Miss President...Rainbow Dash?by AzelTheMantisChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1Princess Luna sighed as she stood on the balcony of a tower in her sister's castle. The serene sight of the moon and the beautiful manner in which it shone amongst the stars in the pitch black sky was one scene that even her sister wouldn't have been able to conjure. From her place, she could see her loyal subjects moving about in the distance, some discussing how bright the moon was that night. She could feel the younger ones dreaming about their fantasies, hopes and desires, not a single nightmare in sight. She was indeed indebted to the Elements of Harmony for bringing her back from the dark side and to her sister for showing her how much the night really meant to the ponies. Her thoughts moved to what life would have been if her sister, Twilight and her friends hadn't been there for her. She probably would have destroyed the whole of Equestria due to the infinite reign of darkness. On the other hoof, it would've meant that Discord would still be running rampant, spreading chaos wherever direction he faced until the whole world drowned in the madness that would've ensued. All in all, she was glad that everything had worked out the way it did. She prepared to add more stars in the sky...only to be stopped by an intruding snore. Luna groaned as she saw her sleeping sister, sitting on a chair inside the tower. She was a bit ticked off that Celestia had missed the raising of the moon but she couldn't blame her though. She had been more drained and tired than anypony else after the Tirek crisis they faced just a few days. Still, she found it odd that Celestia was able to sleep through the entire process. "Come on, dear sister...time for bed" Luna let out a giggle as she levitated her slightly drooling elder sister to her chambers. Some few miles away, there was another group of ponies who were already snuggled in their beds as well. Twilight Sparkle's castle shone elegantly against the beams of moonlight while the six residents comfortably drifted off to dreamland in their respective chambers. They had quite the task helping ponies all around the world rediscover their magic but it was worth it, although a bit too tiring for their liking but worthwhile nonetheless. Rainbow Dash, the bearer of the Element of Loyalty had been asleep for a good two hours, one hour earlier than the others due to an early appointment she had with the residents of Cloudsdale the next morning. She had been looking forward to it the whole day, especially since she heard that the Wonderbolts had taken a day off which meant that there was a high possibility that she would be meeting them. "...Spin...cycle 360...awesome..." she muttered in her sleep, dreaming about the almost inevitable event. It seemed as though everything was going to go according to plan for the cyan pegasus. But sometimes, things take an unexpected turn when we least thought it would. A stray, bright ray of light penetrated the glass window at the side of Rainbow Dash's chamber, reaching the closed eyes of the pegasus. She twitched her eyes in response to the gleaming light before she pulled a blanket over her head. She was half-awake by then and was not all too pleased by the rude awakening, although it was naturally unintentional by any means. "Stupid sun..." she groaned, annoyed at being awakened so early in the morning. Normally, the sun wouldn't have risen for another half an hour but the earlier timing really pissed her off. She wanted to sleep some more. Who would want to look like a sleepy slouch on a meeting with their idols? While the rainbow-maned pegasus attempted to catch some "Z"s again, a familiar lavender pony opened the door and trotted in, obviously in a hurry. Twilight stopped though, staring at the sleeping mare with a raised eyebrow. "Uhh...Rainbow Dash, you're gonna be late" she told her friend, turning on an alarm placed near the grand bed. An annoying beeping followed, reaching the ears of Rainbow Dash almost immediately. "Jeez! Twilight! Just let me get some sleep..." Rainbow Dash yelled beneath the bed sheets while holding two pillows to her ears, "And why'd you keep an alarm? You do know I always turn them off when I go to bed" she added, tightening her grip on the pillows and trying her best to tune out the god-awful beeping. Twilight raised her eyebrow in surprise yet again. Rainbow Dash was usually so energetic in the morning but then again, she hadn't known everything about the pegasus so she came to a conclusion that she probably caught her in one of her crankier awakenings. "And what's with that..." Rainbow Dash sniffed the air, "...girly, rose smell? Did you let Rarity or Fluttershy inside while I was asleep?" she asked again. "Rarity? Fluttershy?...err, nope", Twilight merely replied, puzzled by the question, "You ordered the flowers yourself yesterday, remember?" she asked back, turning off the alarm much to Rainbow Dash's relief. "I've no idea what you're talking about" Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of satisfaction. "[i}Peace and quiet again", she thought. "Okay, Miss. Enough of the small talk. You need to get ready for your big day", Twilight told her before she headed towards the door. She readied herself to leave the chamber, but not before shooting one last inquisitive glance at the pegasus. A soft creaking of the door followed her exit. "Finally..." Rainbow Dash cooed. However, before she could fall asleep, an extremely bright flash of light hit her right in the eyes. She flailed wildly before her hooves eventually got tangled in her blanket, causing her to spill to the floor. "Who the hay put this mirror here?" she groaned as she saw the source of the blinding reflection. She slowly picked herself up before she stretched her wings and hooves while yawning. The bright light made it feel like it was noon so she figured it would be better to wake up than to be rudely awakened again. A few basic exercises were all it took to fully awaken her senses. After all, it was indeed her big day and she wasn't gonna end up looking like a slouch. She rubbed her eyes to clear her sight. She grabbed her fallen blanket and casually placed in on her bed before she sat on it. A smile broke on her face as she vaguely recalled her dream. Flying around with the Wonderbolts and meeting other great flyers in Equestria before they raced with her to someplace she couldn't remember. It was a good dream. She stepped down to the floor again only this time, she felt a furry coat beneath her hooves. She tensed up slightly at the fear of accidentally having stepped on one of her friends' pets but then again, no sound or squeak or hoot came from below. "When did I get a furry carpet?" she asked herself as she bent down to take a closer look, "Heh...this feels like real fur" she chuckled, tracing her hooves to the side of the carpet, "I would've totally believed this was manticore if I had seen its..." she instantly froze in place when her hooves touch a bulky extension at the other end of her head, "...head?" She quickly backed away when she saw a large feline face look back at her with its mouth wide open, giving the illusion that it was about to devour her in one go. Yup! It was a definite, dead manticore placed rather inappropriately below her bed. "Okay...w-who did this!?" she yelled, trying to avoid making eye contact with the dead beast. Her eyes widened in shock yet again as she took a better look at her surroundings. The chamber was much, much larger that it was supposed to be. Not to mention that almost nothing felt familiar to her. The bouquets of roses, the out-of-place mirror, the multi-colored skylight and the manticore carpet. Wherever she was, she was definitely not inside their castle. "Haha! Good job! Pinkie, Rarity or whatever. You really got me" she chuckled nervously, anticipating a return laughter from her friends. But nothing answered her, "Umm...guys?" she searched "her" chamber for any signs of her friends. She checked the closet, the bathroom and even under her bed but still, no sign of her friends. She contemplated just flying the hell out of the place but then, she realized something. There was one pony she had forgotten about. "TWILIGHT! GET IN HERE!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Silence followed for a good three seconds before she heard a sound. To her relief, she heard the clopping of hooves just outside the door as it moved closer and closer before the doors swung open to reveal her lavender friend, although she had her hair tied up in a bun and she wore some kind of corny business clothes. But to Rainbow Dash, it didn't matter though. Even Business Twilight Sparkle was a welcome sight. "What is it, Miss? You called for me?" Twilight asked before she took in a deep breath. "Miss?" Rainbow Dash arched her eyebrow, "Whatever...Thank Celestia, you're here", she smiled. She expected her friend to at least respond with a warm smile or something but she only got a puzzled response from the mare. It was a tad bit strange that Twilight acted like she had said something offensive or utterly weird. "What? Did I say something?" Rainbow Dash quickly asked. "Who's Celestia?" Twilight asked back. "Who's Celestia? What do you mean "Who's Celestia?"?" Rainbow Dash raised her voice a little. Much to her surprise, Twilight shuddered and gulped after she said that. A drop of sweat dripped down the suddenly tense mare's brow as she turned her head to the ground, not even daring to look at her straight in the eye. "Sorry for that question. I wasn't supposed to do that" Twilight bowed low. "Say what? Whoa...you're apologizing? What am I? Your boss?" "I guess you could say that" "Hey! Is there a bet I forgot about that you lost?" "I'm not so sure either" Twilight forced a smile, "Anyway, what did you call me for?" she asked. "Oh, right! Where'd all my stuff go?" Rainbow Dash asked. Somehow, she noticed Twilight calming down a bit after the subject was changed. "About that...We renovated your chamber last night while you were asleep", Twilight replied proudly, sporting a genuine smile this time, "I take everything is suited to your satisfaction?" "I guess it is..." Rainbow Dash looked around. Everything really was placed conveniently. A separate bathroom just a few feet away, a licorice dispenser and some hoops hanging high above the strangely tall room for aerial practice. "Although the roses and the mirror are unnecessary", she added, "And get rid of the manticore too". "Okay" Twilight said happily, "If that is all, I'll be taking your leave now. Oh, you better freshen up and suit yourself quick, Miss President. You've got a press conference in thirty minutes", the lavender pony added before she left the chamber. "Tsk! Poor Twilight..." Rainbow Dash mused as she watched the door slam shut, "When will she ever beat me in a bet?" she chuckled before she suddenly realized something. Just a few distance away, a maid carefully dusted a bust in the hallway before a scream echoed throughout the place. "MISS PRESIDENT!?" a muffled voice from behind the door yelled. "This is why I hate Mondays..." the maid muttered, moving on to another bust. Chapter 2"Maybe she's just accepting the fact that I'm the President of Awesomeness...yes, that must be it" Rainbow Dash let out a nervous chuckle as she attempted to dodge the obvious truth, "That must be it". The pegasus then headed towards the bathroom for a quick, cold shower. Just as Business Twilight had told her, the water was kept at an optimum temperature, just the way she liked it. Aside from the brief eye-burn she got from a stray soap bubble, it was divine. The best shower she had in ages. After she dried herself, Rainbow Dash opened a wardrobe which was placed near the door. She expected some clothes that might resemble a Wonderbolt uniform but to her disappointment, only shirts, coats and ties were present. Begrudgingly, she took out a random combination and wore it. She then checked herself in front of the mirror. "Well...you've looked better", Rainbow Dash said to her reflection who wore a black coat over a white shirt and a red tie around her neck, "I will admit though. I make this corporate-ish look 20% cooler", she chuckled. With that, she flew out of her chamber in a jiffy, fully expecting to be in the familiar crystal hallway of Twilight's castle. But unfortunately, she was dead wrong. To her horror, she found herself standing in a hallway filled with pictures and paintings of important looking ponies, something she would expect to see in one of those Wonderbolt Halls of Fame. At the sides were bodiless sculptures or busts of more ponies and there was a single maid standing in the hallway, busily dusting them. Rainbow Dash uncharacteristically trotted through slowly, staring at the paintings and the busts. Some of them looked vaguely familiar like "Starswirl the Bearded", "Flimsy Coat" and even "Blueblood" of all ponies. They wore all these strange suits which didn't seem to match them at all. "Who the hay are these guys?" she asked herself. "Could you keep it down, Miss President?" the maid asked her blankly. "Umm...okay...I guess" Rainbow Dash shrugged, "Hmm...they even got somepony else to join in on the prank", she mumbled. Steadily, she went past the paintings, trying her best to take a look at each and every one of them. The one thing that Rainbow Dash found it weird was that they all had numbers imprinted in the description plates in an ascending order. She trotted past the 356th, the 357th before she stopped right at the 358th. Her jaw dropped as she stared wide-eyed at the last painting in the room. Right at the middle of the four corners of the wooden frame was a familiar pegasus, a very familiar pegasus. Her rainbow mane was combed to the side, giving her a very regal look; and just by looking at the painting, she could feel a sense of grandeur and responsibility at it. Rainbow Dash leaned closer to take a better look at the description plate just to confirm her assumptions. To her utter shock, she saw the following words: "The 358th President of the grand country of Equestria. Miss Rainbow Dash, the 127th Pegasus to take an oath to be the President of Equestria. She, like those before her, has promised to govern all responsibilities in the great country for the good of all who live in it " "Say what!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Could you please keep it down?" the maid growled yet again, clutching her broom. Rainbow Dash quickly shut up when she saw that the maid was ready to knock her senseless if she even dared to let out a small peep. The glare from the pony was intimidating enough to make the poor pegasus shake in her hooves. She took one last look at her supposed portrait before she swung the huge door at the end of hallway open. To her annoyance, another hallway greeted her although she felt relieved upon seeing Business Twilight impatiently tapping a pen against a notebook she was levitating. Without any hesitation, Rainbow Dash checked for any signs of angry maids before she scooted over to Twilight's side. The whole place suddenly had an eerily familiar vibe to it, almost like she had been there before although she wasn't able to recall anything about it. "Uh...is there something amiss, Miss President?" Business Twilight suddenly asked, arching her eyebrows at the suited mare who had her eyes fixed on the walls and ceiling of the room they were in. " Er...yeah..." Rainbow Dash replied although she was unsure what it was, "Were we here before?" she asked bluntly. "Is that a serious question, Miss President?" Business Twilight asked back. She was starting to get suspicious at her boss' behavior in the past few minutes but she dismissed it as lack of sleep...for now. "As serious as me wanting to join the Wonderbolts" Rainbow Dash unconsciously answered while she racked her brains trying to figure out what place it was. "Wonderbolts? Don't you mean The Special Winged Assault Troopers Team?" Business Twilight's suspicions rose. "What? When did they become military?" Rainbow Dash asked, puzzled by the answer. "They've been part of the Equestrian Military for quite some time now" "Nopony told me that" "I guess we do learn new things every day don't we Miss President?" Twilight let out a nervous chuckle, expecting her out-of-character boss to switch back to her normal state of mind with a simple reply. However, her ears fell flat when she realized Rainbow Dash wasn't getting any wiser. On the contrary, it appeared as though she was more dumbstruck with every explanation she gave her and with every single thing she saw. Business Twilight decided to give the pegasus one more chance before she would stuck to her assumption that something was definitely off with the President of Equestria. Maybe a quick press conference would do the trick. Yes, the disciplined mare had always noticed how excited the rainbow-maned mare would become whenever the attention was all on her. "Okaaayyy...I'm starting to really freak out right now" Rainbow Dash suddenly stated, much to Twilight's surprise. The bespectacled unicorn hadn't anticipated the President to shudder in obvious, genuine fright and confusion. "Calm down, Miss President" Twilight quickly dropped her notepad and approached the trembling mare cautiously, "Something's definitely off with her" she thought. The self-proclaimed best flyer in Ponyville was starting to soak in some revelations herself. Everything appeared too serious and too real to be dismissed as some dream or some prank. How else could anypony explain the grouchy maid from before or even the strange stained glass paintings on the ceilings? Without any second thought, Rainbow Dash grabbed Twilight by her collar and pulled her head close to hers until the other's breaths could be felt on their respective coats. The pegasus looked straight into the unicorn's purple eyes in an attempt to pry out any logical explanations of the situation. Twilight, on the other hoof was completely taken by surprise by Rainbow Dash suddenly forcing her towards her face. Her face was covered in a bright red hue as she tensed up while she stared at her boss through her glasses. "M-Miss President, w-what are you doing?" she stammered. It was becoming increasingly uneasy and embarrassing for the lavender mare, being a mere inch away from the pegasus' face. "Where's Applejack? Pinkie Pie? Rarity? Fluttershy? Spike?" Rainbow Dash inquired forcefully, spouting all the names of her absent friends in rapid succession, "And where's Tank too?" Twilight let out a sigh of relief and eased a bit when Rainbow Dash asked a question she wasn't expecting at all. She wiped a drop of sweat off her brow before she turned back to the President who shot her an inquisitive look. "C-Could you let go of me, Miss President?" Business Twilight smiled nervously as she lightly held the hoof grabbing her. "I'll let you go when you answer my question" Rainbow Dash asserted, fully intent on keeping the lavender unicorn from moving away. "Okay...Alright..." Twilight gulped, visibly intimidated by the threat, "I don't know much about the five names but I do know that the plans for the armored vehicles are being drafted. Sorry for keeping those plans away from you. I really just wanted to impress you". The next instant, Business Twilight placed her hooves in front of her face, expecting the President to smack the taste right of her or worse for keeping something from her but nothing happened. Carefully, she lowered her forehooves and saw the same puzzled look from before. "Armored what?" Rainbow Dash questioned after a few seconds of silence. "Uhh...Tanks?" Twilight replied. "Thanks for what?" "No, tanks!" Twilight repeated, pulling out a sketch of said machine from her notepad. Rainbow Dash took the sketch and observed it for some time. However, she wasn't able to make heads or tails of the whole engineering crap so she merely handed it back to the unicorn. "Yeahhhh...I've never seen those before" Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Can I ask one question?" Business Twilight suddenly asked. "I guess you could" Rainbow Dash answered blindly. "You're not the real Miss President, are you?" Twilight asked point blank. The question stopped Rainbow Dash's train of thought right in its tracks. Twilight Sparkle admitting that something was odd was the wake-up call she needed, the last number to be sure that she had the combination right. She was definitely somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. The mare standing in front of her appeared to be all too serious for the past half an hour to be joking. And add in the weird place as well as the intimidating maid from before and she had all the cards she required to believe that everything around her was real. Wherever she was, she was the damn President and everypony else thought so too. "Tell me" Twilight demanded. Now it was time for the lavender pony to be on the offensive. She had to be sure whether or not her boss was still there. Rainbow Dash wrestled with her conscience. She had already accepted this was all real but she still had two choices to make. One, she continues pretending to be the President of Equestria, govern the country as best as she could and try to find a way to get back to her own world or two, she could confess who she really was to Twilight and persuade her to help her fix everything before anypony else knew. She went for option no. 2, mainly because she felt Business Twilight probably must've had at least some experience in situations like this before. After all, any universe' Twilight must at least by proficient in magic, right? "You're correct. You see, I'm not from around here" Rainbow Dash decided to spill the beans. She cringed a bit when she said that but she was sure that Twilight would help her. However, as soon as she saw Business Twilight's mouth curl into an inevitable scream, she quickly reached forward. "Buck" she cursed on the inside. "WHAAAA...mmphhh.." Twilight tried to yell in shock, only to be stopped by a cyan hoof muffling her. "Jeez, calm down for Celestia's sake" Rainbow Dash groaned as she kept her hooves on the unicorn's mouth although taking care not to hurt her "friend". What puzzled Rainbow Dash though was that this Twilight was much weaker than hers. Princess Twilight Sparkle would've easily levitated her away but Business Twilight didn't even try to push her away. Either that or President Dash must've really worked out a lot. "Quit wriggling, will ya?" Rainbow Dash said, annoyed at the lavender mare's futile attempts at escaping her hold, "You're done trying to escape, right?" she asked, loosening her grip. Twilight was all too happy to be released from the hold and she almost immediately stepped away from Rainbow Dash. Yep! This was definitely not the Rainbow Dash she used to know. "Where are you from?" Twilight finally asked after she regained her composure. "Equestria" Rainbow Dash replied bluntly before she corrected herself, "Not this Equestria though. In our world, I'm not a freaking President and we're friends". "We're friends?" Business Twilight really found that hard to believe despite the fact that this wasn't President Dash she was talking to. "Yeah! And those guys I asked you about? They're part of our little circle of friendship" Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a smile. "Say what? You're friends with the traitor Fluttershy?!" Business Twilight eyes widened at the reply. "Fluttershy's a what? You can't be serious" Rainbow Dash returned an equally shocked expression. "She left Equestria and joined the other species due to conflicting views" Twilight explained, a hint of anger could be felt in her voice. "What conflict?" Rainbow Dash asked again. She was at odds with her foalhood friend in this world? "Err...I'll explain later" Twilight replied, "And as for Rarity, she must be that famed designer in Ponyville although I've never seen you meet her before". "Well, at least that means she's probably still the same" Rainbow Dash heaved a sigh of relief upon knowing that there was a chance that she could visit her friend later, "What about Applejack?" "Applej...she's part of the Apple Family or maybe the Pie Family, right?" Twilight asked. "The Apple Family. What about it?" "Well, if she's part of the Apple Family then she's probably at the Eastern Battlefield as per your orders for all mares of the Apple and Pie Family to supply food and water to the soldiers in the zone", Twilight replied indifferently. "BATTLEFIELD?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Get them back here in ten seconds flat. That's no place for ponies like them", she said, suddenly finding new found concern for Applejack and Pinkie Pie, "They're still okay, right?" "Umm...there hasn't been any reports of casualties from our side..." Twilight said. "That's a relief" "..yet" Twilight added, picking her pen and notepad up. "Wow! Just wow!" Rainbow Dash let out a nervous chuckle as she facehoofed herself. "What's the matter?" Twilight asked. "Letting Fluttershy go, not even meeting Rarity, and sending two of my friends to the worst place in Equestria? I did all that?" "Yes, yes you did" "I...am such...a jerk!" Rainbow Dash shouted, shaking her hooves in anger. "Welcome to the club" Twilight smirked before she placed a reassuring hoof on the pegasus, "Come on, Dashie. We've a press conference to attend to". "What the hay am I gonna say? I'm not a President" Rainbow Dash sighed. "Leave it all to me. Just trust me" Twilight assured her as she walked by her side, "After all, that's what we do in your world, right?" "Heh...I guess so" Rainbow Dash replied with a chuckle. Meanwhile, some dimensions far away "Release me, Secretary! I demand to be set free!" A cyan pegasus yelled aloud. Princess Twilight Sparkle just let out a sigh as she continued to restrain the flailing mare in place on her bed. She didn't know why but Rainbow Dash had acted rather strangely ever since she woke up. She had volunteered to wake up Rainbow Dash so as to remind her of her meeting with the Wonderbolts later in the day. Especially considering that the pegasus had spent hours practicing nonstop, she was sure that her friend would definitely oversleep. However, Princess Twilight didn't expect to see a paranoid mare when she opened the door to Rainbow Dash's chamber. To her surprise, said mare was yelling all kinds of obscenities at her as well as trying to throw some of her furniture out of the windows, more specifically, her life-size Wonderbolt action figures. That was enough for the Princess of Friendship to bind Rainbow Dash down with her magic before she could do any more damage to her room. "What in Equestria is wrong with you, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, careful not to hurt her friend. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" Rainbow Dash retorted, "And who the hay gave you permission to grow wings? What'd you think you are? Some unicorn-pegasus hybrid?" "Alicorn" Twilight corrected her, "And I didn't grow them, Princess Celestia gave them to me", she explained calmly. "Celestia? What do you take me for? A mere simpleton?" Rainbow Dash looked like she was deeply offended by the assumption that Twilight was making fun of her, "I'll have you know that I majored in Equestrian History and Political Science and there's absolutely no instances of any "Princess Celestia"s". "There's definitely something off inside that little brain of yours" Princess Twilight concluded before she turned her attention to some sounds coming from the hallway behind her, probably belonging to Spike. "That's it! No pay for a week! I should write a bill about sacking insubordinate workers like you" Rainbow Dash ranted, "But who am I kidding? Unicorns like you have never been competent in your jobs. Always snotty and full of yourselves". Twilight twitched at the last remark. She was pissed by what Rainbow Dash said. Mainly because one, she never expected her friend to say that and two, it sounded vaguely racial, something that she absolutely hated. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that" Twilight forced a smile. "Hey Twilight! What's taking you so long? The others are waiting for you" a voice behind the alicorn said. "Spike!" Twilight quickly spun around to face her assistant, "I was going to join you guys but I've run into a snag heheh", she gave the dragon a sheepish laugh. "What snag?" Spike asked before he noticed Rainbow Dash being restrained on her bed, "And why's Rainbow Dash tied up with magic?" Before Princess Twilight could answer, another angered shout came from the mouth of the tied-up pegasus. "A DRAGON!? YOU"RE WORKING WITH A FILTHY REPTILE!?" Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs, "YOU BETTER NOT DARE TO REPEAT WHAT YOUR PREDECESSOR FLUTTERSHY DID!" "Filthy?" Spike gave a puzzled look, sniffing the undersides of his arm, "I just showered an hour ago". "I HATE YOU, TRECHEROUS BEAST! I WI...mmph!" Rainbow Dash tried to add some more insults before a levitated towel covered her mouth. "Twilight?" "Yeah?" "She's finally snapped, right?" Twilight pondered an answer. She kept her gaze fixed on the mare restrained by her magic. She could see a wild look on her face as well as a murderous desire in her eyes. One could definitely assume that the pegasus had gone insane. "I guess you're right" Twilight sighed. Chapter 3Rainbow Dash paced back and forth, a few distance from the entrance to the room where the press conference was to be held. A worried Business Twilight looked on, wondering if participating in the press conference was a good idea. She knew that she couldn’t let anypony especially the press know about what happened to President Dash but her sudden absence would also spark unwanted rumors. The bespectacled unicorn let out a heavy sigh as she watched the President of Equestria trying to figure out which was the best way to make an awesome entrance. As strict and short-tempered as President Dash was, she at least kept a firm code of discipline at all times unlike this new Dash. She would never openly admit it but she really wished that her boss was back. “I’m...outta ideas” Rainbow Dash said, “This won’t gonna last too long, right?” “The press conference?” Twilight asked, “Half an hour the latest I suppose” “I was referring to being stuck in this business-ish world” Rainbow Dash retorted. “Oh! I don’t know about that” Twilight replied, “Maybe it’ll be for a few hours, days or maybe forever” “I’m about to do something I have never done before in my awesome life and you’re not making this feel any better” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “Sorry for that” Twilight smiled sheepishly, “Since President Dash doesn’t have any more engagements until tonight I promise I’ll help you find a way to get back to your world”, she added. For a split second, Rainbow Dash could’ve sworn she saw a little bit of Princess Twilight in Business Twilight’s face. “You better” Rainbow Dash sighed, “For now, let’s just concentrate on this cruddy press stuff” “I was just about to suggest that” Twilight chuckled, adjusting her spectacles, “Oh! I almost forgot....” she said as she walked up to the cyan pegasus, “President Dash never wanders about with unkempt hair” “Hey! What the hay are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash yelled as soon as she saw Business Twilight reaching for her rainbow mane, “I’ve already worn this boring suit, enough of the corporate makeup”, she tried to get away from her. “Stop fidgeting” Twilight giggled a little, still a bit uneasy at the whole situation, “There, it’s all fixed” she said, combing the pegasus’ mane with her magic. Inside she was squealing like a little filly. Even if this wasn’t their President, she could now brag about brushing their beloved leader’s mane. “I do not like this one bit” Rainbow Dash scowled, crossing her hooves. “Let’s go now or we’ll be late” Twilight continued giggling, lightly shoving the pegasus through the door. With that, the lavender unicorn and her boss entered the room. Rainbow Dash looked around and saw that there were more ponies that she initially thought. Most of them were carrying notepads and cameras. She also seemed to recognize some of the audience members but couldn’t see too clearly because of the others. “MISS PRESIDENT RAINBOW DASH EVERYONE!!!” a voice announced loudly over the sound system. The next moment, everypony including the important looking ones sitting near Rainbow Dash’s reserved seat got up and greeted her with a huge round of applause. Under better circumstances, Rainbow Dash would’ve felt proud of herself but she wasn’t feeling good at all. She muttered curse words to Business Twilight as one of the guard ponies escorted her to her allotted seat while the audience got back to their respective places. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “I sure wish I wasn’t” Twilight snickered before handing her notepad to the cyan pony, “I’m not allowed to sit next to you so you better keep that close to you. If they ask you a difficult question, I’ll just provide an answer to you through that”. “How are you gonna do that?” Rainbow Dash whispered loudly, ignoring the noises from the crowd. “That notepad is magically synchronized with my mind so anything I think of will be written there” “Huh? Then why the hay do you carry a pen?” “You...I mean President Dash never allowed me to use magic in her presence so I had to write using this” she pointed to the pen. “Ahem!” one guard pony nudged Twilight. “I have to go now. Good luck” she told Rainbow Dash one last time before she walked off to the side. “Darn....” Rainbow Dash groaned, watching Twilight go. “Excuse me, Miss President...” a stallion sitting to her left tapped her. “What is it, dumbo?” she mumbled lazily, not even gracing the pegasus with a glance. “It’s Trombone. Anyway, those nosy unicorns are probably going to ask you questions about your dismissal of Miss Fluttershy even though it’s been over a month so I was suggesting that you let me answer those” the stallion recommended. “Sure, knock yourself out. I don’t care” Rainbow Dash sighed, leaning on the desk. “Good! That’s what I’ll answer with” Trombone’s eyes brightened, “It’s all in the past and you care more about the future and you have no time for talking about rebellious colleagues during times of conflict” Rainbow Dash wasn’t paying attention to anything the stallion was saying. All she could think about was her friends back home. They were probably worried sick about her and she hadn’t found any way to get back home. She missed all of them. The real problem was that aside from Twilight Sparkle, President Dash didn’t seem to have any connections with her friends in this world and she was sure that meeting up with them would be hard not to mention probably dangerous. “Ahem...sorry to disturb again but do you mind if I answered questions regarding the war on your behalf?” Trombone asked again. “Sure” “Other Species Conflicts?” “Uh-huh” “The Secession of the Crystal Empire?” “Whatever” “The allegations of favoring pegasi?” “What?” Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up at the question. “The allegations of you favoring pegasi for government posts even though there were more deserving candidates” he replied, “Those are just lies, right?” The Bearer of the Element of Loyalty glanced at the other six ponies sitting with her. Not a single earth pony or unicorn was in sight. President Dash must’ve really had some issues. “I’m not too sure but I did hire Twilight as my Secretary so President Das...I mean I can’t possibly be....racist heheh” Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. “That’s a great answer” Trombone nodded, a bit puzzled by the nervous reply their President gave, “Although you did appoint her only after you fired Miss Fluttershy first” “That might be a problem” Rainbow Dash gulped, wiping a drop of sweat off her brow, “I don’t suppose you can....I mean....you know....” “Don’t worry. I’ll cover it all for you” Trombone let out a smile before he turned away, “What’s up with her? She hasn’t fallen for my ol’ charm, has she?” he asked himself with a smirk on his face. A green pegasus sitting right next to him stood up, banging on the desk to gain the audience’s attention. Rainbow Dash readied herself mentally as the conference was imminent. “Attention!” he shouted through the microphone he carried, pausing until nopony else was speaking, “Thank you. As you all know, we are all gathered here for the press conference regarding the conflicts around Equestria as well as other matters but before we start, I would like to ask our respect President, Miss Rainbow Dash to say a few words” he finished, handing over the microphone to Rainbow Dash. “What!?” Business Twilight raised an eyebrow. Normally, the press conference should’ve started as usual without any speech from the President but it appeared as though President Dash had changed the traditional way. Twilight panicked as any wrong choice of words from the President was going to be all over the morning papers. And from what she saw and heard, Rainbow Dash wasn’t nearly as composed and collected as President Dash was. The poor rainbow-maned pegasus gulped and stood up. She stole a glance at her lavender friend who was looking as nervous as she was. “G-Good eveni....I mean Good Morning everypony” she forced a smile as she tried her best not to let anypony know the truth about her, “Dammit, Rainbow Dash! Pull yourself together. You can do this. Stop shaking! You’re not Fluttershy for Celestia’s sake” “Say something!” Twilight whispered from afar. “T-Thank you all from coming to this bore fest....I mean awesome press conference we’re having” Rainbow Dash continued, “Just pretend you’re introducing yourself in front of the other members of Wonderbolts....” “Is she gonna crack?” a unicorn guard asked Twilight. “I hope not heheh” Twilight replied anxiously. “Alright...here it goes” Rainbow Dash took a breath, “I’m Rainbow Dash...scratch that...President Rainbow Dash and me and my frie....I mean business partners are looking forward to answering any questions you may ask us. You are free to ask about anything, about any topic or subject to your liking. Thank you. You’re all awesome!” A loud cheer erupted from the audience....inside Rainbow Dash’s mind. Outside of it, it was a slightly different scenario. Stunned silence greeted Dashie’s short speech much to her surprise. As she tried to piece together what she said wrong, she felt a light nudge from the stallion from before. “Psst! Glory to Equestria!” Trombone whispered to her. “Uhh.....Glory to Equestria!” she repeated. As if on cue, the ponies, save for a group of scowling unicorns, applauded loudly, some even jumping up and down like giddy schoolfoals. The other ponies sitting near her simply smiled although some of them had skeptical looks on their faces. Rainbow Dash heaved a sigh of relief as she sat down. Although it was brief, she was definitely glad that the “speech” was over. Normally, she would’ve been confident about speaking in front of a crowd but the thick aura of animosity in the air was somehow unnerving her, leading her to ponder about what in the world had happened to Equestria. “Good job” two words appeared on her notepad. The cyan pegasus looked to the side and saw a bespectacled unicorn give her a nod of assurance. “Alright!” the green pegasus stood up again, “Thank you for that, Miss President. Now, we’ll start the press conference now. Like we said yesterday, the President and the board will only answer ten questions. No more no less. You may begin” The next moment, Rainbow Dash yelped a little as she saw the ponies try to gain her attention. Her eyes darted from one pony to another but all she could see was their desire and thirst for information. “*sigh* What is wrong with you, Miss Dash?” Trombone piped up once again, “Pick one. Personally, I think you should avoid the unicorns but it’s your choice” “Okay.....” Rainbow Dash mumbled before she pointed her hoof towards a light blue unicorn with a wavy white and navy blue mane who was holding her hoof up. “Oh! Me?” the unicorn asked as all eyes in the room were on her. “Uh...you have a question or something?” “Can I go to the little fillies’ room?” the unicorn asked sheepishly. “Um...I guess so” Rainbow Dash shrugged. The mare bowed low before she dashed right out of the Conference Hall. “Except for Colgate I may add” the stallion snickered, “She’s always here to ask silly questions but I believe you already know that, Miss President” “Anypony else” Rainbow Dash yawned. Press conferences were certainly more boring than she had initially thought. She wondered how in Equestria the princesses or even President Dash were able to go through this every single week. A wave of flailing hooves snapped her out of her train of thought. She remembered that the sooner she got this done, the sooner Business Twilight would help her get back to her home. “You! The guy with the bandage around his hoof” Rainbow Dash said, turning to an earth pony stallion sitting at the back. “What? Me?” he groaned, “My hoof’s broken. Doctor told me to put my hoof up for a week. I don’t like it too much” “What kind of doctor tells their patient that?” Rainbow Dash gave a confused look. “A piece of advice, Miss President: Don’t go to earth pony doctors. They’re crazy as buck!” Trombone warned. “Whatever” Rainbow Dash muttered, “Let’s move on.....Let’s see.....how about you! In the back, with the funny hat” she pointed to a pony seated in the rear. “It’s me again” the bandaged pony retorted. “Oh! Sorry” Rainbow Dash let out an embarrassed chuckle, her face reddening while the members of the audience laughed a bit. Business Twilight facehoofed herself, wondering why in Equestria she thought Rainbow Dash would’ve been able to handle the press conference flawlessly. Right next to Twilight, unknown to her or the other ponies present, two members of the board were secretly discussing about their President’s suspicious behavior. They watched Rainbow Dash’s movement closely and came to a conclusion that there was something wrong with her. “She’s definitely not the same Rainbow Dash” a blue pegasus mare told her partner. “Her mannerism is totally different from the mare who won by a landslide” a white pegasus added. “And against Blueblood too” “Yeah! I have to admit that was impressive” “Sure was! I never thought anypony would’ve been able to pull him off the top” “Certainly not her” the white stallion said, watching Rainbow Dash pander to the audience, “And definitely not her. Why the hay is she even answering questions from the unicorns? Doesn’t she know what they did in the Changeling War?” “Shh...she might hear you” her friend reprimanded him. “So, can you tell us whether or not the government is secretly building armored vehicles made from the parts of the unidentified object from the StableWell Incident fifty years ago?” a reporter asked Rainbow Dash. “I...umm...” Rainbow Dash tried to answer before she suddenly realized, “Unidentified Object?” she asked, dumbfounded by the mention of it. “Yes, the one that every other president has denied seeing” “Unidentified Object?” Rainbow Dash merely repeated before she turned to the stallion sitting beside her, “You’re up, Strong Bow” “Mr. Trombone, Miss President. I will answer that on behalf of the president if you don’t mind” Trombone said with a smile, “The StableWell Incident is nothing more than a fabricated lie. Even though some may claim otherwise, the government never found any strange objects from outer space nor did it retrieve any parts or bodies fifty years ago. My colleague Light Wing can assure you that it never happened” “Yes, Mr. Snap Feather” the green pegasus from before stood up, “The government did not, I repeat, did not retrieve any bodies of strange hairless two legged apes from outer space, nor did it retrieve any kind of flying vehicular machines” he added, sitting back to his accustomed seat as he finished. “Flying machines?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at Light Wing. “Yeah! They are all so easy to deceive, don’t you agree, Miss President?” Light Wing smirked, waving at the audience. “So, we never found any unidentified objects or bodies of hairless apes?” Rainbow Dash asked in a serious tone. “That’s the general idea” Light Wing chuckled while Trombone continued to answer the remaining questions, “I have to admit. Using the apes’ technology to build those tanks, that was genius on your behalf, Miss President” “Me?” Rainbow Dash inquired. Everything she knew about President Dash and this Equestria was becoming more and more messed up by the minute. “Yes. We sent your plans to Twilight Sparkle and she supervised everything although we haven’t told her yet that you were actually the one who told us to build them” “Boy...I sure am some kind of sick genius, ain’t I?” Rainbow Dash sighed, contemplating about the reputation her counterpart must’ve had among the ponies of Equestria. “The best” Light Wing complimented “Thanks” she muttered. She looked back to the audience and saw that Trombone had successfully managed to answer the remaining questions with no difficulty at all. She smiled as she realized the press conference was coming to an end. “We’ll take one more question” Trombone announced before turning to Rainbow Dash, “President Dash will answer the last question. After that, The board will take your leave”. “Me?” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Just send them home happy” Trombone winked. “Jeez...let’s get this over with then”, she grumbled, pointing towards a white unicorn with a red mane, “Ask away” “Not him” Trombone and the rest of the panel gasped. “What’s wrong?” she whispered. Said unicorn slowly got up from his seat, sporting a sinister grin on his face, his blue eyes gleaming with hatred and negativity. Rainbow Dash was quick to notice this and she immediately turned to Twilight. The lavender unicorn was holding her hoof to her mouth as if something dreadful was about to happen. “Thank you, Miss President” the white unicorn grinned, “I just have a request to make. If you really aren’t favoring pegasi, then what do you say about the Equal Tax Bill?” “Uh....could you repeat that?” “The Equal Tax Bill? Equal taxes for every species even if us unicorns are the wealthiest in the Equestria?” “I guess that’s fair” Rainbow Dash shrugged before she felt a light tap. “Don’t answer his question” Trombone advised anxiously, “Just say “Pass” and we’ll be done” “Okay....” Rainbow Dash said with a wide smile before she gleefully shouted to everypony in the Hall, “Passed!” With that, another loud cheer erupted from the audience. Even the unhappy unicorns from before were beaming in delight. Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves proudly as if she had won the Equestria Games. Trombone, Light Wing and the rest of the board facehoofed themselves, inaudibly complaining about the decision before they left the Hall in a huff. Rainbow Dash felt a bit puzzled as to why they suddenly left but she turned away and walked towards Business Twilight. “I did good, right?” Rainbow Dash asked the smiling unicorn mare. To her surprise, her friend didn’t seem to hear her. She was sporting the happiest expression she had ever seen. The joy on her face was genuine, not something one would’ve been able to fake. “Uh...Twilight? You okay?” Rainbow Dash asked while the audience left the room one by one, “Whoa! Are you....crying?” she raised an eyebrow as she saw tears form in the corner of the mare’s eyes. In a split second, Business Twilight hugged the pegasus tightly. Rainbow Dash stood transfixed, wondering why in the world Twilight was crying and hugging her like a toy doll. “T-Thank you, Pres...I mean Rainbow Dash” Twilight said. “You’re welcome” Rainbow Dash chuckled as Twilight broke the hug, “What’d I do?” she deadpanned. Meanwhile It had been almost ten minutes and still Rainbow Dash hadn’t calm down nor did she comply with Twilight and her friends’ requests. They were really starting to worry that Rainbow Dash might’ve had hit her head a bit too hard when she fell out of her bed. “Why are you making this hard for us, Rainbow Dash?” Princess Twilight asked her pegasus friend. “I....drrr.....tra....trsss...” President Dash replied with muffled growls. “I....drrr.....tra....trsss...?” Pinkie asked. narrowing her eyes, “Did she just say “I’ll destroy you, traitors”?” “Uhhh...I’m darn sure our Rainbow Dash wouldn’t say anythin’ like that” Applejack answered unconfidently. “Come to think of it, she hasn’t acted like our Rainbow Dash at all” Spike said before he turned to Twilight, “Should we write to Princess Celestia about this?” “Not now” Princess Twilight replied, approaching the tied-up and gagged Rainbow Dash only to recoil back after seeing the burning fire of hatred in the pegasus’ eyes. “I-I don’t like this side of Rainbow Dash very much” Fluttershy said timidly. President Dash quickly shifted her focus to the shy pegasus. She stared intently into the eyes of the familiar mare, concentrating all the hatred inside of her and shouting curses at Fluttershy. “F...u..k......s...it!!!!” President Dash yelled. “What was that?” Applejack asked. “She said “Fluttershy, you knave! Stupid dips...”” Pinkie Pie replied with a smile before she was interrupted. “I think we get the general idea, darling” Rarity stopped the pink pony who just bounced away, “This is definitely not our Rainbow Dash” “Should I take the towel from her mouth?” Spike asked. “I think we should but wait for a moment” Princess Twilight said before she turned to President Dash, “Rainbow Dash, we’re gonna take this off now, alright? Will promise not to shout at Spike or anypony else?” President Dash nodded vigorously although she still hadn’t lost the scowl on her face. “Spike, pull the towel out of her mouth please” Cautiously, the purple dragon pulled the towel out of President Dash’s mouth. He swiftly backed away from the mare, preparing for any kind of attack. Everypony stood in silence as they hoped that the worse hadn’t happened and that their friend would get back to her normal self. Their worst fear came true as they heard a sinister, almost evil snicker coming from the cyan pegasus. “Hehehe....I presume you all believe you’ve got me cornered and at your mercy” President Dash greeted the others with a vile smile. “What’s so funny?” Applejack asked. “You’re all so naive” she chuckled, “Now I understand everything. You think of me as your friend and that I would comply easily, am I right?” “Our friend? With that nasty attitude of yours?” Rarity retorted, “You can’t possibly be our friend” “And you’re definitely not a changeling” Twilight added. “Yuck! You would even dare to believe that I’m one of those filthy insects?” President Dash was visibly offended from being even thought of as a mere bug. “Y-You’re not Rainbow Dash. Who are you and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked. “For the last time...” President Dash groaned, “I am Rainbow Dash. Aside from you and your replacement over here....” she turned to Twilight, “...I have never seen these two earth ponies or this unicorn before in my life. I can see through your plans. Ask for any amount of bits you want, I swear you’re all going to face severe punishment for kidnapping me and forcing me to hear your lies. And if you think for a second that trying to trick me into believing that we’re all friends is going to help you in making me cooperate, you’re all going to have a bad time” “Wow! She really does love to grumble, doesn’t she?” Spike commented, unimpressed. “To Tartarus with you, purple reptile from hell!” President Dash growled. “I’m from Canterlot” Spike corrected. “And I’m from the Rock Farm near Ponyville!” Pinkie chimed. “Whatever!” President Dash shouted. “So, what should we do next?” Rarity asked, “I mean we can all agree that this isn’t our Rainbow Dash. Should we write to the princess about it?” “I think we should” Applejack agreed, “Before we move on, it’s better to tell the princess what we’re doin’ and what we may do later” “That settles it” Twilight said, feeling dejected that they weren’t able to get Rainbow Dash back to her normal self, “We’ll inform the princess and nopony else. Unless we’re ultra sure that Rainbow Dash can’t be fixed, we shouldn’t let anypony else know about this” “You know I will escape eventually, Secretary” President Dash smirked, “And when I do, I’ll enjoy firing you and throwing all of you in jail. You can’t escape the power of the President of Equ....mmpphh!!!” Puzzled, Twilight and the others turned around to figure out why President Dash stopped mid-rant. They smiled a little as they saw their pink friend placing the towel back inside the mouth of the pegasus. “Silly Rainbow Dash” Pinkie Pie giggled while the others were busy writing a letter to Princess Celestia, “Thinking you’re the President of Equestria’s Party Planning Group. I’m the president, silly!” “...ou...su...k...” President Dash merely hissed.
Chapter 1Princess Luna sighed as she stood on the balcony of a tower in her sister's castle. The serene sight of the moon and the beautiful manner in which it shone amongst the stars in the pitch black sky was one scene that even her sister wouldn't have been able to conjure. From her place, she could see her loyal subjects moving about in the distance, some discussing how bright the moon was that night. She could feel the younger ones dreaming about their fantasies, hopes and desires, not a single nightmare in sight. She was indeed indebted to the Elements of Harmony for bringing her back from the dark side and to her sister for showing her how much the night really meant to the ponies. Her thoughts moved to what life would have been if her sister, Twilight and her friends hadn't been there for her. She probably would have destroyed the whole of Equestria due to the infinite reign of darkness. On the other hoof, it would've meant that Discord would still be running rampant, spreading chaos wherever direction he faced until the whole world drowned in the madness that would've ensued. All in all, she was glad that everything had worked out the way it did. She prepared to add more stars in the sky...only to be stopped by an intruding snore. Luna groaned as she saw her sleeping sister, sitting on a chair inside the tower. She was a bit ticked off that Celestia had missed the raising of the moon but she couldn't blame her though. She had been more drained and tired than anypony else after the Tirek crisis they faced just a few days. Still, she found it odd that Celestia was able to sleep through the entire process. "Come on, dear sister...time for bed" Luna let out a giggle as she levitated her slightly drooling elder sister to her chambers. Some few miles away, there was another group of ponies who were already snuggled in their beds as well. Twilight Sparkle's castle shone elegantly against the beams of moonlight while the six residents comfortably drifted off to dreamland in their respective chambers. They had quite the task helping ponies all around the world rediscover their magic but it was worth it, although a bit too tiring for their liking but worthwhile nonetheless. Rainbow Dash, the bearer of the Element of Loyalty had been asleep for a good two hours, one hour earlier than the others due to an early appointment she had with the residents of Cloudsdale the next morning. She had been looking forward to it the whole day, especially since she heard that the Wonderbolts had taken a day off which meant that there was a high possibility that she would be meeting them. "...Spin...cycle 360...awesome..." she muttered in her sleep, dreaming about the almost inevitable event. It seemed as though everything was going to go according to plan for the cyan pegasus. But sometimes, things take an unexpected turn when we least thought it would. A stray, bright ray of light penetrated the glass window at the side of Rainbow Dash's chamber, reaching the closed eyes of the pegasus. She twitched her eyes in response to the gleaming light before she pulled a blanket over her head. She was half-awake by then and was not all too pleased by the rude awakening, although it was naturally unintentional by any means. "Stupid sun..." she groaned, annoyed at being awakened so early in the morning. Normally, the sun wouldn't have risen for another half an hour but the earlier timing really pissed her off. She wanted to sleep some more. Who would want to look like a sleepy slouch on a meeting with their idols? While the rainbow-maned pegasus attempted to catch some "Z"s again, a familiar lavender pony opened the door and trotted in, obviously in a hurry. Twilight stopped though, staring at the sleeping mare with a raised eyebrow. "Uhh...Rainbow Dash, you're gonna be late" she told her friend, turning on an alarm placed near the grand bed. An annoying beeping followed, reaching the ears of Rainbow Dash almost immediately. "Jeez! Twilight! Just let me get some sleep..." Rainbow Dash yelled beneath the bed sheets while holding two pillows to her ears, "And why'd you keep an alarm? You do know I always turn them off when I go to bed" she added, tightening her grip on the pillows and trying her best to tune out the god-awful beeping. Twilight raised her eyebrow in surprise yet again. Rainbow Dash was usually so energetic in the morning but then again, she hadn't known everything about the pegasus so she came to a conclusion that she probably caught her in one of her crankier awakenings. "And what's with that..." Rainbow Dash sniffed the air, "...girly, rose smell? Did you let Rarity or Fluttershy inside while I was asleep?" she asked again. "Rarity? Fluttershy?...err, nope", Twilight merely replied, puzzled by the question, "You ordered the flowers yourself yesterday, remember?" she asked back, turning off the alarm much to Rainbow Dash's relief. "I've no idea what you're talking about" Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of satisfaction. "[i}Peace and quiet again", she thought. "Okay, Miss. Enough of the small talk. You need to get ready for your big day", Twilight told her before she headed towards the door. She readied herself to leave the chamber, but not before shooting one last inquisitive glance at the pegasus. A soft creaking of the door followed her exit. "Finally..." Rainbow Dash cooed. However, before she could fall asleep, an extremely bright flash of light hit her right in the eyes. She flailed wildly before her hooves eventually got tangled in her blanket, causing her to spill to the floor. "Who the hay put this mirror here?" she groaned as she saw the source of the blinding reflection. She slowly picked herself up before she stretched her wings and hooves while yawning. The bright light made it feel like it was noon so she figured it would be better to wake up than to be rudely awakened again. A few basic exercises were all it took to fully awaken her senses. After all, it was indeed her big day and she wasn't gonna end up looking like a slouch. She rubbed her eyes to clear her sight. She grabbed her fallen blanket and casually placed in on her bed before she sat on it. A smile broke on her face as she vaguely recalled her dream. Flying around with the Wonderbolts and meeting other great flyers in Equestria before they raced with her to someplace she couldn't remember. It was a good dream. She stepped down to the floor again only this time, she felt a furry coat beneath her hooves. She tensed up slightly at the fear of accidentally having stepped on one of her friends' pets but then again, no sound or squeak or hoot came from below. "When did I get a furry carpet?" she asked herself as she bent down to take a closer look, "Heh...this feels like real fur" she chuckled, tracing her hooves to the side of the carpet, "I would've totally believed this was manticore if I had seen its..." she instantly froze in place when her hooves touch a bulky extension at the other end of her head, "...head?" She quickly backed away when she saw a large feline face look back at her with its mouth wide open, giving the illusion that it was about to devour her in one go. Yup! It was a definite, dead manticore placed rather inappropriately below her bed. "Okay...w-who did this!?" she yelled, trying to avoid making eye contact with the dead beast. Her eyes widened in shock yet again as she took a better look at her surroundings. The chamber was much, much larger that it was supposed to be. Not to mention that almost nothing felt familiar to her. The bouquets of roses, the out-of-place mirror, the multi-colored skylight and the manticore carpet. Wherever she was, she was definitely not inside their castle. "Haha! Good job! Pinkie, Rarity or whatever. You really got me" she chuckled nervously, anticipating a return laughter from her friends. But nothing answered her, "Umm...guys?" she searched "her" chamber for any signs of her friends. She checked the closet, the bathroom and even under her bed but still, no sign of her friends. She contemplated just flying the hell out of the place but then, she realized something. There was one pony she had forgotten about. "TWILIGHT! GET IN HERE!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Silence followed for a good three seconds before she heard a sound. To her relief, she heard the clopping of hooves just outside the door as it moved closer and closer before the doors swung open to reveal her lavender friend, although she had her hair tied up in a bun and she wore some kind of corny business clothes. But to Rainbow Dash, it didn't matter though. Even Business Twilight Sparkle was a welcome sight. "What is it, Miss? You called for me?" Twilight asked before she took in a deep breath. "Miss?" Rainbow Dash arched her eyebrow, "Whatever...Thank Celestia, you're here", she smiled. She expected her friend to at least respond with a warm smile or something but she only got a puzzled response from the mare. It was a tad bit strange that Twilight acted like she had said something offensive or utterly weird. "What? Did I say something?" Rainbow Dash quickly asked. "Who's Celestia?" Twilight asked back. "Who's Celestia? What do you mean "Who's Celestia?"?" Rainbow Dash raised her voice a little. Much to her surprise, Twilight shuddered and gulped after she said that. A drop of sweat dripped down the suddenly tense mare's brow as she turned her head to the ground, not even daring to look at her straight in the eye. "Sorry for that question. I wasn't supposed to do that" Twilight bowed low. "Say what? Whoa...you're apologizing? What am I? Your boss?" "I guess you could say that" "Hey! Is there a bet I forgot about that you lost?" "I'm not so sure either" Twilight forced a smile, "Anyway, what did you call me for?" she asked. "Oh, right! Where'd all my stuff go?" Rainbow Dash asked. Somehow, she noticed Twilight calming down a bit after the subject was changed. "About that...We renovated your chamber last night while you were asleep", Twilight replied proudly, sporting a genuine smile this time, "I take everything is suited to your satisfaction?" "I guess it is..." Rainbow Dash looked around. Everything really was placed conveniently. A separate bathroom just a few feet away, a licorice dispenser and some hoops hanging high above the strangely tall room for aerial practice. "Although the roses and the mirror are unnecessary", she added, "And get rid of the manticore too". "Okay" Twilight said happily, "If that is all, I'll be taking your leave now. Oh, you better freshen up and suit yourself quick, Miss President. You've got a press conference in thirty minutes", the lavender pony added before she left the chamber. "Tsk! Poor Twilight..." Rainbow Dash mused as she watched the door slam shut, "When will she ever beat me in a bet?" she chuckled before she suddenly realized something. Just a few distance away, a maid carefully dusted a bust in the hallway before a scream echoed throughout the place. "MISS PRESIDENT!?" a muffled voice from behind the door yelled. "This is why I hate Mondays..." the maid muttered, moving on to another bust.
Chapter 2"Maybe she's just accepting the fact that I'm the President of Awesomeness...yes, that must be it" Rainbow Dash let out a nervous chuckle as she attempted to dodge the obvious truth, "That must be it". The pegasus then headed towards the bathroom for a quick, cold shower. Just as Business Twilight had told her, the water was kept at an optimum temperature, just the way she liked it. Aside from the brief eye-burn she got from a stray soap bubble, it was divine. The best shower she had in ages. After she dried herself, Rainbow Dash opened a wardrobe which was placed near the door. She expected some clothes that might resemble a Wonderbolt uniform but to her disappointment, only shirts, coats and ties were present. Begrudgingly, she took out a random combination and wore it. She then checked herself in front of the mirror. "Well...you've looked better", Rainbow Dash said to her reflection who wore a black coat over a white shirt and a red tie around her neck, "I will admit though. I make this corporate-ish look 20% cooler", she chuckled. With that, she flew out of her chamber in a jiffy, fully expecting to be in the familiar crystal hallway of Twilight's castle. But unfortunately, she was dead wrong. To her horror, she found herself standing in a hallway filled with pictures and paintings of important looking ponies, something she would expect to see in one of those Wonderbolt Halls of Fame. At the sides were bodiless sculptures or busts of more ponies and there was a single maid standing in the hallway, busily dusting them. Rainbow Dash uncharacteristically trotted through slowly, staring at the paintings and the busts. Some of them looked vaguely familiar like "Starswirl the Bearded", "Flimsy Coat" and even "Blueblood" of all ponies. They wore all these strange suits which didn't seem to match them at all. "Who the hay are these guys?" she asked herself. "Could you keep it down, Miss President?" the maid asked her blankly. "Umm...okay...I guess" Rainbow Dash shrugged, "Hmm...they even got somepony else to join in on the prank", she mumbled. Steadily, she went past the paintings, trying her best to take a look at each and every one of them. The one thing that Rainbow Dash found it weird was that they all had numbers imprinted in the description plates in an ascending order. She trotted past the 356th, the 357th before she stopped right at the 358th. Her jaw dropped as she stared wide-eyed at the last painting in the room. Right at the middle of the four corners of the wooden frame was a familiar pegasus, a very familiar pegasus. Her rainbow mane was combed to the side, giving her a very regal look; and just by looking at the painting, she could feel a sense of grandeur and responsibility at it. Rainbow Dash leaned closer to take a better look at the description plate just to confirm her assumptions. To her utter shock, she saw the following words: "The 358th President of the grand country of Equestria. Miss Rainbow Dash, the 127th Pegasus to take an oath to be the President of Equestria. She, like those before her, has promised to govern all responsibilities in the great country for the good of all who live in it " "Say what!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Could you please keep it down?" the maid growled yet again, clutching her broom. Rainbow Dash quickly shut up when she saw that the maid was ready to knock her senseless if she even dared to let out a small peep. The glare from the pony was intimidating enough to make the poor pegasus shake in her hooves. She took one last look at her supposed portrait before she swung the huge door at the end of hallway open. To her annoyance, another hallway greeted her although she felt relieved upon seeing Business Twilight impatiently tapping a pen against a notebook she was levitating. Without any hesitation, Rainbow Dash checked for any signs of angry maids before she scooted over to Twilight's side. The whole place suddenly had an eerily familiar vibe to it, almost like she had been there before although she wasn't able to recall anything about it. "Uh...is there something amiss, Miss President?" Business Twilight suddenly asked, arching her eyebrows at the suited mare who had her eyes fixed on the walls and ceiling of the room they were in. " Er...yeah..." Rainbow Dash replied although she was unsure what it was, "Were we here before?" she asked bluntly. "Is that a serious question, Miss President?" Business Twilight asked back. She was starting to get suspicious at her boss' behavior in the past few minutes but she dismissed it as lack of sleep...for now. "As serious as me wanting to join the Wonderbolts" Rainbow Dash unconsciously answered while she racked her brains trying to figure out what place it was. "Wonderbolts? Don't you mean The Special Winged Assault Troopers Team?" Business Twilight's suspicions rose. "What? When did they become military?" Rainbow Dash asked, puzzled by the answer. "They've been part of the Equestrian Military for quite some time now" "Nopony told me that" "I guess we do learn new things every day don't we Miss President?" Twilight let out a nervous chuckle, expecting her out-of-character boss to switch back to her normal state of mind with a simple reply. However, her ears fell flat when she realized Rainbow Dash wasn't getting any wiser. On the contrary, it appeared as though she was more dumbstruck with every explanation she gave her and with every single thing she saw. Business Twilight decided to give the pegasus one more chance before she would stuck to her assumption that something was definitely off with the President of Equestria. Maybe a quick press conference would do the trick. Yes, the disciplined mare had always noticed how excited the rainbow-maned mare would become whenever the attention was all on her. "Okaaayyy...I'm starting to really freak out right now" Rainbow Dash suddenly stated, much to Twilight's surprise. The bespectacled unicorn hadn't anticipated the President to shudder in obvious, genuine fright and confusion. "Calm down, Miss President" Twilight quickly dropped her notepad and approached the trembling mare cautiously, "Something's definitely off with her" she thought. The self-proclaimed best flyer in Ponyville was starting to soak in some revelations herself. Everything appeared too serious and too real to be dismissed as some dream or some prank. How else could anypony explain the grouchy maid from before or even the strange stained glass paintings on the ceilings? Without any second thought, Rainbow Dash grabbed Twilight by her collar and pulled her head close to hers until the other's breaths could be felt on their respective coats. The pegasus looked straight into the unicorn's purple eyes in an attempt to pry out any logical explanations of the situation. Twilight, on the other hoof was completely taken by surprise by Rainbow Dash suddenly forcing her towards her face. Her face was covered in a bright red hue as she tensed up while she stared at her boss through her glasses. "M-Miss President, w-what are you doing?" she stammered. It was becoming increasingly uneasy and embarrassing for the lavender mare, being a mere inch away from the pegasus' face. "Where's Applejack? Pinkie Pie? Rarity? Fluttershy? Spike?" Rainbow Dash inquired forcefully, spouting all the names of her absent friends in rapid succession, "And where's Tank too?" Twilight let out a sigh of relief and eased a bit when Rainbow Dash asked a question she wasn't expecting at all. She wiped a drop of sweat off her brow before she turned back to the President who shot her an inquisitive look. "C-Could you let go of me, Miss President?" Business Twilight smiled nervously as she lightly held the hoof grabbing her. "I'll let you go when you answer my question" Rainbow Dash asserted, fully intent on keeping the lavender unicorn from moving away. "Okay...Alright..." Twilight gulped, visibly intimidated by the threat, "I don't know much about the five names but I do know that the plans for the armored vehicles are being drafted. Sorry for keeping those plans away from you. I really just wanted to impress you". The next instant, Business Twilight placed her hooves in front of her face, expecting the President to smack the taste right of her or worse for keeping something from her but nothing happened. Carefully, she lowered her forehooves and saw the same puzzled look from before. "Armored what?" Rainbow Dash questioned after a few seconds of silence. "Uhh...Tanks?" Twilight replied. "Thanks for what?" "No, tanks!" Twilight repeated, pulling out a sketch of said machine from her notepad. Rainbow Dash took the sketch and observed it for some time. However, she wasn't able to make heads or tails of the whole engineering crap so she merely handed it back to the unicorn. "Yeahhhh...I've never seen those before" Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Can I ask one question?" Business Twilight suddenly asked. "I guess you could" Rainbow Dash answered blindly. "You're not the real Miss President, are you?" Twilight asked point blank. The question stopped Rainbow Dash's train of thought right in its tracks. Twilight Sparkle admitting that something was odd was the wake-up call she needed, the last number to be sure that she had the combination right. She was definitely somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. The mare standing in front of her appeared to be all too serious for the past half an hour to be joking. And add in the weird place as well as the intimidating maid from before and she had all the cards she required to believe that everything around her was real. Wherever she was, she was the damn President and everypony else thought so too. "Tell me" Twilight demanded. Now it was time for the lavender pony to be on the offensive. She had to be sure whether or not her boss was still there. Rainbow Dash wrestled with her conscience. She had already accepted this was all real but she still had two choices to make. One, she continues pretending to be the President of Equestria, govern the country as best as she could and try to find a way to get back to her own world or two, she could confess who she really was to Twilight and persuade her to help her fix everything before anypony else knew. She went for option no. 2, mainly because she felt Business Twilight probably must've had at least some experience in situations like this before. After all, any universe' Twilight must at least by proficient in magic, right? "You're correct. You see, I'm not from around here" Rainbow Dash decided to spill the beans. She cringed a bit when she said that but she was sure that Twilight would help her. However, as soon as she saw Business Twilight's mouth curl into an inevitable scream, she quickly reached forward. "Buck" she cursed on the inside. "WHAAAA...mmphhh.." Twilight tried to yell in shock, only to be stopped by a cyan hoof muffling her. "Jeez, calm down for Celestia's sake" Rainbow Dash groaned as she kept her hooves on the unicorn's mouth although taking care not to hurt her "friend". What puzzled Rainbow Dash though was that this Twilight was much weaker than hers. Princess Twilight Sparkle would've easily levitated her away but Business Twilight didn't even try to push her away. Either that or President Dash must've really worked out a lot. "Quit wriggling, will ya?" Rainbow Dash said, annoyed at the lavender mare's futile attempts at escaping her hold, "You're done trying to escape, right?" she asked, loosening her grip. Twilight was all too happy to be released from the hold and she almost immediately stepped away from Rainbow Dash. Yep! This was definitely not the Rainbow Dash she used to know. "Where are you from?" Twilight finally asked after she regained her composure. "Equestria" Rainbow Dash replied bluntly before she corrected herself, "Not this Equestria though. In our world, I'm not a freaking President and we're friends". "We're friends?" Business Twilight really found that hard to believe despite the fact that this wasn't President Dash she was talking to. "Yeah! And those guys I asked you about? They're part of our little circle of friendship" Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a smile. "Say what? You're friends with the traitor Fluttershy?!" Business Twilight eyes widened at the reply. "Fluttershy's a what? You can't be serious" Rainbow Dash returned an equally shocked expression. "She left Equestria and joined the other species due to conflicting views" Twilight explained, a hint of anger could be felt in her voice. "What conflict?" Rainbow Dash asked again. She was at odds with her foalhood friend in this world? "Err...I'll explain later" Twilight replied, "And as for Rarity, she must be that famed designer in Ponyville although I've never seen you meet her before". "Well, at least that means she's probably still the same" Rainbow Dash heaved a sigh of relief upon knowing that there was a chance that she could visit her friend later, "What about Applejack?" "Applej...she's part of the Apple Family or maybe the Pie Family, right?" Twilight asked. "The Apple Family. What about it?" "Well, if she's part of the Apple Family then she's probably at the Eastern Battlefield as per your orders for all mares of the Apple and Pie Family to supply food and water to the soldiers in the zone", Twilight replied indifferently. "BATTLEFIELD?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Get them back here in ten seconds flat. That's no place for ponies like them", she said, suddenly finding new found concern for Applejack and Pinkie Pie, "They're still okay, right?" "Umm...there hasn't been any reports of casualties from our side..." Twilight said. "That's a relief" "..yet" Twilight added, picking her pen and notepad up. "Wow! Just wow!" Rainbow Dash let out a nervous chuckle as she facehoofed herself. "What's the matter?" Twilight asked. "Letting Fluttershy go, not even meeting Rarity, and sending two of my friends to the worst place in Equestria? I did all that?" "Yes, yes you did" "I...am such...a jerk!" Rainbow Dash shouted, shaking her hooves in anger. "Welcome to the club" Twilight smirked before she placed a reassuring hoof on the pegasus, "Come on, Dashie. We've a press conference to attend to". "What the hay am I gonna say? I'm not a President" Rainbow Dash sighed. "Leave it all to me. Just trust me" Twilight assured her as she walked by her side, "After all, that's what we do in your world, right?" "Heh...I guess so" Rainbow Dash replied with a chuckle. Meanwhile, some dimensions far away "Release me, Secretary! I demand to be set free!" A cyan pegasus yelled aloud. Princess Twilight Sparkle just let out a sigh as she continued to restrain the flailing mare in place on her bed. She didn't know why but Rainbow Dash had acted rather strangely ever since she woke up. She had volunteered to wake up Rainbow Dash so as to remind her of her meeting with the Wonderbolts later in the day. Especially considering that the pegasus had spent hours practicing nonstop, she was sure that her friend would definitely oversleep. However, Princess Twilight didn't expect to see a paranoid mare when she opened the door to Rainbow Dash's chamber. To her surprise, said mare was yelling all kinds of obscenities at her as well as trying to throw some of her furniture out of the windows, more specifically, her life-size Wonderbolt action figures. That was enough for the Princess of Friendship to bind Rainbow Dash down with her magic before she could do any more damage to her room. "What in Equestria is wrong with you, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, careful not to hurt her friend. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" Rainbow Dash retorted, "And who the hay gave you permission to grow wings? What'd you think you are? Some unicorn-pegasus hybrid?" "Alicorn" Twilight corrected her, "And I didn't grow them, Princess Celestia gave them to me", she explained calmly. "Celestia? What do you take me for? A mere simpleton?" Rainbow Dash looked like she was deeply offended by the assumption that Twilight was making fun of her, "I'll have you know that I majored in Equestrian History and Political Science and there's absolutely no instances of any "Princess Celestia"s". "There's definitely something off inside that little brain of yours" Princess Twilight concluded before she turned her attention to some sounds coming from the hallway behind her, probably belonging to Spike. "That's it! No pay for a week! I should write a bill about sacking insubordinate workers like you" Rainbow Dash ranted, "But who am I kidding? Unicorns like you have never been competent in your jobs. Always snotty and full of yourselves". Twilight twitched at the last remark. She was pissed by what Rainbow Dash said. Mainly because one, she never expected her friend to say that and two, it sounded vaguely racial, something that she absolutely hated. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that" Twilight forced a smile. "Hey Twilight! What's taking you so long? The others are waiting for you" a voice behind the alicorn said. "Spike!" Twilight quickly spun around to face her assistant, "I was going to join you guys but I've run into a snag heheh", she gave the dragon a sheepish laugh. "What snag?" Spike asked before he noticed Rainbow Dash being restrained on her bed, "And why's Rainbow Dash tied up with magic?" Before Princess Twilight could answer, another angered shout came from the mouth of the tied-up pegasus. "A DRAGON!? YOU"RE WORKING WITH A FILTHY REPTILE!?" Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs, "YOU BETTER NOT DARE TO REPEAT WHAT YOUR PREDECESSOR FLUTTERSHY DID!" "Filthy?" Spike gave a puzzled look, sniffing the undersides of his arm, "I just showered an hour ago". "I HATE YOU, TRECHEROUS BEAST! I WI...mmph!" Rainbow Dash tried to add some more insults before a levitated towel covered her mouth. "Twilight?" "Yeah?" "She's finally snapped, right?" Twilight pondered an answer. She kept her gaze fixed on the mare restrained by her magic. She could see a wild look on her face as well as a murderous desire in her eyes. One could definitely assume that the pegasus had gone insane. "I guess you're right" Twilight sighed.
Chapter 3Rainbow Dash paced back and forth, a few distance from the entrance to the room where the press conference was to be held. A worried Business Twilight looked on, wondering if participating in the press conference was a good idea. She knew that she couldn’t let anypony especially the press know about what happened to President Dash but her sudden absence would also spark unwanted rumors. The bespectacled unicorn let out a heavy sigh as she watched the President of Equestria trying to figure out which was the best way to make an awesome entrance. As strict and short-tempered as President Dash was, she at least kept a firm code of discipline at all times unlike this new Dash. She would never openly admit it but she really wished that her boss was back. “I’m...outta ideas” Rainbow Dash said, “This won’t gonna last too long, right?” “The press conference?” Twilight asked, “Half an hour the latest I suppose” “I was referring to being stuck in this business-ish world” Rainbow Dash retorted. “Oh! I don’t know about that” Twilight replied, “Maybe it’ll be for a few hours, days or maybe forever” “I’m about to do something I have never done before in my awesome life and you’re not making this feel any better” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “Sorry for that” Twilight smiled sheepishly, “Since President Dash doesn’t have any more engagements until tonight I promise I’ll help you find a way to get back to your world”, she added. For a split second, Rainbow Dash could’ve sworn she saw a little bit of Princess Twilight in Business Twilight’s face. “You better” Rainbow Dash sighed, “For now, let’s just concentrate on this cruddy press stuff” “I was just about to suggest that” Twilight chuckled, adjusting her spectacles, “Oh! I almost forgot....” she said as she walked up to the cyan pegasus, “President Dash never wanders about with unkempt hair” “Hey! What the hay are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash yelled as soon as she saw Business Twilight reaching for her rainbow mane, “I’ve already worn this boring suit, enough of the corporate makeup”, she tried to get away from her. “Stop fidgeting” Twilight giggled a little, still a bit uneasy at the whole situation, “There, it’s all fixed” she said, combing the pegasus’ mane with her magic. Inside she was squealing like a little filly. Even if this wasn’t their President, she could now brag about brushing their beloved leader’s mane. “I do not like this one bit” Rainbow Dash scowled, crossing her hooves. “Let’s go now or we’ll be late” Twilight continued giggling, lightly shoving the pegasus through the door. With that, the lavender unicorn and her boss entered the room. Rainbow Dash looked around and saw that there were more ponies that she initially thought. Most of them were carrying notepads and cameras. She also seemed to recognize some of the audience members but couldn’t see too clearly because of the others. “MISS PRESIDENT RAINBOW DASH EVERYONE!!!” a voice announced loudly over the sound system. The next moment, everypony including the important looking ones sitting near Rainbow Dash’s reserved seat got up and greeted her with a huge round of applause. Under better circumstances, Rainbow Dash would’ve felt proud of herself but she wasn’t feeling good at all. She muttered curse words to Business Twilight as one of the guard ponies escorted her to her allotted seat while the audience got back to their respective places. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “I sure wish I wasn’t” Twilight snickered before handing her notepad to the cyan pony, “I’m not allowed to sit next to you so you better keep that close to you. If they ask you a difficult question, I’ll just provide an answer to you through that”. “How are you gonna do that?” Rainbow Dash whispered loudly, ignoring the noises from the crowd. “That notepad is magically synchronized with my mind so anything I think of will be written there” “Huh? Then why the hay do you carry a pen?” “You...I mean President Dash never allowed me to use magic in her presence so I had to write using this” she pointed to the pen. “Ahem!” one guard pony nudged Twilight. “I have to go now. Good luck” she told Rainbow Dash one last time before she walked off to the side. “Darn....” Rainbow Dash groaned, watching Twilight go. “Excuse me, Miss President...” a stallion sitting to her left tapped her. “What is it, dumbo?” she mumbled lazily, not even gracing the pegasus with a glance. “It’s Trombone. Anyway, those nosy unicorns are probably going to ask you questions about your dismissal of Miss Fluttershy even though it’s been over a month so I was suggesting that you let me answer those” the stallion recommended. “Sure, knock yourself out. I don’t care” Rainbow Dash sighed, leaning on the desk. “Good! That’s what I’ll answer with” Trombone’s eyes brightened, “It’s all in the past and you care more about the future and you have no time for talking about rebellious colleagues during times of conflict” Rainbow Dash wasn’t paying attention to anything the stallion was saying. All she could think about was her friends back home. They were probably worried sick about her and she hadn’t found any way to get back home. She missed all of them. The real problem was that aside from Twilight Sparkle, President Dash didn’t seem to have any connections with her friends in this world and she was sure that meeting up with them would be hard not to mention probably dangerous. “Ahem...sorry to disturb again but do you mind if I answered questions regarding the war on your behalf?” Trombone asked again. “Sure” “Other Species Conflicts?” “Uh-huh” “The Secession of the Crystal Empire?” “Whatever” “The allegations of favoring pegasi?” “What?” Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up at the question. “The allegations of you favoring pegasi for government posts even though there were more deserving candidates” he replied, “Those are just lies, right?” The Bearer of the Element of Loyalty glanced at the other six ponies sitting with her. Not a single earth pony or unicorn was in sight. President Dash must’ve really had some issues. “I’m not too sure but I did hire Twilight as my Secretary so President Das...I mean I can’t possibly be....racist heheh” Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. “That’s a great answer” Trombone nodded, a bit puzzled by the nervous reply their President gave, “Although you did appoint her only after you fired Miss Fluttershy first” “That might be a problem” Rainbow Dash gulped, wiping a drop of sweat off her brow, “I don’t suppose you can....I mean....you know....” “Don’t worry. I’ll cover it all for you” Trombone let out a smile before he turned away, “What’s up with her? She hasn’t fallen for my ol’ charm, has she?” he asked himself with a smirk on his face. A green pegasus sitting right next to him stood up, banging on the desk to gain the audience’s attention. Rainbow Dash readied herself mentally as the conference was imminent. “Attention!” he shouted through the microphone he carried, pausing until nopony else was speaking, “Thank you. As you all know, we are all gathered here for the press conference regarding the conflicts around Equestria as well as other matters but before we start, I would like to ask our respect President, Miss Rainbow Dash to say a few words” he finished, handing over the microphone to Rainbow Dash. “What!?” Business Twilight raised an eyebrow. Normally, the press conference should’ve started as usual without any speech from the President but it appeared as though President Dash had changed the traditional way. Twilight panicked as any wrong choice of words from the President was going to be all over the morning papers. And from what she saw and heard, Rainbow Dash wasn’t nearly as composed and collected as President Dash was. The poor rainbow-maned pegasus gulped and stood up. She stole a glance at her lavender friend who was looking as nervous as she was. “G-Good eveni....I mean Good Morning everypony” she forced a smile as she tried her best not to let anypony know the truth about her, “Dammit, Rainbow Dash! Pull yourself together. You can do this. Stop shaking! You’re not Fluttershy for Celestia’s sake” “Say something!” Twilight whispered from afar. “T-Thank you all from coming to this bore fest....I mean awesome press conference we’re having” Rainbow Dash continued, “Just pretend you’re introducing yourself in front of the other members of Wonderbolts....” “Is she gonna crack?” a unicorn guard asked Twilight. “I hope not heheh” Twilight replied anxiously. “Alright...here it goes” Rainbow Dash took a breath, “I’m Rainbow Dash...scratch that...President Rainbow Dash and me and my frie....I mean business partners are looking forward to answering any questions you may ask us. You are free to ask about anything, about any topic or subject to your liking. Thank you. You’re all awesome!” A loud cheer erupted from the audience....inside Rainbow Dash’s mind. Outside of it, it was a slightly different scenario. Stunned silence greeted Dashie’s short speech much to her surprise. As she tried to piece together what she said wrong, she felt a light nudge from the stallion from before. “Psst! Glory to Equestria!” Trombone whispered to her. “Uhh.....Glory to Equestria!” she repeated. As if on cue, the ponies, save for a group of scowling unicorns, applauded loudly, some even jumping up and down like giddy schoolfoals. The other ponies sitting near her simply smiled although some of them had skeptical looks on their faces. Rainbow Dash heaved a sigh of relief as she sat down. Although it was brief, she was definitely glad that the “speech” was over. Normally, she would’ve been confident about speaking in front of a crowd but the thick aura of animosity in the air was somehow unnerving her, leading her to ponder about what in the world had happened to Equestria. “Good job” two words appeared on her notepad. The cyan pegasus looked to the side and saw a bespectacled unicorn give her a nod of assurance. “Alright!” the green pegasus stood up again, “Thank you for that, Miss President. Now, we’ll start the press conference now. Like we said yesterday, the President and the board will only answer ten questions. No more no less. You may begin” The next moment, Rainbow Dash yelped a little as she saw the ponies try to gain her attention. Her eyes darted from one pony to another but all she could see was their desire and thirst for information. “*sigh* What is wrong with you, Miss Dash?” Trombone piped up once again, “Pick one. Personally, I think you should avoid the unicorns but it’s your choice” “Okay.....” Rainbow Dash mumbled before she pointed her hoof towards a light blue unicorn with a wavy white and navy blue mane who was holding her hoof up. “Oh! Me?” the unicorn asked as all eyes in the room were on her. “Uh...you have a question or something?” “Can I go to the little fillies’ room?” the unicorn asked sheepishly. “Um...I guess so” Rainbow Dash shrugged. The mare bowed low before she dashed right out of the Conference Hall. “Except for Colgate I may add” the stallion snickered, “She’s always here to ask silly questions but I believe you already know that, Miss President” “Anypony else” Rainbow Dash yawned. Press conferences were certainly more boring than she had initially thought. She wondered how in Equestria the princesses or even President Dash were able to go through this every single week. A wave of flailing hooves snapped her out of her train of thought. She remembered that the sooner she got this done, the sooner Business Twilight would help her get back to her home. “You! The guy with the bandage around his hoof” Rainbow Dash said, turning to an earth pony stallion sitting at the back. “What? Me?” he groaned, “My hoof’s broken. Doctor told me to put my hoof up for a week. I don’t like it too much” “What kind of doctor tells their patient that?” Rainbow Dash gave a confused look. “A piece of advice, Miss President: Don’t go to earth pony doctors. They’re crazy as buck!” Trombone warned. “Whatever” Rainbow Dash muttered, “Let’s move on.....Let’s see.....how about you! In the back, with the funny hat” she pointed to a pony seated in the rear. “It’s me again” the bandaged pony retorted. “Oh! Sorry” Rainbow Dash let out an embarrassed chuckle, her face reddening while the members of the audience laughed a bit. Business Twilight facehoofed herself, wondering why in Equestria she thought Rainbow Dash would’ve been able to handle the press conference flawlessly. Right next to Twilight, unknown to her or the other ponies present, two members of the board were secretly discussing about their President’s suspicious behavior. They watched Rainbow Dash’s movement closely and came to a conclusion that there was something wrong with her. “She’s definitely not the same Rainbow Dash” a blue pegasus mare told her partner. “Her mannerism is totally different from the mare who won by a landslide” a white pegasus added. “And against Blueblood too” “Yeah! I have to admit that was impressive” “Sure was! I never thought anypony would’ve been able to pull him off the top” “Certainly not her” the white stallion said, watching Rainbow Dash pander to the audience, “And definitely not her. Why the hay is she even answering questions from the unicorns? Doesn’t she know what they did in the Changeling War?” “Shh...she might hear you” her friend reprimanded him. “So, can you tell us whether or not the government is secretly building armored vehicles made from the parts of the unidentified object from the StableWell Incident fifty years ago?” a reporter asked Rainbow Dash. “I...umm...” Rainbow Dash tried to answer before she suddenly realized, “Unidentified Object?” she asked, dumbfounded by the mention of it. “Yes, the one that every other president has denied seeing” “Unidentified Object?” Rainbow Dash merely repeated before she turned to the stallion sitting beside her, “You’re up, Strong Bow” “Mr. Trombone, Miss President. I will answer that on behalf of the president if you don’t mind” Trombone said with a smile, “The StableWell Incident is nothing more than a fabricated lie. Even though some may claim otherwise, the government never found any strange objects from outer space nor did it retrieve any parts or bodies fifty years ago. My colleague Light Wing can assure you that it never happened” “Yes, Mr. Snap Feather” the green pegasus from before stood up, “The government did not, I repeat, did not retrieve any bodies of strange hairless two legged apes from outer space, nor did it retrieve any kind of flying vehicular machines” he added, sitting back to his accustomed seat as he finished. “Flying machines?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at Light Wing. “Yeah! They are all so easy to deceive, don’t you agree, Miss President?” Light Wing smirked, waving at the audience. “So, we never found any unidentified objects or bodies of hairless apes?” Rainbow Dash asked in a serious tone. “That’s the general idea” Light Wing chuckled while Trombone continued to answer the remaining questions, “I have to admit. Using the apes’ technology to build those tanks, that was genius on your behalf, Miss President” “Me?” Rainbow Dash inquired. Everything she knew about President Dash and this Equestria was becoming more and more messed up by the minute. “Yes. We sent your plans to Twilight Sparkle and she supervised everything although we haven’t told her yet that you were actually the one who told us to build them” “Boy...I sure am some kind of sick genius, ain’t I?” Rainbow Dash sighed, contemplating about the reputation her counterpart must’ve had among the ponies of Equestria. “The best” Light Wing complimented “Thanks” she muttered. She looked back to the audience and saw that Trombone had successfully managed to answer the remaining questions with no difficulty at all. She smiled as she realized the press conference was coming to an end. “We’ll take one more question” Trombone announced before turning to Rainbow Dash, “President Dash will answer the last question. After that, The board will take your leave”. “Me?” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Just send them home happy” Trombone winked. “Jeez...let’s get this over with then”, she grumbled, pointing towards a white unicorn with a red mane, “Ask away” “Not him” Trombone and the rest of the panel gasped. “What’s wrong?” she whispered. Said unicorn slowly got up from his seat, sporting a sinister grin on his face, his blue eyes gleaming with hatred and negativity. Rainbow Dash was quick to notice this and she immediately turned to Twilight. The lavender unicorn was holding her hoof to her mouth as if something dreadful was about to happen. “Thank you, Miss President” the white unicorn grinned, “I just have a request to make. If you really aren’t favoring pegasi, then what do you say about the Equal Tax Bill?” “Uh....could you repeat that?” “The Equal Tax Bill? Equal taxes for every species even if us unicorns are the wealthiest in the Equestria?” “I guess that’s fair” Rainbow Dash shrugged before she felt a light tap. “Don’t answer his question” Trombone advised anxiously, “Just say “Pass” and we’ll be done” “Okay....” Rainbow Dash said with a wide smile before she gleefully shouted to everypony in the Hall, “Passed!” With that, another loud cheer erupted from the audience. Even the unhappy unicorns from before were beaming in delight. Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves proudly as if she had won the Equestria Games. Trombone, Light Wing and the rest of the board facehoofed themselves, inaudibly complaining about the decision before they left the Hall in a huff. Rainbow Dash felt a bit puzzled as to why they suddenly left but she turned away and walked towards Business Twilight. “I did good, right?” Rainbow Dash asked the smiling unicorn mare. To her surprise, her friend didn’t seem to hear her. She was sporting the happiest expression she had ever seen. The joy on her face was genuine, not something one would’ve been able to fake. “Uh...Twilight? You okay?” Rainbow Dash asked while the audience left the room one by one, “Whoa! Are you....crying?” she raised an eyebrow as she saw tears form in the corner of the mare’s eyes. In a split second, Business Twilight hugged the pegasus tightly. Rainbow Dash stood transfixed, wondering why in the world Twilight was crying and hugging her like a toy doll. “T-Thank you, Pres...I mean Rainbow Dash” Twilight said. “You’re welcome” Rainbow Dash chuckled as Twilight broke the hug, “What’d I do?” she deadpanned. Meanwhile It had been almost ten minutes and still Rainbow Dash hadn’t calm down nor did she comply with Twilight and her friends’ requests. They were really starting to worry that Rainbow Dash might’ve had hit her head a bit too hard when she fell out of her bed. “Why are you making this hard for us, Rainbow Dash?” Princess Twilight asked her pegasus friend. “I....drrr.....tra....trsss...” President Dash replied with muffled growls. “I....drrr.....tra....trsss...?” Pinkie asked. narrowing her eyes, “Did she just say “I’ll destroy you, traitors”?” “Uhhh...I’m darn sure our Rainbow Dash wouldn’t say anythin’ like that” Applejack answered unconfidently. “Come to think of it, she hasn’t acted like our Rainbow Dash at all” Spike said before he turned to Twilight, “Should we write to Princess Celestia about this?” “Not now” Princess Twilight replied, approaching the tied-up and gagged Rainbow Dash only to recoil back after seeing the burning fire of hatred in the pegasus’ eyes. “I-I don’t like this side of Rainbow Dash very much” Fluttershy said timidly. President Dash quickly shifted her focus to the shy pegasus. She stared intently into the eyes of the familiar mare, concentrating all the hatred inside of her and shouting curses at Fluttershy. “F...u..k......s...it!!!!” President Dash yelled. “What was that?” Applejack asked. “She said “Fluttershy, you knave! Stupid dips...”” Pinkie Pie replied with a smile before she was interrupted. “I think we get the general idea, darling” Rarity stopped the pink pony who just bounced away, “This is definitely not our Rainbow Dash” “Should I take the towel from her mouth?” Spike asked. “I think we should but wait for a moment” Princess Twilight said before she turned to President Dash, “Rainbow Dash, we’re gonna take this off now, alright? Will promise not to shout at Spike or anypony else?” President Dash nodded vigorously although she still hadn’t lost the scowl on her face. “Spike, pull the towel out of her mouth please” Cautiously, the purple dragon pulled the towel out of President Dash’s mouth. He swiftly backed away from the mare, preparing for any kind of attack. Everypony stood in silence as they hoped that the worse hadn’t happened and that their friend would get back to her normal self. Their worst fear came true as they heard a sinister, almost evil snicker coming from the cyan pegasus. “Hehehe....I presume you all believe you’ve got me cornered and at your mercy” President Dash greeted the others with a vile smile. “What’s so funny?” Applejack asked. “You’re all so naive” she chuckled, “Now I understand everything. You think of me as your friend and that I would comply easily, am I right?” “Our friend? With that nasty attitude of yours?” Rarity retorted, “You can’t possibly be our friend” “And you’re definitely not a changeling” Twilight added. “Yuck! You would even dare to believe that I’m one of those filthy insects?” President Dash was visibly offended from being even thought of as a mere bug. “Y-You’re not Rainbow Dash. Who are you and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked. “For the last time...” President Dash groaned, “I am Rainbow Dash. Aside from you and your replacement over here....” she turned to Twilight, “...I have never seen these two earth ponies or this unicorn before in my life. I can see through your plans. Ask for any amount of bits you want, I swear you’re all going to face severe punishment for kidnapping me and forcing me to hear your lies. And if you think for a second that trying to trick me into believing that we’re all friends is going to help you in making me cooperate, you’re all going to have a bad time” “Wow! She really does love to grumble, doesn’t she?” Spike commented, unimpressed. “To Tartarus with you, purple reptile from hell!” President Dash growled. “I’m from Canterlot” Spike corrected. “And I’m from the Rock Farm near Ponyville!” Pinkie chimed. “Whatever!” President Dash shouted. “So, what should we do next?” Rarity asked, “I mean we can all agree that this isn’t our Rainbow Dash. Should we write to the princess about it?” “I think we should” Applejack agreed, “Before we move on, it’s better to tell the princess what we’re doin’ and what we may do later” “That settles it” Twilight said, feeling dejected that they weren’t able to get Rainbow Dash back to her normal self, “We’ll inform the princess and nopony else. Unless we’re ultra sure that Rainbow Dash can’t be fixed, we shouldn’t let anypony else know about this” “You know I will escape eventually, Secretary” President Dash smirked, “And when I do, I’ll enjoy firing you and throwing all of you in jail. You can’t escape the power of the President of Equ....mmpphh!!!” Puzzled, Twilight and the others turned around to figure out why President Dash stopped mid-rant. They smiled a little as they saw their pink friend placing the towel back inside the mouth of the pegasus. “Silly Rainbow Dash” Pinkie Pie giggled while the others were busy writing a letter to Princess Celestia, “Thinking you’re the President of Equestria’s Party Planning Group. I’m the president, silly!” “...ou...su...k...” President Dash merely hissed.
