Age of the Alicorn

Chapter 7: A Dash of Light Booms into a Rainbow – Part 2

Up in the clouds above Sky Island’s central pastures, a sky blue Pegasus was bucking her way through the fluffy accumulations of water vapor. Her wild, rainbow-colored mane ruffled in the wind as she flew through the great expanse, and the sunlight shimmered off of her and beamed down onto the ground below.

She was calmer now, but her conversation with a certain soldier-pony had not left her mind. In fact, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about Light Speed and how he was going to get married, and to somepony he probably didn’t even like.

“No, that’s not my problem,” she told herself for the thousandth time. And yet, it just felt wrong to her.

But that wasn’t the only thing that felt wrong to her.

A few hours beforehoof, right after she had left the castle grounds to cool off, Rainbow Dash chose to visit some of the villages nearby and get to know what the locals were like. To say that she was shocked would be like saying the Apples were into apple-bucking.

Not only did the ponies seem as though they were living in abject poverty, but they were downright some of the saddest ponies she had ever seen.

Furthermore, when she asked about their opinion of Light Speed, not a single pony could tell her a thing about him after his Uncle, the “Lord-Regent”, had made it nigh unto illegal to be anywhere near him.

Boy, the more she heard about that guy, the less she liked.

The more she saw, the more Rainbow Dash had a sense of déjà vu. It became so familiar to her, that she almost would have compared the condition of the village-ponies’ to that of the Crystal Ponies in Equestria when she and the rest of the girls first met them.

The one good thing that came out of her meeting these Sky Island natives was that she became something of an instant celebrity.

She had just been walking around when a little filly had stopped her and asked her if she was the one who made the rainbow they all saw. When Rainbow had confirmed it, ponies began to gather around her and ask her if she really was, to which she repeated her confirmation.

Soon enough, the ponies began spreading the word that she, Rainbow Dash, was the amazing pony who made the rainbow appear in an explosion and brought new life to the island.

She wasn’t sure what the big deal was, besides her being awesome, but she was glad to have brightened their day a bit. After all, they needed it.

She would have indulged herself in basking in their praises for a while, if she wasn’t intent on trying to resolve her personal inner-conflict.

Speaking of which, the mare wasn’t all too sure how she was supposed to go about dealing with this, especially considering she didn’t know why she was finding it so hard to just let this go.

Sure, Light Speed was her friend now, but there wasn’t much she could do for him.

Sure, he was the greatest stallion she had ever met, but he was just one guy.

Sure, she liked him- Wait, what?!

Rainbow Dash skidded to a halt in the air for a moment as she thought about what just ran through her head.

“You just met him today,” she pointed out to herself, “but he is the coolest stallion ever.”

“This isn’t your home, so you can’t stay to get to know him better,” she tried to argue against herself, “but you might be stuck here until who knows when.”

“He’s getting married!” she shouted to herself on the inside. “But he’s not yet, and he doesn’t want to be.”

It was starting to bug her how that still, small voice inside of her was making more sense than she wanted it to.

So frustrated by the argument that she had with herself, Rainbow decided that maybe a good nap on a cloud would calm her nerves and allow her to make a better decision later.

She laid her body upon the poofy white bundle and rested her head in a comfortable position before slowly closing her eyes.

However, rest and relaxation were not hers to have…

Her mind was just beginning to drift into a state of peace when her ears began to catch the telltale sounds of flapping feathery wings.

At first, she merely ignored them and did her best to focus on letting sleep claim her. But, the volume of the noise began to grow and it was nearing her.

Finally deciding that it may be best to see what was disturbing her attempt at some shut-eye, Rainbow Dash raised her head, but had yet to open her peepers.

“Alright,” she stated while rubbing her closed eyes, “what’s so important that I couldn’t at least start my nap?”

Opening her eyelids, she at last saw what kind of situation she was in: Surrounding her on all sides, there were stallions in suits of armor, whether the silver of the regular Pegasi soldiers or crimson of the venerable Crimson Wings that she had the pleasure of learning about. The only problem – they did not look happy seeing her.

“What’s the problem, fellas?” she asked, trying to maintain a façade of calmness with a smile, but inwardly anxious and preparing herself for a fight. Though her chances were slim, she was sure that, if she managed to throw them off with a few moves, she could give them the slip.

“Miss Rainbow Dash,” a crimson-armored pony with a deep voice said, “you are under arrest for suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping and disappearance of Prince Light Speed, heir to the throne.”

Everything, all previous thought of earlier conversation and her problems getting home, went to the back of her mind as the entirety of her focus went into two things: One, she was being arrested, and two, most importantly, Light Speed was missing!

“What?!” she shouted, accidentally causing the soldier-ponies to tense as she jumped up onto all fours on the cloud in-time with her reaction. “Wha’da’ ya’ mean-”

“Please, Miss Dash,” a familiar voice spoke out from behind the group.

Looking in the direction of the pony who said this, she caught sight of a brown-maned Pegasus of familiar shape, but with his headgear on and his goggles covering his eyes.

“We don’t want to cause you any harm,” he stated as he drew closer to her, “If you would just come with us, we can solve this debacle and find where the Prince is.”

She stared into his eyes, the best she could, as she listened to his words and knew he was right.

“Please,” he continued, only in a whisper this time, “for his sake.”

Those words struck home and she realized that he was just as desperate to find his friend, and she knew that the only way that this would be solved, without a ruckus, was to go along with them.

“Fine,” she submitted, carefully, and slowly, lifting herself off of the cloud.

Following their lead, she stayed in the middle of the group of ponies as they escorted her on to the castle.

True to his word, Bursting Winds didn’t allow any of the other ponies to do anything to her. However, that didn’t change the fact that the whole way to their destination she was getting the stink-eye from just about any and all ponies besides the Captain.

She didn’t know why, but something felt ominous about this whole thing, and Rainbow would have placed an Equestrian bit on the bet that she had been framed.

Unfortunately, once at the castle, the Captain was relieved of his services and forced to have to hoof her over to another officer, who was less than polite.

A bag was placed over her head as she was dragged from the nicer entry corridor of the palace into a danker, darker place.

Finally, she was thrown into a cell, where she was able to remove the itchy burlap sack while the barred door was shut closed behind her.

“What’s the big idea?!” she shouted at the dark-armored stallion in front of her confined space.

“Quiet,” he ordered in a manner that promised pain if she didn’t obey, “The Lord-Regent wishes to speak to you, and we can’t have a dangerous criminal walking about and doing whatever they want, now can we?”

Choosing to remain silent, the mare merely bore holes in the back of her captor’s head with her reddish-violet sights as he walked away, around a corner, leaving her to her own devices, such as they were.

Deciding that she needed to search for a possible escape route, or means to it, Rainbow Dash examined her cell and its surroundings.

Immediately, she noticed the disgusting state in which it was. Even she had a double-take about the condition, never mind Rarity.

It was dark, dirty, and the ground was covered with grime and some kind of puddles… oh, wait.

Sticking closer to the drier areas of the floor, she took a long eyeful of the box-shaped space and determined that there was no immediate opening such as a window or a large enough break between the bars that she could squeeze herself through. Furthermore, the walls were made of tightly-laid brick that had no cracks. There weren’t even any loose ones on close examination.

Nope. She was stuck. All she could hope for was that Light Speed was safe, and that went for her gal pals, too.

Thoughts ran through her head of Ponyville, and Equestria, and her friends. How she was yanked away from there, to here, where she was now being held captive for false pretenses. Everything turned out just fine that morning. She woke up, had an early morning flight around Ponyville, did some cloud busting, and then went to have that meeting with her closest friends. Yep, life had been good at that point.

But now, she was in a nasty cell, waiting for a judgment to be placed upon her for something she didn’t even do!

Then she thought of what her friends could possibly be going through. After all, they hadn’t been brought to this wondrous new place, so they had to have been taken to somewhere else.

The idea that they were in trouble worried her to no end. If anything, they could be in even more danger, especially Fluttershy! That shy little filly couldn’t buck her way out of a paper bag!

Then, the thought of her friends being in danger made her think of her newest friend – Light Speed.

What could have possibly happened to him? There was no way that he was kidnapped. It just didn’t make any sense, no matter which way you looked at it.

She knew this – she would not stop until she was out of that cell, and then she would find Light Speed and make sure he’s okay. Then, she’d find a way to save the rest of her friends and go home to Ponyville! That, she was determined to do!

The creaking sound of a rusty jointed door interrupted her thoughts from progressing and the tapping of hooves in the distance brought her focus back to the outside of the cell.

Out stepped, from around the corner, a tall stallion with a well-kept mane and a short beard on his muzzle that were silver in color, and upon his face was a pair of steel-grey eyes that looked on with a mixture of sadness and something that seemed hidden beneath a mask of emotion. His body was a dark grey in of itself with a pair of wings protruding from openings in the sides of his attire, which was that of a suit of fine-make that was adorned by medals on the chest and trimmings of silver lining the black of its main parts.

He did not speak as he stopped moving to stare at her for a moment.

If she looked closely, Rainbow Dash could have pledged a Pinkie Promise that she had saw a smile on his face for just a split-second, before his features returned to that of desperation.

“This is her, your grace,” an armored pony stated as he walked up beside the grey one.

“Thank you, officer. I can take it from here,” the tall stallion stated in reply, without budging from his position.

“As you wish, milord,” the soldier-pony complied with a bow of the head and then turning away to leave.

Neither Rainbow Dash nor the pony before her moved a muscle as the unsettling sounds of the guard leaving clopped and resounded through the eerie hold of the prison.

Then, as soon as the telltale sounds of the door closing came to life, the bearded Pegasus began drawing closer to her cell as his facial expression shifted from despaired to maddeningly gleeful.

“Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha-ha!” he burst into a series of laughter that sounded wrong in combination with his previous kindhearted, grandfatherly tone. “Do you know how easy you made this for me?” he questioned the rainbow-maned pony with a grin upon his face that portrayed nothing more than a sick kind of pleasure at her circumstances.

“Wha’da’ ya’ mean, easy?!” she shouted in defiance, staring back at him as though he were a madpony.

“Oh, please,” he rebutted with a roll of his eyes as he proceeded to turn and pace in front of the barred entryway of her space. “You show up out of nowhere, and then make ‘friends’,” the stallion said with a taunting tone of voice, “with my nephew.”

That last part caught Rainbow Dash real good.

“You’re Light Speed’s Uncle?!” she declared, finding it increasingly annoying that she was kept back from knocking the stuffing out of this crazy excuse for a legal guardian of one of her friends.

“Quite,” he answered in that snob manner of speaking that he had with his naturally eloquent voice in conjunction with that continued way of sounding like a kook. “In fact, you could say that I’m so much more now.”

“What kind of crazy talk are you saying now?!” she voiced her opinion with a flapping of her wings and zooming up to and clattering her hooves against the bars. She really didn’t like this guy.

“Why,” the silver-maned Pegasus stated with amusement ever-present in his speech and not a touch of worry from her attempt at retaliation, “it is thanks to you that he is no longer in the way, and I can claim the throne for myself.”

The gleam in his eyes spoke volumes of how truly insane he was, and that he had far from good intentions in store for the kingdom.

“I know that you’re the one who’s really responsible for whatever happened to Light Speed!” she shouted, not giving up on trying to stop him while she could, yet finding it impossible to do so.

“Oh, but can you prove it?” he asked with a dark chuckle at the end of his question. “Tata, and farewell, Miss Rainbow Dash. Maybe I’ll get to see you before it’s finally time for your execution… or not.”

The tall Pegasus turned his tail to her as he left with a final bone-chilling cackle that echoed throughout the prison for a few moments. Then, there was only silence.

She was in a bind, she knew it.

That madpony, who was supposedly Light Speed’s Uncle and the current leader of this kingdom, was behind something, and the Prince’s disappearance was part of it, she could feel it. But how was she supposed to prove it, especially since she was trapped and had no foreseeable way of busting out.

She was beginning to think that maybe there was no way that she would be able to escape… that maybe this was the end.

But then, the thought of her friends entered her mind and she knew they wouldn’t want her to give in, to just give up. None of the girls would stop trying if it meant saving her, so why should she?

The reminder that there wasn’t any kind of opening for her to take advantage of or any possible means by which that she could make her get-away came back to her, and she began to surrender to that state of mind that had only moments ago seemed so far away.

Then, Rainbow Dash remembered that one pony needed her, that Light Speed was in danger, and that she needed to find him and help rescue him from whatever his “Uncle” may have done to him.

“No,” she stated aloud, standing with head held high and eyes burning with determination, “I will save you, Light Speed.”

In that moment, she thought it was her imagination going along with her newfound strength, but realized that the light shining from behind her, that was slowly growing brighter, was actually real.

Bending her neck and body around, the sky blue mare witnessed, with ever-greater hope in her heart, as a section of the brick wall of her cell was slowly inching forward from where it had been and swinging open like a heavy door on rusty hinges.

“Whoa,” she breathed out as she came to the realization that this was actually happening, and not just a figment of her imagination come to play tricks on her.

She edged closer, making sure to avoid the… spots on the floor, as the section of wall came to a stop, allowing her to see into a tunnel-like hall with a torch latched onto its rocky sides.

“Okay, mysterious door opens and leads you into a tunnel that goes to,” she paused for a moment to stare down and realized that there was a faint light in the distance of the dark space, “the unknown. Be careful, Rainbow Dash. Remember. What would Daring Do do in these types of situations?” she hyped herself up with a little talk of her favorite hero.

Taking one step at a time, the mare entered into the dark corridor, wondering what kinds of things she would find. All she could say was that she would find her way out and rescue Light Speed. Then, they would go stop the “Lord-Regent” from his nefarious plans, whatever they may be.

Her reddish-violet eyes grew as the light did and the flash caused her sight to be fuzzy until she recovered, but she kept moving, trying her best to see through the unclear imagery.

Stopping in her tracks, she proceeded to rub her face with a hoof to try to clear the obstruction to her vision. Having sated her need to ease herself of the frustrating blur in her sight, Rainbow lowered her limb… only to have a major shock at what was before her.

She was standing on a ledge at the end of the tunnel that towered over an expansive chamber of paths and twists and turns that was all built into a cavern, with an opening at the bottom that allowed light to be let in, to an extent.

It was huge!

While she was gawking at the immense opening, she finally caught something that drew her out of her appreciation of the carved-out infrastructure: There was a set of cage-like prison cells of barred walls and doors lined along a wide section of rock that more than likely served as a type of walkway. But, most importantly, inside of one of those entrapments, strapped into the back with chains, was the slumped form of a golden-orange stallion, his sunbeam yellow mane and tail unkempt as his horn poked out of the strands, and his wings were drooped down across the ground, collecting dust and dirt in their feathers.

Rainbow Dash knew exactly who she was looking upon and couldn’t help the gasp at the sight of the Alicorn’s condition.

“Light Speed!” she called out to him as she spread her wings and bolted below to the platform, landing a few hoofsteps in front of the Prince’s designated place of enclosure.

There was no reaction of any kind from the prone figure inside of the bars as she focused upon catching even the slightest twitch.

“Light Speed, can you hear me?” she asked of him, her face one of worry for the pony who had become one of the closest friends she had, within less than a day’s time.

She stayed still for a moment, hoping that he would stir and awake to the sound of her voice.

Thankfully, this time, there was a change.

A groan sounded from the downed Prince as his head shifted about from side to side before lifting up a smidgen and then moved as one with his body as he lifted himself to standing on all fours.

“Rainbow… Dash?” he murmured as he motioned his cranium from one way to the other to get his mane out of his eyes, and drew his wings back to his sides.

“It’s me, Light Speed,” she answered with a weak smile as she watched him recollect himself.

“What… happened… to me?” he asked, steadily raising his voice as his bright diamond blue eyes swayed back and forth for a few seconds from beneath his separating locks of hair.

“I don’t know,” she stated honestly, gazing at the stallion with a great deal of care and appreciation that he was safe.

“Wait,” he said in a low tone, raising his head more as he attempted to stand straight, only to be kept low to the ground by his bindings, “I remember… arguing with my Uncle about tomorrow…” he suddenly stopped as he looked to the mare, realizing that she may have not known.

“About the wedding,” she stated for the disoriented stallion, expressing her words with a touch of bile and dislike.

“Yes,” Light Speed confirmed, “how did you know?”

“Bursting Winds told me,” she replied, not wanting to say anymore about the less than desirable subject.

“I can always count on him, can’t I?” the Alicorn said with a new relief in his voice. Then, he reset his focus upon the pony in front of him as his face became one of confusion. “Afterwards, I went to my room, contemplating on how to get out of the arrangement.”

The thought that the Prince was willingly going against the marriage was both inspiring to Rainbow Dash and brought a smile to her muzzle, though she wouldn’t openly make known her reasons for the sudden joviality. Even she wasn’t entirely sure of it herself.

“I was in the midst of preparing my escape plan,” he elaborated, before placing his sight upon the mare and staring at her with doubt, which caused an uncomfortable worry to stir in her, “when you knocked on my door.”

“Wait,” Rainbow said, unsure if she heard him right, “me?”

“Yes,” he responded, certainty claiming its place in his tone, “You asked for entry, and I gladly allowed you to do so.”

This didn’t make any sense to the rainbow-maned Pegasus. She knew for a fact that she wasn’t anywhere near him after her talk with the Captain outside of the castle. So what in the hoof was going on?!

“That can’t be possible!” she shouted.

Her reply brought newfound perplexity to the stallion’s features as he realized how absolute she sounded of herself.

“Are you sure?” he requested, seeking to know if she was telling the truth or not.

“I’m positive,” she declared as she remained standing at her spot, “I couldn’t have been there!”

“So where were you?”

“After you left,” the Pegasus stated, “I had a talk with your friend, Bursting Winds, outside of the castle, and then went flying for a few hours.”

That revelation caused a new expression of surprise and shock to slip itself onto the Prince’s face as he heard her speak with confidence and with no hinting of dishonesty.

“But enough about me,” she said, with no lack of realization at the irony of her own statement, “what happened to you?”

“Well,” he voiced his continuance, “you and I began to talk about things, like…” he hesitated.

“Like what?” she questioned, wanting answers for this mysterious lookalike.

“It was strange, really,” the Alicorn clarified, “You wanted to hear about everything we did and talked about earlier this morning, like the tricks we pulled off.”

“And you didn’t wonder why whoever that was did that?” she asked, somewhat disappointed in his lack of distinguishing her from an impostor.

“It did seem strange to me at the time,” he stated, lowering his neck to allow his hoof access to rub a specific point on the back of his head, “but I didn’t want to be rude to one of the only friends I had.”

It wasn’t lost to Rainbow that he included that last word with some emphasis. “So, what happened next?” she attempted to try to get to the heart of the problem of the implication of his words.

“I started to become suspicious of… her intent for trying to learn more about our conversation,” the Prince continued with his recounting, “but when I went to question her, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and everything went black, and that’s all I remember.”

A new hope arose in Rainbow Dash as she heard him carefully reword his statements in a way that sounded as though he were at least trying to believe her.

“That explains your sudden disappearance,” she spoke aloud, making sure that he didn’t miss what she had said, “and why I was arrested for supposedly ponynapping you.”

“Wait, what?” Light Speed blurted as he focused solely upon her, concern for her well-being coming to life in his bright blue eyes.

“Yeah, you see,” she began to explain, “While I was taking my flight, I was arrested for allegedly being involved in your disappearance. So, they took me in without a fight, thanks to Bursting Winds promising that I would be safe.”

She could tell his complete attention was upon her as he didn’t budge his head away from facing her, and it strangely made her really happy inside, if not for the circumstances.

“However,” she noted, making sure to include a touch of pained anger at the memory, “they took me out of his custody in a hurry and then brought me into a room in the castle, where they put a bag over my head and dragged me down a load of stairs into a dark, nasty place.”

The Prince’s features suddenly adopted a state of realization at her words, but retained his previous concern for the mare. “You mean they took you to the lower dungeons?” he questioned with a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

“I don’t know,” she replied honestly, “All I saw was that it was dark, disgusting, and there was no way out.”

“That can’t be,” he stated with the same level of surprise as before, “Those cells haven’t seen service since my father became king, and there haven’t been any ponies placed into them for years, even before then.”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow said in a fashion that spoke of a disturbed assurance of her words, “It sure looked like it had been used recently, if you catch my drift.”

“Did they do anything to you?” he asked, his tone becoming darker and promising retribution if she said yes.

“Not really,” she answered, allowing him to calm himself before continuing, “But I did have the weirdest first encounter with your Uncle.”

“What do you mean?” the golden-orange pony inquired.

“Let’s just say,” she began, thinking of how to put it lightly, “he’s nuttier than a fruitcake made during Hearthswarming Eve, and kookier than Discord when he first caused my friends and I to be the exact opposite of our true selves.”

“Huh?” the Alicorn queried, completely lost.

“Sorry,” she deadpanned, “Just know that your ‘Uncle’ is a complete maniac.”

“Could you please explain as to why that is?” he asked politely, keeping himself as comfortable as possible in the midst of his chained position on the dirt floor.

“Well, if you really want to know,” the mare commented, taking in a breath so that she could speak without difficulty, “He came in all ‘nice and friendly’-like-”

“Sounds like my Uncle,” Light Speed confirmed her statement.

“-and then, when the guard was gone, he busted out into a laughing fit like some kind of mad genius,” she continued her retelling of the experience, unaffected by the intrusion of verbal inclusion, “and he rambled on about how I had done him a favor by getting rid of you.”

She was getting so agitated by the remembrance that her wings came undone from their resting place along her sides and she began lifting herself in the air, almost wanting to try at putting the hurt on that lunatic again.

“Rainbow Dash,” he called out to her in a soothing voice.

This proved to do the trick as she touched back down on the ground and sucked in a snort of air.

“Sorry,” she apologized, having gotten her heart rate down a notch.

“It’s okay,” the stallion assured.

His words brought a peace to her heart unlike any she had ever experienced before, and she couldn’t help but wonder why that was.

“However,” he voiced, “that doesn’t sound anything like my Uncle.”

“Well he’s the one who told me he was,” she responded, trying to convey her certainty of what she experienced.

“Could you describe him to me?” the Prince requested of her.

“He’s tall, got a beard that matches his silver mane and tail, and is grey,” she recited, not missing a beat as she spoke.

“That… definitely sounds like him,” the Alicorn conceded, suddenly finding it harder to doubt her word, but still unsure of what to say.

“And you know what?” Rainbow said, catching his attention yet again, “He said that with you out of the way, he was going to take the throne!”

Not a peep came forth from Light Speed as he was shaken by the implications of what she was telling him.

“Light Speed?” she called his name, trying to get him to respond instead of being as still as a statue. It was starting to worry her as she didn’t get anything back from him for nearly half a minute.

“Rainbow Dash,” he murmured out in a low tone, his mane shadowing his face.

“What did I tell you about my friends?” she suddenly said in response with a mischievous grin.

His muzzle grew a smile as his beaming features upturned to be directed at her. “Rainbow.”

“Yeah,” she returned readily, absolutely pleased that he replied with the desired sentiment.

“We need to get out of here so that we can find my Uncle and see what exactly is going on,” he stated, becoming more serious as he explained his intention and plan.

“And I’ll be right there with you!” the mare declared.

“Thank you so much, Rainbow,” the shiny-haired stallion stated with cheer in his statement as he looked with warmth in those glistening crystal blue eyes of his, “You have no idea how much it means for me to hear you say that.”

“Anytime, Light,” she shorthooved an answer to him, doing her best to hide the glee she had for his happily-spoken possible heart-to-heart to her, “Now let me find a key to this lock and then we can bust you out.”

“Wait, maybe I can use my magic,” he told her before she could run off.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” she mentally berated herself as she skidded midway through moving to gallop off.

Turning to witness the Alicorn do his thing, Rainbow Dash merely watched as he slowly shifted from squinting his eyes to contorting his face in frustration, but with not even a sparkle or a beam from his horn to show for it.

“What happened?” she asked as he stopped and panted for a few seconds.

“I don’t know,” he responded, trying yet again and once again failing. “It’s like every time I focus on doing something with my horn or wings, something keeps getting in the way.”

The rainbow-maned Pegasus examined his cell for a moment, and came to the realization of a detail that she should have noticed from the get-go.

“What if it’s your shackles? I mean, what else could they have put those onto you for besides keeping you here? They would have had to do something to keep you from using your magic,” she stated the conclusion of her theory with a mouthful of words.

The Prince gazed at the metal bindings for a moment before concentrating on his magic again. Once he was done, he returned his sight to the mare.

“You must be right,” he agreed, not thinking of the fact that she wasn’t fazed in the least at his attempt to use something like magic when she shouldn’t even know about it in the first place.

“Don’t worry,” she said to him as she, yet again, moved her body to be able to go in a separate direction to find the object that they sought, “I’ll find the key, and get you out of there in no time.”

“Right,” he voiced with a bob of the head as she began searching the cavern, with her eyes taking in every detail.

With no more than a few seconds, she found something shining off to beside the distant end of the platform, next to the last of the barred cells.

“I think I found it!” she shouted as she burst forth with a surge of her wings.

“That’s great!” was the reply of the Alicorn.

In the shadows of the rocky wall, Rainbow found a key of irregular shape dangling from a hook that was embedded into the earthy siding, and knew that it had to be it.

“I got it!” she called out to him, before retrieving the metal tool with her mouth.

But, as she started to make her return trip to Light Speed, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

Changing course, she returned to the door of the last cell that she had previously noted, the one nearest to the key.

At first, she didn’t see much in the darkness… and then, slowly, the image of what was before her began to form inside of her head.

She gasped, realizing the implications of this. Not in her wildest dreams could she have imagined something like this, and she wasn’t entirely sure how it was possible.

“Hey,” she heard the distant call of her entrapped friend, “what’s the holdup?”

“Uh…” Rainbow Dash mumbled lightly as her brain caught up with her mouth. “I… may have found something…”

“What’s the problem?” the stallion asked in reply, concerned by the distress he heard in her tone.

“How ‘bout I just show you once I get you out, okay?” she said more than requested as she more gingerly flew over to the Prince’s cell.

While the mare was busy unlocking the door and then the cuffs with the key, Light Speed saw a sense of shock and confusion in her eyes, one that put him on edge.

“Rainbow,” he pronounced her name, earning her attention right before she unlocked the last of the bindings that held one of his legs, “are you okay?”

Touched by his continued consideration for her, the Pegasus felt more at ease. Yet, it did not take away from what she felt.

“I’m more worried about you, Light,” she stated before using the piece to unshackle his limb.

The comment she made brought a new sense of urgency to the Alicorn as he wondered what she could possibly mean.

“Thanks again, Rainbow,” he made his gratitude known to her as he lifted himself completely off of the ground, stretching his legs and wings.

“Hey, you’re a friend of mine,” the rainbow-maned, sky blue mare stated proudly, “and Rainbow Dash always helps her friends. Always.”

“You really are incredible, you know that,” he stated right as his horn began to shine with its brilliant bright-as-the-sun yellow-white magic.

His compliment melted her heart and nearly repeated the impossible of bringing a tinge of pink to her cheeks as Rainbow Dash did her best to prevent it from coming to pass while keeping a smile plastered onto her face.

Then, before her very eyes, she watched as his hair, drooping and hanging all around in a mess, was taken and collected by the Prince’s dazzling magical energies into their appropriate places for either of his mane and tail. Suddenly, both of the recently corrected assortments of sunbeam yellow strands were whipped, turned, and twisted as they were redone in the braids that Rainbow had seen a few hours before. Finally, in quick succession, the braided bundles’ ends were tied in knots as an impromptu way of completing the hairdos.

“There,” the Alicorn stallion said with a great deal of relief in his voice at the accomplishment of refitting his hair, “much better.”

Although she usually would have found such a display to be somewhat pointless, Rainbow couldn’t help but… admire this guy’s innovative and uniquely practical fashion. In fact, she thought it was really cool.

“So,” he continued to speak, “what about that thing you wanted to show me?”

There was nothing said from the mare as she was somewhere wondering how much more awesome Light Speed could get. How she admired him for so much already. How she wondered if-

“Uh, Rainbow,” he interrupted her thought process as he waved a hoof in front of her face.

Breaking out of her daydream, the Pegasus realized that she was staring into space and suddenly noticed that the Prince was looking rather worriedly at her… within a very short space.

“Uh-hehe,” she chuckled with a touch of embarrassment in her voice while backing up ever so slightly to allow for more room between them both. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

“You had something to show that had bothered you, remember?” he asked with a touch of his previous concern lining his words.

Remembering the… sobering sight that had caught her attention earlier, the mare became more sullen in appearance before shifting her pained eyes to Light Speed.

“Come on,” she replied, circling about to make her way out of the cell, “I don’t know what to say… but you need to see this.”

The sudden urgency and worry once again set off an alarm in the Alicorn as he trotted behind the other pony.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was just trying to figure out how it was possible what she saw could be if she had only seen the guy alive and well moments ago… well alive, at least.

Finally, she stopped outside of the last barred cell and aimed a hoof at it.

“There,” she said with a barely raised voice.

Taking her advice, Light Speed stepped up to the bars and peeked inside to the darkness.

Deciding that he didn’t want anything hindering his sight, the stallion lit his horn with its bright magic and the space was enlightened without any darkness to prevent his seeing whatever was beyond.

Within an instant, his eyes locked onto the thing in the back, the image burning into his skull and his mind immediately knowing what he was seeing.

There, cuffed into metallic bonds, much like he was, were the skeletal remains of a pony, a stallion, no doubt.

However, it was the attire upon the remains that truly startled and confused him, as they were a dark suit with silver lining and several medals were set into the chest area.

“It… it can’t be…” he murmured, his breathing becoming ragged as he stared at the sight even longer without saying anymore for a few moments.

Rainbow merely stood to the side, making sure to step in whenever she may need to.

“But… I was just talking to him a short while ago,” he stated, beginning to doubt everything he knew beforehoof, “There’s no way.”

When she heard this, the mare was preparing to intervene, just as her eyes caught the sight of an edge of a slip of folded paper in a pocket of the suit of the… body inside of the cell.

“What’s that, a note?” she said aloud, hoping that the Prince would catch it himself.

And catch it, he did.

Coming out of his near-panicky mode, Light Speed spotted the item of interest and easily sent a jolt of magic out to retrieve it.

Steadily, the paper slipped from the pocket of the jacket, and floated out through the cracks in-between the bars, ceasing its flight in front of the two ponies.

The Alicorn peeked at Rainbow Dash for a moment, and she returned his glance with her own.

Nodding his head, he returned his eyesight to the folded object and carefully undid it.

Correcting it, the Prince began reading it silently.

The rainbow-maned Pegasus stood by and watched as his expressions shifted from shock to anger to outright fury and then sadness with a teardrop running down and off of his face to splash against the ground.

“What’s wrong, Light Speed?” she questioned him, seeking to have him share whatever may have caused such a series of rapidly alternating emotions and then to comfort him the best that she could.

“This letter,” he panted, his voice slightly sounding like a growl, before turning his sight to the mare, “is the last written word that was intended for me from my real Uncle.”

“What?!” she shouted, coming to full attention at the new news that she just received.

“Here,” he stated strongly, presenting the slip of paper to her before bringing it between them both, “Let me read it to you.”

“Dear Light Speed,” the Alicorn recited the words of the paper as he did his best not to crack up, “I hope this letter reaches you. If it doesn’t, then I have failed.”

Rainbow could tell he was struggling as his words were spoken through gritted teeth. She also took note of the messy shape of the ink-writing on the note, meaning it was probably written in a hurry.

“It is with great concern that I write this to you, in hopes that you will be able to succeed where I have not, for this kingdom as well as yourself.”

The Prince took a pause as he breathed in a deep, refreshing amount of air and bit back his tears as they threatened to gush forth.

It broke Rainbow’s heart to see him enduring such pain like he was, but she knew he had to do it. Whatever was in this letter was important.

“It has come to my attention that the great storm that claimed my brother and your mother was not natural, but rather fabricated through magical means.”

The thought that such a thing was possible was nearly heart-stopping for Rainbow Dash. She could only think of a few who could pull it off, and none of them came to mind in consideration to where she was currently at.

“I am writing to you, right now, from within the captivity of someone, I know not who though, who is going to impersonate me, and I know not how. I can only imagine it’s some other type of magic that we have never heard nor thought of before.”

Now that she heard this, Rainbow Dash realized how it only made sense. There was no way that screwball, Mane-iac wannabe could have actually been Light Speed’s Uncle. The Prince was too awesome to be related to someone like that!

“I fear it may be too late for this, but I hope that you will come to know the truth and will stop this impostor before he brings ruin to all of Sky Island. I’m sorry for this, Light Speed. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you when you were younger, and that I wasn’t a good Uncle to you. That I didn’t spend more time with you, to get to know you, and that you never got to know your late Aunt either.”

New tears bubbled and dripped from the Alicorn’s face as he read those lines with a bittersweet smile.

“Now that’s an Uncle worth being recognized as family,” Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she witnessed the teary scene.

“But now, all of the hope of Sky Island, its people, your mother and father, and myself, lie in your hooves. It is now your responsibility. My Prince. My King. Farewell, Light Speed.

“Your Uncle, Real Steel, Duke of the Kingdom of Sky Island.”

The brightly-maned stallion ceased the reading as he finished, choking up slightly as he allowed the flow of salty water droplets to come forth without hindrance, leaving the note to drop to the ground.

“Light Speed,” he heard his friend say his name.

Shifting his head to where he could see her clearly, the Prince saw a trail of recently cried tears having run down the contours of the mare’s face from her ruby-violet orbs.

“Are you okay?” she asked, uncharacteristically wavering with her voice slightly as she stared into his dulled diamond irises.

Smiling with as much lightheartedness as he could, the stallion used a hoof to wipe away the moisture on her cheeks before repeating the process with his own.

“I will be,” he said with such confidence in his voice that Rainbow Dash knew that if she wasn’t blushing before, she was now.

“After,” he continued, his tone shifting from pleasant to cold fury, “we deal with… him.”

A shiver went down the Pegasus’s spine at the sudden drop of temperature, or maybe it was the awesome way in which he put his statement. She couldn’t tell.

But, as she looked into his usually warm, bright crystal blue eyes, she could only see an icy image of thousands of sharp, jagged edges aimed at the ceiling above, and with it there was a promise of swift justice and retribution to be had.

It kind of worried her… and also sent another chill down her vertebrae, and goosebumps came with it.

“Now,” he voiced his cool tone yet again, but with a hint of warmth towards his comrade, “how to get out?”

“We could try scouting the rest of this cavern,” Rainbow Dash gave her opinion, trying to think of both a quick yet safe way of locating an exit.

She had learned one too many times from her own experiences not to consider not being careful.

And yet, she clearly had not caught his attention with that thought as she realized he was aiming his sights at the opening in the bottom of the cave where the trace amounts of light shined through.

“How about down there?” he stated, pointing a hoof in the direction of the hole.

“Uh… I don’t know if that’s safe,” she replied, yet again, reminding herself of the irony of her own words.

“We’ll never know if we don’t try,” the Alicorn commented whilst shooting into the air in his own special way, with a trail of magical light behind him, “and we can’t wait all day.”

Not wanting to be left behind, Rainbow Dash quickly hurried behind him with her rainbow of colors following closely after her.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked, remembering her time at the Wonderbolts Academy with a certain Pegasus who liked to treat her fellow ponies as expendable.

“Of course,” the Prince answered, shining his horn lightly, “I’ve got magic, remember?”

“Oh, yeah… that,” the mare mentally facehooved herself, again, as she looked to the stallion without a word.

“Just stay behind me, and I’ll make sure that we get out just fine,” he told her with a smile flashed at her.

That’s it.

She knew she could trust Light Speed. He was just that awesome! She would never doubt him again!

“Right, Light,” she responded with a grin on her muzzle and a new boldness as she got into position above him.

“Here we go!” he announced as he shot downward, shining his horn as he descended to the opening below, with Rainbow Dash in tow.

Soon enough, they were twisting and bounding around a series of sharply-cut rocks in a near-straight shot at an angle through a tunnel of some kind, with the Prince occasionally blasting or shifting a piece of earth just in the nick of time to clear the way.

Never before had the rainbow-maned mare felt such adrenaline, such excitement, not even when she first earned her cutie mark, nor any other time since. No, this was truly amazing.

Then, within moments, the two ponies caught sight of a bright white exit ahead and knew what they had to do.

Putting the pedal to the metal, the duo shot out and stopped in an instant, side by side, as they waited for their senses to recover from the overload of light.

“You okay?” the Alicorn called to her first, still not yet ready to open his eyes.

“Yeah. Just give me a minute,” she said to him as she rubbed her closed peepers with her front hooves.

Having fully regained his capacities, the golden stallion parted his eyelids… and gawked at the sight before him.

“Rainbow,” he called her name, “you’ve got to see this.”

“What?” she questioned… right before having at last opened her own lids to see something truly wondrous.

There were clouds everywhere, but not the normal white ones. Oh no. These were glistening golden clouds that were huge! Not only that, but, as she shifted her sight around, she could see that there were a few openings that allowed anypony to peer down into the deep blue of the oceans below, and above, she saw the very body of the island itself, being carried by those great behemoths of yellow vapor accumulation!

“The legends were true,” she heard the Prince breathe with wonder.

She merely stared back to him as the Prince was lost in the beauty of the natural phenomenon that far surpassed the norm.

“It is written,” he stated, almost as if narrating a tale, “that our ancestors, when they first came to this island, saw that it was floating atop an assembly of never-dispersing clouds that continuously traveled above the seas that were encircled by a multitude of continents.”

This account summed up Rainbow Dash’s thoughts with one conclusion: Epic!

“But that’s a thought for another time,” he stated, changing his attitude from admiration to that of his previous demeanor, “We’ve got a deceiver to expose and to defeat.”

“Oh yeah!” she agreed boisterously, pumping a hoof in the air at the prospect of finally taking care of that no-good what’s his face.

“This way!” the Prince declared as he shot to the side, heading straight for some clouds.

Instead of questioning his course of action, Rainbow became lost in the moment and followed his lead.

But, as they were bracing themselves to break right through the fluffy obstruction that was serving as an obstacle, it seemed as if the clouds themselves opened up passages for them to race through without worrying for any kind of prevention or struggle. At least, for now…

After what seemed to be hours, and was actually only ten or so minutes, the pair of ponies zoomed out into the open expanse of sky that paralleled the sea below and permitted a view of the side of the mass of earth that was floating on the cloud collective.

“There it is,” the Prince said with a touch of awe to his voice as the sun shined off the back of his mane from the horizon, “the home of my ancestors, the Kingdom I am responsible for, and the land that the ponies I must protect live upon.”

Rainbow Dash listened with great respect as the Alicorn took in the sight of the island from this view, one which those of Sky Island hadn’t looked upon for centuries, from the sounds of it. It brought great happiness to her to see him crack a smile at the lush green covered mass at that moment.

“Well,” he finally stated after a few seconds of soaking it in, “shall we?”

Nodding in return, the mare retook her place to just next to him as they speeded off to the edge that bordered the island and then soared above it, and had the pleasure of watching as the heights of a wall were left in their dust as they bounded over the tallest of buildings of one of the cities at the corners of the grand kingdom.

Ponies of every shape, size, and walk of life witnessed with wide-eyed disbelief as the two figures of high-flying daring out-flew the guards as they chased after them, not paying attention to the trails of yellow-white light and rainbow that they left in their wake.

With reckless abandon, the sky blue mare and golden-orange stallion bolted across the skyline, seeking their goal of the castle and no less.

They would not be kept from their destination, and their mission of righting a wrong of massive proportions, especially the Prince, who was anticipating the near future and sought nothing less than complete and total recompense.

Try as they might, none of the soldier-ponies of Sky Island could stop them, and a few had stopped and realized who they were pursuing, and had, instead, sought to see what was to come of the unforeseen, and utterly shocking, twist in fate.

Finally, after tirelessly working to push themselves beyond their limits, sending waves of air in bursts as they cut through the skies, they were on the precipice of achieving their anxiously awaited hope.

Ahead of them was the large structure that was the castle, with its high-rising walls and spiny sides… and the entirety of its garrison at alert and apparently in position to prevent intruders.

“Rainbow!” Light Speed shouted over the wind to his compatriot, who was quick to listen. “Follow my lead, no matter what!”

With her compliance, the Alicorn led them both down to the ground, where they landed softly and they both began to walk up to the front gate.

“Open up!” the guy of the pairing shouted as he approached the giant dual door.

“Who goes there?” a pony questioned from the top.

“It is your Prince, Light Speed, heir to the throne of Sky Island,” he replied with an authoritative tone.

Rainbow Dash was starting to wonder if she’d ever tire from the excitement that she felt whenever she heard or saw him acting like this. Hey, she couldn’t help it. He was just being so awesome!

Then, the gate split apart and more than a few dozen soldier-ponies poured out and surrounded the two, causing the mare to fall into a defensive stance, but to quickly relax as she looked to see her friend remaining calm and unaffected.

One of the ponies in crimson armor came closer and then kneeled before the Prince.

Almost immediately, every one of the other guards followed suit as they kneeled a leg to him.

“Your highness,” the Crimson Wing stated with his head kept low, “Pardon our not recognizing you, but we have heard of your disappearance and assumed that you could not have returned to us.”

“At ease, soldier. As for my disappearance, it was,” Light Speed repeated, pausing for a breath before resuming, “highly exaggerated.”

“Were you not kidnapped?” the same stallion asked, raising his head.

“I was,” the Prince answered, causing the soldier-ponies to tense ever-so slightly, “but not by whom you would have thought.”

“Oh?” another of the guards voiced.

“Indeed,” Light Speed stated with surety, “Now, if you would step aside, I and my guest must have a word with the Lord-Regent.”

“But, your highness,” a pony spoke out from the midst of the number, “the Lord-Regent-”

“I don’t care if the ‘Lord-Regent’ banned Casual Fridays for all enlisted soldiers in the Sky Island Army,” the Alicorn cut in, with a flash of his horn, “We are going to talk to him.”

Nopony else said a word as Light Speed and Rainbow Dash, who was seriously finding herself pleased at the Prince’s ‘take charge’ attitude, trotted into the courtyard with determination burning in their hearts and seeping from their very beings.

Everypony in their path merely stepped to the side as the duo marched on.

With his horn alight, the Prince sent the doors of the castle swinging inward, causing them to make a loud crash that echoed through the entry hall.

Although this moment was even more intense, Rainbow finally noticed what it was like inside of this place.

The walls were polished to a shimmering finish, with the worksponyship being top-notch, and the glistening floors were complimented with red carpets that stretched from one end of the space to the smaller double doors that went elsewhere. If it wasn’t for the over-excessive military feel to it all, she was sure that Rarity would simply adore this place.

“Where’s my Uncle?!” Light Speed shouted out, bringing the activity of the ponies who were working to a complete standstill as they stared at him and wondered why he included such anger in his statement.

Only a few seconds later, the doors at the other end parted open to reveal the one who the two were seeking, the impostor who claimed to be Real Steel, at the head of a number of soldier-ponies who all began to work their way into the room. One of them was even the brown-headed Captain Bursting Winds, who was completely at a loss of words at the sight of both the Prince and the mysterious mare having reappeared in such a manner.

“Nephew,” the pony who was allegedly Light Speed’s Uncle said with a sweet tone that oozed with his falsehoods as he began to move in the pair’s direction, “I have been so-”

“Don’t you dare say another word, you filthy impostor!” the Alicorn shouted, bringing the faker to a halt with his words and earning a gasp of shock and surprise from the gathered onlookers, both inside the building and out in the courtyard.

“Nephew, I-” he attempted again, doing his absolute best to keep up the façade.

“That’s enough!” the younger pony declared again, taking a few hoofsteps forward with wings spread at his sides and head posed to charge. “You can drop the act! I know, so there’s no need for you to keep pretending!”

Rainbow Dash stayed near his side as he drew a few more hoofsteps beyond the doorway’s border before coming to a stop.

“Oh,” the silver-maned Pegasus-lookalike stated, seeming slightly amused, “Whatever could you mean, my boy?”

“You aren’t my real Uncle, the Duke of Sky Island, Real Steel!” the Prince shouted out, making sure that he was well-heard by all nearby ponies.

Gasps proceeded to follow his proclamation, and murmuring and whispering amongst the majority of the watching crowds spread through their ranks in quick order.

“That is quite the accusation, young colt,” the bearded figure said with a cheeky grin.

“Ah, I’ve had enough!” Rainbow Dash barked as she jumped up from the floor and zoomed towards the singularly grey Pegasus.

“Wait, Rainbow Dash!” Light Speed declared, speaking out a little too soon, but not budging from where he stood.

“Why don’t you stop playing around and just show everypony what you really-” she began to exclaim as she approached him before she was swatted to the side by one of the impostor’s wings (yes, a wing) and landed on the floor as she grunted “oomph.”

“Rainbow!” the Alicorn Prince yelled out again as he looked with concern to his dear friend, ignoring the cries and gasps of shock that arose from the ponies all around at the scene, yet not budging from his spot lest he take his eyes off of the perpetrator.

A dark chuckle was heard from the direction of the deceiver and all eyes turned to him.

“Hahahaha!” he cackled, slowly allowing his laughter to die down as he shook his head lightly and wiped a fake tear from his eye.

“How dare you!” Light Speed declared, his icy fury bubbling inside of him as he focused upon the wicked impostor. “First my parents, then my Uncle, and now my newest friend! I won’t let you get away with hurting those I care about!”

Although she was still wincing from that unbelievably painful blow that seemed to come out of nowhere, the sky blue mare couldn’t help but find reason to be overwhelmingly happy at the Prince’s words.

“Oh, Light Speed. You have no idea how fun it has been manipulating you and everypony else in this kingdom,” the false Real Steel said with sick glee in his voice as his eyes, with a twisted kind of humor in them, were set upon the young stallion, “But, I guess the fun must come to an end sometime.”

For a moment, the Alicorn thought something was going to occur as he stood still in conjunction with the grey Pegasus, but nothing did.

Then, the pretender growled and looked to one of the soldier-ponies, specifically the same golden-maned crimson-armored Pegasus from that morning. “That’s the signal, you dolts!”

Nodding rapidly, the same pony, and dozens of the rest of the guards, began to be covered in green fire for split-seconds before they transformed into sickly, black-hided creatures that appeared similar to ponies, except for their bug-like eyes and wings, the fangs in their jaws, and the horns upon their heads, as well as the holes in their legs.

As Rainbow saw them, she recognized them immediately, and once again assigned herself a facehoof for later.

“Light Speed!” she called to the golden-orange Prince from her spot a short distance from the wall to the right of him. “They’re changelings!”

“What?!” he stated in return, but not taking his attention off of the lying fake of an Uncle who had the audacity to be smiling wickedly, even as ponies all around were running and fleeing as the creatures began to chase them and trap some with some kind of green material.

“Indeed they are, little filly,” the disguised deceiver once more spoke, but in regards to the rainbow-maned Pegasus, who was currently struggling to fight off three of the dozens of creepy goons, “I see that you have some experience with them.”

“Little?!” she shouted at him, being distracted just long enough by his words and the scene of Bursting Winds being overwhelmed by a dozen of the changelings himself to be caught off-guard and to be captured by a trio of the freaks.

“So I assume that you are their leader,” Light Speed stated to the smug figure, while taking into account the situation and calculating his next move.

“Oh, I am,” the self-assumed dictator chimed in, suddenly adopting a stance of battle-readiness as he spread his wings and rose his head, “But I am not one of these lowly creatures!”

That statement caused a number of the “lowly creatures” to stop for a few seconds to stare at their master with an indignant expression before continuing their activities.

“Now,” the fake Lord-Regent stated, his voice deepening and becoming darker, “gaze upon what all ponies could be like if they gave into their own desires!”

As he had spoken that statement, the supposed Pegasus burst into black fire, which burned intensely and drew the attention of all who were able to see the spectacle.

Light Speed watched ever-carefully and at the same time with astonishment as the inferno began to die down… only to reveal what had become of the deceiver.

There, instead of the picturesque image of his Uncle, was a pony taller than he with a mane and tail that were blacker than night and burned as furiously as the previous fire that was now nothing more than a few scorch marks and embers on the polished stone floor. His pupils were slitted as the cruel silver of his irises peered out from the midst of a body of sickeningly, striking green, with dark green spots lining across the length of his chest and front legs.

His muzzle slipped open to show rows of sharp fangs, lined in a malicious grin.

An even more maniacal series of laughter burst from his throat as the tall figure threw his head back to do so.

Light Speed was stunned.

Of all details he had noticed, two were most prevalent to him.

“You’re…” he muttered, unsure if he should continue his thought “…you’re like me.”

“Like you,” the monstrous abomination of a pony rumbled, chuckling again ever so slightly, “No. I am superior to you!”

With these words, he stretched his long, vibrant green wings out and lit his horn, yes a horn, with a dark green flame as the corrupted Alicorn aimed his magic at the Prince, who was still frozen at the sight before him.

“Now, let us begin, young Prince,” the dark being stated, slamming a hoof onto the floor and causing a series of cracks to form.

“Ugh…” Rainbow Dash struggled to voice her words as she watched the desperate situation from the confines of the cocoon that was formed over most of her body. “Light, look out!” she shouted.

With those words in his ear, the young Alicorn stallion dodged a bolt of green energy that impacted with the space that he was standing upon mere moments before and then sped on past several changelings to scoop up Rainbow with his magic before dashing out of the castle to the outside.

“You won’t get away that easily!” the wicked stallion of darkness called out to him as he hurried to the openness beyond the walls surrounding the structure.

“What’s the plan?” the mare asked as the considerate stallion cleansed her of the gunk that had covered her form before letting her down onto a field of flowers.

“Rainbow,” Light Speed said her name, earning her attention, even as the sounds of ponies all across the island could be heard as they struggled against the many changelings that were taking them captive, “I need you to stay right here and let me deal with this guy.”

“What?!” she shouted, looking at him as if he had lost his marbles. “There’s no way that you-”

“Please, Rainbow,” he requested, peering into her reddish-violet eyes with a deathly seriousness backed by a warmth that he only showed her, “just trust that I can do it.”

Even if she wanted to argue against the insanity of his idea, as the mare stared into those determined, diamond blue eyes, she couldn’t help but have faith in him.

“Okay, Light,” she answered with a straight face.

He nodded at her with a confident grin, and then began to twist around to take flight, when he was stopped by a hoof to the shoulder. Turning to her, he saw that she was looking to him with deep concern.

“Don’t lose,” she said.

“I won’t,” he replied as he placed a hoof onto her cheek, and then proceeded to take off.

If it wasn’t for that, and that she had complete and total belief in the stallion’s capabilities, Rainbow would have tried her absolute best to argue him out of his decision. But, she was just going to hope and root him on from where she stood.

The Prince was making his way higher in the air when he caught sight of his foe at the lead of a few of those changelings.

“Ah, what fine tastes you have,” the dark Alicorn spoke aloud to the younger stallion as he neared his position at a relaxed pace, almost as if he was mocking the sunbeam yellow-maned youth with his every movement and manner, “that you should choose this sight, in the middle of the island, for the entirety of your people to witness your defeat by me, Commander Corruptive of the Horde’s elite. What a truly momentous occasion this is.”

“Enough talk,” the golden-orange Prince declared, posing himself in the air in preparation for the clash that was sure to occur within seconds, “We end this. Now.”

“Oh, of course, your highness,” he faux bowed while speaking sarcastically, before turning his head slightly to eye to his subordinates, “I’ll leave the young filly to you.”

The changelings snickered darkly as they tried to head in Rainbow’s direction. However, no sooner had they left the side of their master then beams of light blasted them out of the sky to the ground below, leaving trails of smoke in the air from whence they fell.

“Not while I still draw breath,” the dark Alicorn heard his opponent state, and turned back to him to see the youthful stallion peering back with his horn shining with its presence of white-yellow magic.

The monstrous pony smiled with a previously unseen amusement on his features. “This might actually prove a challenge after all,” he toned with his heavy voice filled with excitement at the prospect. “Come then, young Prince. Let’s dance.”

Rainbow’s heart was soaring after she witnessed Light Speed send those three stooges hurdling towards the earth with a series of magical rays from his horn, but her world became tense as she watched her new favorite Alicorn duel against his polar opposite in a deadly display of power.

Back and forth, they flew, with their horns constantly firing streams of magical energy at each other, racing around to gain the advantage.

Then, in an upset, the evil Corruptive sent a storm of green fire in the Alicorn Prince’s path.

All hope seemed lost as it appeared imminent that the brightly-colored stallion was doomed.

But, just as Rainbow was about to shoot off to give her all to save him, the wings of the young Alicorn shimmered with light as his form burst away from the frightening flames.

With a smile at her friend’s sudden maneuver of magic meets cunning, the mare saw as he turned the tables and began doing things she had never seen before in her life.

He was a blur as he shot about, striking the dark Commander with a flash of his hooves as he darted through the skies, whipping magical constructs of light from the strands of his mane and slamming them into the wicked creature, relentlessly pounding him without letting up.

Then, the evil foe cast a spell and his mane of black fire grew and encircled him.

“Ha!” he taunted from within the scorching orb. “From the protection of this unbreakable ball, I can do whatever I please. Like…”

As soon as he had stated that, a pillar of the flame shot from the side of his construct towards Rainbow Dash, who was taken aback by the dirty attack but couldn’t move as she noticed her hooves were being held by green magical bonds.

Seeing this, Light Speed’s world came to a crawl. His mind was overwhelmed by the thought that he was going to lose her, his newest and closest friend, to this insane excuse for a pony. It was unbearable. So much so that something stirred in him at that moment as he had stopped in the air and a fire of righteous fury poured out from within him.

“NO!” he shouted as light exuded from his eyes, and his horn and wings overflowed with magical light. “YOU WILL NOT HAVE HER!”

In the blink of an eye, the Alicorn Prince had rescued the mare from certain destruction by teleporting her to a spot more than a hundred hoofsteps away from the incinerated spot that she had just been standing upon a mere moment ago and zoomed towards the flame-shielded dark Alicorn.

The pony of wickedness was, at first, quite confident that his black fire would do the job for him, but then he watched as the Prince’s form was completely surrounded by a suit of armor made entirely of light and memories of a long-forgotten conflict came back to him. And for the first time in a long time, he was scared.

“Nooooo!” he shouted, waving his hooves in the young Alicorn’s direction out of fear, right before a giant sword of light collided with his flaming ball of black and he was sent rocketed off into the distance at breakneck speeds.

Light Speed watched as his enemy was thrown far away, and felt his anger subside and his mind returned to a pony who was only moments ago in danger.

“Rainbow!” he exclaimed, readying himself to hurry to her when he felt a form ram into him and wrap a pair of legs around his now-normal neck.

“You did it! You did it! You! Did! IT! You’re SO AWESOME!” the Pegasus mare shouted in his ear as she excitedly shook him about before realizing what she was doing and separated from him as they flapped their wings to stay floating in the air, blushing as she backed up a bit to give the Alicorn some space.

“Wow, Rainbow,” he said, with a bright grin and a mischievous glint in his eyes, “I didn’t know you cared,” he commented in a joking tone.

Blushing brighter than before for a moment, she adopted a pout and then humphed as she looked away from him. “Yeah, right, featherbrains,” she countered as she crossed her front legs across her torso.

Chuckling lightly, Light Speed stopped and gazed at her seriously. “I’m glad you’re alright, Rainbow.”

Hearing the sincerity in his words, she turned to him and smiled. “You too, Light.”

Beaming at her in return, the Alicorn was about to say something more, when he heard the faint sounds of a pony in the distance.

“Your highness!” an urgent declaration was heard from afar by the two ponies in the air.

Rainbow and Light Speed redirected their sight back in the direction of the castle to see a trio of Crimson Wings, headed by Captain Bursting Winds himself, headed straight for them.

“Your highness!” the brown Pegasus shouted yet again as he and the other two closed in on the pair.

“Bursting Winds!” the Prince returned as he flew closer to his other friend as the soldier-ponies came to a stop. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” the Crimson Wings officer reported with a great big smile. “In fact, mere moments ago, those monsters began a full retreat and are leaving the island as we speak!”

“That’s wonderful news!” Light Speed responded with cheer. “Isn’t it, Rainbow?” he asked the mare as he twisted in the air to face her.

“Oh yeah it- Hey!” she began happily before being interrupted and shouting during a booming sound of thunder.

Around her still flying form, a ball of energy came into being and trapped the sky blue mare in its hold.

“Rainbow Dash!” Light Speed shouted as he and the Crimson Wings encircled the air where Rainbow was previously okay and not inside of a crackling orb of magical energies. “What’s happening?!”

Her mind raced for a second before a realization hit her. Looking to the Prince with calm in her eyes, but a pain in her heart, Rainbow said, “It’s the same thing that brought me here, and I think it’s taking me away again.”

The diamond blue eyes of the guy-pony gazed at the seemingly fine Pegasus with both clarity and sadness. “Then, you’re going home?”

“I guess so…” she answered, her reddish-violet eyes focused upon him in return.

He peered at her, taking in the sky blue pony before him, with her messily-kept, yet still nice-looking mane of rainbow, as she made sure to memorize the bright golden-orange pony, with his long mane and tail of braided sunbeam locks who was the Alicorn Prince of Sky Island.

“I hope I get to see you again,” Light Speed stated, doing his best to keep a smile on his muzzle, “After all, I still didn’t get to know that much about you.”

“You will. Trust me,” Rainbow replied with a smile of her own as she stood inside of the orb.

“Good,” he said back, suddenly adopting a renewed mischievous expression, “’cause I still owe you a rematch.”

Curiosity took its place in the mare’s mind at that statement. “Wha’da’ ya’ mean, rematch? I beat ya’, didn’t I?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, and a winning grin.

“I did say that I didn’t have to hold back, didn’t I?” he responded.

All of a sudden, all of the things he did during that fight with the evil Alicorn and those other times came to her and she realized what he meant.

“Why you dirty-” she began to shout at him in a flustered manner, right before the ball of energy zapped away with a loud sound of thunder and disappeared from sight.

And so, a friendship that would be more than a friendship was born…