Ok, yeah, I made an update. This is the third time I'm writing an author's note, and I'm sick of it. Anyways, I decided to seperate this into two different chapters, so there will be a 3rd chapter. However, I don't plan to take as long as I did for this last update. I seperated for two reasons. 1. To get something updated, and 2. so the chapters sizes wouldn't be so uneven. So, I should have part 3 out soon (and this time I mean it), so I hope this will satisfy you for now.

Rainbow Dash slowly began to stir. She felt her head throbbing, and her legs wobbled as she tried to stand. Her vision was blury, but wherever she was, it was dark. She tried to inspect for any injuries, but strangely found none. No broken bones, no cuts, she couldn't even feel any bruises. She flapped her wings, but they were working properly. Something wasn't right. It was one thing to survive, but to come out of her little escaped totally uninjured? There was no way. Her vision finally cleared, and she noticed her location wasn't just dark, but was pitch black. She couldn't make out any form of object in the darkness. It was nothingness. There was no light source, yet somehow, she could see herself clearly. She raised a hoof to her face, and she noticed it had an etheral white glow to it. Something was definately off.

"Wh-where am I?"

"Nowhere, at the moment."

Rainbow Dash jumped. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. It was deep and booming, and had a sinister tone.

"Who are you?"

"I have gone by many names, in many different languages, by many different civilizations, over many different generations. But they all have one thing in common . . ."

Suddenly a part of the darkness began to take on a shape. It began as a ball, until four limbs slowly extended form its bottom. Another, much larger extension, began to protrude from the side facing Rainbow Dash. The ball began to shrink, and slowly it took the form of a large pony, similar to Celestia. Its coat was black, but could still be cleary defined in the darkness. It gave off a glow similar Rainbow Dash, but it was a dark grey and seemed to flow off like steam. A horn bagan to form on it's head, but was cut short and left jagged, as if it had been broken off. It then extened a pair of wings, but many of the feathers were missing. It opened its eyes to reveal to bright red solid orbs. Even though it had no pupils to show where it was looking, Rainbow Dash could still feel its gaze boring into her.

"They all mean Death."

– –

"Pinkie, where are you going?"

Pinkie Pie turned around to see her unicorn friend, Twilight Sparkle, giving her a curious look, the light from the library making her easily visible in the night. Behind her were the rest of her friends. Well, except for the one she was about to search for.

"Well, duh, to find Rainbow Dash, silly. The big bad monster is gone, so I gotta go find Dashie so we can have a party!"

Twilight sighed. She looked at Pinkie with sullen eyes. "Pinkie, the chances of Dash making it out of there were miniscule, at best. She would of had to hit it at kust the right spot at just the right time. Dash wasn't one for patience and timing, she was all about action, and . . ."

Pinkie gave her a quizical look. "Why do you keep talking about Dash in past tense? It's not like she's someone who isn't around anymore. For a bookworm, you sure aren't very good at grammer." Pinkie gave her the most innocent smile.

Twilight flinched at Pinkie's statement. "Pinkie, she isn't around anymore. We won't see her again. Pinkie, sh-"

"What, is she moving or something? Aw, I want to throw a party, but not THAT kind of party. Hm, maybe I can throw such an awesome party, she'll want to stay! Yeah, I just got to show her how fun Ponyville is! Then she'll-"

Applejack couldn't take anymore. She couldn't control her temper, she just had to let it loose. "Dagnabbit, Pinkie! She ain't movin'! She ain't anywhere in Equestria, or the planet! She's dead!" Twilight and Rarity gave their cowpony friend shocked looks, while Fluttershy laid oon the ground with her eyes covered, slowly renewing her sobs.

Pinkie just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Dead? what are you talking about? Dashie isn't dead, silly. She's jus-"

"No she ain't Pinkie! Ya heard what Twi said 'bout tha plan! It would kill her! We went over everything, but Dash went ahead guns a blazin' anyways, and now she's dead! D-E-A-D, DEAD! Quit tryin' ta ignore tha truth and jus' accept it!" Her eyes were filled with rage, and her teeth were clenched. Air was quickly flowing in and out her nostrils.

Pinkie gave her a hurt look. "You can't really believe that, can you AJ? Twilight, tell her it isn't true." She looked to Twilight, but the purple unicorn gave no response. She merely closed her eyes and lowered her head. She looked at Rarity, then Fluttershy, but neither gave any motions to back her up. Pinkie's mane began to straighten, and tears started welling up in her eyes. "Fine, if you're all gonna be a bunch of grumpy wumpies, then I'll just find Dashie by myself!" She quickly turned around and galloped off into the darkness as her friends watched her dissapear.

Twilight began to call after her, but gave up as she realized it was no use. She then glared at Applejack, who was still looking towards the direction Pinkie ran off to. "You know, you didn't have to be so harsh."

Applejack snapped her head towards the purple mare, still giving the same harsh look. "She needed ta learn that she can't deny tha truth. Rainbow's gone and ain't nuthin' gonna change that." The orange pony got up and walked into the library.

Twilight was about to retort, until she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Rarity shaking her head to let her know to not push the point any further. "Just let it go, dear. Applejack may seem harsh, but it's only her way of acting upset, like we all are. We each just have different ways of showing it. Best we just go in and let everyone cool down. Right now, you should worry about explaining everything to Spike when he wakes up in the morning. I can't imagine how the poor thing will handle it."

Twilight sighed and looked at Rarity with tired eyes. "You're right. I'm sorry, this is just way too much. I always figured we'd lose Rainbow Dash first with her lifestyle, but not now. Not like this." Tears began to return to her eyes, and she soon found herself in the white unicorn's embrace. She gladly returned it.

"I know it's hard. For all of us. But we've managed to get through everything before, and we can get through this. It will be quite the challenge, but we can make it. Come on let's get inside." The two of them began to trot towards the door, until Rarity remembered another certain pony. "Coming, Fluttershy?" She turned her head, only to find a certain yellow pegasus nowhere in site.

– –

This couldn't be happeneing. She was dead. She was really dead. All of her dreams, crushed. She would never get to be a wonderbolt. All of that training, all of that effort. Worthless. Hey at least se went out with a bang, right? She would recognized as a hero! Everypony would know her name! Yeah her friends would . . .

Her friends. It finally struck her. The fame was one thing, but she was leaving behind something far more important. She closed her eyes as tears started rolling down her face. How could she be so reckless. They tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen. They cared for her. They wanted to keep her safe. But she blew them off, and now she would never get to see them again, now that she was de-

"You're not dead yet."

Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open and stared at the entity before her. "What do you mean?"

The dark pony gave her an annoyed look. "Exactly what what said. You're not dead. Well, not yet at least. You're very close, but you haven't crossed over completely."

Dash's hopes began to rise. "Wait, so you mean I might live!" She shot into the air, and began flying in circles. Everything was going to be fine! All of her friends would be there waiting for her to get back so they could have a huge party for how awesome she was. "So when do I get to go back?"

"When you are able to defeat me."

Rainbow froze in place. "Wh-what?"

Death gave her a sinister smirk. "Normally, my job is to simply take ponies who have passed on into their appropriate afterlife, depending on how they lived their life. However, sometimes their are special cases, such as yourself. Due to varying circumstances, they are able to hold on to their connection to the mortal world longer than most ponies should be able to. So yes, you have a chance. However . . ." His grin turned into a full malicious smile. "That's when I get to have fun. I'm supposed to test you. Push you to your limit. If you somehow pass, you get to return to the world of the living. If not, then I drag you to the afterlife myself." His face warped back to its expressionless look. Don't worry, though, this won't affect where you go. Even if you accept the challenge and lose, you still get to go to wherever you were already heading for. By that way, your destination is Paradise, ao are you sure you want to go back?" His sinister look returned.

Rainboiw Dash shaking. Was he already testing her? She was terrified, and she sensed he knew it. This was going to be tough.

"Think about it. Eternal happiness is waiting right there for you. Plenty of open skies, clear weather all the time, no worries at all. Nothing but complete bliss." Suddenly, his face was inches from hers. "Do you really want to go back to that old life of yours?"

Rainbow Dash refused to give in. "No! I won't! I can wait, there's too much for me to do back home! I'm already happy with my current life!"

Death wouldn't be detered. "Oh you're definately a fighter." His aura flared, creating the illusion that we was on fire. "That will just make your fall so much sweeter . . ."