I said in the present, Rainbow perking up attentively. I stared her dead in the eye and said, “I will not forgive you.”

But I did not want to look past it.

“Wh—eh—“ Rainbow stuttered before scoffing and donning an intense grimace. “So that’s how it’s gonna be then?”

“It is,” I said coldly and began to walk away from Rainbow and toward the others. “I will defeat you, Rainbow Dash. And until I do, you will not receive forgiveness from me.”

I needed to defeat her to banish the scars she left on me when I was young.

“If you think you can defeat me,” Rainbow sneered, scraping her hoof across the ground and looking up into my eyes with a burning and furious glare, “you’re out of your mind.”

With that she stormed off to who knows where. I sighed irritably as I thought about the complications this would make for our companions, all of whom I cared for a great deal, even Pinkie Pie who I had just barely begun to know.

But I couldn’t just let the past die. I could not, in good faith, forget my wounds. Rainbow Dash was an obstacle standing between my wounded teenage spirit, the girl barely clinging to life that even a decade later I was still merely a shadow of, and the vibrant and beautiful princess that I wanted to be.

I could not be that person I dreamed I could be with these scars keeping me chained to the person I used to be, and I could not banish these scars without getting through the demons that caused them, demons represented by Rainbow Dash.

I took a deep breath and sighed.

The others won’t be happy about this. I know I have chosen a painful path… but the only way to release the ghosts of my past is to move forward.

And the only way forward is through.

I don't usually like exposition, unless it's explaining how systems and mechanics work, in which case I soak that stuff up like a sponge. So you'll have to forgive me for indulging into the juicy explanations about magic systems for a sec. :3c

Limestone is my favorite supporting character in all of Friendship is Magic, that’s why she gets all the lines. Pinkie’s family needs more love tbh.

Anyhoo, that’s the end of volume 1! And before we get to volume 2, I need to take a bit of a break to build up a new buffer! Apparently writing 10k words every week was not a sustainable momentum, go figure.
So hopefully after I build my buffer I can post all of volume 2 on a regular schedule without interruptions, knock on wood!

-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-

It had been three weeks since Team Destiny and Team Rainboom had left Baltimare, and while it was nice to get a brief reprieve from the rollercoaster of emotional turmoil and traumatizing violence, the second round of Bifrost’s preliminaries were already starting.

I was sitting in a Fillydelphia hotel lobby going over my planned speech in my mind for the fiftieth time while Rainbow Dash sat across the table from me, inspecting the white ribbon I placed in front of her, which was identical to the one she showed me.

“So I guess we’re not just beating you guys up and taking yours,” Rainbow said jokingly.

“Nope,” I chuckled, thinking to myself that I certainly hoped she was joking. “I suppose the climactic showdown between Team Destiny and Team Rainboom will have to wait.”

The white ribbons were given to us by the tournament officials once the second preliminaries officially started. Seventy-two teams made it to the second preliminary round and half of them were given a white ribbon and the other half a black ribbon. The thirty-six teams that managed to collect both colors of ribbon by the end of one month would move on to the final preliminaries.

To collect the ribbons you had to take them from other teams, and there was no way of knowing which teams had which ribbons, and to make matters worse… there was no official battlefield. As long as we stayed in Fillydelphia we could be attacked by an enemy team at any time.

Hence why Rainbow and I had our little war meeting in the crowded Fillydelphia hotel lobby. The bustling atmosphere wasn’t exactly good for concentration but the likeliness of being attacked by another team with so many civilians around was pretty low. Not zero percent, mind, but pretty low.

“Considering that there’s no point to us fighting each other,” I said slyly, drawing on my rehearsed speech as I placed my ribbon back in my saddlebags, “I was going to suggest that we team up. The six of us versus the other teams of three will put us at an advantage.”

“Us? Team up?” Rainbow laughed and leaned back in her chair, tipping it off its front legs before slamming back down onto the floor with a loud CLACK that made me grit my teeth. Still giggling, she looked at the annoyed and decidedly unamused expression on my face, “Oh, you’re serious. Let me laugh even harder then!”

“Rainbow, be reasonable,” I groaned, Rainbow arching an eyebrow at me with a smug grin on her face. “Our two teams have spent nearly every day of the last three weeks together. You and Rarity are the only members of our groups that don’t get along, even Applejack has warmed up to you!”

“Sure, but what’s in it for me?” Rainbow said huffily, crossing her forelegs over her chest and it took all of my inner strength to not roll my eyes, “I mean, of course you guys wanna team up, your team is pretty weak. My team’s super strong so I’m not sure teaming up with you guys benefits us.”

“What about the companionship? The comradery? The chance to do something nice for your friends?”

“Yeah, but seriously though. What’s in it for me?” Rainbow asked.

I groaned and nearly slammed my head on the table but I stopped myself and smirked, realizing that Rainbow had just given me an in.

“Nothing, Rainbow,” I said with a pronounced shrug. “You’re right, you really don’t stand to benefit from our two teams working together,” I hopped onto the ground and began to trot away. “If you don’t want to, I can’t force you. I just hope Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are on the same page you’re on.”

“Hold on, I didn’t say I didn’t want to,” Rainbow said as she flew ahead of me and landed on the ground in front of me. “I just, y’know, wanted you to sweeten the deal for me a little bit!”

“Oh yeah?” I said with a grin. “What’s in it for me?”

“What’s in it for—” Rainbow sputtered, “I thought you wanted our help!”

“I do,” I nodded, stifling a giggle. “Mostly for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy’s sakes, because I enjoy their company. And I enjoy yours too, when you’re not being a jerk.”

Rainbow scrunched up her face at that comment and looked like she was about to speak, but she held her tongue.

“The thing is though,” I cleared my throat and gave Rainbow a dazzling smile, “my team doesn’t need your help. I could probably beat the three of you myself if I really stretched myself to my limits.”

“Oh, you think so?” Rainbow sneered, hovering in the air in front of me and pushing her forehead confrontationally against mine.

I backed up a few steps and said casually, “Maybe. I honestly don’t know or care, since I have no real interest in fighting you,” I shrugged, and bit my tongue to keep from laughing at the radiant blush on Rainbow’s cheeks. I took a deep breath and spoke sternly for a moment, “My point is, I don’t need you and I’m not going to let you extort me.”

Rainbow stuttered and glanced around before slowly placing herself back on the ground.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

That really took me aback and my eyes widened in surprise.

“That was all just posturing,” she said, “it’s something I’m trying to get over, but you know what they say about old habits,” Rainbow sighed and shook her entire body like she was trying to dry herself off. “Look, I really do want to team up with you guys, but can I ask a small favor in return?”

“What is it?” I said curiously, cautiously eager to hear Rainbow’s request.

“Just…” Rainbow nervously scraped a hoof across the ground and her cheeks were turning red again, “Help me smooth things over with Rarity? Maybe put in a good word for me? I want her to see that… that I’m not the same jerk I was when I was a teenager.”

“Well Rainbow,” I said tepidly, my whole body shuddering at the prospect of trying to convince Rarity to give Rainbow another chance, “I’ll see what I can do, but if you want her to believe you’re not the same jerk you used to be, you need to stop acting like the jerk you used to be.”

I saw a torrent of emotions flash through Rainbow’s pink eyes in barely more than a second. Anger, fear, sadness, anger again before settling on begrudging acceptance.

“That’s…” she let out a pained, whispery groan. “Yeah, okay. That’s fair. So… for now, then…” Rainbow extended her hoof in front of me and I could see the anxiety resonating in her eyes. She had a pained smile on her face like she was trying to be cool… but I could tell this wasn’t easy for her. “Partners?”

I smiled and raised my own hoof, bumping it against Rainbow’s. “Partners.”

Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief, although she would never admit that’s what it was.

****

-RARITY-

I stretched my legs and yawned as I awoke, drawing the curtains to greet the morning sun… or the afternoon sun as the case may be. I shook myself awake and poured myself a cup of hot tea from the complimentary tea and coffee maker in our hotel room.

Three weeks. Three weeks since the end of the first preliminaries for Team Destiny… since my battle with Starlight Glimmer.

While I was truly grateful from the bottom of my heart to my companions for taking care of me as I recovered from that disastrous fight, and no one thought any less of me despite my humiliating defeat, the scars from that battle were still fresh in my mind.

I needed to become stronger.

I had been training my magic in the three weeks since we came to Fillydelphia with Twilight’s help, but as it turns out the school I am most comfortable with is divination, which is not terribly well-suited for combat. Go figure.

I was getting quite good at detecting far away objects and people however, and could send telepathic messages back and forth with Twilight via linking up with her own divination, so I was making progress and getting more skilled with my magic… it’s just that progress wasn’t making me any better in a fight.

I heard a dainty tap at the door as I finished my tea and pranced over to look who it was. Peering through the peephole on the door I saw Pinkie Pie squishing her eyeball against the door, the sight of her adorable face oddly deformed by the perspective of the peephole making me giggle.

I opened the door, causing Pinkie who was leaning against it to fall into my room, and said rather musically, “Good afternoon, Pinkie Pie. What can I do for you?”

“Well,” Pinkie sprung up to her feet in an instant and bore a huge smile on her face, “Fluttershy and Applejack are hanging out by themselves again, and Twilight and Rainbow went to do like some kinda strategy pow-wow, so I was thinking you and me could hang out!”

“That’s a splendid idea, Pinkie Pie!” I said cheerfully and batted a hoof at her, which she gleefully mirrored. In the three weeks since leaving Fillydelphia our teams had been more or less inseparable, and I had become quite fond of Pinkie Pie’s company.

I suddenly heard my stomach growling and Pinkie giggled, “I think we should start with some breakfast!”

“Lead the way, darling,” I chuckled bashfully.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

Applejack and I were sitting at a little table outdoors, eating candied apples together. My legs were a little bit sore because Applejack insisted on taking me everywhere in town to get the perfect candied apples, because apparently she’s very picky about them and wanted me to only have the best ones. And honestly, it was extremely sweet and cute of her.

When our two teams first got to Fillydelphia, I was really nervous around Applejack because… well, to be totally frank… because I had a crush on her. But I managed to work up the confidence to ask her out on, like… ‘sort-of’ dates.

Just sneaking in time to spend together wherever I could; offering to go with her if she needed to get something or volunteering to spar with her… little things that I could do to spend time with her that wouldn’t look super suspicious… I know that’s silly but I was really self-conscious about my crush.

But it paid off! Today Applejack asked me to go someplace with her! She wanted to get candy apples and how could I refuse? She was just too sweet for my heart to handle!

“What d’ya think, sugarcube?” Applejack said kindly as she took a big crunching bite out of her apple, continuing to speak with her mouth full, “Pretty good, right?”

“It’s very good,” I squeaked, my voice remaining really low and soft because I was nervous… but I couldn’t help but smile around her. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Applejack chuckled and playfully nudged my foreleg. “I love stuff like this… takin’ somethin’ as simple as an apple and addin’ all this creativity to it… it’s inspirin’.”

“I know what you mean,” I said with a little nod.

“So hey, how’re you holdin’ up?” Applejack asked. “With Bifrost I mean. I can’t imagine that all this fightin’ is really yer thing usually.”

“It isn’t,” I chuckled and shook my head. “Is it that obvious?”

Applejack laughed back and took another bite of her apple. “I mean, yer handlin’ yerself real well, to be honest. But you seem like way too much of a sweetheart to be someone who gets into a lot of fights.”

Applejack suddenly started choking on an apple piece which took me by surprise and made my heart nearly jump into my throat, but before I could react she pounded herself on the chest and stammered, “A-and by ‘sweetheart’ I don’t mean like—uh, I mean…” I laughed really hard at Applejack choking on a compliment of all things and she just sighed, “You know what I mean.”

“I think so,” I was smiling like a doofus as I looked at Applejack sitting next to me. She looked over at me and smiled back and I couldn’t help but blush and cover my face with my wing, making her laugh.

“Y’alright, sugarcube?” She said cheerfully, gently tapping my wing.

“I-I am,” I nodded, still smiling like a big idiot. I carefully put down my wing to see Applejack’s smile and my own smile got even bigger, which made me feel really self-conscious and stupid so I took an enormous bite out of my candy apple and just went CRONCH CRONCH CRONCH, Applejack’s jaw hanging open as she watched my hideous display of awful manners.

“It’s good,” I said with my mouth full of apple and a bashful smile on my face. Applejack laughed and playfully pushed me and that got me laughing too.

When Applejack asked me to get apples with her I had almost been ready to jump out of my skin I was so nervous. But actually being with her, something about her smile, her laugh… made me feel totally comfortable.

I felt… safe… with her. And as a trans girl who grew up in an abusive household and has really awful anxiety problems and also occasional night terrors, the feeling of actual, comfortable safety was something totally unfamiliar to me.

It was nice…

I looked at Applejack as she laughed and wore a soft smile on my face. Thank you, Applejack. Even if this feeling of safety disappeared after this one moment, I would always be grateful to her for allowing me to feel it.

****

-RARITY-

Pinkie Pie and I shared a delightful meal and even more delightful conversation with each other at a quaint little eatery just a few blocks outside our hotel. It felt like time just soared by because before I knew it, the two of us were merrily trotting along the streets of Fillydelphia, idly engaging each other in banter until we suddenly grinded to a halt at the sight of two familiar ponies.

“Oh, hey you guys,” Twilight said with a smile, her eyes nervously darting between me and the blue pegasus standing beside her.

“Hello to you too!” Pinkie shouted enthusiastically and immediately smothered Twilight and Rainbow Dash in a big hug, and I couldn’t help but laugh at my sister’s expression of pained confusion. You’d think she would be used to Pinkie’s lack of boundaries by now, but I was afraid poor Twilight would never become used to being hugged so warmly.

“How did your strategy meeting go, you two?” I asked calmly, my eyes briefly hovering over Rainbow before quickly fixing on Twilight.

Rainbow and I hadn’t spoken much… or really at all, in the three weeks that our teams had been together but for Twilight and Pinkie’s sakes I tried to ignore our antagonistic relationship for the time being.

It wasn’t easy.

“Well you’re off the hook for now,” Rainbow scoffed, tilting her head at me, “so there’s that. Destiny and Rainboom both have white ribbons, so there’s no point in taking yours.”

“Yeah, that was definitely the major point of our conversation, Rainbow,” Twilight let out an ever beleaguered sigh.

Always trying to be the responsible one, Twilight.

Twilight composed herself and smiled at me, “It actually went rather well. Rainbow and I have come up with a few strategies that we think will allow our two teams to work together to acquire the black ribbons we both need without too much hassle.”

“Try not to get in the way,” Rainbow added gruffly, pointing her hoof at me.

A cold winter wind blew across the street corner where the four of us stood as my eye twitched trying to ignore that comment. Pinkie chuckled nervously and Twilight just irritably cleared her throat.

“As I was saying—“

“I’m just saying because you can’t fight,” Rainbow interjected.

Another gust of freezing wind blew through our group. It was a rather eerie omen, although I suppose it was to be rather expected from February weather.

“Umm, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie laughed incredibly loudly and awkwardly. “Could you not—“

“It’s quite alright, Pinkie Pie,” I said with a furiously calm smile, “I’m rather used to Rainbow Dash’s antagonism at this point.”

Twilight raised her hoof, “Can I just—“

“It’s not my fault you’re the weak link, Rarity,” Rainbow stomped a hoof forward as she interrupted Twilight, causing my dear sister to groan in frustration.

“Rainbow, can you shut up for like two seconds?” Twilight snapped at Rainbow Dash, who simply scoffed, scraping a hoof across the ground while Pinkie just shook her head vigorously.

“You wanna make something out of it, Twilight?” Rainbow grumbled irritably, Twilight clearly not expecting Rainbow to turn her antagonism toward her and recoiling away from the pegasus.

I was about to speak, unable to just stand by while my hated rival acted so uncouth to my sister, but Pinkie Pie was faster.

“Rainbow, what’s gotten into you?” Pinkie asked concernedly, gently reaching out a hoof to touch Rainbow’s cheek but getting brushed off by the angry mare instead. “This isn’t like you.”

“Actually, it’s quite like her,” I said with confidence, raising my posture so as to look down at the frustrating pegasus.

“Whatever.”

Rainbow sneered and leapt into the sky, flying off at high speed.

“What was that all about?!” Pinkie said in distress, stomping her hooves on the ground. “It’s not like her to get that worked up over… over nothing!”

“I have no idea,” Twilight said dismally, placing a hoof upon her brow and shaking her head. “She was fine earlier, while we were talking. I don’t know what got into her all of a sudden.”

“Indeed, it’s a mystery,” I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes, knowing very well that it was my presence that set her off, and that Twilight’s plan for our two teams to work together could not succeed if Rainbow was going to be quite so bitchy about me being around her. “I need to talk with her alone.”

“But she flew away,” Pinkie pointed out. “How’re you gonna find her?”

“Please, Pinkie Pie,” I chuckled as a pale blue light shone around my horn, “I haven’t spent the last three weeks resting on my laurels now.”

“Good luck, Rarity,” Twilight said anxiously.

“Be good to each other!” Pinkie called out desperately as I galloped away. “Please!”

“I will do what I can!” I shouted back before turning my attention fully to casting the spell.

Rainbow Dash was not one to hide her presence well, so detecting her magical signature even at her speed was no trouble at all. The problem would be actually catching up to her, but I figured she had to land eventually.

****

-PINKIE PIE-

“So what, exactly, is Rainbow’s problem?” Twilight asked frustratedly as we walked away together from, y’know, that whole disastrous thing that just happened. “You know her better than anypony else.”

“Yeah, I do,” I whined and bit my lip, not sure what I could say that would both be honest and paint Rainbow in a sympathetic light. “Rainbow just has these mood swings sometimes. Like she’ll be totally fine for a while and then something will tick her off and she’ll go into a frenzy over it.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow and I felt a panic alarm going off in my head. I didn’t want Twilight to be like everyone else and tell me how bad she thought Rainbow was and how I’d be better off without her and how mean and angry and stupid and jerky Rainbow is like they knew anything at all about how hard she works and how much she’s gone through!

“I-it’s not that big a deal!” I said desperately, trying to nervously laugh off my anxiety and hoping it didn’t sound as forced to Twilight as it did to me.

“That sounds like a pretty big deal, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said matter-of-factly, and it was hard to argue with her when she sounded so sure, but… but… she couldn’t be right! She just didn’t know Rainbow like I did!

“Well, I mean, I’m sorta the same way,” I said with a forced smile. “I’m usually super happy and fun and excited,” I bounced up and down to illustrate my point, “until I’m just suddenly not.” I let my hair droop down around my face and slumped onto the ground to further get my point across before blowing into my hoof and poofing my hair back up to its normal poofiness.

“That sounds rough. I’m sorry, Pinkie,” Twilight said softly. “For both of you.”

I breathed a mental sigh of relief at hearing her say that second part and couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Thank you, Twilight,” I said sincerely.

It was funny. Nopony had ever really said that to me before about the mood swings thing, usually it was just a huge bother to everyone. But Twilight was actually really nice about it… how weird.

“I know it’s a lot to manage for everyone else,” I said, tracing my hoof in a circle on the ground, “never knowing like which ‘version’ of me or Rainbow that you’re gonna get… but it’s a lot for us too and…”

I began to mist up a little but I bit my lip and violently shook my head around, Twilight staring at me in bewilderment and taking a couple cautious steps back. “I know it’s a lot, and I know that we’re a burden sometimes… but it’s just the way we are. And I’m sorry about that.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Pinkie,” Twilight said, my eyes meeting hers for a fraction of a second before I had to blink the tears out of mine and Twilight looked away bashfully.

“And I don’t know if this makes you feel any better,” Twilight continued, “but I understand what you mean, to some degree. I get super wrapped up in things, and I don’t always know what the right thing to say is. People used to tell me all the time that I was weird or a dork or I talked too much or too little or that it was annoying the way I rambled all the time… until I just stopped talking to people altogether.”

There was a brief pause as Twilight sighed, but she shook her head and continued with a smile. I just wanted to reach out and hug her and tell her everything was gonna be okay, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her or anything.

“I still get nervous about really stupid stuff,” Twilight’s voice cracked as her eyes appeared really honed in on the concrete under her hooves, “and I get really obsessive over stuff no one else cares about…”

Twilight chuckled nervously and blushed, tracing a hoof across her cheek and looking at literally anything other than me. She couldn’t have known, especially without seeing that my eyes were fixed right on her, that she had my total attention.

“I guess what my point is…” Twilight cleared her throat and looked at me for one fraction of a second, but when I instinctively smiled at her she darted her eyes away again, “is that I understand how it feels to be a burden. And you’re not a burden to me.

“You and Rainbow both…” Twilight smiled and finally managed to look at me with one eye closed and her cheeks turning bright red, even as I stared back into her open eye with a bright smile. “I believe in you guys, and I enjoy hanging out with you… and I understand, to some extent, the demons you both face. And it would be my honor to help you fight those demons anyway I can.”

“Twilight…” I said tearfully, trying to fight back against what I knew would be a huge waterworks display. I nuzzled my head against Twilight’s and gave her a big hug which she reciprocated gently, holding onto her like some flotsam in the middle of the ocean. “Thank you.”

I sniffled and blubbered as the tears started really coming now. I was blushing and crying and felt like such a silly, stupid pony… but then I looked into Twilight’s eyes, and she looked so cool… I smiled at her and said, “Now let’s go get some candy apples!”

“You read my mind!” Twilight laughed, her eyes lighting up like that was the best idea she’d ever heard and I’ll be darned to heck if it wasn’t the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

****

-APPLEJACK-

I told Fluttershy I needed to use the bathroom and so I headed that way, but the truth was I just needed a sec to catch my thoughts. I hadn’t noticed it until today, but in the three weeks since we came to Fillydelphia I’d been spendin’ a lot of time with Fluttershy. An errand here, a trainin’ exercise there, for some reason we just kept findin’ reasons to spend time together.

And I didn’t want to admit it, but before I knew it I’d fallen for her.

I asked her out for candy apples cuz I wanted to test that theory, but also cuz I wanted to be in my own element and impress her with my knowledge, I guess… and apples were like the one thing I knew inside and out, candied or otherwise.

But yeah, the butterflies in my stomach as we walked around town together, as we ate apples and talked about this and that… they didn’t lie. I was smitten with this girl. And that really bites.

I didn’t have the first clue how to be a good girlfriend and that was even workin’ under the assumption that Fluttershy felt the same way for me, and let’s face it, I ain’t exactly a catch.

It was pretty bad. I was losin’ my mind in a public bathroom, starin’ deadeyed into the mirror as a mom and her little daughter were watchin’ me warily. I tried to laugh it off to them as I left the bathroom but I think that just made me more suspicious… oh well, I guess it didn’t matter.

I stumbled out of the bathroom like a zombie and sighed drearily. I had no idea what to do about these feelin’s of mine, and tellin’ Fluttershy about ‘em was straight-up out of the question, but I was the worst at hidin’ stuff or lyin’ so it wouldn’t be too long ‘fore someone put two and two together and realized I had a crush on her.

And then what? Other than the embarrassment and humiliation and public ridicule, obviously.

Everyone would laugh if they knew I had a crush on Fluttershy. She was way out of my league and anypony could see it. But I couldn’t just do that thing where I pretend I’m not interested in her to get her to leave me alone. Partly cuz I didn’t want to, but also cuz I wouldn’t be any good at it, but especially cuz the most important thing to me was that I didn’t hurt her feelings.

Ugh, this sucks.

I wasn’t payin’ much mind to where I was walkin’ and I bumped into somethin’ tough that hurt my nose a little bit. I stumbled back and realized it was a person.

“Oh, uh, sorry ‘bout that,” I said awkwardly and bowed my head. “I wasn’t watchin’ where I was goin’. My bad.”

I looked up at the guy I’d bumped into and noticed right away that he wasn’t no pony. He was an enormous wall of muscle covered in dark blue fur, two giant silver horns on his head. My eyes widened in surprise for a sec but I blinked quickly to hide my shock; didn’t wanna be rude again after all. But I’d never seen a minotaur before in my life.

“YOU, little pony!” The man jumped onto a nearby bench and pointed dramatically at me, doin’ a series of weird flexes and poses as I stared at him warily. “You have bumped into the indomitable IRON WILL!! Now you will pay the price!”

“I said I was sorry,” I said irritably, archin’ an eyebrow at the weirdo. This guy’s manners left a little somethin’ to be desired and I wasn’t really in the mood to be heckled by a stranger.

“Ah,” he said awkwardly, twiddlin’ his fingers together like a flustered kid. “Well, that was the price, so… I guess it’s fine. Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“O-oh, it’s okay,” I chuckled nervously. Maybe his manners were fine after all? He was weird regardless.

“Just one question…” Iron Will said, flexing his arms as he touched a finger to his chin ponderously. “Would you, by any chance, orange pony with an apple Cutie Mark and a cowboy hat… be…” the minotaur jumped into the air and did a flip midair, landin’ right behind me. I spun around quickly to face him, sensin’ the danger he suddenly posed, “APPLEJACK!!!”

“I am,” I said grimly, tracin’ the edge of my hat. “What’s it to ya?”

“THE MIGHTY IRON WILL!!!” the man flexed again, which was startin’ to become a little too routine and my eyes just kinda glazed over while I waited for him to finish, “HAS SEEN your battles in the first preliminaries! AND I HAVE DECIDED…” the man slammed his fists together and the force of it sent a shockwave through the area around him, knockin’ over a trashcan and upsettin’ the food cart worker behind him, not to mention sending a chill through my body, “THE MIGHTY IRON WILL shall test himself against your strength!!!”

“Welp, can’t say I’m surprised,” I rolled my eyes and jumped back to get some distance, before scrapin’ a hoof across the concrete.

I looked behind Iron Will at the food cart guy, worried that if a battle broke out here his cart would get damaged, but a violet barrier appeared in front of it, surroundin’ the area around Iron Will and myself for a few feet.

It was a natural safety measure to make sure collateral damage in this tournament stays as low as possible, but it still took me aback for a sec to see it in person for the first time.

“Brace yerself, Iron Will,” I said with a confident grin.

“THE MIGHTY IRON WILL IS ALWAYS BRACED FOR BATTLE!!” he said with another flex. I couldn’t help but laugh at his antics. He definitely had style, couldn’t fault him on that. And a battle like this could be pretty fun… in fact, could be just the thing I needed to get my mind off of Fluttershy.

****

-FLUTTERSHY-

While I was sitting on the bench waiting for Applejack to come back I wondered… when she came back, would I tell her how I feel about her? Could I tell her? No, I couldn’t. I was just too weak.

Besides, she wouldn’t want to be with someone like me. Someone who’s so shy and nervous all the time, who isn’t very pretty or strong and can’t talk very much and has so many problems… no, Applejack would never settle for someone as pathetic as me… and I didn’t deserve to be with someone as strong and beautiful and kind and caring as Applejack…

“These are really good!” Pinkie’s voice snapped me out of my depression and anxiety spiral and I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t have been happier to hear her voice. “Hey, Fluttershy!” she said as she and Twilight spotted me. I waved at them with a smile and they walked over to me, smiling in return.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked before taking a chomp out of the caramel apple she held aloft in front of her. “Where’s Applejack? Isn’t she with you today?”

“Oh, yes,” I nodded bashfully. “She went to use the bathroom…” I tapped my hooves together nervously and muttered, “…although she has been gone a while… you don’t think she abandoned me, do you?!” I said nervously, tears filling my pathetic eyes.

“No way!” Pinkie stomped her foot on the ground, shocking me. “Applejack would never do something like that!”

“I agree,” Twilight said ponderously, and hearing the two of them say that did put me at ease… at least for a moment. “But if Applejack should’ve returned by now-” Twilight groaned “-we can’t rule out the possibility that she was attacked by an enemy team.”

Pinkie and I turned our eyes to Twilight in alarm. She wasn’t wrong of course but that was a terrible thing to think about…

“Good thinking,” a gruff male’s voice suddenly cut into our conversation out of nowhere, making me squeak in surprise, “Twilight Sporkle!”

The man guffawed with this bizarre snorting laugh that was, well to be honest, really obnoxious.

“Sporkle?” Twilight said confusedly, arching an eyebrow as she turned around to look for the source of the annoying voice. “Is that supposed to be an insult?”

“Yeah, sporks are awesome!” Pinkie said angrily, stomping her hooves and facing the man with her game-face on. “Everypony knows it!”

“Well I’m no pony!” the man said confidently and stepped towards us, and I looked up to see him. He stood on two legs and had red scales all over his body, a reptilian tail and yellow leathery wings. He was a dragon!

“Oh, well sporks are really cool!” Pinkie said casually while I emotionally shut down and cowered behind Twilight. “You should try ‘em sometime!”

“Guh, whatever, Pinkie…” the man stuttered and tapped his chin. You could almost see the lightbulb appear over his head as he raised his finger with a smile and pointed at Pinkie, “Stinkie Pie!”

“What are you, four?” Twilight scoffed and stepped forward, although I was still cowering, sliding underneath the bench while Pinkie and Twilight stood in front of it between me and the dragon.

“Hehe… Stinkie Pie…” Pinkie giggled. Twilight glanced at her with confusion and annoyance and Pinkie just shrugged and smiled at her.

“So who are you, then?” Twilight asked bemusedly.

“My name’s Garble!” the dragon pounded his chest and then pointed at Twilight and Pinkie. “I saw you guys in the first preliminaries so I know you’re way too weak to beat me! You’re goin’ down!”

Nothing could have made me more upset than having to a fight a dragon. I couldn’t help but start quietly weeping underneath the bench as I hid my face behind my wings, causing Twilight to turn around and look down at me.

“Pinkie, could you handle this guy for a sec?” Twilight groaned.

“Oooon it!” Pinkie said musically with a salute before launching herself into the dragon, sending them both flying away as the dragon let out a loud, pained grunt.

Twilight got down on the ground and lowered her head to look at me, and I peeked through my feathers to see her giving me a kind smile. “What’s wrong, Fluttershy? Are you nervous about fighting?”

“N-no…” I said tearfully, still cowering behind my wings. “Not about fighting…”

“Are you worried about Applejack?” Twilight asked and I shook my head. She tapped her chin for a moment before asking, “So what’s the matter? I’m happy to help you through it, but I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can help.”

“I’m really afraid…” I said, bursting into wheezy sobs and feeling totally pathetic, “…of dragons.”

****

-RAINBOW DASH-

I wasn’t flying around for too long before I perched on the roof of some random office building or something. I was so ticked off, my mind just kept rerunning that scene in my mind of running into Rarity on the street corner.

Rarity and I had barely spoken two words to each other for the last three weeks and in that entire time I spent a lot of my spare energy rehearsing what I would say to her once I finally had the chance to talk to her. I wanted to apologize again and tell her that I really wanted to make things right between us but I already said that so I… wanted to apologize again?

I never quite figured out what I wanted to say but it didn’t matter because everything in my brain got flushed down the toilet as soon as I saw her and I started acting like a two-year-old boy pulling a girl’s hair in the sandbox because he likes her but doesn’t understand how ‘feelings’ or ‘normal interaction’ works.

I felt sick and wanted to frickin’ crucify myself.

“There you are, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity’s voice took me by surprise and I lurched forward, nearly losing my balance and falling off the roof.

“How did you find me?” I asked perplexedly, whipping my head around to see Rarity panting as she sat down on the other side of the roof.

“I haven’t been brushing up on my divination for nothing, Dash,” Rarity said coldly and wiped her brow, and I just sighed bitterly and looked at the ground below. This conversation didn’t look to be going in the direction of the reconciliation I was after either.

“What do you want?” I clicked my tongue in frustration.

“What do I want?” Rarity said agitatedly, walking closer to me as I watched her from my peripheral vision. “Honestly, I’m not even sure I can answer that myself.”

“Then what are you doing here?” I said coldly.

“I…” Rarity groaned and sat beside me on the roof. “I take it Twilight asked you about the partnering up plan already? What did you say, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I said sure,” I shrugged. “I’m not as strong as I wanna be. So if I have to lean on others while I collect the strength I need… then whatever.”

“I see…” Rarity groaned as she arched her back before letting out a tired sigh. “In that case, I suppose we’ll need to put our grudges behind us for a time. At least for the sake of our friends.”

“I thought you weren’t interested in putting aside your grudge?” I sneered, and even I couldn’t believe I had the gall to say that to her after how I’d acted.

“I’m not, but…” Rarity hopped off of the concrete railing we were sitting on and I turned around to face her, “I care about my friends, and I want our teams to be able to function together with some kind of harmony. If that means I need to bury my grudge for a time, then I will attempt to do so,” she looked me dead in the eye and without even blinking, coldly asked, “Can you do the same?”

I said nothing. Just looked away.

“Rainbow…” Rarity’s voice was soft and cold but clear and overwhelming, like the sound of a waterfall falling into a clean pond in the middle of winter. She grabbed my attention and I found myself staring into her deep blue eyes. “I’m not sure you understand how badly you hurt me. No amount of words or empty promises can fix the damage you’ve done… I’m not sure anything ever can.”

“I…” I stuttered, tapping my hoof against the concrete. That was a lot to take in, but at least she was being honest with me… maybe I could be honest in return… just for once.

But what could I even say other than ‘I’m sorry’?

“Ugh, you two should get a room if you’re going to be sentimental like this. BARF,” a gruff and irritable woman’s voice stopped me from shoving my entire foot into my mouth I’m sure, and I looked up irritably to see who it was. I recognized the voice and the griffon that it belonged to.

“Long time no see, Gilda,” I said bemusedly.

“Not long enough,” Gilda sneered.

“Iris.”

Yeah.

“Black and white ribbons?”

Correct.

“And each team gets ONE ribbon, so they have to fight other teams to collect the other colored ribbon.”

Yup.

“And they don’t know which teams have which ribbons.”

That’s right.

“That doesn’t seem familiar to you at all?”

Nope.

“It doesn’t remind you of a certain shonen action show where teams had black and white scrolls that they had to collect?”

I’ve never watched a single episode of Dragon Ball in my life, so no.