Loyalty

by MidnightDancer

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rainbow Dash, Sad, Romance, Tirek, Princess Luna, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 15761

Rainbow Dash needs to do the impossible to bring back Twilight Sparkle. But with a reluctant sun goddess, the Princess of the Moon is the only one who can help. Rainbow uncovers an ancient secret, and has to choose: heart or head?

Rainbow Dash is the most loyal, daring, and toughest pony in Equestria. Everypony knows that.

All three of those attributes are put to the test when Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria is killed.

Rainbow must undertake a daunting journey that only one before her has, and finds the most unlikely of secrets waiting there for her, chained to a dark place.

When love that's so far unrequited wars with love that is returned, and with Canterlot in ruins, Rainbow Dash must decide: heart or head?

Published 2015-08-19 20:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-10-25 19:55:00 UTC

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Loyalty
By MidnightDancer

"There has to be a way."

Her voice shook, robbed of its usual bravado and cockiness. She advanced upon the two Princesses she had respected since fillyhood and glared, even as the smoke rising from the ruinous remains of the city stung her furious eyes. Blood pattered to the ground beneath her but she understood it only distantly, as something to worry about later, as it had been for most of the previous battle. However, a more important battle was beginning for her now, so she pushed the pain down and away into that place she would go in her mind—that place a bit above and to the right of her most base instincts where pain and fatigue and physical limitations could not touch her.

Emotion could, though. If there was one thing she had learned about emotion, it was that it could keep you going just as long as any other motivator.

"Rainbow Dash, please, you're hurt." Celestia extended a white wing towards the pegasus, rose eyes filled with pain and compassion for a bare second before a light blue hoof struck out, Dash snarling up at the Princess as she slapped the fluffy wing away.

"There has to be. You can't tell me there isn't, Princess! I've seen... I've seen so much since meeting the girls, hay, even just so much today! The impossible is normal for you royal types, isn't it?" Her voice ratcheted up further and further as she continued her advance, stumbling once on a smouldering flagstone before reasserting her balance. She took the pain of the burn, she made it hers, and she locked her gaze with the Princess of the Sun. "So bring. Her. Back. Now."

Celestia was first to drop her gaze, giving a pained glance to her sister beside her. The downy wing of comfort meant for Dash enveloped Luna instead, who returned the favor to her elder sister. As they moved closer together, Rainbow could see better what she had been studiously ignoring behind the sisters, something beneath a white sheet that still bloomed crimson roses of blood from beneath. Dash screwed her eyes shut, closing out that and the sight of the healers around it and the sight of the whole ruined city. She could still hear the yelling, smell the smoke and faint whiffs of death, and in her mind's eye could still see the pony falling, falling...

Celestia turned back to Dash, eyes full of heartache. "Even if I could, Rainbow, I would not. Death is not a finality, merely a transition. Nor is it something with which to meddle so carelessly—"

All the physical pain and the weight of the day bore down on Dash in a second at those words, and she filled her lungs with the deepest breath her bruised ribs could muster before snapping out her one good wing and screaming up to the sky, eyes squeezed shut as her legs shook and threatened to fall beneath her. The sisters spared a glance at each other, concerned, but managed to take but one hoofstep in her direction before the pegasus brought her head back level and matched her glare against Celestia's surprise again. "Don't you ever. Ever. Say. That this is done from carelessness. Do you think we break our backs for you anytime there's a threat because we don't care? Do you think I want to bring her back because I don't give a shit? Maybe it'd be easy for you to just walk away and say 'oh I'll just make another egghead into a fluffy little alicorn princess, it's fine—'"

Cut off by her own sudden yelp of pain, Dash found herself cowering despite herself, using her good wing to shield her face as the hairs of her coat and mane curled and singed before the sudden onslaught of heat. Each of her hundreds of wounds, from tiny scrapes to her shattered wing, chorused together to sting her coat and burn the sensitive flesh exposed within. Backing away helplessly, unable to fly, she kept her eyes squeezed shut as she desperately scrabbled over the broken road even as the road in front melted away to slag.

She could hear, faintly, Princess Luna yelling something out but the heat was so oppressive it bore down even against her tough pegasine eardrums, making Dash wince once more. The Element of Loyalty burned against her chest, searing into her skin as the metal heated even further and with an instinct borne of desperation, Rainbow attempted to flee using her injured wing. She came down hard, landing square on her back against the shattered street, shards of mortar and flagstone bruising and cutting her already punished body. Forced now to look up, she cracked one eye open against the brightness that lit her closed eyelids and looked.

Between herself and the desolate orange sky, clouded with smoke so much that even the setting sun could not be seen, stood an avatar of fury such as Rainbow had never seen. Sparks flew from the alicorn's horn, eyes a pure void of golden power staring down at the pony below her. The alicorn's wings were extended, and it took a deep breath before booming out at Dash.

"THINK NOT YE FOR A SECOND, LITTLE PONY, THAT WE ARE AS CALLOUS AND PETTY AND CRUEL AS OUR DEAR LITTLE PONIES ARE TO ONE ANOTHER." Licks of flame sprung from her ethereal mane as it raged upright, fire consuming the normal aurora in her fury. Tears tracking through the dirt on Rainbow's cheeks evaporated immediately as she tried not to look directly at Celestia. "DO NOT THINK FOR A SECOND THAT HER ASCENSION WAS SOMETHING CONVENIENT, SOMETHING WE DID TO RELIEVE THE BOREDOM OF OUR LIFE." The heat seemed to lessen, as did the brightness, and Dash noted a thin shield, tinted a transparent midnight blue, had sprung up between herself and the enraged Princess of the Sun. "AND DO NOT THINK YE FOR A SECOND THAT SHE WAS NOT DEAR TO US. SHE WAS LIKE UNTO OUR OWN DAUGHTER, AND—AND—I—"

Celestia dropped suddenly, knees giving way below her as she gave herself over to the pain raging in her heart. Luna approached cautiously, wings flapping and bleeding off the excess heat while maintaining her shield around Rainbow Dash as her sister literally cooled off. Celestia's mane stopped dancing upwards, falling instead flat against her neck and regaining it's normal hue as the first keening wails left her muzzle. She cried up to the sky in anger and loss, the haunting melody giving the pegasus evacuation teams pause from darting through the thick smoke. Unicorn healers, previously guarding Princess Twilight's body, advanced hesitantly, but were shooed back by a stern glare from Luna.

Rainbow and Luna shared a glance as the former got painfully to her hooves, wincing against the pain of her injuries but giving a small nod to Luna all the same. The moon princess nodded back, curtly, and dropped her shield, leaving both ponies free to cautiously approach the wailing Celestia. The white alicorn's breaths hitched, her muzzle brushing the cooled ground as tears pattered beside. Sympathy surged in Rainbow, unbidden, and her mind and pain returned to her fully as she knelt before Celestia.

"Look, I... I'm sorry. Princess, really, I'm sorry, I just..." She reached out one hoof, wavering, and stopped just short of the Princess's mane. She settled for laying her muzzle on her hooves, gently nosing at Celestia's hoof.

They laid like that for some time, the Sun and Loyalty, as the Moon stood her wary watch.

Heaving a shuddering breath, Celestia finally raised her head, locking her eyes with Rainbow's again. "And I am sorry as well, my little pony. I was out of line. This day, this battle, and our losses have taken much from us both, but it is no excuse for either of us." She sniffled, shaking her head, before continuing. "But please, do not ever... just, never again. And not about her."

Dash just nodded mutely, eyes tracing from the crying alicorn, across the ground, meeting the armored hooves of the other Princess. Forcing her gaze upwards, Rainbow met her eyes as well. "And I'm sorry to you too, Luna." Luna approached finally, sitting on her haunches beside her sister and rubbing a downy wing comfortingly on her back.

Loosening her scratched and scorched breastplate, she sighed. "It is of no consequence. My feelings were not as entwined into this matter as yours and Celestia's. I cared for Twilight, and she was my friend, but I was not as entrenched as the two of you in the love you feel for her." Celestia laid her head gratefully on her sister's lap, and it would have been quite a touching scene of sisterly love if Rainbow Dash had been paying attention.

Instead, her mind spun, whirled, and tumbled. Her voice seemed to come from very far away, even to herself, as she spoke. "You... what? I know, yeah, you... you taught her and stuff but... I mean, when you say you loved her..."

"Yes. She was the smartest filly I had ever met. Oh, you should have seen her, Rainbow..." Celestia's eyes clouded as a happy memory danced across them, and her lips twitched upwards ever so slightly. "The way she did a little dance with her hooves when she was excited, how her mane would frazzle after a long night studying, how she managed to charm the Royal Cook into always saving back an extra bunch of daisies, just for her. I loved that filly so, so much."

Rainbow stood, stumbling as her mind whirled. "You... you loved..."

"How could I not?" Celestia managed to raise her head from her sister's lap a fraction, eyes turning concerned and a frown at her muzzle.

Luna, apparently the only pony available who understood subtext, stood abruptly. She looked down at her sister, and with a deep sigh, bent to help her to her hooves. Steadying Celestia's larger body against her own, she gave Rainbow a significant glance. "Come, sister. You are wounded. We must get thee to the infirmary. Rainbow Dash, that goes double for you. Go."

"I am not injured, Luna. My body is whole." Celestia cast a glance again to where Twilight's body lay.

"Your soul is not. Go. Rest." The two shared another understanding glance.

Celestia stumbled away, before abruptly cantering to the unicorn healers that were slowly sharing the burden of lifting and carrying the fallen Princess Twilight to the castle. "No." Her own golden magic enveloped, then overpowered the rainbow of colors of other mages, and they pulled back, stung by the magical feedback. "No. I am sorry, my little ponies." Her head bowed for a moment before, trembling, she brought herself to look at the floating, sheet-covered body before her. Gently, as a mother would to her foal, she wrapped the sheet around Twilight's body snugly in a swaddle, leaving her head and mane exposed. Celestia set the Element of Magic where Twilight's front hooves would be, and began to walk away from the desolation Tirek had left in his wake and towards what was left of her city.

"I should do this. It's only right."

Rainbow limped a respectful length behind, eyes locked upon the bundle Celestia carried. Her vision doubled, and then trebled, and just as she thought perhaps she was going to pass out, the first tears fell, clearing her eyes once more. She scrubbed at her cheeks furiously, whisking the tears away. Can't let the girls see me like this. Can't leave 'em hanging. I gotta be strong for them.

For her part, Luna kept pace beside the pegasus, casting her an appraising glance. Lowering her voice, she intoned softly, "Rainbow Dash."

Pulled from her own worries, Dash turned to her. "Yeah?" She croaked.

"Not so loud." Luna spared a glance to her plodding sister, then back to Dash. "Listen. I understand. Come find me tonight. Midnight should be best, based upon when she died. Come then."

Confused, Rainbow stopped, brushing her singed mane from her face. "What? Where?"

"There's a servant's entrance in the South Garden. I wish for you to go through it, and follow it. If you go right at the first turn-off, it will lead you to the steps of a tower. Meet me there." Luna's gait was loose, almost casual, but her teal eyes focused rigidly on her sister.

"Why?"

"It was Twilight's astronomy tower. It's the best place. Trust me, Rainbow Dash. I may put your fears to rest there. For now, though, get yourself to the medical wing. Join your friends."

Rainbow could only nod, again, as she took her broken and battered body across the city towards the palace. Medics rushed across her path, blocking her view of Twilight occasionally as they set up field tents for wounded civilians and guards alike. Even amidst the chaos, the ponies seemed to instinctively clear a path for Celestia on her march of state to the castle. To Rainbow's right, a unicorn mother sobbed, holding her half-dead infant to her chest as a medic tried, desperately, to patch the baby's wounds while keeping it stable.

Dash didn't want to see what happened next, so she walked on.

A keening wail told her a moment later, regardless, and she squeezed her eyes shut against it.

We won. But we lost.

"Hello?"

Hooves still shod in golden armor clanked warily across the unseen ground, curling mists rising with every hoofstep she took. Confused, she squinted into the darkness ahead, before lighting her horn. The darkness did not part, though, and the pony succeeded only in casting a warm glow over her muzzle and mane. Cocking an eyebrow at this development, she uncrossed her eyes from staring at her muzzle and instead turned her head, trying to light the path behind.

Darkness pressed in against it, turning the hornlight into what seemed to be almost a compressed globe of light. She knew she should have a headache by now, the pounding that comes with matching an irresistible force against an immovable object, but it did not come. Cautiously, she let the light go out, and the darkness seemed less oppressive, less forceful, immediately. Distantly, she was aware that she should probably be scared.

But really, she was more curious than anything. And if there was anything this pony liked, it was getting to the bottom of how things worked. So she soldiered on through the mists and the darkness, brilliant eyes darting around and looking for something, anything. The darkness was listed and cataloged away in her mind, followed by the mist. Mist. Mist forms when cooler and warmer temperatures clash, like over a lake or even over grass in the mornings. But I don't think there's anything... organic, down there, and it doesn't sound like water... Kicking experimentally against the mist, she was rewarded with nothing more than gentle swirls of it against her hooves still, with no ground beneath in sight. She screwed up her courage before plunging muzzle-first into the mist, rooting around like a foal near her hooves. The mist rolled over her face, curling up to her eyes and bearing down on the lids.

Mist can't do that!

She pulled and struggled, yanking her powerful neck up as hard as she could as the first wisps of mist curled around her horn, causing an unpleasant tingle and the taste of decay to fill her mouth. The terrified pony lit her horn again reflexively as her air was cut off by the tendrils coursing now through her nostrils and holding her muzzle shut, and charged a spell. It released spectacularly, creating a ring of force not just over but below her, cutting out anything that was not her. Within her bubble of force, she shook her head and snorted, blowing out the last of the mist that even now retreated back to the ground.

Rubbing her nose irritably, she let the spell dissipate again, the mist flowing harmlessly against her armored hooves once more. "What the hay..." she mumbled aloud.

"I suppose you will not be doing that again, mm? I would certainly not suggest it." The pony whipped around to find the source of the voice, her horn charging again. The light spilled this time, instead of against the void, against another pony. Amused, pale blue eyes found the violet eyes of the pony in the mist, and the newcomer smiled. "The mist is harmless until it's close enough to your magic. You must be strong indeed to have made it this far. I thought I would find a shattered wreck of a pony to escort on, but here you are."

Twilight shifted uneasily, regarding this new, surprisingly tiny, white alicorn mare. "...who are you?"

The mare bobbed her head before speaking, voice high and strong for one so small. "Sometimes still I wonder that. But for you, I am simply the Courier. I take you to your final destination. I would have come sooner, but... it's been a busy day." The alicorn glanced up through her stringy green mane, giving a half smile and a shrug. "My apologies."

The purple alicorn let this sink in, rolling her head back and forth and bouncing possibilities in her mind before the most obvious bubbled to the fore. "I... am I dead?"

"Ah, bit dead, yes." Courier shuffled her hooves awkwardly, clanking the chains that bound to her four hooves. "Sorry, just, don't really get to do this often, escorting royalty."

"I can imagine..." said Twilight automatically, eyes darting around and panic bubbling up and if I just juke left and fire a stun spell I can knock her down and while the mist and darkness are preoccupied with her I can run I can run I can run home...

"You get to choose."

Twilight snapped her head back to Courier, eyes widening before narrowing suspiciously. "What? Oh, I get it, hang on... I get to choose, but there's a catch, right? And either way I choose, I'm screwed, is that right?" She flicked her ear, a mild and irregular clink clink clink annoying her—until she realized. It was her armor. She was shaking. Twilight took a deep, shuddering breath, and looked back at the nonplussed alicorn before her. "Sorry, just, am I right?"

It was Courier's turn now to roll her head to and fro, before settling on a shrug, her bonds clanking once more in the darkness. "If by 'screwed' you mean 'dead', yes. But you get to decide what to do with your afterlife."

"Does everypony? You must be awfully busy."

"No. Most ponies, well, they're destined for one of two places. Either you go to Elysium," she gestured vaguely to the right, where Twilight could still see only blackness, "or Tartarus. It's a pretty straightforward system, really. Mostly... automatic." Courier shivered, glancing behind her. "But sometimes, they get... stuck. Or caught on their way. So I have to help them, and get them there. But you," she came closer, gently prodding Twilight on her scratched and dented breastplate, "you get to pick what you want. Either go on to Elysium and await your friends, or... well, go to Tartarus."

Twilight tilted her head at the other pony nearly a full ninety degrees. "Why. Would I want. To go to bucking Tartarus?" She scoffed, turning away. "I was right, it's not a choice at all."

The reality hit her, and the tears finally came. Fluffing her wings in agitation, she began to pace. "I'll never see my friends again. I'll never write another Friendship Report. And Spike! Poor Spike... I... I hope R-Rarity survived, I know he'd be s-so happy to h-h-help her..." The mist swirled, disturbed by her relentless pacing, the tempo of her clinking armor growing faster by the second. She stopped suddenly, and Courier found herself on the receiving end of a merciless violet gaze. Twilight nearly pounced on the smaller alicorn.

"My friends! My friends. Oh Celestia, please... Courier, did my friends come through here?" She leaned over Courier, muzzle to muzzle, and Courier blinked twice, before raising a hoof to the song of her chains and gently pushing Twilight's muzzle away.

"I don't know. You're the only pony with a choice that's come through. Were they royalty? What were their names?"

Taking a deep, calming breath, Twilight backed away. "Okay. Alright. Their names are Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. And Spike the dragon." She paused, and swallowed deep. "A-also my parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet, and my brother Shining Armor." She watched Courier as the little alicorn closed her eyes and lit her horn, presumably going through whatever system of categorization she had. Agonizing minutes ticked past, and just when Twilight thought she couldn't take it anymore, Courier slumped back down.

"No. They're still topside. I don't know if they're hurt, before you ask, I just know they didn't die." A ghost of a smile touched Twilight's muzzle.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry. I was just so worried... you know what it's like, to worry about family and friends..." She trailed off, tilting her head. "I mean, I guess I assume you do? I'm sorry, I didn't even know there was a whole other alicorn down here, I shouldn't just guess..."

Courier chuckled, stretching her wings out a bit before resettling them at her side. "It's alright. My story isn't all that interesting, so I won't bore you. But yes, I do know what it's like to worry for your family and friends, because I did have them once." She settled her rump down in the mists, shifting to get comfortable against her bonds. "But the question still remains, Twilight, and we can't really tarry much further. Which do you choose?"

Her earlier anger resurfaced, and Twilight narrowed her eyes. "It's not a choice. I don't really feel like hanging out with Tirek and whatever the hay else is down here in Tartarus, if it's all the same to you. Why is that even presented as a 'choice'? It's... it's cruel."

Courier just smiled, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth to speak.

By the time she was done speaking, Twilight had gone from angry, to shocked, to speculative.

And then, after carefully weighing her pros and cons, Twilight opened her own mouth to make her choice.

Disaster. The word spun and tumbled and slammed through Dash's mind as she made her way carefully through the only parts of Canterlot Castle deemed "safe". She had attempted to follow Celestia down the narrow hall leading to the Banquet Hall, one of the unscathed areas, but Luna had extended a wing in front of her, bringing her up short.

"Infirmary. Now." Her cold gaze brooked no disagreement, and no matter how hard Rainbow tried to summon up her earlier outrage, she simply couldn't. She was drained, a hollowed-out well in her chest sucking in any errant feeling like the worst kind of emotional singularity. Dash simply bowed her head and nodded, before turning to continue her painful limp back towards the infirmary.

This wasn't some glorious battle. I'm no Commander Hurricane. We barely made it through! And Twilight just... didn't. She's gone. She's really gone. Instead of feeling the now-familiar heat in her cheeks to warn of impending tears, she still just felt... hollow. I guess I should listen to Luna and at least go see the girls and get this wing patched up. Don't want to be grounded for long, what if he comes back?

So lost in her own thoughts, she simply wandered, oblivious to the rushing of ponies up and down the halls. She let them bump into her, bouncing her to the side of the wall, and tiredly welcomed the pain of her wing as a distraction from the rest of her new reality. Her hooves simply wandered, unused to walking so much, clinging to her physical pain as much as she could.

"I said stop." She was brought up short, again, by a wing, this one a pale lavender versus Luna's deep blue. Rousing herself with a shake, she tilted her head up. "You can't be here. You should really get to the medical wing." The stallion eyed her cautiously, his jumpsuit surprisingly clean with only a few smudges marring the fabric. A small stitched nametag declared this pony simply "Wing".

"Oh. Uh. Isn't medical that way?" Dash raised her hoof, confused, as the other pony shook his head, raised gas mask bobbling comically.

"No. I mean, yes, technically, it was, but you can't really go that way. It's not safe." He blinked at her twice, sunset eyes roaming her. "Though I don't blame you trying to take the direct path."

Dash glanced behind him to the empty hall beyond, then back to him, eyebrow raised. "Uh. Looks pretty safe to me."

The stallion suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "I know, and it does. But it's not. The original medical wing, specifically the laboratory, was damaged in the... the battle. There was an explosion and long story short, there's a dangerous cocktail of airborne pathogens in this area." Even as he spoke, gas-masked Royal Guard unicorns were hoisting a magical barrier in place, setting their hooves and preparing for a long night of magic-draining work. Rainbow Dash watched this with some degree of interest.

"I guess that makes sense. I don't smell anything, though. Where's the new medical place? I gotta get this wing fixed." She carefully flexed the muscles in her shattered wing and winced against, though welcomed, the pain.

Wing pinched the bridge of his muzzle with a hoof. "No, you wouldn't smell—okay, so, here, just turn around, and take your second right. You should start seeing some signs put up with red crosses to show you the way. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He snapped his own gas mask in place, trotting over to an assortment of gauges and what looked to Rainbow Dash like overgrown thermometers. He snagged one in a forehoof and penetrated the Guards' shield, a strange spring to his step.

Rainbow Dash followed the stallion's directions, finding herself shortly at a makeshift field hospital in what used to be the annex to the throne room. The room was packed with the wounded: Royal Guards who survived the first line of defense, some limping to the barracks while others dozed in magically-induced sleep on low cots; the castle staff, many of the younger of which seemed to stare at nothing and everything at once, terror coloring their every pained move; and to the right, visiting dignitaries. Thankfully, there seemed to be very few of those, although Rainbow Dash recognized Captain Storm Claw of Griffonia, as well as her four remaining friends.

"Rainbow Dash?"

The named pony turned her head to the left at the soft, cultured voice, and took in the tan unicorn stallion before her. He coughed once, politely, into a hoof before raising up several pages of parchment before him in his golden magic. "Yes, so, I can see you're quite injured, somepony will be with you very quickly. We've put you and your friends over there," he waved a hoof distractedly towards a cowering Fluttershy, "but I daresay you'll be requiring more intense medical treatment than they. Right, so..." He did a quick trot around Rainbow Dash, sizing up the extent of her injuries, before scribbling more information down on a scroll.

Rainbow Dash tried her best to hold still. She really did. She really wanted, honestly, to push this strange stallion with the strange accent out of the way and just go see her friends, but Twilight's voice in her head stayed her hooves. Honestly, Dash, you'll never get better if you don't take care of yourself! Still, she stretched up higher, ignoring the discordant singing of the pain in her legs and neck and back in favor of peeking in at her friends. Her sharp eyes showed some bandages around Fluttershy's foreleg and chest, and in fact, all of her friends seemed to be bandaged over their Elements.

"Gentle Touch, I need you here!" The stallion rolled up his parchment with a small flourish and tucked it, with his magic, beneath Rainbow's good wing. "Right, Gentle Touch is on her way, but how about you meet her halfway? She's an excellent healer, she'll have you sorted out in no time, I'm sure." At Dash's blank expression, he rubbed the back of his green-maned head, confidence ebbing. "Er, off you pop, now. Um, please?"

With an irritable snort, Rainbow Dash trotted off to her friends, instead. The stallion called out behind her, somewhat befuddled. "Ah, yes, quite right, I'll, er, send Gentle Touch to you then, I suppose?" Ignoring him, she swept up to her friends, who rose to greet her.

"Dashie, you're here." Pinkie Pie seemed the least injured among her friends; indeed, there was just one bandage over where her Element had rested. She crossed necks with Rainbow Dash briefly, before pulling back to look at her with an uncharacteristic somberness in her bright blue eyes. "Twilight's gone, but we have each other, right? We gotta stick together like those lollipops I tried to make that one time and my mane, okay?" Her eyes wavered, filling with tears, and Dash pulled her close despite her injuries.

"Yeah, you know it, Pinks. I'm not goin' anywhere, okay?" The other three trotted forward in various stages of pain, Fluttershy draping her wings around both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, with Applejack and Rarity sitting close enough to offer their body heat, but not much more. Once Pinkie Pie's sobs had wound down, Rainbow Dash pulled back, trying to offer her trademark cocky smile. "It's gonna be alright. It's gonna be tough, but as long as we stick together, we're gonna be fine."

The five cuddled in close together, letting their comfort flow from one to the other though their bonds of friendship and lifting the spirits of all five. The moment was interrupted with a soft ahem from their right.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I understand from Alpha Beta that I need to have a look at Rainbow Dash." The matronly mare bustled up to the group, gently weaving in and extracting Rainbow from her friends. "Now, you all can stay with her if you like, but we need to get you taken care of." The cheerful yellow unicorn beamed down at the pegasus for a moment before turning stern. "What I would like to know is why you took so long to get here when your injuries are clearly the most severe."

Rainbow Dash quailed under the stern motherly gaze of the healer, chuckling nervously. "Well, ya know, a pony as awesome as I am has to make sure everypony is okay first, right? Heh, heh..." She trailed off as the mare arched an eyebrow, dark brown eyes assessing her.

"That's as may be, but we need to get to work." The unicorn set to her craft, plucking the scroll from beneath Rainbow's wing and giving it a quick scan. Nodding, she swiftly pricked Rainbow with a needle of anesthetic before expertly patching her many burns and scrapes, working with an economy of motion that showed long years of practice. As her wing numbed, Rainbow turned back to her friends.

"So, question, who in the hoof are all these ponies? They all have accents and I don't think I've seen 'em before around the castle."

"These lovely ponies have arrived to assist with the cleanup of Canterlot, dear." Rarity, mane frizzed out from its usually impeccable state, graced Rainbow with a small smile. "Pegasus and Unicorn relief teams got in from Las Pegasus and Trottingham recently. I do hear that more supplies and help will be coming in from other cities, such as Fillydelphia and Manehattan, likely by later tonight." Rarity sighed, prodding at the bandage on her chest and wincing.

"Yup. Even through the tragedy, it's nice to see regular folk pullin' together to help each other." Applejack smiled slightly, gently bumping Rainbow Dash's shoulder with a hoof. "To be honest, I thought we were all done for."

"Y-yeah." Rainbow Dash looked down at the floor, thoughtful, as Gentle Touch continued her ministrations on the broken wing. "One thing, though... where's Spike?"

A small purple snout rose warily over Rarity's mane. "I'm here." He sank back down again out of sight, and Rainbow cocked her head curiously.

"Is he?"

"Clinging to my back? Yes." Rarity sighed, lighting her horn and gently prodding the little drake with her magic. "The poor dear hasn't let go since I let him ride my back here. Come now, Spike, we're your friends too, and we're here for you."

A little muffled voice, cracking in the middle, rose from Rarity's mane. "But you're not her."

Rarity stared at the floor, tears welling in her azure eyes as the baby dragon cried out his frustration and sorrow against her back. The normally prim and pampered pony was still as stone even as Spike reflexively dug his tiny talons into her coat, his tears matting her already ruined mane to her neck. They sat together, the five ponies and one dragon, letting him cry it out as long as he needed.

His sobs wound down, and he slid down from Rarity's back, finally disengaging his claws. Rarity couldn't help but give a little sigh of relief even as she brought one foreleg out to pull him to a gentle, proper hug. "I'm so sorry, Spike."

The friends pulled together in a group hug, much to the frustration of Gentle Touch, who was trying to carefully get Rainbow's wing into a sling. They pulled back finally, Spike sniffling and rubbing at his eyes. "I'm sorry, guys."

"Hey, hey." Rainbow pulled the little dragon to her, and then hesitated. He looked up at her with wide green eyes, shiny from his tears. He was the closest to her besides Princess Celestia, and I know she wouldn't go for it... She glanced up at her other friends, smiling wryly.

"Uh, can I have a sec with Spike alone?" At the suspicious eyebrow raise from Applejack, Rainbow Dash held out a placating hoof. "I know what it's like to lose a sibling. Please, just like, a moment."

"I-I suppose I could see if they need any help. I'm feeling much better, and I can probably help patch up some of these poor soldiers..." Fluttershy trotted away delicately, favoring her left foreleg, towards Alpha Beta.

"And I can try to cheer up the staff!" Pinkie Pie seemed to perk up at this idea, eyes growing wide and smile starting to curl her muzzle. "Oooh, you know what a place as sad as this needs? A PAR—" Pinkie Pie was interrupted by a white hoof stuffed against her lips.

"It is most certainly not time for a party, Pinkie." Rarity eyed her sternly, before softening. "Although, I'm sure just having somepony to talk to will help." Pinkie nodded mutely against the other pony's hoof before darting away, seamlessly integrating herself with a group of castle maids near the back of the room. Rarity watched her go, and fluffed her mane with a hoof. "It might not be the most extravagant use of my talents, but there's more than a few uniforms that are in need of stitching, I'm sure. I'll see you girls at supper, yes? I hear they're putting together a food kitchen in the basement to feed everypony." The white unicorn forced her trademark smile back onto her face, tossing her head and trotting off and out of the medical wing entirely, presumably in search of the castle laundry.

Applejack nodded as she watched her friends go. "I s'pose it makes sense for us to help rebuild. It's been a long day, but I ain't tired just yet, and I reckon they need some strong legs to help. Just s'long as they don't put nothin' on my back, heh." She glanced ruefully at her back, the long gash from one of Tirek's claws bandaged and stitched neatly. "Last time I try to ride a centaur, I promise you that! But, I can sure enough do some pullin', and those ponies walkin' in supplies from other cities are gonna be mighty tired once they get here." She nodded to herself, settling her hat more firmly to her head before looking up askance at Rainbow Dash from beneath it. "Y'all behave now, y'hear? Spike, you stay in here, maybe help Fluttershy or that fella checkin' ponies in, alright? An' if it gets to be too much, just let Fluttershy know, and she'll get ya to bed." She nuzzled the top of Spike's head gently. "Be well, an' we're all here for ya."

Spike nodded mutely, holding up a trembling fist which Applejack hoof-bumped before she turned, settling into a careful trot towards the door and out into the castle beyond.

"Spike." The little dragon turned, looking back up at Rainbow Dash.

"So... what did you wanna talk about, Dash? I don't... I don't really want to think about it anymore..." His chest hitched, and he pulled his arms around his middle, chin to his chest. "I just..."

"I know, Spike, I know." Rainbow Dash reached out, pulling Spike closer to her. "I just... after my brother died, you know, I was just a filly then. About your age, I think. I thought, hay, why couldn't he just come home? He was a good pony and had a good life, so how come he didn't come back, you know?" Spike just nodded, small body shaking against Rainbow's lithe one. "And then I thought, you know, maybe he was happier there. So I let it go."

"Tw-Twilight always says that good ponies go to Elysium and the r-really bad ones go to T-Tartarus."

Rainbow lowered her voice, dipping her head closer to Spike's ear on the pretense of a hug. "Yeah, that's what some ponies believe. But, I mean, if you had the chance to go get somepony you loved and bring them back, would you?"

Spike's head shot up, and he eyed Rainbow Dash warily. "Y-you know that's not possible. Princess Celestia said so."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head, wincing a little as Gentle Touch put her finishing touches on the stitches on her flank. "You... heard that?"

Raising an eyebrow, Spike glanced around. "Uh, I'm pretty sure half of Canterlot heard that. You guys weren't exactly quiet."

"Oh." Rainbow chuckled at herself, rubbing the back of her mane with a hoof. "Right, that. Well, I mean, just as like a... what did Twilight call them? Mind jumps? Brain stretches?"

Giggling, Spike shook his head. "You mean a thought exercise."

"Yeah, one of those. So, like, check it: you have the chance. You can get her back. What do you do?"

Spike thought to himself, burrowing into his own mind the way Twilight had taught him to during a proper thought exercise. The simplest answer floated to the top of his mind, and he looked back up at Rainbow Dash, smiling. "Easy. I'd ask her if she wanted to come."

"...huh." The pegasus blinked, tilting her head this way and that before looking back down on the dragon fondly. "You're smarter than you look, little guy."

"Pssh, shut up." Spike laughed, a genuine one this time, and playfully pushed Rainbow's hoof from noogieing his head.

"If I may interrupt, the last thing we need to do is get the Element off your chest..." Gentle Touch sent out her magic to prod around Rainbow's Element, frowning. "Your friends had theirs stuck to their chests but it took only minimal effort to get them off... I'm afraid, Rainbow Dash, that this is going to hurt." As Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to offer a cocky retort, Gentle Touch continued, "A lot. Quite a lot."

It did.

The clock struck nine, and Rainbow Dash finally entered the banquet hall. No longer used for high society parties and feasts with diplomats, right now the hall was temporary host to the body of Twilight Sparkle. The pegasus sat beside the long table, her friend laid out in state, Twilight's hooves crossed over her chest and wings folded to her sides. Even the magic patch job done on her corpse couldn't hide the final, brutal blow Tirek had blasted to her chestplate, and Rainbow could see the darkness of the wound beneath the white gown Twilight wore. A gentle glow suffused her being, and Rainbow knew from the guard outside that it had been cast by Celestia to preserve Twilight's body before Celestia herself had collapsed.

Alone in the room, Rainbow simply sat, head bowed. Her saddlebags she had retrieved from her room at the Palace sat uncomfortably far back on her haunches, and she was happy to simply let them fall to the floor as she finally looked up at her friend. Twilight's face looked serene and relaxed, just like she was ready to jump out of bed and start a new day full of friendship, wonder, and (of course) studying. Heaving a watery sigh, the pegasus leaned her head on the table, looking at her friend.

"What do we do now, Twi? You're always the pony with the best ideas. I'm trying to stay strong for everypony, but, well, it's really hard to do. And I'm tough, and fast, but I wasn't tough enough or fast enough to save you. I'm sorry." A tear finally fell, tracking its way down her now-clean blue cheek.

"And I know we talked about this and stuff already, but I... well, you know." She scuffed a forehoof against the hall's floor, chuckling at herself. "I... no matter what else happened, you're my friend, and I'm gonna fix this. I'm gonna find a way to make this up to you. Because this isn't you, Twi. You're s'posed to have a long life, and lots of laughs, and watch me do more awesome stunts... hay, I was hoping that when I become a Wonderbolt, you'd be there to cheer me on! So I gotta make sure that happens.

"These other ponies, they aren't you. They aren't like you. I mean, they're really trying to help out, and that's awesome! But... I can't help but think that, if you were here, Canterlot would be rebuilt in a day." A small smile teased at her muzzle, and she sniffled. "Well, okay, maybe two days. I know you'd need to make a checklist and then like, triple-check it eight times just to make sure, and that'd take a day by itself."

She simply lay like that for a time, muzzle just short of the golden glow around her friend. A sudden yawn escaped her, the events of the day finally catching up with her. She was fairly certain that the pain medication from Gentle Touch had something to do with her weariness, too. Rose eyes fixing on the golden magic on and around Twilight, Dash frowned slightly at a memory from earlier.

"Princess Celestia said that death isn't the end, that it's a... I forget the word, but like, you'd go on, I guess. And I hope wherever it is you end up, you're happy, but... it wouldn't be here, or you'd be back already, right? But I think you'd want to be here, with us. And I wish I could get you back. I'm gonna try, but if you're happier where you are... then that's okay. You deserve to rest and be happy and stuff, y'know?" She mulled over her ideas in her mind, her head a whirl of confusion. "I think that if I do get to go to... wherever you are, to come get you, I'm not gonna force you to come. If you're happier there, I'll leave you there, and that's a promise. Pinkie Promise."

The little blue pegasus did the motions of the geas between friends, tears pattering to the floor.

"Cuz I love you, Twi. No matter what."

Her ribs were the first to complain, the pain in them cutting through her haze of exhaustion and medication. The grumbling pegasus shuffled to her bandaged hooves, ignoring the lances of pain from them as she shook the last of the sleep from her head. Blowing aside a lock of rainbow mane, she turned, unwilling to look at her friend any longer. The sky through the banquet hall windows was deep and dark, the moon overhead signalling that if it were not yet midnight, it would be soon. So, Rainbow Dash took her leave of her dead and broken friend in favor of finding hope to make her whole again.

Taking the quick route outdoors by the hall doors to the courtyard, giving the guard outside a swift nod, Rainbow Dash studied the sky. The weather pegasi had done a passable job clearing the smoke and debris in the air, though she could still see a night crew darting about, pushing a cloud here or corralling rogue winds there. She could see beyond them just enough of the stars to orientate herself, and she determined she was on the west side of the castle, not the south. Groaning with irritation and glaring at her bandaged wing, she took to hoofing it to the left across the garden, hoping to find some sort of simple passage from one to the other.

She continued to pick her way across the lush lawns, skirting around the occasional downed statue or fallen tree. Still, gotta admit, it's great to see the sky again. Even the smell had improved, the smells of water and fresh grass and earth replacing those of smoke and decay, filling her senses and making her if not happy, at least content for a time. After a few moments of a gentle trot, she happened across the hedge separating the West and South Gardens. It was mostly intact, though a portion of it seemed to have been burned away, seared by an errant bolt of magic earlier.

The brambles scraped at her as she forced her body through, uncaring of the new tears she was opening on her sky-blue coat. Huffing with annoyance, she finally pushed through, yanking out her back leg as a particularly stubborn bramble pulled at her saddlebags. Whoops. She glanced around the South Garden, looking for the servant's entrance, and then froze.

Fluttershy and Applejack both sat nearby, and both had noted her noisy egress from the hedge. Applejack trotted up easily, pushing her hat up to see the pegasus better. "Rainbow Dash? That you? What in tarnation are ya doin, climbin' through hedges at half to midnight? Y'should be resting up."

Blushing as if caught doing something she shouldn't and of course that's not the case, this is totally something I should be doing! It's for Twilight!, Rainbow tried an easy smile on. It didn't quite fit. "Yeah, well, y'know, places to go and ponies to see. I never sit still for long."

"What meetin' could be so pressin' that instead of takin' the hallway inside, you're hoofin' it through brambles?" Applejack raised a sardonic eyebrow. "An' tell me the truth, sugarcube. I know we're all hurtin' somethin' fierce, but it's only gonna get better together, remember?"

"Oh, uh, I just have a meeting with Princess Luna. I just wanted to ask her some... things... about the afterlife, that's all." Rainbow Dash shrugged easily. It wasn't technically a lie, after all. "I mean, wouldn't you wanna know? After my parents... I mean, I was just a kid, so... well, whatever, the point is I never really believed in any of that junk growing up but now I wanna know."

Green eyes met pink across the grass, Applejack measuring Rainbow's response. "Well, I don't rightly know if y'all should be meddlin' in it. What's done is done, an' if the Summerlands exist, we'll all see her there again someday. We're in the same boat, Rainbow, an' we both know torturin' ourselves about it ain't gonna help nopony."

Cheeks burning, Rainbow scuffed at the ground. "I didn't say I was gonna meddle. I just said I was gonna ask about it. I don't see why this is such a big deal to you, Applejack."

"Applejack is just worried... and so am I..." Rainbow looked up at the soft voice, and Fluttershy smiled. "I know when my animal friends pass on, often, it's a release from pain and torment. It's not always a bad thing."

Rainbow Dash snorted at her friend. "Yeah, but it's not like Twilight lived a gazillion years or was dying or something. She was healthy and happy and strong, and she was taken from us in the worst way, alright? So what if I need a little closure from that?"

Fluttershy shrank back, and just nodded. "Just be careful, Rainbow."

Applejack watched Rainbow Dash go, small frown creasing her muzzle. But, she reckoned, if Dash needed to cope by talking about the machinations of the afterlife, Applejack supposed she could let that go.

For now.

The servant's passageway was chilly despite the outdoor heat, the sticky summer night transforming to cool breezes that brought a measure of comfort in the stone hallway. The blue magelights hung around the hall lit her path well, and Rainbow Dash trotted down, careful to be certain the other two were not following. No matter how much she shared with them, she felt, instinctively, that this was something she could not risk dragging them into. What if something goes wrong down there? I can't keep track of everypony all the time... I proved that much today. Coming to the end of the first hall, she took the right turn as she was bade.

The magelights did little to light her way into the otherwise black and featureless hallway now before her, and she squinted into the darkness. Loud as she dared, she called into the hallway, "Hello?"

It fell flat, not even echoing. Confused and somewhat apprehensive, Rainbow Dash still forced one hoof in front of the other as she started her journey down. It's not that bad, probably just all spooky and stuff because Princess Luna is kinda spooky sometimes. She spared a glance behind her at the lit passageway she had come from, and grimaced. I mean, kinda wish she'd put something in here at least...

She was cut off from her musings by the sudden feel of motion beside her, silent motion, but there all the same. Her hackles rose, and she whirled, but saw nothing behind or beside. Pricking her ears up fully, she started forward again at a trot, and again she was brought up short by the feeling, the sensation of air moving where it should not.

The first tendrils of fear began prodding at her heart. She shook her head, setting her face into a grimace, and continued on her trot into the darkness. Another faint brush of air ticked beneath her good wing, her pegasus magic feeling it instinctively. That same instinct told her it wasn't just the innocent movement of air in a corridor, it was caused by another pony. Gritting her teeth, she raised her head. "I have an appointment," she said into the darkness. "Princess Luna invited me herself. So, I mean, if anypony wants to try to get in my way, you're gonna have a fight on your hooves."

Resolutely, she quickened her pace, eyes darting around the perfect blackness of the corridor. I swear to Princess Celestia, if this is Princess Luna messing with me... Her thoughts were cut short with a sudden, unceremonious thump as Rainbow Dash smacked headlong into a wooden door.

Chuckles burst out to her left, and Rainbow Dash whirled, rubbing her nose. The darkness seemed to bend and twist, and a pony in a dark navy blue cloak materialized where none had appeared before. The spooky effect was somewhat ruined by this new pony almost dry-heaving with laughter.

"Hey, you jerk! You were here the whole time, weren't you? Why didn't you say something?" Rainbow Dash's good wing flared as she glared at the newcomer.

The new pony waved a black hoof in her direction, still chuckling. "Because it was funnier this way. It's not my fault, if you knew how to move in the dark, you would have seen it was there."

"Well excuse me, whoever the hay you are, but I don't have night vision." She growled, shaking her prismatic mane. "Whatever. I have an appointment with Princess Luna and she said to come here."

"Mm, indeed. You must be Rainbow Dash." As Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest proudly and opened her mouth, the other pony continued. "It's a pity. You're not nearly as impressive as Luna made you out to be."

Rainbow Dash's jaw unhinged. "What? Okay, okay, I get it, you must be new here." Drawing herself up to her full height, she smirked. "So lemme give you a rundown. Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, Savior of Equestria, and the fastest pegasus on this planet!"

"And the loudest, and the proudest, and the most boastful," the other pony continued, rolling her green eyes.

Rainbow Dash snorted. "And who are you, then? 'Cause I certainly don't recognize you."

The other mare chuckled. "My name is unimportant. I serve Princess Luna and as such, work in her nights." She fluttered her black wings beneath her cloak, smiling, before turning back to Rainbow Dash. "And I am the most silent and... shall we say, efficient, pony in Equestria. Also, I am most certainly not 'new here'. I've been here longer than you have."

"Whatever. I've never heard of ya, so you must not be that important."

"You've never heard of me because those that do hear of me tend not to live to tell the tale."

Nose to nose with the other pony, Rainbow Dash flared her good wing. "Yeah? Well I will, and let's just see if you think you can catch me."

"Your speed is meaningless when you announce your presence so loudly." The black pony matched her gaze, her calm demeanor riling Rainbow Dash up further. "Also, you must sleep sometime."

"Is that a threat?"

"Just a fact."

"What, you're gonna sneak into my room like the Boogeymare?" Rainbow sat back on her haunches, waving her front hooves in front of her. "Wooooooh, I'm the Boogeymare, and I'm gonna watch you sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep—" She was cut off by being swiftly and expertly knocked to her back. Before she could react, she was flipped to her stomach, a black hoof holding her head to the floor.

"If you draw so much attention to yourself, the Boogeymare is more likely to notice you, don't you think?"

"Pshh." Rainbow Dash coiled her legs beneath her, before bursting up and throwing the other pony off her back. "And I'd be ready for her if she showed her ugly mug!"

The two squared off against each other in the narrow corridor, the unnamed mare blowing a lock of black and grey hair out of her face. At an unseen signal, the two leaped at each other, before being caught quite suddenly in a dark blue glow of magic. "H-hey! Cut it out! Who the buck—" Rainbow Dash turned her head, coming face to face with a rather unimpressed Princess Luna. "Ah. Hey, Princess."

"Rainbow Dash." She set Rainbow down on the ground, before turning to the other pegasus. "Can you explain?"

The black pony squirmed in Luna's magic, cloak flipped up to reveal a cutie mark of a dagger. "Just guarding your door as requested, Your Highness. I live to serve." As Luna's gaze became sterner, the other pony quailed. "...also maybe I got a little bored. But, my Princess, this pony knows not what she meddles with, and I thought a demonstration would—"

"Sereg'wethrin. I thank you for your service, but I can handle this matter from here." Princess Luna set the pony down, finally, and sighed. "I know I hardly need to tell you, but not a word to my sister." The pegasus nodded, before seeming to melt back to the shadows once more. A faint brush of air against Rainbow Dash's feathers, and the other pegasus was gone.

Luna pinched the bridge of her muzzle with a hoof, sighing. "I know it has been an arduous day for us all, Rainbow Dash, but please refrain from picking further fights with my ponies."

"But she started it!" At Luna's unimpressed glare, Rainbow Dash smiled ruefully. "I mean, sorry Princess."

"Much better." Luna proceeded through the heavy wooden door and up the stairs, Rainbow Dash following up the spiraled staircase.

"So, Princess, what—"

"Not a word until we are upstairs." Rainbow Dash snapped her muzzle shut, following gamely until the two pushed past a second wooden door and into Twilight's astronomy tower.

The room was circular and incredibly neat, showing Twilight's touch everywhere. A massive telescope dominated the room, the window it would normally be looking out at the heavens from sealed off with stone. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with tomes about astronomy, astrology, and weather patterns. Rainbow's hooves found the deep, plush blue rug, decorated with a starscape across it, and she took a deep breath. This place was so Twilight it hurt, and the pegasus felt the pangs deep in her chest that burned worse than any other wound sustained that day.

Princess Luna simply watched, settling herself at the small desk in the room, as Rainbow Dash struggled with herself. After a moment, she spoke. "I asked you to come here because of the demands you made of my sister earlier."

Blanching, the pegasus turned to Luna. "Yeah, I just... I'm sorry. I don't really know what happens when you die. Just, I thought maybe... for Twilight, maybe she could come back? I'm sorry I yelled earlier." Rainbow Dash lowered herself into the carpet, willing herself not to cry. "She's just so... so Twilight. She was the best of us, you know? And I think Equestria will suffer without her."

"Equestria will suffer, or you will suffer?"

Cheeks flushing hotly, Rainbow Dash turned her head away from the Princess. "B-Both. I mean, she was one of my best friends, of course I'm sad she's gone! So are the other girls."

With a sigh, Luna raised herself from her chair, magic plucking a rolled scroll from a bookshelf. "I can see, sometimes, into the realm of death. It is not easy, nor always accurate, but in the case of Twilight Sparkle, I could see clearly." Rainbow Dash looked up hopefully.

"So... like, is she okay, or? I mean she's not okay, she's d-dead, but is she happy?"

Princess Luna rolled her head to and fro, considering how best to answer. "Both happy and not. She is stuck where she is, and cannot break it herself, though she chose it of her own volition. It would require another pony to break her current bonds. But it is not something to do lightly, Rainbow Dash, and I cannot in good faith allow you to without having your motives laid bare by you."

"I mean, I just told you why I think she should come back, so..." A sky-blue hoof worried at the carpet beneath her, Rainbow Dash careful not to meet Luna's eyes.

Rolling those eyes, Luna unfurled the scroll beneath her wing. "Ahem." She began to read aloud.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned a very important lesson on friendship. Sometimes, when you're close to somepony for a long time, you can start to feel more for them than you did before, even beyond the bonds of friendship. I learned that it's important to express your feelings, and it's important to respect those coming your way, even if it's from an unexpected source!

Rainbow Dash shot to her hooves, shaking, eyes wide.

I also learned how much trust it can take to express those feelings, and that in turn can deepen that bond of friendship, even if you don't return those feelings. Respect and trust are the cornerstone of every friendship! I learned that it's important not to abandon your friend if they don't feel the same way as you do, and that no matter how strong those feelings are, a true friend knows that friendship is always first!

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

A deafening silence dropped over the room, Rainbow Dash trying to steady her legs and school her expression into something more neutral, but failing. Princess Luna let the silence spin on for a few moments before speaking.

"I wonder what that letter was about? Or, more appropriately, who." As Rainbow Dash collapsed again to the rug, chest heaving, Princess Luna approached, laying one hoof on Rainbow Dash's withers. "I am sorry to do that so harshly. But I need honesty from you, more so than I need your loyalty, which was never in question."

Sniffling, Rainbow Dash pulled herself to a seated position, saddlebags falling to the floor again. She thought then back to Applejack, and winced at the memory of her lie by omission. "I just... okay, yeah. I fell for Twilight, happy now?" Cheeks burning, she looked sullenly off to the right. "But she didn't l-love me back, not that way."

"And you think that by galloping heroically to her rescue and returning her to the living, our dear Twilight will swoon in your grasp and find she returns your love?" Luna arched an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash, one that fell when the pegasus looked at her with confusion.

"What? No. I love her, yeah, but I've lost ponies I've loved before. I just... I really think Equestria is gonna suffer, not having the Element of Magic... not having Princess Twilight to look over Friendship. She's the best at it, you know? I mean, besides Pinkie Pie, but that's different." Rainbow Dash rubbed her nose, corralling her feelings. "She's a heroine, and an alicorn, and a princess, and just... she's those things for a reason, right?"

A warm smile crossed Luna's muzzle. "Indeed she was." She sighed, starting a slow pace around the circular room, eyes narrowing in concentration. "I needed to know you wanted to do this for the right reasons, Rainbow Dash. There are... creatures, down there, that can use any hidden weakness you may possess. If you were to be trapped down there, we would not be able to rescue you. Having one living pony down there upsets the balance enough, if there were two..." She shook her head, distractedly. "That hasn't happened since the beginning of that dark place, when my sister and I made it."

Rainbow Dash stood, following Luna's progress with her eyes. "But... a living pony can go there?"

Luna nodded, stopping her relentless pace. "Yes. I am afraid to send you, I cannot lie. You will be on your own with nothing but your own wits to carry you through. If you keep your reasons plain and untarnished, you should be able to make it, but..." Here the Princess faltered, tapping a hoof nervously.

"But if I get stuck, I'm really stuck."

"Indeed. So think long and hard, little pony."

The pegasus did as she was bade, closing her eyes and rolling the idea around in her head. I'm wounded. I can't fly. The rest feels okay, but my wing... I wouldn't be able to get away if something came at me. She thought of Applejack, the strong orange hooves braced in the dirt as she demanded Honesty. She thought of Fluttershy, light wings beating the air as she enveloped her friends in Kindness. Pinkie Pie bounced into her mind's eye, drawing them together with Laughter. Rarity strutted through her mind, giving all to her friends that she had with Generosity. Lastly, Twilight hove into view as the little unicorn she once was, wearing a crown a size too big and creating the bond of Magic. How could I not? My wing doesn't matter. They do.

She opened her eyes.

"I'm ready."

Princess Luna nodded, steadying her own hooves from shaking. Celestia, forgive me. Her horn glowed with the sickening familiar tinge of black and green magic denoting her use of Dark Magic for this task, rending open the very air in the center of the astronomy room. Rainbow Dash watched, in awe, a trickle of fear finally dripping down to patter on her heart. Scrolls and parchment, pulled from the bookshelves by the force of the magic, danced around the room, and Luna completed the opening, one eye cracked to fix on Rainbow Dash.

"Go."

Gathering her courage, Rainbow Dash swallowed hard, approaching the portal. There was blackness beyond, and some mist that she could see, and she turned back to Luna. She gave her Princess what she hoped was a cocky smile. "I'll be back soon. Keep breakfast warm for me and Twilight, okay?"

Without further pretense, Rainbow Dash stepped through the portal, and it snapped shut behind her as Princess Luna released the spell. The Princess of the Night collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. Godspeed, Rainbow Dash.

The silence in the tower was shattered suddenly. "Oh hoho, and what have we here? Naughty, naughty Princess Luna." Luna's blood seemed to fill with ice at the voice, and she whirled around, shivering despite herself.

"Discord."

"Princess." The floating draconequus gave a short mock-bow from where he floated lazily ten feet from the floor.

Getting back to her hooves, Luna gazed at him with a coolness she did not truly feel. "Are you not supposed to be attending my sister? I had thought you were by her side."

"Well, you know, I was, but dear Celly fell asleep on me and I got so very bored, you know? There's only so many games of 'pin the tail on the guard' you can play before they get grumpy. And it's only one game of that." He floated down closer to Luna, grinning with his snaggled fang. "And what should I happen to feel but a surge of dark magic! Had to come make sure our dear Woona wasn't having a... relapse, shall we say." Luna eyed him carefully, keeping her silence. "But I found something SO much more interesting. You sent little Rainbow Dash off to the land of the dead?"

"I did."

Discord clapped his mismatched front hands, turning somersaults in the air. "Oh my! Celestia is gonna love hearing about how her baby sister sent an important pony alone into the darkness."

Grabbing one of his antlers in her magic, Luna dragged him close, her anger matching his mock concern. "No. You will not say one word of this to my sister. She is grieving, but if I can end her grief by having Twilight brought back, more's the better. I will not have her burdened with what I have done during her time of mourning, and if you care for my sister as you used to, you wouldn't want that either."

He blinked, disengaging himself effortlessly from Luna's magic. "Hmph. Fine. Twilight is far from my favorite, but I suppose she is important." Smiling slyly, he curled himself around the alicorn. "Especially if your favorite god of chaos gets out of line again, hmm?"

Gritting her teeth, she looked away. "That isn't what this is about, Discord. This is for Equestria as a whole. This world does not revolve around you."

"Doesn't it?" The infuriating draconequus vanished, leaving nothing but the echo of his faint, mocking laughter in Luna's ears.

It doesn't. It can't.

Author's Note

Yeah, so I'm trying adventure. I realize it's not terribly good so far.

I'm going to attempt to update weekly (said the woman moving in a week and a half).

A few notes:

Wing belongs to predictably, Wing

Alpha Beta belongs to Best Pony

The unnamed pegasus guarding Luna is Shadow Streak and belongs to FoughtDragon01

All three of the above, along with TheMaskedFerret were kind enough to preread some sections for me.

Let the spaghetti begin.

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Αφοσίωση έπαιζε άρπα της για την απώλεια και την απώλεια κοίταξε με αγάπη .

Twilight Sparkle's eyes fluttered open.

She slammed them shut almost immediately against the bright rays of sun spilling across her bed from the window across from her. "Aughhhh." She pulled a pillow over her head, grumpily. I need to stop staying up late. Every morning she told herself that, and every night she disregarded her own, Twilight internally admitted, sound advice. She shook her head, the last threads of the dream dissipating. Her brow furrowed, sleepy brain trying to chase down the dream and hold it, but it slipped away like dark water no matter how hard she tried.

Giving up on the idea of sleeping in, she rolled out of bed, hooves hitting the floor of her castle bedroom with a sharp clack. As if on cue, a voice floated to her from outside the bedroom.

"Twilight? Hey, Twi, I made breakfast! And I didn't burn anything down, come see!" Spike's voice was full of his usual good cheer, and Twilight smiled.

"There's nothing to burn down, this palace is made of crystal and stone..."

"What?"

"Nevermind, Spike." A quick brush of her mane and tail later, and the newly minted Princess of Friendship made her way down from her well-appointed bedroom to her equally well-appointed kitchen. There she saw Spike, beaming up at her with a large plate of pancakes held in his front claws. Twilight noted with mild concern the scorch marks on the front of his frilly pink apron, but before she could say anything, the tempting smell wafted towards her.

"Oh, Spike, those smell amazing! Let's eat!" The two settled themselves at the smaller kitchen table. Although Twilight now had a large, ornate dining hall in which to take her meals, she still felt more comfortable here. Besides, it's not like I'm entertaining the Princesses or diplomats or anything. It's just me and Spike. At the thought, she smiled warmly. Some things would never change.

As the two did the washing up together, Twilight washing while Spike dried the plates, the alicorn mentally prepared for her day. "So, Spike, did any more books saved from the old tree show up today? I miss Golden Oaks." She looked at her reflection in a wet plate, sighing at her own sad face. "It was just so... me." She turned to Spike. "Is that weird, that I identify with a destroyed library?"

"Gee, you of all ponies feeling a deep connection with a place that number one, was home, and number two, had almost all the books you could ever want? Yeah. Totally weird." Ignoring Twilight's flat glare, he dried the last plate and set it carefully in the cabinet above the toaster. "Anyway, to answer your question, yes. There's a whole box of 'em in Friendship Headquarters, I figured you'd want a look when you woke up."

Twilight started towards the kitchen door, before turning back to look at Spike quizzically. "Friendship... Headquarters? Really?"

He spread his claws out innocently, a nervous chuckle escaping him. "Well, I mean, The Power Ponies have their Headquarters in Maretropolis, so I just thought..."

Giggling, Twilight made her way out to the throne room. "Headquarters. Heh, that dragon." Smiling to herself still, she bypassed her throne in favor of settling on the lush carpeting beside the door. She pulled the crate of precious books towards her, eagerly yanking the top off with her magic. I wonder what got saved? Some of the tomes Princess Celestia sent me? My Magic for Beginners from kindergarten? Oooh, maybe Yaks and You: A Definitive Guide...

Her thoughts trailed off as she spied the first book, sitting innocently on top of the pile. She levitated it in her magenta magic, bringing it before her unimpressed gaze. "Mythical Malcontents: Legends and Myths of Equestria." She shrugged, setting it aside as she continued to unpack her books, carefully organizing them in alphabetical piles.

She'd read Mythical Malcontents, as well as all the other books in the crate, numerous times in the past. Most colts and fillies had. Many of Equestria's educational systems had a module on mythology, and it was a fairly standard, if simple to read, text on the subject.

It was, in fact, one of the first titles aside from Daring Do that Rainbow Dash had read for pleasure, as Cloudsdale education didn't touch too much on the mythology of the ground-bound ponies. Twilight remembered the pegasus declaring how "cool" Zon was, and how "totally uncool" Maan was in the creation myth. She stifled a giggle, looking at the book with much more fondness than before. In fact, she was pretty sure Rainbow Dash had been the last pony to check out this particular book, if her librarian's memory served her right (and it did, of course).

Gripped with a sudden curiosity, she turned from the other books, lifting the book of myths and legends in her magical grasp. She knew that if you were to drop a book on the ground or on a table, it would most likely open to the most read passage. Wincing at her own mild abuse of the book, she did just that.

Αφοσίωση και Απώλεια

Her smile faded. True, it was one of her own favorite romance myths, but given recent... developments, with Rainbow Dash, it made for a somewhat disturbing find. She stood and stared at the open page, shaking her head. Oh, Rainbow...

Her attention was torn from the book, though, at the now familiar warmth on her flanks and the pulsing light behind. She turned, eyes widening as the book was forgotten entirely at her cutie mark's glow. "The map!"

Before she could do anything else, she was bowled over by a world of jumbled pinks as an earth pony barreled through the entrance. "TWILIGHT!" Pinkie Pie lifted the surprised alicorn into the air, pressing her nose to Twilight's purple one, bright blue eyes wide and boring into Twilight. "My cutie mark started glowing so I knew I had to get here to go and fix whatever meaniepants is bothering ponies this week but then I got a shiver-back-twitchy-tail combo at the same time and more and more of my Pinkie Sense keeps happening and—" Pinkie's ramble was cut short as her entire body began to shiver, hooves clacking against the stone floor as her vice grip brought the unfortunate Princess of Friendship along for the bumpy ride.

"P-P-P-i-i-n-k-i-e..." Twilight managed to stutter out, trying to call on her magic to disengage from the party pony.

"I-It's a-a-a-a d-d-d-oooo-z-z-y!" She finally stopped twitching, blinking and shaking her head rapidly before looking down at Twilight, who was still grasped firmly in her front legs. Pinkie Pie dropped the other pony unceremoniously, smiling brightly. "Sorry, Twilight! I just knew I had to get here as fast as I could!"

"So did we." Rarity trotted through the door, followed by Fluttershy. "Has it called all of us, or just us three?"

"I reckon it might just be all o' us." Applejack squeezed through the by-now crowded doorway to the plush carpet. "Betcha Rainbow Dash is gonna be late, though, just as a warnin'."

Twilight stood finally, her legs now sturdy enough to support her, and trotted to the magical map that dominated the main room. "Well, let's see." Her eyes roamed the map as her friends gathered around, spotting the magical rotations of their five cutie marks. "I found it, girls!" Twilight smiled triumphantly. "It looks like we're going to..."

She squinted.

And tilted her head.

The others followed suit. "To Ponyville," Applejack said, deadpan. "Whoa Nellie. Not sure we're gonna have the supplies or the time for this here trip, Twilight. Gosh, that would sure take me from the farm for a long time."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, meeting the flat green eyes of her friend. "Applejack? Not helping."

Sighing, Applejack scuffed a hoof across the floor, dropping her gaze. "Sorry, Twi. Just been a mite jumpy lately. The truth is, I ain't seen Rainbow around for days, an' I admit, I'm gettin' a little worried about the mare. Ain't like her to disappear, at least not for this long." The earth pony looked at the map again, and nodded. "Yup, and I don't see her cutie mark floatin' around with ours, either. S'like she just fell outta our world lately."

Brow furrowed in thought, Twilight glanced at her other friends, all of which wore similar expressions. "I guess she hasn't really come by lately. I didn't think anything of it, since it's not like this castle is as much fun to crash into as my tree was..."

"I, um, haven't seen her doing cloud duty, either. Some of the other pegasi said they saw her heading west a few days ago, but nothing since then." Fluttershy rubbed one forehoof against the opposite foreleg, looking at the ground guiltily. "I guess I just didn't think to ask more about it."

Glancing around at her other friends, Twilight saw the same uncomfortable looks on their faces. Furrowed brows and (in Rarity's case) pursed lips belied the other ponies' trains of thought, each thinking back to the last time they saw the blue speedster. Twilight shook it off, forcing a smile.

"Well, wherever she is, I'm sure she's okay. I mean, c'mon, being friends doesn't mean you have to check in with each other every day, right?" Her eyes jumped from friend to friend, her smile feeling almost fake. "She was heading west. So maybe she went to visit Little Strongheart. They seemed to hit it off pretty well."

Pinkie, meanwhile, approached the cutie map, eyes narrowed in uncharacteristic concentration. Suddenly, she gasped, jumping up high. "Twilight!"

The other mares turned their full attention to the map and the pink pony beside it who was vibrating with excitement. "Do you see?! Do you, do you, huhhuhhuh?!" Twilight found herself with Pinkie's deceptively strong foreleg wrapped around her for the second time that day, this time all but pressing her nose to the map. "Look where it wants us to go!"

"Yes, Pinkie. Ponyville." Twilight tried to pull her neck free, but the pink pony pressed it closer to the map regardless.

"Noooooo. Really look." The alicorn cocked a brow at her friend, meeting her manic blue eyes for a second before turning back and squinting.

Twilight gasped.

"Ohhh..." She cocked her head to the side as Pinkie Pie vibrated with excitement beside her.

"What is it, Twi?" Applejack peered down at the map. "S'Ponyville. So?"

"No... it's near the gates of Tartarus. I guess we're going to Tartarus." The alicorn blinked, the information sinking in slowly as her eyes traced the magical reproduction of their route.

The ambiance of the room, originally so upbeat and cheerful, turned somber quickly. All of the present ponies could recall back to the last time they tangled with a demon from Tartarus; specifically, Tirek, who had nearly destroyed them all. Pinkie Pie was the only pony unaffected, bouncing around the room with unusual good cheer, given the circumstances.

If we need to go to Tartarus, we need more information than a magical rotation of cutie marks! Twilight thought, staring intently at the map and doing her best to ignore her pink friend's higher and higher bounces. We can't just go, not without more to work with. I wonder if Princess Celestia could shine some light on why—

Her musings were cut off suddenly by realizing that her friend had ceased her bouncing and had grown suddenly silent. Concerned, she turned, beholding Pinkie Pie's unusually somber face pointed upwards. "Pinkie? Are you alright?"

The pink pony replied merely by raising a hoof, forcing a dry chuckle. "Found Rainbow Dash."

The remaining four ponies craned their necks, following Pinkie Pie's gaze. There, up near the vaulted ceiling of her castle's main room, Twilight could just barely make out a small blue light rotating lazily around the entirety of the map. "What the hey..." She had barely muttered that before she was cut off by the gentle takeoff of her equally gentle pegasus friend.

Fluttershy flew towards the top of the castle, following the blue light. "I-It's definitely her cutie mark. But it's... it's not right." Fluttershy frowned, squinting at it. It hovered before her, finally stationary, as it seemed to look back. "There's a darkness," she finally finished. She fluttered down, unwilling to look at her friend's warped mark anymore, and pawed at the floor. "I think she needs our help."

"A moment, darling, if I may?" Rarity fluffed at her mane with a hoof nervously, eyes tracing Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on its languid lap of the castle eaves. "Now, I will freely admit that I am not as well-versed on magical theory as yourself, Twilight, not for a moment! However, is it not true that the cutie marks appear to indicate the ponies necessary to fix the problem, and not that the ponies themselves are in trouble?"

Twilight tilted her head, before nodding her assent. "It's been that way since it started, at least, so I would say yes, based upon our available knowledge of the map and its workings."

"Would it not then be prudent to worry more about whatever is coming from Tartarus? Surely Rainbow Dash has her mark up there to indicate, possibly, that whatever issue it is may require her... robust skills of flight?"

"But it's...it's floating even above Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus. Even the Griffion Kingdom is far, far below it..." Fluttershy trailed off as her fashionista friend laid a comforting hoof on her withers.

"I know, dear. This could simply mean a battle up above is inevitable—"

"Or that it's coming from above." The other four turned to Twilight again. "Sorry to interrupt, Rarity, but the simple fact is that Rainbow's cutie mark is floating well above where a pegasus could even continue to breathe. If she's supposed to be up that high to fight, she won't be able to, at least not with specialized equipment. We don't even know where she is! That could be the darkness Fluttershy sensed in the mark."

"You're thinkin' Dash is in danger, but she's also needed for this mission?" Applejack asked, before glancing at the other girls. "Well, shoot, first order of business, in my opinion, is to find that silly filly and get her outfitted with whatever she needs. You got some magical doohickey that'll help her?"

"Oh, Applejack," Twilight chuckled. "When do I not have a magical doohickey? Magical doohickeys are kind of my thing."

An hour later showed Twilight alone again in her castle. The others had hustled off to prepare and pack as well as inform their families of their absence (and in Rarity's case, close down the boutique temporarily). Twilight sat in the middle of the floor of her bedroom, a satellite of supplies scattered in orderly piles around her as she pared down the most important to fit in her saddlebags. As she considered the usefulness of rope versus the likelihood that Applejack would bring some anyway, Spike poked his head in her door.

"Twilight? Am I—can I come with you?"

Eyes softening at the sight of her little assistant, Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "I'm sorry, Spike, but this might take a very long time, and somepony—or somedrake—should really watch over things here for me. And I can't think of anypony—or anydrake—I trust more." She rubbed the top of his head fondly, smiling and levitating some dried fruits into her saddlebags.

Her earlier thought echoed back to her.

"We need more to go on."

"Actually, Spike? Can you send a letter to Princess Celestia for me? If we're all taking off like this, we should probably let her know." She set her crown on her head, the Element of Magic wavering unsteadily for a moment before resting on her mane. "I'm afraid of that darkness around Rainbow's mark, and that it's sending us so close to Tartarus." Her brow furrowed, and she fluffed her wings nervously. "It's not that I don't trust this map that just showed up in the throne room of a brand new castle via some kind of hitherto unknown magic involving rainbows and new manestyles that just happened to arrive after a pitched battle with one of the worst enemies known to ponykind, or anything, and oh Celestia we've just been taking off and doing as it says and not even thinking and just doing—" She was interrupted, suddenly, by a paper bag stuffed over her muzzle by a purple claw.

Breathing deeply and repeatedly, Twilight finally removed the bag. "Thanks. Do you just carry those everywhere with you?"

Spike nodded.

"Where do you even keep them...?"

He shrugged. "Same place I keep the paper and quills."

"And that would be whe—" She was interrupted, again, by his pulling said paper and quills out with a flourish.

"So! A letter to Celestia! Dictate away."

Deciding against thinking about it too hard, Twilight shook her head. "Right! Okay." She relaxed as her favorite three words left her muzzle. "Dear Princess Celestia..."

Dear Princess Celestia,

I've run into a tough nut to crack, and the Cutie Map is behaving oddly.

I'll be frank—it's sending all of us to the entrance of Tartarus. Worse, Rainbow Dash's cutie mark isn't anywhere near ours. It's floating above, rotating above the stratosphere, where she wouldn't even be able to breathe. I'm concerned about that and the dark light it seems to radiate as it rotates.

Any assistance you can give would be most welcome. The girls and I are preparing for our trip, but while I am trying to stay positive and focus on being the leader you have trusted me to be, I admit to having many reservations about this situation.

Your faithful student colleague,

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Spike rolled up the letter, sending it off with a burst of dragonfire. "I wouldn't worry too much, Twilight. These things seem to just sorta work themselves out for you guys, you know?"

"I know, Spike. I'm just getting more and more worried about Rainbow Dash." Twilight finished packing, double-checking her saddlebags after levitating them to her back. "Alright. Food, extra water, blankets, my extended map of Equestria, and most importantly..." With a flourish, a yellow ball striped with blue was held aloft in her magic, and she cheerfully squeezed it, the happy squeaking noise filling the room. "A ball!"

"A ball." Spike stared at the grinning unicorn flatly.

"A ball!" Twilight giggled, levitating it back into the saddlebag. "Cerberus is really a big softy, once you get to know him."

Spike rubbed his face and shook his head. "But last time you used it to get him away from Ponyville and towards Tartarus. This time you'll be, what, getting him away from Tartarus but towards where?"

Twilight paused, blinking to herself. "Well... I'll figure that part out as we go, okay? I'm sure it'll be useful as a distraction."

"I'm sure, but just in case, Twilight..." Spike rummaged in his little personal chest, tossing aside a few stuffed toys and a battered hat before he re-emerged, holding his claw out to Twilight.

She smiled. "Where did you get dog treats?"

"They're for Winona! Whenever I go visit the Apples I usually bring one for her." Spike dumped a fair number of the little bone-shaped treats into Twilight's saddlebag. "That way you can just distract him with treats and... well, whatever it is Fluttershy does and just trot on past without putting anypony else in danger."

Giggling, Twilight ruffled Spike's scales. "And you wonder why I call you my number one assistant."

Spike joined the giggling, pushing Twilight's hoof away gently. Twilight's ears pricked up at the now-familiar sound of her castle doors opening and closing, and a mix of her friend's voices wafted up to her. She looked back down at Spike, much more seriously, and nodded to him.

"Looks like it's time to go, Spike." She sighed. "I was hoping the Princess would get back to me faster about this. I'm not really comfortable with all this."

Spike nodded and placed a claw gently on her foreleg. "It's okay, Twilight. I'll write her another letter to let her know you've already left, and if it's important, to send it to you directly. I'm sure she has ways of doing it that doesn't involve me belching." At Twilight's surprised eyebrow raise, Spike smiled. "I'm a baby dragon, not a stupid dragon. If she can move the sun, I'm pretty sure she can message you directly."

Twilight nuzzled the top of his head, nodding. "You're the smartest little dragon I've ever met."

A few moments later found the five ponies leaving, after Applejack's assurances that if the castle got too "big n' lonely", Spike was welcome at the farm with Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith. Their gazes still lingered on the castle after exiting, with even Pinkie Pie looking uncharacteristically somber. Twilight finally tore her eyes away, turning to the others. "I know I didn't mention it before, but did you all bring your Elements?" The others nodded, but Rarity frowned.

"I certainly brought mine with me, but there's only us five. Assuming we find Rainbow Dash, what are the chances she brought her Element wherever she went?"

"She, um, did." The other four turned to the yellow pegasus, who shrank down slightly.

"How d'you know, sugarcube?"

Fluttershy blushed, rubbing one foreleg against the other nervously. "I checked. It wasn't at her house, so, she must have it. I mean, I hope. I think."

Rarity was aghast. "You broke into Rainbow's home and rifled through her possessions? Fluttershy, that is so very unlike you!" She advanced on the pegasus, head held high. "I simply cannot believe you would do such a thing. That's not very kind of you."

At her words, Fluttershy vaulted to her hooves, meeting Rarity's stare with her own furious glare. "Oh? You're being awfully generous with the criticism today, Rarity, but I thought they would be important so I checked. And it turns out they might be important, and it's good to know that both Rainbow and her Element are missing." Twilight lifted a hoof in shock as two of the closest ponies in their circle of friends stood nose to nose. Why are they fighting about this? We need to get moving...

"An' to be honest, Fluttershy is Dash's oldest friend. I'm bettin' she had a key anyway. Ain't nothin' to get worked up about." The farmer separated the two ponies with a foreleg, smiling gently at them both. "Come on, now. Ain't no call for fightin' about this. Rares, y'know we'd do the same if Fluttershy went missin', or if any of us went missin'. If Dash wants to yell at her for it later, so be it, but we gotta find that filly first." She turned to Fluttershy. "An' Flutters, we're all worried too, but goin' after each other like this isn't right. Harmony... right, y'all? Harmony. Not Discord."

"Oh, but you wound me!" The five ponies whirled, eyes falling on a strangely white Discord draped across a red velvet chaise lounge. "The absolute indignity of being spoken about behind one's back!" Rarity's eyes narrowed.

"I do not sound like that."

"Of course you don't, daaaaaaaah-link." Bored of the playacting, Discord turned back to his usual patchwork colors, poofing away the couch with a click of his talons. "I just had to come and see what Equestria's Heroines were up to today."

Applejack, who had been looking at Discord with a measured gaze, stepped forward. "Y'all know somethin' about Dash. Where is she?" The other four ponies looked at her with surprise, Rarity falling back from the draconequus as she glanced to her friend.

Discord blinked, caught off-guard slightly before smoothly recovering and floating to the orange pony. "Oh, now what makes you think that?"

"You dodgin' my question, for starters." Applejack kept her eyes locked on those of Discord, and they brooked no disagreement.

Chuckling, Discord rose above the ground, settling himself into a set of bleachers that suddenly appeared, Discord holding a pennant with the sun and moon symbol of Equestria on it. "I'm afraid I can't interfere, Applejack. I am an observer only. My power would only hinder you all from learning lessons about... friendship, or harmony, or whatever."

Applejack grit her teeth, turning her back on him. "Fine. Y'all can skedaddle, then, so we can get to it."

"Of course, of course! I just wanted to ask Twilight a question." He appeared before the alicorn suddenly, pince-nez glasses on his nose and a smoking jacket on his body. "My dear friend Twilight, this might be a silly question, but... did you bring a book?"

Tilting her head, Twilight flicked through her mental catalog of possessions in the saddlebags. "No. I figured I'd be too busy to read while searching for Rainbow. I brought maps instead."

"If I might make a suggestion?" Discord snapped his talons, a book falling heavily into his lion's paw. Mythical Malcontents.

He spirited it into her saddlebags with another click of his talons, giving Twilight a strangely gentle smile. "You never know when a book can be handy, and I know how much you like to read."

With a final snap, he was gone.

Twilight slowly shook her head. "Okay. Okay. Whatever. Let's go."

"But he knew something about Dashie!" Pinkie Pie nosed up against Twilight. "Why won't he tell us? That's just mean!"

Absently, Twilight draped a comforting wing around her friend. "I know. But I'm sure we can find her, and it didn't seem like Discord honestly could do anything. You saw his face, Pinkie. He truly thinks he's doing the right thing by not telling us."

Sadly, Pinkie Pie nodded, before suddenly perking up. "Well! Better get going, then!" Giggling, her sadness at Discord's behavior apparently forgotten, she began to bounce down the street in a westward direction, the other four following in her wake.

As they traveled, Twilight glanced to the sky every so often, but no rainbow contrail appeared.

Author's Note

Now it begins.

Maybe?

We'll see.