"Don't you get it Rainbow Dash?"

"I…I…"

"There's nothing between us."

"But... last night…"

"Was just that, one night. Enjoy it for what it was. I don't think we'll ever be seeing each other anytime soon, Rainbow Dash. Goodbye."

That conversation played itself in Rainbow's head over and over again. She had thought of going back to where Twilight was staying, but decided against it in favor of a lone cloud to cry her eyes out.

She had opened her heart to the mare she had loved. She had exposed herself, and what did she get? A one night stand, crushed dreams, and a broken heart.

'Why would she do something like that?' Rainbow thought as tears spilled from her eyes. 'I show some interest and Spitfire just uses me? Is that all she sees her fans as? Is that was the all see us as?' Rainbow curled up tighter into the cloud and sobbed louder. Her chest hurt and she felt like dying. After either a few minutes or a few hours, Rainbow looked up at the city of Canterlot and wiped away some tears.

"I'm going home."


It was about two days later and Rainbow Dash had more or less become a shut in. She still did her job as a weather pony, poorly, but at all other times she was in her house.

When she first got home, she just raged for a while. When she was done most of her Wonderbolts merchandise had been destroyed and cleared out.

But it didn't help at all. That hole in her heart was still there, hurting her as it beat. With her rage spent, the sorrow had returned stronger than ever. She cried and tried to put the team of fliers, specifically a certain mare, out of her head. That didn't work.

Her latest bout of crying ended the way it had for a while, with her lying motionless on her bed staring at the wall. Rainbow had noticed there was a picture frame on her dresser turned down so she couldn't see it. She got up and walked over to it and turned it up.

The picture was an old one and Rainbow still remembered the day she had gotten it.


"Wow!" A young pegasus with a rainbow mane was watching the one thing she had been waiting for. Her first Wonderbolts show. She found herself fascinated by the stunts that the fliers had pulled off, and yet she always found herself looking at one pegasus.

From the roll call at the beginning (Which Rainbow had barely payed attention too?) the mare with a fiery orange mane was the newest addition. She definitely added a kind of flair to the show and Rainbow was hooked on every one of her movements.

After the show's big finale, the speakers said that the team would be signing autographs and talking with the fans. So with a clear goal in mind, Rainbow made her way slowly up to the team, her nervousness growing with every step. When she finally reached the front who else would she see but the new Wonderbolt?

"Hey there kid, how'd you like the show?" she asked smiling gently at the filly in front of her. Rainbow gaped at the sight of the flier, but soon swallowed and nervously began.

"I…I really liked it." She paused for a moment before exploding in excitement. "You were SO COOL! All of those tricks you did were… and everything was… and the ending… you were just SO AWESOME! I want to be just like you when I grow up!"

The mare chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her neck. "Well, I'm glad you liked the show and I'll probably be better next time. Would you like an autograph?" Rainbow squealed in joy and smiled widely. The mare smiled at the filly's actions and took a picture, jotted something down on it, and handed it to the filly. Rainbow took the picture and read what was written.

Always follow your dreams! –Spitfire

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh, thank you!" Rainbow said and bounced excitedly.

"No problem kid. Get home safe ok?" Rainbow nodded and trotted away happily with the picture in her mouth.

She would remember this day for a long time.


Rainbow dropped the picture back onto the dresser and angrily brought a hoof down onto the glass. She remembered when that picture made her happy, but now it just reminded her of how much she hurt.

"Why can't I get you out of my mind?" she asked the picture, "It should be so easy, but it's not!" She glared at the picture and felt tears form in her eyes. "Why can't I just forget you?"

'Easy, it's because she hurt you badly, and not just emotionally either.'

"But I just want to forget all that. I-"

'You never will. It'll be with you for long time unless you talk to somepony.'

"My friends would never understand. How would they react if they found out I was a…a…"

'I didn't mean them. I meant her.' Dash's eyes were drawn to the cracked picture of Spitfire that her hoof was still on.

"No. No, I can't talk to her. I don't even know where she is."

'She's part of a flying team with a printed schedule. Go to where they're gonna be next, ask around about where they're staying, and go talk to her.'

"But…I…"

'MAKE her understand your pain! And when you're done talking and she still doesn't understand, MAKE her understand.'

"I…don't want to see her."

'She could be doing the same thing she did to you to some other mare or colt right now. The same pain you feel could be inflicted on somepony else. Does that seem fair?'

"…No, it doesn't."

'Then go see her and tell her how much she hurt you. She'll be a better pony for it. What do you have to lose? She robbed you of all purpose in your life in one swoop.' Dash nodded and took the picture out of the frame. After locating a pencil and writing her thoughts down on the back, she stuck it under her wing, collected what she would need for the plan forming in her head, and checked where the Wonderbolts would be.

Manehattan. That's where they will be. Rainbow opened the front door, only now realizing it was night time, and took off toward the one thing that could give her peace of mind.


Rainbow Dash paced herself as she flew toward Manehattan. She wanted to get there around the time the Wonderbolts did, which meant that it took her a few days to get there instead of her normal one day travel time. Once she got there she felt lost as to what to do next.

'I'm starting to doubt this plan,' Rainbow thought to herself, 'but I came this far, might as well keep going.' Rainbow wandered around Manehattan and started asking around. As was expected, she didn't get anywhere initially. After about an hour or so of asking, Rainbow was ready to give up.

Then she got a break.

Rainbow was in the center of the city looking out at the crowd when she noticed a pegasus mare trotting along happily wearing a Wonderbolt cap. Rainbow altered her course and headed toward the pegasus.

"Excuse me," Rainbow called out when she was close enough.

"Um…yes?" she asked nervously.

"I'm sorry if this is a little sudden, but did you come from a Wonderbolts show?"

"Yeah it was pretty good. Why?" Dash could hear the suspicion in her voice.

"Well um, you see I was wondering if their show was over or not. You see I was supposed to talk with one of them about maybe them joining at some point, but I guess I overslept for that."

"You might be a Wonderbolt?" Rainbow almost cringed at how easily the mare bought her lie, but Rainbow managed to hide it.

"Yeah, and since I'm so late I probably missed them at the show. I was hoping to find out where they were staying, but I got a little lost."

"Where they're staying?" the mare asked. When Rainbow nodded the mare looked around nervously before leaning closer and motioning for Rainbow to do the same. "You didn't hear this from me, but I heard they were staying at the Grand Uneigh hotel. You know the one right?"

"Yeah, I think I know about that."

"They might be there, but I'm not too sure. But it's better than nothing right?"

"Yeah it is, thanks for the help." Rainbow walked away waving at the mare.

"Good luck with your interview!"

"Yeah, I'll need it."


The sun was setting as Rainbow Dash stood outside of the Grand Uneighson hotel and she couldn't help but marvel at the aesthetic of the hotel, not to mention how tall it was.

'It looks about as good as that hotel back in-' Rainbow shook the thought away, 'No, focus on the present.' Rainbow looked at the sky and saw the weather team moving in some storm clouds. She took a deep breath and walked into the hotel.

The lobby was grand, well for a Manehattan hotel. It had the standard fare of nice paintings and wallpaper. Dash didn't pay much attention to any of this and made a beeline to the front desk. The unicorn manning it didn't notice Rainbow when she approached, and only did when she cleared her throat.

"Oh I'm sorry, how can I help you?" he asked, "Do you have a reservation?"

"Well, that depends. See I was supposed to meet someone and I heard she was staying here. Do you know if a Spitfire is staying here?"

"The Wonderbolt?" Rainbow nodded and the clerk gave her a look. "Why exactly would you be looking for her?"

'Right, of course they would be cautious of paparazzi and crazy fans,' Rainbow thought. "Well, this is supposed to be on the down low, but I guess I can tell you. A couple days ago I was scouted by the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow put on her best 'excited' face and tried not to let her nervousness show.

"Uh huh…"

"And you know, Spitfire wanted to see me to see if I'd be good enough to join." 'Oh please tell me he isn't seeing through me.'

"…She didn't say she would be expecting anypony visiting."

"Like I said, it was supposed to be a bit of a secret, you know to keep unwanted hype from building up should I get rejected." Rainbow's insides hurt at 'rejected', "But she does know I'm coming." The clerk looked Rainbow over a couple times and stared right into her eyes. Rainbow kept up her smile and waited to see what he would do. After a few tense moments of staring the clerk sighed.

"Fine, but I better not get in trouble for this." His horn glowed and he levitated a key onto the counter. "She's in room 1204. She asked not to be disturbed, so please don't take too long."

"I won't," Rainbow said and took the key in her mouth. 'This won't take long at all.'


It had been a long day for Spitfire, which was why she was in the shower right now. She leaned against the wall and let the hot water run over her mane and coat and let off a sigh of relief every now and then. She heard the sound of a knock over the sound of the shower and was curious about it.

"Hello?" she called and turned off the water. Whoever knocked apparently had a key to her room since she heard the door open followed by hoofsteps. "Soarin is that you? I told you I'd be out when I was done." The hoofsteps stopped for a moment before they continued to move around the room.

"Alright fine, I'll be out in a second." Spitfire shook off any excess water that clung to her coat and mane, stepped out of the shower, and started drying her mane with a towel. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and stopped for a second. Her mane was matted down and her coat was still slightly shiny from the water. She gave a small laugh at her appearance and walked out the door with the towel around her neck.

"Alright Soarin, what's so important?" she asked, but was a little surprised to find an empty room. She stepped out to look around and found the door to the hallway was closed and locked. That's when she noticed something on the table and walked over to it, tossing the towel on a chair. When she got closer she saw it was picture of her in her younger days, with some writing in one of the corners.

"Follow your dreams, you said." Spitfire jumped and turned to see Rainbow Dash standing in a corner near the door.

"Rainbow Dash? What are you-?"

"I remember when I got that picture," Rainbow said her eyes drawn to the floor, "It was my first Wonderbolts show. Way I remember it, it was yours too."

"How did you find me? I thought I said-"

"I spent most of my life since then trying to be like you." Rainbow looked up into Spitfire's eyes and looked to be on the verge of tears, "So much for that huh?" Spitfire closed her eyes and sighed.

"Look Rainbow, I think you're taking this a little too seriously. It was just a one time thing."

"So you keep saying, and you know what? I believe you on that. But I don't think you understand how badly that hurt me. Have you ever had a relationship that wasn't a one time fling?"

"That's none of your business Rainbow Dash!" Spitfire was starting to get irritated at this conversation. "I think you should go before I call the guards on you."

"You really don't understand. That's ok, I think I can help you understand." Spitfire raised an eyebrow and Rainbow motioned to the picture. "I'm not very good at words, but I tried to write down how I feel on that picture. I want you to read it, and then look me in the eyes and tell me that that night still meant nothing to you." Rainbow stared as hard as she could into Spitfire's eyes, "I dare you."

Spitfire stared right back into Rainbow Dash's eyes before looking away to pick up the picture, turn it over, and read the back.


Spitfire,

I don't know if you'll actually read this, but I at least need to get this down. I wasn't lying when I said I loved you, and just thinking about the way you used me hurts more than anything.

Even as I write this I'm still holding on to that small hope that, just maybe, there could still be something between us. But deep down I know that can't happen. I can only hope you can understand my pain.

You broke my heart, so if I have to break yours to make you understand, I will.


When Spitfire was done reading it she looked up at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow started crying when she saw Spitfire's face.

"Yes, it meant nothing." Spitfire let the picture fall to the ground and sighed, "Are you done? The others are waiting for me." She walked toward Rainbow, only barely registering that one of her forehooves had been behind the other the whole time they had been talking, "You should have just forgotten about me, it would have hurt a lot less." Rainbow closed her eyes and let the tears fall down her face while Spitfire placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I'll at least be nice enough to show you to the do-"

She didn't finish the sentence as she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Spitfire's breath hitched as the pain settled into a constant feeling.

"You had to say that, didn't you?" Rainbow asked still crying and pushed Spitfire away from her. Spitfire placed a hoof where her chest hurt, the pain shooting through her when she did, and brought the hoof up.

It was covered in blood.

She also saw Rainbow had a blood stained knife in her hooves.

'Oh no.' Spitfire stumbled away from Rainbow Dash who bit down on the knife's handle and tackled Spitfire. Spitfire tried to crawl away, fearing for her life, but Rainbow Dash got on her using her full weight to keep her down. Rainbow grabbed the towel on the chair and used it to gag Spitfire. Spitfire tried to scream through the towel, but it was hard enough just to breathe. Rainbow spat the knife out and took the towel ends in her mouth and, with her free forehooves, grabbed each one of Spitfire's wings, brought them together, and hugged them tightly toward her. Spitfire cried into the towel as she felt her wings break behind her. Rainbow spat the towel out, which let Spitfire get it out of her mouth as well, and grabbed the knife.

"Why are you so cruel?" she asked raising the knife and brought it down right between Spitfire's wings. Spitfire cried again at the pain and was rolled onto her back. Her broken wings were pinned underneath her, causing pain to shoot through her spine. She barely mustered enough self control to look up at Rainbow Dash.

Despite what was happening, Rainbow was still crying.

"What made me so easy to throw away?" she asked and raised the knife over her head, "Who are you pining for that you feel the need to treat me like garbage?" She brought the knife down and Spitfire felt the knife enter one of her lungs.

"Rainbow, please…" she tried to say but Rainbow pulled the knife out and Spitfire coughed up some blood.

"Now you wanna talk?" Rainbow yelled and stabbed Spitfire again. Spitfire saw her blood pool around her in her peripheral vision. "It's too late for that, you brought this on yourself!"

Knife out.

"I loved you!"

Stab.

"It hurts so badly and I don't know how else to show you!"

Knife out.

"FEEL MY PAIN!"

Stab.

Spitfire couldn't talk with her mind so flooded with pain. Each stab and withdrawal of the knife covered both her and Rainbow in Spitfire's blood. It hurt so badly and oh Celestia, why is she still crying? Adrenalin started to kick in and the world seemed to slow down as Rainbow lifted the knife again. She looked into Rainbow's eyes, almost red from crying, and felt…something.

Stab.

I want to be just like you when I grow up!

Knife out.

You're not very subtle. You've been staring at me all night.

Stab.

It meant nothing.

Spitfire felt tears gather in her eyes and with great effort lifted a hoof and touched Rainbow's flank, right where her cutie mark is. That made Rainbow stop in her tracks and stared at Spitfire. Spitfire summoned every ounce of strength she could.

Darkness edged its way into her vision.

"Rainbow…" she said and stared into Rainbow Dash's eyes. Her body went numb and her head started to fly away. No, she couldn't go now, not when she had to finish this sentence. "I…" Spitfire coughed up blood and darkness completely took over her vision.

The last thing she saw was Rainbow's magenta eyes.

Spitfire's hoof fell to the ground and her head lolled to the side. Rainbow sat there for a minute or so, just staring at Spitfire. She looked down at her forehooves and the knife planted in Spitfire's chest and it dawned on her as to what she had done. She pulled the knife out and scrambled against the wall. Rainbow stared at her hooves, covered in drying blood, and looked into Spitfire's dead, accusing eyes.

"What have I done?"

'You did what you said you would. She understood in her final moments.'

"But I didn't want to kill her!"

'It doesn't matter now. You did what you wanted to do.'

Rainbow shook the voice away and stared at Spitfire's body, darkening crimson splattered against her orange fur. Her breathing quickened and the tears came back full force. She tried to wipe the tears away but only succeeded in getting blood on her face. A single thought came to Rainbow as she sat there.

She had to get out.

Rainbow stood up on all fours, the knife still in her right forehoof, and quickly walked to the hallway door. She had locked and latched it earlier, so she sluggishly undid the latches and unlocked the door. She opened it…

And walked right into Soarin.

"Hey, aren't you that mare from…" Soarin started but noticed Rainbow's blood covered form, the knife in her hooves, and Spitfire's body behind her. Soarin's eyes widened and he stepped away from the door. "Oh sweet Celestia."

"W-wait, it's not what it looks like! I didn't mean-"

"You killed her." Rainbow's breath hitched as the simple facts were laid bare for her.

She had committed murder, possibly the first murder in Equestria for hundreds of years.

"I…I didn't mean to," she barely whispered.

"You freak, why would you kill her? She meant nothing to you!" The exclamation burned Rainbow's insides and she felt a rage build inside of her. In a flash Rainbow pinned Soarin against the hallway wall, her left foreleg pressed against his throat, and stared into his eyes.

"I am not a freak," she said and punctuated her next words with a stab to Soarin's chest. "I'm! A! Victim!" Soarin didn't have time to respond before Rainbow landed one more stab right in Soarin's left eye. Blood sprayed from the eye and landed on Rainbow's face. Soarin struggled a little before he stopped and fell to the floor. He was dead before he hit the ground. Rainbow crouched next to Soarin's body and stabbed him in his cutie mark, then the chest, and finally the neck. Rainbow stepped back from the Wonderbolt's body, blood already starting to gather under him, and shook her head.

"I shouldn't have done that," she said as she backed into Spitfire's room, "I shouldn't have done that." Rainbow Dash turned around and ran toward a window, trying to ignore Spitfire's body as she jumped over it. She opened the window and flew out into the rainy night sky and back toward Ponyville.


Rapid Fire and Fleet Foot arrived at the twelfth floor and looked around a little. Rapid Fire sighed and looked at Fleet Foot.

"What could be keeping Spitfire and Soarin? They should be done by now."

"Maybe they went to bed?" Fleet Foot offered.

"I find that doubtful. I'll go find Soarin and you get Spitfire ok?" Fleet Foot nodded and the two went their separate ways. Rapid Fire soon reached room 1211, Soarin's room, and knocked on it. "Hey Soarin get up, we need to go soon!" There wasn't an answer. Rapid Fire was about to knock again when he heard a scream from down the hall.

"Fleet Foot!" Rapid Fire shouted and galloped down the hall as fast as he could. One last corner and he saw Fleet Foot pressed against the wall staring at something down the next hallway. "Fleet Foot, what happened?" Fleet Foot, eyes widened in fear, shakily pointed a hoof down the hall.

"S-Soarin…" Rapid Fire looked down the hall and felt his stomach churn at the sight of Soarin lying in a pool of blood.

"Oh hell," he said and held a hoof to his mouth to keep from throwing up.

"I-is he dead?" Fleet Foot asked and started to cry.

"Don't look." Rapid Fire settled down and walked toward Soarin. 'He's not moving, he's a mess, and his eye. Oh Luna, he is dead!' Rapid Fire gagged a little and remembered Spitfire. "Captain!" he shouted and looked into the room. The sight of Spitfire's body, stabbed who knows how many times and covered in dark blood, caused Rapid Fire to lean against a wall. He nearly vomited several times but just barely managed to keep it down. Rapid Fire quickly walked back to Fleet Foot and picked her up.

"Rapid, what's-"

"We gotta get the guards!" he said and dragged her away from the horrifying sight.


Rainbow flew as fast as she could back to Ponyville and managed to make it back before sunrise. She quickly flew into her house and shut the door behind her. She stumbled up the stairs and into her bathroom. She set the blood stained knife on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face, forehooves, and lower body were covered in blood and the sight made her gag. She looked away from the mirror and walked into the shower. She got the water running and let it run over her as she tried to scrub the dried blood off her coat. After a while of scrubbing Rainbow got most of the blood off, so she sat in the shower and let the recent events catch up with her.

'Ok, so I tried to talk to Spitfire, got rejected again, and…ended up killing her and Soarin. This is bad, this is so bad.' Rainbow curled up in the shower and started sobbing. 'What am I going to do?'

In spite of the sobs and sadness she felt, Rainbow Dash did realize one thing.

She did feel better.