“I can’t believe it’s really you.” I said, my voice shaking as I spoke. “After all this time… after everything that’s happened… here you are.” I stared into AJ’s eyes, feeling them travel across my body as she took in my every curve and edge. There was a silence, a deep resounding silence that seemed to take my very breath, as I waited for her to speak. I could see Trixie standing just out of the corner of my sight with, Red Heart, Vinyl and Octavia quietly watching. I struggled to rise up from the table I laid on, forgetting the bindings that held me in place for a moment, my mind screaming to stand and wrap my hooves around AJ. But no matter how I tried, I could do nothing more than entertain the idea of such a thing.

“Sugarcube… Ah’ve missed you.” AJ finally spoke. A soft smile graced her lips as she moved to my side and nuzzled my face with hers. The long, golden, hair of her mane feel across my face and I inhaled deeply its scent. I was reminded of days long past, days that were simple… days that are no more than a memory now.

"I knew you were alive... I just knew it." I whispered. I wrapped my forehooves around her neck and squeezed her, finally living out the dream I had carried for years. The longing to once again touch her, to see her, and hear her voice. I had carried that for six years. What I had come to see as nothing more than a fruitless desire, an idealistic day dream, was finally mine.

"Ah never stopped searching for you, sugarcube. Ah never let go of you and our love." I could feel AJ's weight against me as she leaned down into my embrace. "Ah always believed that Ah would see you again." I could feel AJ's body shiver and laid there in silence as I felt her tears fall against my cheek. I could feel my own emotion well up and my grip on her tightened. I was happy, yet afraid. I could remember how I had felt when I lost her, that day of the siege. I never wanted to experience such emptiness again and I knew she didn't either.

“So what now?” I asked, . “Now that you’ve found me and I’ve found you, what’s next?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Red Heart asked, suddenly stepping forward. AJ and I, along with the others, looked to her as she stood there with her usual smile. “We keep watch over you, let you heal and get used to your new wing… then we squash a bug.”

We all shuddered at Red Heart’s words, not because of what she said, but of the way she always spoke of such things with a smile. Even so, we knew that she was right. Even if AJ and I could somehow reunite with all of the Elements, Celestia rest their souls… and hers, still it wouldn’t be enough. No reunion, victory, or achievement, would amount to anything until Chrysalis was dead. That was the truth that we all knew. The one thought that always clawed at the back of our minds and yet made its home in the forefront of our hearts. It was the sole reason I had set out on this twisted path of death, revenge and pain. Chrysalis had to die. Her blood had to spill and stain the ground beneath her hooves, before anypony could know rest. Her wicked heart had to be ripped from her chest and burned, before anypony could move on and create something new.

“Ah think the most important thing now is letting you rest, Rainbow.” Aj said, nuzzling my cheek.

“Applejack is right, you should rest. Trixie, and myself, will fill her in on what has happened during our travels together. Then once you’ve regained your strength ,we can decide on what our next course of action should be.” Red Heart smiled as she spoke, and turned from me. “Come now Applejack, we have much to discuss.

I watched as Red Heart headed towards the door back to the club, Trixie falling in line after her with a weak smile and soon after Aj followed suit. I didn’t know how to feel, I didn’t know what to say, so I laid there in silence as they left. I rested my head on the table and sighed deeply, wondering why I felt as I did. Aj had returned, she was alive and well… I had touched her, held her… still there was so much confusion within my very soul.

“Something wrong, Dash?” Octavia asked. She moved to the table side and undid the restraints that had held me in place, before having me roll onto my side, her hooves delicately pressing around the base of my new wing.

“Yeah… I don’t know… maybe.” I sighed once more, wincing a bit as she found a tender area.

“Is it because you now have Trixie and Applejack here?” Vinyl suddenly asked, stepping to the table side as well.

I just stared at her, I just stared in some mixture of disbelief and confusion. Is that how I felt? It sure as hell makes sense to me. My head erupted with pain, the voice of my darker half ringing clear in my consciousness. What’s the matter, can’t handle a little company? I thought the dark recesses of your soul was a bucked up place, but your head is pretty damn twisted. The mocking tone of her voice made my very core writhe, as I cried out in agony. “Get out of my head!” I shouted.

“Rainbow!?” Octavia and Vinyl shouted. I could feel them grab hold of my body, trying to hold me still as I thrashed about violently.

Shit, you’re a real head case you know? All these sick and perverted thoughts… how is that even possible, ponies can’t bend that way. I tried as hard as I could to block her out, to silence her voice and send her back into the darkness she came from. Aww well isn’t that a sweet thought, to bad everypony you know is gonna die… eventually. I slammed my hooves onto the table, my wing flaring in pain and I could feel blood pooling beneath me.

“Vinyl! She’s ripped her stitching, quick hand me something to stop the bleeding!”

“Stop! You’re killing me!” I pleaded. Oh no, not yet, that comes later. My body thrashed against the force of Vinyl and Octavia, the pain I felt ever growing. “PLEASE! STOP!” I shouted once more. Oh no, you said please, whatever will I do. You’ve used my one weakness, manners, against me. Yeah, like pleasantries are gonna make anything better. My influence over you is growing, Dashie, and soon you’ll be just a memory.

“Vinyl grab that syringe beside you, we’re going to have to put her to sleep, before she hurts herself even more.”

I could hear Vinyl do as she was told, feeling her hooves release me. I quickly brought my free hoof up and struck myself, in the head, as hard as I could. An even more intense pain wracked my skull, and I could hear my darker side laughing at my futile attempts to quiet her. Trying to knock some sense into yourself! I’m the only thing in here that makes sense! I readied another strike, when I could feel Vinyl wrap herself around my foreleg. “Stop! I can’t take it anymore!” Suddenly I was drowsy, my pain was slowly subsiding and the voice within my head grew quiet. I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll be waiting for you to wake up again, my sweet Dashie. Her haunting voice called out, before slipping into silence.

"Who we are and who we were, matter not. That which we must become, that which will allow us to rise, is all that matters." Those words… whose words are they? They sound so familiar, as if I’ve always heard these words. These words now called to me as I once more floated within the darkness of my mind. The emptiness, cold and devoid of all things. Through this darkness I cannot see, but I can hear these words. "The body and mind must be as one, together they must unite and fall to the command of the one who controls them." There was a strange warmth to these words, a warmth that I could not quite recall. Who did these words belong to and why did I hear them now? I was suddenly unnerved, despite being within the confines of my own mind, as I did not see my darker half. “Where are you!?” Nothing… the void surrounding me offered no reply.

"Rainbow! You’re the only thing we got left to have faith in!" Braeburn… that was Braeburn’s voice! I turned my head, frantically searching the darkness, hoping I would see him. "I had faith in you, Rainbow. But you let me die." The emaciated form of Braeburn appeared before me, a faint light piercing the dark. I caught my breath, unable to reply to him. He looked at me, eyes filled with sorrow like I’d never known. "If Applejack would have been there, she would have saved me." My breath quickened and I swallowed hard, fighting back a surge of emotions. "She would have saved us all. She wouldn’t have had to kill so many town ponies to do so… not like you. You failed to save me and slaughtered innocent ponies."

“I… I did what needed to be done.” I replied. “They were corrupted, twisted by the magic of Chrysalis.” The vision, ghost, spirit, whatever was before me only shook it’s head. "They were simply ponies trying to survive, trying to continue on with their lives… the lives you ultimately stole." I could feel anger building with every word spoke. “I didn’t steal anyponies life! I fought for what was right! I fought to save you and to bring myself one step closer to saving all of Equestria!” The spirit erupted into light, revealing the scene we spoke of. I watched myself being attacked by the ponies, I watched as I frantically tried to save Braeburn’s life. “I see nothing wrong with what I’ve done! They attacked me, when all I was doing was trying to save you!” Suddenly I saw something truly horrifying. I saw myself smile, blood flying into the air, staining my coat with every movement.

"That is not the smile of a savior. That is the twisted grin of one who longed for battle, the smell of blood and the taste of death." I grabbed my head, my body trembling. “No! No, you’re wrong! I was trying to do good, I was trying to help.” The spirit looked to the carnage before us and slowly chuckled. "Why do you continue to shout your innocence as if on trial? Perhaps you do not believe in your own words. Perhaps you wish not to carry the weight of their deaths… their dreams and wishes?" Every word only made my anger grow and I couldn’t do anything but sit there, slowly being consumed by rage. “I will not feel guilt for what I’ve done, what is right! I was attacked, I was trying to save you, I was trying to save everypony!” The scene before us shattered, falling into the nothingness, returning this world to darkness.

“They weren’t innocent, they were no better than Blueblood! They all fell in line and followed that pretentious prince and the bug queen. They kept me from getting to you! They’re the reason you’re dead!” I cried out, my emotions boiling over, my chest heaving with a mix of pain and fury. “Those ponies killed you! I will never feel sorry for them, for taking their lives!” I continued to shout. "Then you are a monster. Feeling no remorse for taking the lives of those ponies, ponies whose only crime was trying to preserve what little life they still had left. Is it fear that keeps you from such emotion? Is your ego so twisted and inflated that you cannot see the dark, twisted, horrible things you’ve done?”

Another intense flash and then… I could see Ponyville. The houses, streets, every inch of the town covered in blood and gore. Mangled, eviscerated, bodies lay strewn about into a horrific image of pure carnage. Then I could see myself. But unlike the memory of Appleloosa, I did not see myself smiling within a mist of blood. No. This time I saw myself, and knew that I stared at a monster, covered in blood. Diamond Dogs, dead, all around me. My mane and coat completely drenched, small droplets of red falling to the ground at my hooves. “I… This…” I could not find the words to say, no words to describe the fear I suddenly felt. "You slayed every last one, and left their bodies to the scavengers." The spirit called out.

I looked to the spirit, it’s form still that of Braeburn, swallowing hard against the dryness of my throat. “They ate Scoots…” I replied in an almost whimper, still reeling from the visage that played against the darkness of my mind. “They killed everypony I ever knew, loved, or cared about.” The spirit nodded at my words and sighed. "They were guilty and their sins great. But do you not think there was another way? Did you not think that, despite them being as they were, you would carry a weight for them as well? They had souls, just as all things do. When you ended their lives, you took that soul from them and burdened yourself with it’s weight."

“That’s insane. I do not carry a weight, a part of their soul, with me. Just as I did in Appleloosa, I did what was right. I did what needed to be done.” The spirit’s expression changed, it’s demeanor more angry, as it readied itself to speak. "Then show me how just you were, how right and honorable your actions were. Look upon yourself, red as the blood that covers you. Look into the eyes of a killer and know their name, because it is you. You are no better than those who you fight, those who you kill and send away from this world. There is a monster within you, eating away at your corrupted soul like a cancer, that you cannot defeat. Not unless you look upon yourself and see the err in your ways!"

“Why do you even care so much?!” I finally shouted back. “You are nothing more than a shade, a memory, taunting me for my weakness!” All light left the world of my mind, casting me into a pitch black void. "Will you cast your world into the same darkness I once hungered for!?" The spirit had no form, but still its voice rang out. "I will not allow you to fall upon the path that I have already traveled! Not when everypony, everything, within our world depends on you!" I turned about, trying to find the source of the voice, my eyes straining to find a glimpse of anything. "The day you slaughtered those Diamond Dogs you created the very thing that will undoubtedly destroy the pony you are." I began to speak when I could suddenly feel myself begin to lose consciousness. My eyes grew heavy, as did my body, and I struggled to stand. Within a moment I could feel myself falling and then… nothing.

“Damnit! This can’t be happening now!”

Why is Octavia shouting?

“We have to move Rainbow! We can’t allow her to be captured!”

Trixie… is something wrong?

“They’re about to take out the main door!”

“What the hell is going on?” I rose, slowly, opening my eyes to the sight of worried faces.

“Rainbow, you’re awake.” Trixie called out, soon moving to my side and hugging my neck. I returned her hug and sighed, putting a hoof to my head as I leaned away from her. “I know you’re wondering what’s going on, and that you just woke up, so I’ll make this quick. You woke up from your wing surgery, had some kind of freak out, had to be sedated, ended up sleeping for two days and now we’re being attacked by Chrysalian forces.”

I stared at Trixie for a few moments, taking in everything she had said, before clearing my throat. “Why is it every time I get knocked out, or put under, I wake up in the middle of some catastrophe?” Vinyl, Trixie and Octavia only stared at me blankly, before looking off and pondering my question. “I… that wasn’t a serious question.” I sighed and slid off of the small bed, they had moved me to, looking around for my sword. “Where’s my sword?”

“Oh no, you’re not going up there.” Octavia said suddenly, stepping towards me. “You haven’t even fully healed, there’s no way I can allow you to fight in your condition.”

“Well that’s not your call to make.” I replied to her, much to her displeasure.

“You should really listen to Octi. I mean what if something happened to you?” Vinyl asked, standing at Octavia’s side.

“Then I got somepony conveniently located downstairs who can patch me up.” I smiled as I spoke, finally catching sight of my blade. “So tell me… where are AJ and Redheart?” Nopony jumped to reply, they knew why I was asking. After a moment or two had passed Trixie finally spoke, albeit hesitantly.

“They’re upstairs… guarding the other ponies… in case the Changelings break through the front door.”

“That’s what I thought.” I turned from the three, my sword neatly tucked under my right wing, making my way towards the door to the club.

“Don’t make us have to carry you back down here and put you back on my table. I’ll have to start charging you for my services.” Octavia called out, as I turned to her and saw her smiling.

“Hey, Trixie.” I called to her, watching her tense up. “When this mess gets sorted out…” I stopped and smiled, closing my eyes as I chuckled. “You know what Trix,” I continued to smile as I looked to her. “How about You, AJ and me go get a drink after this?” I laughed to myself as I saw her blush and stammer to reply. “Just think about it.” With that I stood at the door, gazing at it, when the hue of Vinyl’s magic covered it.

“You break anything in my club and I’ll have to charge you for it.” Vinyl grinned as I looked to her.

“Sure, just put it on my tab.” I threw up a hoof, waving off Vinyl’s comment. The door opened slowly as I looked back and gave one last nod to the three. I stepped through, the door closing quickly behind me, but not before I heard Trixie whisper she loved me. Keep telling yourself that Trixie, keep telling me that. Because now, more than ever, I need the strength those words can offer… because I’m not just fighting Changelings anymore. I’m fighting myself.