"Good Morning Rainbow Dash! Hi Applejack!" Derpy Hooves greeted the two injured ponies during her visit. She'd brought a batch of muffins to share with her friends.
"Hi Derpy." Rainbow Dash replied.
"Good morn'n!" Applejack returned Derpy's greeting.
"I brought you guys some more muffins I baked last night." The grey pegasus said presenting a box to the two injured ponies.
"Thanks Derpy! Your muffins are better than Sugar Cube Corner's! Don't tell Pinkie I said that." Applejack said taking a muffin from the box. The girls shared a laugh before Derpy turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. She wasn't looking too good. Her eyes had become all puffy and bloodshot from her lack of sleep due to the nightmares she'd been subject to about the dragon.
"You don't look so good Rainbow Dash. Is there anything I can do to help?" Derpy offered.
Rainbow Dash stared down at the muffin she held in her hooves for a moment before replying.
"I'm fine, just a little hard to sleep with these splints on my wings is all." She told a little lie trying to laugh it off and relieve her friend's worries a bit.
It had been a few days since both Rainbow Dash and Applejack ended up sharing a room in the hospital after they were admitted. Their friends would visit casually every now and then but Derpy had come every morning with fresh muffins and their mail since day one.
"Well if there is nothing else I need to finish delivering the rest of this mail." Derpy excused herself.
"Are you sure nuthins wrong Sugar cube? You were trashn' in your sleep last night and woke me up with all yer mumbling. Soundn' like y'all were having a nightmare or sumthin." Applejack called her out on her lie. "Because honestly I've been having nightmares too." She admitted.
"I am not having any nightmares!" Rainbow Dash insisted.
"Surely you could stand to learn a lesson in honesty from dear Applejack, Rainbow Dash." An eerie voice chimed in as the room suddenly fell dark.
Applejack pulled the covers up to her nose and tried to shrink back in her bed. She was paralyzed with fear. She looked over to Rainbow Dash only to find she could hardly even see her hoof in front of her face. Fear gripped her heart making it beat faster. The darkness only helped to amplify her fear and make her feel helpless. The blanket that half covered her body was her only armor to comfort her and pulling it over her head was all she could do to help calm herself down.
"I have visited both of you in your dreams, but sadly you were not as responsive as I'd hoped. I am forced to show myself before you to get what I want out of you." The voice spoke again, but this time the spirit of the dragon took form hovering above Applejack. His red eye was the only visible light other then the faint silver glow coming off his blackened scales. "Poor poor Applejack. It must be hard on you with your legs broken like that. What is to become of your farm without you there to tend the orchard and your fields?" The dragon seemed to speak in a taunting voice as he flashed a white smile of sharp fangs. Applejack felt her fear leave her and was filled with anger. This dragon had broken her legs and came to taunt her about it. She wasn't planning on taking that lying down.
"Now listen here feller! It wouldn't have happened if y'all would fight fair instead of using yer freaky spirit magic." Applejack argued.
The dragon gave Applejack an intriguing look as if thinking hard for a moment before saying anything in reply.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Only one way to find out." He flashed that toothy smile again as he lowered himself down next to her bed. "I have an offer for you my dear Applejack."
"I won't make any deals with an evil being like y'all." Applejack insisted before hearing what he had to offer.
"Now now my dear, don't be so hasty to reject an offer you have yet to hear. It is one you can't refuse. I will heal your broken legs and even throw in the bonus of granting you a dragon's strength to compensate for your pain and discomfort." He stated as he paused for a moment to see if she would take his bait.
"And what would you want in return for this gift?" Applejack's voice was hesitant. The dragon knew she could be bought but needed convincing first.
"Before I go demanding things from you, why not try out the benefits of my offer for a time? I will come back to you in three days and make my demand. If you accept your bones will be unbreakable for as long as you live and I will grant you the strength of a dragon making you the fastest, strongest pony in all Equestria." The dragon generously offered.
"What if I refuse?" Applejack was smart enough to get every detail before jumping on such a juicy sounding opportunity.
The dragon only smiled and studied her for a moment before giving his reply.
"Should you refuse I will take back the dragon's strength and destroy your legs so that you will never walk again. It would also be such a shame if a dragon flew over Sweet Apple Acres and burnt its orchard, fields, and buildings to the ground with his fire breath." He threatened. His toned sounded half-hearted as if he was joking, but threatening her home and family was something Applejack always took seriously.
Applejack didn't know what to do or what to think of the dragon's offer. The reality of what Itami declared when they first encountered him began to sink in. His intention was the destruction of Equestria and the death of the princess. This was a dangerous dragon capable of mass destruction, but why would he offer her power and not ask anything in return? Was he trying to coax her into taking an addictive drug to sway and control her with? Is this her opportunity to protect her family from his evil wrath? So many questions ran through Applejack's head.
"If I accept will y'all promise to leave my family unharmed?" Applejack felt like she was giving in but couldn't see much other choice in the situation.
"You have my word." The dragon extended his clawed hand to shake her hoof. Applejack hesitated for a moment staring at the dragon's eye hoping it would give some indication that he could be trusted to keep his word. She was surprised at what she found there. Pain. Sadness. Suffering. Longing. There was weakness in that eye. It gave her hope that he could definitely be defeated.
Applejack reached out her hoof and the dragon took it in his claws and shook it firmly. The contact between the two sent a light through Applejack. It felt warm like a gentle embrace from a special somepony that she had longed for all her life. She closed her eyes as it coursed through her body repairing her legs and strengthening her body. As the power faded she fell asleep and the dragon moved to the other side of the room.
"Rainbow Dash." He called quietly to the pegasus who was hiding under her covers and shivering in fear. Rainbow Dash perked up when she heard her name being called.
"I'm not afraid of you! Where ever you are!" Rainbow Dash declared with as much courage as she could summon.
"Of course not. How could the courageous and brave Rainbow Dash be scared of anything?" The dragon taunted. "By the way, you're still shivering." He pointed out with a laugh. Rainbow Dash stood up on her bed and tried looking around the room for the dragon, but she couldn't see a thing in the darkness he'd cast over her.
"Why don't you show yourself and say that to my face coward!" Rainbow Dash boldly challenged him. To her surprise he complied and appeared to her as he had to Applejack. His outline was a faint glow floating in the air before Rainbow Dash with his one red eye fixed on her.
"What do you want! W-why are you here!" Rainbow's courage began to waver as she tried to display more of it.
"Straight down to business I see. I am here to make you an offer you can't refuse my dear." The dragon gave her his glowing white toothy smile he'd given to Applejack several times.
"And what offer is that?" Rainbow was saying anything she could at this point to try and establish her faltering courage.
"To heal the wings I broke and grant you the power of dragon flight of course." He replied coolly.
"Wait. What?" Rainbow Dash was confused at his offer, but found most of her fear had disappeared. "What's the catch?"
"The catch is something I have not yet quite decided on my dear, but I can assure you this is a deal you can't pass up. Not only will I heal your wings, but I'll grant them a dragon's speed. You'll easily fly up to 5 times faster than you ever have before." He guaranteed.
"Five times faster! With that speed I could do double or even triple Rainbooms!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "But I'm not gonna accept an offer without clearly defined terms."
"Of course not. Only a fool would make such a decision. How about I let you test drive my offer while I determine my terms for keeping such an ability? How about we say for three days? I'll return with my 'catch' as you call it." The dragon casually offered. He enjoyed how much easier it was to persuade Rainbow Dash than it was Applejack. He knew for sure he'd get what he really wanted in three days time from both ponies.
Rainbow Dash hesitated for a minute before accepting right away.
"What happens if I refuse?" She asked.
"Quite simple my dear. I will pluck your wings off your back and devour them." He replied with his big smile and joking tone.
"Eh...heh...hmmmm..." Rainbow didn't find the joke to be very funny. He did manage to break her wings without even touching her before so she knew it wasn't beyond him to just tear them off. The thought made her cringe and she tried her best to dismiss it right away. "Fine. I'll take your offer for a test drive, but if I refuse in three days...are you still gonna tear my wings off?"
"Of course not. That would just be barbaric. I may be an evil dragon bent on destroying the world, but I do have standards." For a brief moment the dragon sounded like he had a little class to him. He extended his claws to shake Rainbow's hoof in agreement.
"Sounds good to me." Rainbow Dash said lifting her hoof to shake his claws. As soon as they made contact with one another Rainbow's whole body became engulfed in a white light that coursed through her. The light focused in on her wings and they healed and strengthened them until the light faded leaving her lulled into a deep sleep.
The darkness disappeared from the room with the dragon and the morning light poured in through the window lighting the room up once again. Both ponies were sound asleep in their beds.