Hi everyone! Good to see you all again! Here is the newest chapter in this story, and a special chapter too. You will see what I mean in a couple of minutes, but before that, let me answer to a guest reviewer:

Thanks for reviewing. I am happy to hear that you like the story so much that you can't wait for the next chapter, but rest assured. I am writing as fast as I can, but is not always easy :D

Anyway, let's get on with the story then... Enjoy :D

Chapter 21 - Requiem for a dream

-roughly two weeks before the final battle ( Dash's POV for the entire chapter)-

'I must hurry and get back into the battle. Celestia didn't receive the news of her sister being interrogated as we fight, too well. I have to get back and help Daniel' I thought as I flew quickly through the clouds. I usually enjoyed flying through clouds and would stay there for hours, but this time I had things to do. Suddenly, a flying red creature, that had red wings caught me by the neck. I tried to kick it with my legs and wings, I tried to call my sword and call for help by using the mental connection, but it was in vain. He was more powerful than I thought. And when it spoke, I knew exactly who he was:

"Well hello little ponies and Knight. I see you managed to thin the number of my army, but at what cost? You now have a little bit more than half of yours. I, however, have another army ready at the Citadel. Do you have another army ready, little Knight? Or do you plan to fight all my army just with your precious little girlfriend beside you?" And he glared at me. I could read the evilness in his eyes. "I say we make things a little more interesting. You will see what I mean in a couple of moments" he snarled, before he spoke in a whisper to me." What do you say of a permanent trip to the other side, little pegassuss?" and his hand flashed red and hit me with it over my chest, right where my hearth was. I felt a sudden pain and I lost almost all my energy. I couldn't maintain my connection to Daniel's mind, so I had to break it. The first couple of seconds I was confused, but then I realized what was going on and had little time to act on it. So I did exactly as Daniel told me. I teleported my dying body to the middle of the enemy army and I began singing the four verses Daniel told me to. I felt my body radiating with energy. Some colorful orbs began flying around me, forming a rainbow. 'Maybe Daniel did something' I began thinking, before looking around. Every one of them stopped fighting: the ponies, the goblins and the monsters, all of them began singing along. And then I saw Daniel walking slowly towards me. 'Ha! He fooled that stupid Morbidus. He must have' I thought, but then I saw his face. I saw tears in his eyes. I began crying too and then I heard him talking to me in a voice full of sorrow:

"Don't worry, Dash. I am here. I will help you. I will save you."

That is the moment I realized that if he ever tried to heal me to full heath, we will both die in the process, so I shook my head as a no. He now openly cried. Then I felt something. My mind was becoming numb and my body cold and sore. I was being pulled to darkness and my body began fading. I only heard him cry:

"Dash, don't go!"

And then, silence and darkness. I wasn't dead, nor was I alive. I was floating. Floating in darkness. I still had my memories and was still in control of my spirit. I then remembered Gladir. He was a ghost that lived in the red chamber. 'Maybe I would become a ghost. Then I would see Daniel again.' I floated for a long time in this dark place, waiting for something to happen. I felt neither hunger nor thirst and I waited. I think I have waited more than a decade, or so it seemed, but time must have been flowing differently.

Then I felt something. It felt like water drops hitting every part of my body. 'Rain!' I thought. But some of them felt different, heavier and concentrated on my chest. And I heard a voice:

"Hi there Dashie. I...I just want to tell you goodbye. I just want you to forgive me for not being able to protect you. I am sorry."

"No, don't be. You did your best and I love you" I said, but then realized he can't hear me. He continued:

"I wanted to do my best, but I failed you. I know you are a great prankster, so please do something, one last thing for me."

"Anything. I would do anything for you!" I said as loud as I could, tears beginning to form in my eyes.

"Fool me and Death and return to me. Please do this final miracle for me. Please Dashie, I won't be able to go on without you. Please..." he continued.

Tears began falling from my own eyes. Then something came through that darkness. Something made only of light. It resembled a giant, golden dragon head. It looked me dead in the eyes. It was something comforting about his gaze that reminded me of Daniel. He smiled a sad smile with teary eyes before closing its mouth around me and my spirit begun glowing again. The light broke through that deep darkness. It felt so much different than the first time when my body began glowing. I began feeling my limbs again but I couldn't move. At all. All I could do was breath.

"You're alive! Thank you, Dash. I don't know how you did it, but thank you" I heard Daniel mumbling. Then some other voices spoke. I could hear Celestia, Shining Armor, my friends from Ponyville, and another pony that, by his mode of speaking resembled a doctor. For a second then, I felt my body contracting and I knew I was being teleported.

I smiled and then focused as I felt my body healing. If I was alive, then I could connect my mind to Daniel's and thank him. Somehow, his tears and that dragon had were connected. I tried to but couldn't. Then I did something different that I learned from Gladir: imagining the connection as a road between two places. Palaces, in our case. I found myself in the middle of the road and walked along it until I reached the point where it was broken. There I saw Daniel. He was inspecting the damage.

"Daniel! Over here" I said loud, but he didn't hear me. 'Why wouldn't he look at me?' I thought confused. I tried moving forward but hit my head in an invisible wall.

"What in the name of-?" I mumbled as I went with my hoof around the wall, trying to find its end. It was a cage over my mind...a cage made of something I didn't recognize. 'An invisible barrier that keeps my mind locked and that makes me unable to talk with anyone using connections. Strange. Yet, he seems to be able to see my palace' I thought as I saw Daniel looking towards me and then leaving. Since I didn't have anything better to do, I sat down and waited. Daniel came several times and tried to do different things to the link to make it stable and usable. Then, at some point, he stopped coming. I still waited for him to come, but he didn't. My wait made me fall asleep and began dreaming. I saw Daniel becoming a dragon and working together with the cloaked pony. Then I woke up. 'Daniel must be searching for an answer to our problem, using the help that the cloaked pony had to offer' I thought as I saw him fighting. The next thing I knew, was that at some point I woke from my meditation and I felt my body strong and healthy, but I couldn't move still. So I just stood there and waited. For what, I did not know, but I felt like I had to wait.

Then I heard Daniel's voice again, speaking to me, both in real world and in my mind, though I couldn't respond:

"Hey Dashie. How are you? I...I miss you." 'I miss you too' I though, becoming sad.
"AND. I. WILL. SAVE. YOU!" That feral tone in his voice scared me, so I figured that he was in dragon form. I calmed myself mentally.

'I know you will' I though with a mental smile.

"I swear I'll save you Dash. And then we will be together forever" he mumbled.

"It is not good to deal in extremes, my friend" I heard another pony said.

"How long have you been there?" Daniel asked.

"Enough to hear the last part. But please consider my advice. Never deal in extremes. I've seen others and they didn't end well" the other pony said.

"I know. Only, I miss her too much" I heard Daniel say.

"I know you do. Every cell of your being screams that. But there is only one thing you can do and that is defeat Lord Morbidus. Now go get some sleep. You need to conserve your energy for when you'll face him. And I know you won't leave this tent without a fight so I brought your sleep here" the other pony said.

"Thanks" Daniel said and he fell asleep instantly. I could hear his snoring. 'I wish so much I could be there for you, Daniel' I thought.

"Just relax. You will feel better" the other pony said.

Then silence. 'That must have been the cloaked pony. He is trying to help Daniel. But why?' I thought.

"Wha...what's happening?" Daniel said suddenly.

"The army that was pursuing us yesterday has been sighted" the cloaked pony said.

"What time is it?" Daniel asked.

"It's almost midnight" the cloaked pony said.

"How far away are they?" Daniel asked.

"A mile at least. Why? What do you have in mind?" the cloaked pony asked.

"The two of us will take care of them. Our army needs their power and stamina. We will go silent and assassinate them" Daniel said.

"Let's tell Celestia first" the cloaked pony said.

'Oh, they must be going in a stealth mission. Be back safe, Daniel' I thought as I fell in a meditative state. The next time I woke up was when I heard Celestia's voice:

"Daniel. It is time."

"I will end this, Celestia. You have my word that peace is the only thing that will follow this war" I heard Daniel say as he went outside and Celestia sat down with me.

"I don't know if you hear me Rainbow Dash, but Daniel has gone to end this war. The next time you two will be seeing each other will be when Morbidus will die. At least that is what Daniel told me. I really hope that he can save you and that you will be together" she said and then it was silence again. 'How much time had I been meditating? From killing a camp of the enemy to going at the last battle of this war… he must have a plan' I thought as I forced myself to think rationally. I didn't sleep or meditate again. I just waited. And then I saw something, though I couldn't say what. It was unclear. But when it became clear, I saw a clash of swords. And I was swinging one and Morbidus another one. And it hit me. 'I see through Daniel's eyes. But how?' I thought.

'I think that it is my doing. You can thank me later' a voice said in the back of my mind.

'And who might you be?' I asked as I kept looking at Daniel's fight.

'I have no name, nor age, nor face. I am everything and anything. But I am usually called God or the Supreme Being' the voice said.

'I am talking with God?' I asked, as I didn't move my attention from what was happening to Daniel.

'You are. But I feel like this conversation is rather silly, without you paying attention to it and me having to fill up all the gaps' the voice said amused.

'Oh, I am sorry, but I can't pay attention with this fight going on' I said.

'I see that your love for this mortal is so big that you dare to defy even me. Very well then, you passed my test' the voice said.

'Test? What test?' I asked confused, taking my attention from the fight for a second, as they just seemed to talk.

'The test of your love. So big that it can defy a god' the voice said.

'You can bet on that. Umm… Supreme Being you say? Can I ask you a favor?' I asked, unsure of what was I about to say.

'Say' the voice commanded.

'Please take care of Daniel. I want him to return to me safely' I said, feeling that in some way, this would help him.

'I am sorry, Rainbow Dash, but this depends only on him. Even I am not allowed to mess with this battle. I can't say why, but I am not allowed to. However, I have a good news for you' the voice said.

'What news?' I asked, as I returned my attention on the fight.

'Now, you can return to your old self again' the voice said, before stopping speaking. Just then, I heard Daniel say:

"I don't need a sword to defeat you. I don't need power to defeat you. You know what that explosion means? It means the end of the war. Luna is free. The goblins are free. The ponies are free. You will die and Dash will recover. And you know why? Because I have something you don't. I have love. I receive and give others my love. You won't ever be able to understand that. And that is the reason you and your so called empire will fall. Darkness might win against light, but it never had and never will win against love." Then everything happened in slow-motion. I saw Morbidus as he picked up his sword, his face full of rage, and ran towards Daniel, who deactivated the barrier and was waiting for him with open arms. And then Morbidus hit him, going with the sword straight through Daniel's chest.

"DANIEL!" I cried, tears in my eyes, as I awoke and stood up from the bed. With my right eye, I could still see what was happening, while with my left one I saw Celestia's shocked face, before I teleported out. I teleported to a tree, somewhere and then flew as fast as I could towards my love, towards my Daniel. I saw how the tower began fell, I saw the beam of light and could only think one thing: 'You had to be good to him even in his last moments, hadn't you Daniel?'. Then I was in the tower. My right eye returned to its normal self. In my mind I heard Daniel say: 'I've done it. Dash, you are saved. And it only took me my life.'

I walked over to him, tears in my eyes. He looked at me, crying, but with a smile on his face. His smile made me smile.

"I love you, Dashie!" he said. I could feel my body failing me. I was overrun by sadness. The sadness of never seeing him again. The sadness of having to return to my boring life from before. Before falling on my knees, I looked him straight in the eyes and said:

"I love you too, Daniel!" He looked me in the eyes one more time, before closing them with the smile still on his face. In that moment, I felt as if my hearth had been stabbed with a thousand needles. He was gone. And I was alone once more.

- In the tower(3rd person)-

"Daniel? Daniel?! DANIEL!" Dash began crying, beating with her hooves on Daniel's chest.

"Why? why? why?!" she cried again, as her head fell forward on Daniel's wounded body.

Aaaaand...scene! I hope you enjoyed this special chapter, which brings us inside Dash's mind when she was with a hoof in the grave. It was a difficult chapter to write (and a sad one too :( ), so please review. I want to see how I've done :D

Now, I was mostly unable to find a song to fit this chapter, both as content and as mood, until, the other day, I heard a song I used to love, and still do. A song without any verses. Just music. The song referred in this chapter is "Requiem for a dream" by Clint Mansell.

Until next time, LionPrankster, over and out.