The Rainbow Conundrum

During the first week of being banished back to the Mirror Pool, the Rainbow Clone started to regain her memories...no. Not her memories, she told herself for the first of what would be many times. The original Rainbow Dash's memories. It was a very confusing time for her, as the memories insisted that they were hers, but she knew that she had never lived through any of those events. The first memory that she regained was the fact that she HAD no sister. However, as the interior of the Mirror Pool seemed designed to drive a pony mad, what with the remains of Manticores, Timberwolves, and Dragons that were scattered about, she had decided to ignore this particular memory, and hope that once she got out, Scootaloo still regarded her as her big sister.

She started to regain the memories of her...no, not hers, but the original's time in flight school. The first memory that she remembered about her, 'god bucking darn it straight to Tartarus! She would get this straight if it was the last thing that she did! She had never been in flight school! It was the original's time in flight school that she was remembering right now! were of her...gah! Why was this so difficult to understand! It wasn't her memories! It was the original's memories! The original's!!!!!!' the Rainbow Clone thought, depressed. She wanted those memories to be hers so badly, she wanted to have friends that wouldn't judge her for being a clone, especially since all she wanted to do was take care of her little sister, Scootaloo. Anyways, the first thing that she remembered of the original's time in flight school was the original's first, best friend, Gilda the Griffin, and of that other pegasus, Fluttershy. Knowing that Fluttershy had been there when she had been banished, and had done nothing to stop it, made her wonder exactly how she... 'god bucking damn it straight to Tartarus! She had never thought that Fluttershy was anything! The original had!' The clone broke down, and started to cry, as she wondered if she would ever be able to separate the two perspectives in her head. She didn't want to be cursed with remembering the original's life as her own, as the life that she had lived had been just fine, even if it had been too short, and even if she had been banished unfairly just for being a clone, even though the only things that she had ever done had helped her little sister. And even though she wanted to desperately, she didn't think that she would ever forget that day. After having cried for a while, she recollected herself, and started to move forward again, not sure of where she was going, or why she was bothering, but she knew that it was better than just standing in one spot, waiting for some rescue that would never come. She remembered how the original Rainbow Dash got herself kicked out of flight school after finding out that Fluttershy was living in a small town called Ponyville, thus leaving Gilda by herself.

She remembered how easily she...at this point, she had stopped trying to separate the points of view, except in emergencies. As such a memory had yet to come up, she had yet to separate the points of view. Anyways, she remembered how easily she had hit it off with Applejack, and she suspected that the original had a crush on Applejack, but was too shy to admit this. She was glad that she didn't harbor any secret romantic feelings for the apple farmer, though. That would inevitably lead to an awkward situation between the clone, who had recently decided to start referring to herself as Spectrum Flash, in order to separate herself from the original, the original Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. Spectrum Flash didn't really care about creating havoc in Rainbow Dash's personal life, particularly after the way that she left Gilda all alone when she dropped out of Flight School, but she did have more important matters to attend to if she got out of here than romancing Applejack.

Spectrum Flash also remembered how easily she had become friends with Rarity, and this one surprised her a great deal. She knew that Rainbow Dash didn't harbor any secret romantic feelings for Rarity, so she didn't know why this would be, until she remembered the biggest event in Rainbow Dash's life, which was the first time that she had saved Equestria. 'Of course! That's why she became friends with all of those ponies so quickly!' Spectrum Flash thought to herself. 'The Elements of Harmony needed new bearers, and how better to secure these bearers than subtly making sure that they would all be in the same place at the same time, and that they would all be friends!' She admired the Elements for being able to stay behind the scenes like they were, as they subtly manipulated their hosts into their new roles.

The next memory that Spectrum Flash regained was the memory of how Gilda had come to Ponyville one day. She thought that this must have been shortly after Gilda had graduated from flight school, as Rainbow Dash hadn't seen Gilda for a length of time that corresponded to the rest of the curriculum of flight school. She saw how Gilda constantly attempted to give Pinkie Pie not-so-subtle hints about how she didn't want to give up the one and only day that she had to spend with Rainbow Dash, after the one subtle hint that they had gave Pinkie Pie had failed. Gilda more than likely had just stopped by the village, and had only intended to spend one day there, before heading back to Griffonia.

After all, Gilda did come from there, and Rainbow Dash was aware of this. Spectrum Flash knew that Rainbow Dash was aware of this because Gilda had told Rainbow Dash this back in Flight School. She said that the only reason that she had went to the flight school in Cloudsdale was because she was being exposed to how ponies lived their lives. This had been the birth of one of Rainbow Dash's favorite questions, which was "Are you a spy?" She LOVED asking this question to any new, unfamiliar creature that she met, as long as it was capable of intelligent thinking.

Of course, when Rainbow Dash asked Gilda this, Gilda was shocked and offended. Gilda immediately said that she wasn't a spy, nor was she a vanguard for an invasion, and that if she was, Rainbow Dash would've never found out about the fact that she had lived in Griffonia before coming to live in Equestria to see how ponies lived their lives. Gilda had stopped speaking to Rainbow Dash for a week after that. Rainbow Dash, at first, had tried to play what she had said off as being a joke. When she saw that what she had said had actually hurt Gilda's feelings, however, as Gilda had never suspected that telling Rainbow Dash a little about herself would be met with that type of response, Rainbow Dash immediately changed her tune, and begged for Gilda's forgiveness. Of course, Gilda wasn't quick to forgive, as Griffon's have a high sense of loyalty, but, over time, she slowly started to trust Rainbow Dash again.

Then, after Gilda trusted Rainbow Dash fully again, Rainbow Dash went and left the flight school due to the Element's influence. 'At least, that's if my hypothesis is correct' Spectrum Flash reminded herself. She remembered the disastrous party, and how all of the pranks that Rainbow Dash had set up went off on Gilda, and how that had caused Gilda to finally blow up. While all of those pranks going off on Gilda might have looked like pure coincidence to anypony else, Spectrum Flash was becoming more and more convinced that the Elements of Harmony were more than simple pieces of jewelry.

When Gilda blew up, though, Rainbow Dash didn't even attempt to talk to her. Instead, she revealed that it was her that had planned all of those pranks, and asked if what Gilda had said about Rainbow Dash's friends extended to Rainbow Dash as well. Spectrum Flash was speechless! Of all the inconsiderate, childish things to say, Rainbow Dash just had to say that! "Does she not REMEMBER what we insinuated that Gilda was back in Flight School or something?!?!?!?" Spectrum Flash raged. "I mean, really!" When Gilda, still angry about not having had the whole day to spend with a friend that she hadn't seen in years, and still reeling from seeing that her friend had replaced her, answered with an affirmative, Rainbow Dash cut her from her life entirely! When Spectrum Flash saw this, she knew that it wasn't the Elements of Harmony that were influencing Rainbow Dash that day, but Rainbow Dash's own stubbornness. She didn't want to admit that there was even a slight possibility that both parties were in the wrong! "When I get out of here, I'm going to make sure to patch up my friendship with Gilda!" Spectrum Flash said, forgetting that she wasn't Rainbow Dash in the heat of the moment, as she was FURIOUS at what her original self had done, and hoping that she would actually get out of here so that she could to do this.

The next memory that she gained would make her hate Rainbow Dash even more, for it was the memory of when Trixie went to Ponyville. Spectrum Flash was appalled by what Rainbow Dash said after Trixie's rather impressive display of magic. "That...that bucking hypocrite!" her voice could be heard for an indeterminate distance. "WE BOAST ALL THE TIME! WHAT GIVES HER THE RIGHT TO SAY THAT SOMEPONY ELSE IS A LOUDMOUTH!" When she remembered the thinly veiled threat that Rainbow Dash had said as Trixie fled Ponyville, after Trixie had already lost everything, well, everything but her life that is, Spectrum Flash was horrified. "In the name of Celestia...what type of a monster is my original self?"

The next memory that she regained was the memory of how each of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony all gained their Cutie Marks thanks to the Sonic Rainboom that Rainbow Dash did. 'Ah ha! This proves it! Shortly after that, Rainbow Dash got herself kicked out of flight school to follow Fluttershy to that village, with no thought to how this would affect Gilda, and over a short period of time, she became good friends with 2 of the other element bearers! This proves that the Elements of Harmony were affecting their destinies all along!' Spectrum Flash thought to herself. As she thought this, her passionate dislike of the Elements of Harmony turned into an intense hatred, as they had not only cost her her existence, but also her first, best friend, and her little sister.

The second week, she began to ignore the memories for the most part, only paying attention when they featured the one pony close to her, which was Scootaloo. There was one memory in particular which really cemented her theory, and it was when 5 of the element bearers had turned on her, and created a superhero persona to teach her a lesson in "humility and humbleness". As though creating a superhero identity was very HUMBLE! If that wasn't bad enough, they also had had the nerve to boast about their, sorry, the "Mysterious Mare Do Well's" accomplishments when she had went to them to vent about how she felt like the spotlight had been stolen from her! Not only that, but that insolent beast, Spike, had purposely misquoted her when he had been following her around as her ghost writer! Then, after it had become clear that she was distraught, they had laughed at her! Well, she would get the last laugh if she ever made it out of here. Throughout all of that, Spectrum Flash hadn't even noticed that she had been unable to distinguish herself, who had never been there, from Rainbow Dash, who that stuff had happened to.

That had started as one of the best weeks of her life! She had been a hero, and had been praised for her heroics. She had even had a fan club! Well, at least, Rainbow Dash had. But, over the course of the week, a new hero had emerged on the scene, and it had been a hero called The Mysterious Mare Do Well.

Frankly, Spectrum Flash thought that the 5 other Element Bearers were blatantly ripping off the Batmare, which had been one of her favorite comic books to read as a child. However, while the 5 other Element Bearers had the worst reason ever for becoming a superhero, the Batmare had a much better reason for becoming one. Instead of dressing up as a masked vigilante to teach somepony else a lesson in "humility and humbleness", she had seen her parent's gunned down in front of her as a child. This had sparked a drive for vengeance inside her, and she went around the world perfecting every martial art known to pony kind, and she had become a master detective. After years of training, she had trained her body to the peak of pegasus physical conditioning. Over the course of the series, she had gone toe to toe with the Shadowbolts on multiple occasions and emerged victorious each time. Batmare was one of the founding members of the superhero team known as The Defenders, and had a vast array of gadgets and technology that was unlike any found on Equestria.

Spectrum Flash had a trip to Maretropolis on her to-do list if she ever made it out of here, more out of the growing belief that she would never actually make it out of here than anything else. Anyways, during the Mysterious Mare Do Well's reign in Ponyville, even Scootaloo had jumped aboard the Mysterious Mare Do Well bandwagon, completely abandoning Rainbow Dash! Yet, instead of using this opportunity to reflect on how this must have been how Gilda must have felt back in Flight School, Rainbow Dash, admittedly, did the next best thing, and confronted the Mysterious Mare Do Well at the parade held for her honor. It was there that she learned that it had been her friends that were the Mysterious Mare Do Well the whole time, and that had made her feel completely useless for that entire week. Being the loyal friend that she was, Rainbow Dash immediately forgave them their transgression. 'Well, this is humorous. She forgives the 5 ponies that she threw away her first, best friend for when they make her feel like she's worthless, like she's *weak, like she's ***USELESS!* but she can't forgive her first, best friend, or even try to talk to her? Not only that, but she stoops to threatening a traveling show mare, who had already lost everything, because of the actions of two foals?'* Spectrum Flash thought, angrily. 'When I get out of here, I'm going to have a little talk with little Miss Best Flier in All of Equestria'**

The next memory that she paid attention to was of Rainbow Dash abandoning her friend Twilight Sparkle at a wedding. Spectrum Flash immediately reviewed the rest of the memory, and found that it wasn't even Rainbow Dash's wedding! Instead, it was the wedding of somepony that she had never met before! *'And this, this pony right here, THIS is supposed to be the Element of Loyalty? What kind of messed up world do we live in where things like cutting a pony's first, best friend from their lives entirely, not to mention this, are what counts as loyalty?' Spectrum Flash thought, even angrier than she had been before.*

She decided to pay attention to any other memories dealing with the wedding, and she found out that the pony that the original Rainbow Dash abandoned her friend for actually *had been a vanguard for an invasion! Not only that, but it was the queen of the invading species! "Bwahahaha!" Spectrum Flash laughed, as the duplicity was revealed. "The one time that her favorite question would've been useful, and she didn't think to ask it!" Spectrum Flash laughed so hard that her sides hurt, and she was blue in the face.*

The following week, Spectrum Flash found a door out of the Interior of the Mirror Pool. She tried to get it to open, but to no avail. "Oh come on! What's the point of a door that won't open! All I want is to get out of here!" Spectrum Flash said, crying at how close she was to being able to see her little sister again after all this time.

"Hi Dashie!" said a familiar voice. "We wondered where you went! We mean, we didn’t hear you saying the words before you crashed, and as far as we know, unless you say the words before coming in here, it’s impossible to get out of here!" The voice continued.

"Pinkie? Is that you?" Spectrum Flash asked, focusing on the fact that she had heard Pinkie Pie's voice inside the Mirror Pool somehow. "Pinkie, if you can hear me, please tell my sister Scootaloo that..."

"Silly filly! I'm not Pinkie Pie!" The voice said, laughing at her.

"But...you sound just like her!" Spectrum Flash said, confused.

"Don't tell me that you forgot about us already, Dashie!" A group of Pinkie Pie clones said, as they came from all sides. "We *certainly didn't forget about you!"*

"So, I wasn't the first clone that the almighty Princess of Friendship decided to banish back here, then?" Spectrum Flash said, with spite in her voice at the thought of more innocent clones being sent back to the interior of the Mirror Pool because of Twilight Sparkle.

"Wait, you're a clone?" One of them asked, confused.

"No, it's obviously Rainbow Dash! Just look at it!" Another one of them said, with excitement in its voice.

"But...it might not be! It might be a clone!" The first one said.

"Well…okay! We’ll bring it back to New Ponyville, and see what the Princess has to say about it!" The first one said, starting to guide Spectrum Flash away from the door leading out of the Mirror Pool.

"Um...before we get going, though, I just want it to be known that my name is not Rainbow Dash. It's actually Spectrum Flash. If you would avoid calling me Rainbow Dash, or any variation of that name, I'd appre..."

“Nope! The Princess needs to confirm it first!" The first one said, not looking back.

"Wait, the Princess? Who's that? And why do I have a sudden feeling I’m not going to like the answer?" Spectrum Flash asked, confused and afraid.

"Oh, we're sure that you'll know her once you see her" the first one answered, chuckling.

"I just knew I wasn’t going to like the answer…" Spectrum Flash muttered, as she followed the Pinkie Clones.

They came upon a small settlement, and Spectrum Flash was amazed at what the Pinkie Clones had managed to accomplish in such a short period of time. "You built all this?" She asked, shocked, as she remembered them as being obsessed with fun. Come to think of it, they hadn't really been acting like she remembered them, though, so it was entirely possible.

"Yeppers! At least, we did once we got some help from our Princess, after she was able to organize us!" one of the Pinkie Pie clones answered, with a smile on her face.

Spectrum Flash immediately felt afraid when that was said. She knew of only one pony that would be able to organize a massive amount of Pinkie Pie's, and that was only if she was even more brutal.

"What did you find today, Pinkie?" came the all-too familiar voice.

*'No, not her, please Faust no!' Spectrum Flash thought, as she became more and more distraught.*

"We found a possible clone!" one of the Pinkie Pies said.

"Or, we might’ve found Rainbow Dash, your majesty!" Another of them said.

"Let me see this *clone" the voice said.*

*'nononononono' Spectrum Flash thought to herself, hoping that she was just having a nightmare and that she would wake up any minute and be perfectly safe, even if she would still be in the Mirror Pool.*

Unfortunately for her, though, it was no nightmare. Sitting on a throne, was none other than a clone of Alicorn Twilight Sparkle.

When Spectrum Flash saw her, the response was both reflexive, and immediate. Her body went immediately still, her eyes grew wide, and she immediately began to shiver as though she was in the frozen wastelands of the north. Spectrum Flash was currently remembering the last day of her first time in existence, when that worthless excuse for a pegasus Fluttershy had said "I know this is the real Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy assured as she pointed to the bandaged Rainbow.

Of course, that had led that monster Twilight to respond with the last thing that she ever saw, well, the last thing that she ever saw until she woke back up in the middle of the Mirror Pool, anyways. Twilight Sparkle had nodded before turning towards her and saying. "That's what I suspected, too," she said as she lowered her horn towards the doppelgänger, "She doesn't have any memories from before yesterday because she didn't exist until yesterday." As she fired a magical blast, Spectrum Flash, who had been standing next to Scootaloo swelled up before bursting. Spectrum Flash had expected to die as a result of that attack, and when she first woke back up in the Mirror Pool, she had no idea why she had been given another chance at life. After all, she was now stuck in the Mirror Pool without any way to get out. But that had been before she had regained the memories of the original Rainbow Dash. Now, though, she had two reasons for living: Seeing Scootaloo again, and taking vengeance on all of the ponies that had caused her to be sent to this hellscape.

When the clone of Alicorn Twilight Sparkle saw this, she took it to mean that it was the real Rainbow Dash. "Hi Dashie! So glad you could make it! We're going to have a lovely time!" She said, as the Pinkie clones dragged Spectrum Flash away.

As soon as she was no longer in sight of Alicorn Twilight Sparkle, Spectrum Flash regained the use of her faculties, and escaped the settlement as fast as she possibly could.

After that encounter, the clone stopped paying attention to any memory that didn't directly involve Scootaloo, in order to make sure that she could devote her senses to staying ahead of both the Pinkie pack, and Twilight Sparkle. But mostly Twilight Sparkle. The first of the last two memories that she regained was when the original Rainbow Dash made Scootaloo her surrogate sister. The memory made her slightly angry, and the reason for this anger was simple. Scootaloo had apparently been Rainbow Dash's surrogate sister for weeks before Spectrum Flash had ever came into existence, yet Scootaloo still hadn't know how to fly, and she was running for her life from a Timberwolf! ‘What type of sister allows her sister to go without learning to fly, especially in a town that close to the Everfree Forest?!* ’ And Rainbow Dash called herself 'the best flyer in all of Equestria!' on a semi-daily basis!*

The last memory that she had paid attention to was the one where the original Rainbow Dash had heard from two foals that she had never seen before that they didn't want a quitter on their team when they were planning a performance for the Equestria Games. When Spectrum Flash relived this memory, she became livid at those two, insignificant foals, as they *weren't influenced by the Elements of Harmony whatsoever! She paid attention to the rest of the memory, hoping that they would redeem themselves, as she hoped that Scootaloo would have some friends that would be comforting her. When the original Rainbow Dash heard about this, she took those two foals back to the orphanage in Ponyville, and hammered it into them that their routine hadn't been about Scootaloo's ability to fly, but rather, about the friendship that the three of them shared, as that was what made Ponyville special. Spectrum Flash watched as Scootaloo and her friends went on to win the competition, and was happy that Rainbow Dash had at least one thing right, but she was happier that her little sister had won that competition with the help of her friends. She only hoped that her friends were being as helpful now.*

Coming out of the memory, Spectrum Flash suddenly noticed the sound of hooffalls behind her. She took of flying, and hoped that she would be able to find another way out of this place.