Back from the Future

by Ironskull

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, Discord, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 10749

Twilight has accidently sent Rainbow Dash to the past and now Rainbow lacks the means to return home. Fortunately, her friends are still there to help her find a way to return to the present.

Twilight Sparkle has accidently sent Rainbow Dash to the past and now Rainbow lacks the means to power the time machine that she came in enough to return to her own time. Fortunately, her friends are still there to help her find a way to return to the present, even if they aren't exactly the same friends that she left behind.

Obviously inspired by Back to the Future, but the plot of this story is only loosely based on that of the movie.

Published 2015-06-05 14:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-06-09 01:03:18 UTC

I Can't be Stuck Here!

Author's Note

This is something that I wrote while traveling across the US for the last few weeks. Sorry to everyone for being gone!
The cover art is by me. It's a mash up of my own work and of copy and paste, all in MS Paint. It's all I have. I'm not an artist. Don't look too closely.

I Can't be Stuck Here!

Twilight started at the sound of the front door of Golden Oaks Library being slammed open. She turned toward it and saw a frantic looking Rainbow Dash standing outside.

"Twilight! You've got to help me!"

"Ah, Rainbow! Good timing! I need you to help me with something too! Don't say a word!"

"What? But I-"

"Not a word, not a word, not a word!" cried Twilight as she grabbed Rainbow Dash's front hooves and pulled her toward the basement. Some of the urgency in Rainbow's expression was lost and replaced by confusion as she allowed herself to be led through the door and down stairs.

Twilight finally stopped in front of one of her 'crazy looking contraptions'.

Rainbow Dash eyed a weird metal bowl thing with lights stuck all over it. It was connected to the machine. "Hey, isn't that your-"

"Yep, although I've made some modifications to it since I tried it on Pinkie. It used to only be able to indicate general activity in specific regions of a pony's brain, but now it should be able to allow me to read your thoughts! In theory."

"In theory?"

"Shush! Remember, you can't give me any hints! Put this on!"

Twilight slammed a second mind scanning bowl over Rainbow Dash's eyes.

"Hey!" cried Rainbow in annoyance. She reached up to lift the cumbersome headwear to a more comfortable position. When she had moved it out of her eyes, she saw that Twilight was also wearing another one just like it.

"Remember," said Twilight, "not a word. Except to tell me if I guessed right or wrong! Of course you'll need to be able to do that!"

Rainbow scowled at Twilight, but she didn't notice because she chose that time to clench her eyes closed and put her front hooves on her head.

"You... you've perfected a new flying technique and you want me to come see?" She opened her eyes and looked at Rainbow enthusiastically.

"What?" asked Rainbow in surprise. "No!"

"Oh." replied Twilight, disappointed. "Um, um, um." She clutched her helmet even tighter.

"You... You want to borrow another Daring Do book? You've been flying through them ever since I introduced you to the series a few weeks ago."

"Twilight, this is serious! I need your help!"

"No, no!" cried Twilight. Don't tell me!" She lay her belly flat on the ground and pressed her hooves into her eyes. "You... You... You pulled a prank on Rarity and made her get dirty and now you need a place to hide?"

Rainbow let out a sigh and pulled the mind scanner off of her head. "Twilight." She said slowly. "I'm from the future. I came here in a time machine that you invented, and now I can't get home. I need your help to send me back to the future!"

"Oh." replied Twilight, scowling.

"Twilight, didn't you understand what I just said?" asked Rainbow Dash urgently.

"Oh, I understand alright."

"You do?" asked Rainbow, confused.

"Yes. I understand that that this thing..." she said as she took her hat off, "doesn't work at all!"

"Twilight! I'm being totally serious right now!"

"No you are not," accused Twilight. "You're just making fun of me for what happened last week."

"What? I don't even remember what happened last week. I'm from the future, remember?"

"If you're from the future and you came in a time machine, then where is the time machine?" asked Twilight.

"It's, uh, outside. I left it... in a tree."

"Uh huh," replied Twilight skeptically.

"Look, Twilight, I'm telling you, it's real!

"Time travel magic was lost with Starswirl the Bearded," insisted Twilight. "The only reason that I was able to cast the spell last week was because he created some scrolls enchanted with the spell. And I... used one of them up. It's... sort of gone forever."

"But you found a way to do it, Twilight! Of course, you said that the magic is really in-ee-fishent, but it works!"

"Oh?" asked Twilight, evidently intrigued. "And just how does it work then?"

"I... I don't know! Why are you asking me? You'd have to ask your future self that question!"

"So then why are you here instead of her?" said Twilight triumphantly.

"Because, for some reason that I don't really get, the machine can only travel through time when it has broken the sound barrier. I'm the only pony who can make that happen!"

"So you're telling me that you performed a sonic rainboom while hauling a time machine with you? I find that rather hard to believe. You have enough trouble pulling it off when it's just you."

Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a surprised look. "That's almost exactly what Twilight from the future said. That's why she had somepony else to help me."

"Who would that be?"

"Ummmmmmmm..."

"Yes?"

"You... you haven't met them yet! Well, yes you have, but you don't actually know them yet. Look, I don't have time for this, Twilight! It was an accident that I traveled this far back at all! Something terrible happened just when I left and I have to get back and fix it as soon as possible!"

"You know Dash, no matter how bad the problem is, you don't have to get back as soon as possible. You do keep insisting you have a time machine after all. So you can go back to the future to time you want!

"How can you say that, Twilight? Your future self is in terrible danger right now! Or, at least, she was when I left, and you will be in the future. And I left her all by herself!"

"Well, logically-"

"Logic Shmogic!" cried Rainbow Dash. "I'm not spending my time here in the past worrying my guts out over what's going to become of my friend in the future while I sit here and argue with that same friend!"

"Rainbow Dash... I think I believe you."

"But I- You do?"

"I think so. Either you are being honest or you are a really good actor. But what in Equestria happened that is so bad?"

"Oh. Welllllll-"

"Wait!" cried Twilight, shoving a hoof into Rainbow's mouth. "Don't tell me. I just finished learning this lesson. The less I know about the future, the better. I don't need to know about any incoming disasters. I'll just help you be on your way and we'll both pretend that this never happened."

"Oh, whew!" replied Rainbow Dash. "Thats a relief. I don't even know how I would begin to explain it to you when you don't even know about... stuff... yet."

"Right..." said Twilight dismissively. "Now then, you said that you left the time machine in a tree?"

Suddenly Twilight let out a yelp. "Oh no! Come on, we need to hurry before somepony stumbles upon it!"

"Uh, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash. "It's in a tree. Nopony is going to trip over it."

"I mean that we need to find it before somepony finds it and uses it by accident!" cried Twilight in frustration. She ran toward the staircase and through the door, and then through the library entrance and out of the front door, where she stopped. Rainbow Dash easily caught up with her.

"So, um, which tree did you hide the machine in?"

"It's just down the street, this way," indicated Rainbow Dash.

"Maybe we should, you know, walk," said Twilight. "We wouldn't want to attract any attention after all. Oh, but if we walk, it will take longer to get there and everypony will have longer to see you! We can't let anybody see you! Maybe we should run instead! Oh, but then everypony will see us for sure!"

"Twilight, relax," assured Rainbow Dash. "It's just a short way. I know that you can't keep up with me anyway. We'll go at your own pace. Besides, who cares if anypony sees me?"

"You should care!" insisted Twilight. "Especially if the Rainbow Dash who is actually supposed to be here happens to see you! Meeting yourself could cause a time paradox! Believe me, you do not want a time paradox!"

"Yeah, I don't even know what that means."

"Also, she'll think that you're an imposter!"

"Hold on!" said Rainbow, suddenly flying backwards while facing Twilight. "I am not an imposter."

"I know that you're not an imposter," said Twilight, "But the other Rainbow Dash won't know that! And I don't think it will be easy to convince her otherwise."

"Are you saying that I wouldn't know whether I am an imposter or not? How could it be any more obvious that I'm not? I'm the last pony who would make that mistake!"

"I... What I mean to say is..." Twilight stammered. "It would just save us alot of trouble if the other Rainbow Dash doesn't see you. Please don't let her see you?"

"I really don't see what the big deal is," answered Rainbow Dash.

"Actually," Twilight continued. "We can't let anypony else see you. They might figure out that there are two of you!"

"Alright! If you're that worried about it, I promise."

"Thank you."

"There it is!" said Dash happily, suddenly stopped and pointing up.

Twilight looked up into the tree that Rainbow indicated. "Is that... a carriage?"

"Yep! We decided to put the time machine inside so that... the other pony... could have somewhere to... sit."

"Rainbow, you haven't done a very good job of hiding it! The only thing that keeps it hidden from anypony that might wander by is everyone's tendancy to not look up!"

"Oh. Right. Sorry".

"Well, it doesn't matter now. Let's get this over with. What's wrong with it? If all you need to do is perform a sonic rainboom to make it work, then why do you need my help?"

"It's not that simple," answered Rainbow Dash in frustration. "I can make the machine move fast enough, but to actually travel through time, it needs lots and lots of magic.

"So all I have to do is use some of my magic to power it up?"

"No. Future Twilight said that she isn't strong enough to do that. Nopony is. All we need is a little something you called liquid etherium."

Twilight's eyes boggled for a moment before she started coughing.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

"Yes- *cough cough* -fine. Uh, could you repeat that? I must not have heard you correctly."

"Are... you okay?" asked Rainbow, confused.

"No, not that part. The part where you said 'All we need is'...?"

"Liquid... etherium?"

"Liquid etherium?" demanded Twilight. "As in pure distilled liquid magic? So potent that even a milliliter could sustain most magic spells for weeks, or even months?"

"Um. Probabily?"

Twilight let out a long sigh. "Rainbow, I don't know where future Twilight could possibly have gotten ahold of, oh, just liquid etherium, but in these days it's as rare as chicken teeth!"

"Chickens don't have teeth, Twilight."

"Exactly!" cried Twilight in frustration. "Surely future Twilight gave you enough of it so that you could make the return trip back to your own time?"

"Nope. We were doing first time testing, so we were just sending the machine forward in time only one minute at a time. We had more etherium right there when the machine popped up again out of nowhere a minute later."

"Oh dear," said Twilight. "Well, if it takes that much magic to travel through time... well... I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you might be stuck here!"

"Stuck here!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "I can't be stuck here! I had a life in the future! I have friends that need me! Well, of course, I have friends here too, but they're not the same as the friends that I left behind! Twilight, there's gotta be something we can do! Anything?"

Twilight lowered her head in despair. "I don't know what to tell you, Dashie. The only thing in Equestria with that much magical energy is the elements of harmony!"

"Did somepony say... the elements of hamony?" said a new masculine voice.

"...I remember that voice," whispered Twilight fearfully. Slowly, she turned her head up to the time machine.

"AHHHHHH!" she shouted before bolting away. However, she was unable to get very far because Rainbow Dash was suddenly in her path.

"Rainbow!" shouted Twilight. "You let Discord find your time machine! Do you have any idea how bad this is?"

"Wait Twilight!" cried Rainbow Dash. "This isn't what it looks like!"

"It isn't?" shouted Twilight hysterically. "It looks like the harbinger of chaos has somehow escaped again and is here to steal the elements of harmony and take over Equestria again, and now you've let him have even more power! We have to warn everypony!"

"Twilight!" shouted Rainbow Dash, grunting as she restrained her frantic purple friend. "If ever there was a time that- ugh- I need you to just trust me it is now! Please!"

Twilight stopped struggling against Rainbow and looked into her eyes. "Yes..." she answered shakily. "Yes, of course."

"Discord is not here to take over Equestria!"

"That is right, dear Twilight," said Discord from above. Twilight risked looking up at him. He was sitting in the carriage while wearing a bathing hat and using a scrubbing stick to wash his back. From this angle, she couldn't tell whether the carriage was in fact full of water or not.

"If all you need to send us back to the future is the elements of harmony, you could just ask." said Discord. "I have them right here." He revealed his other arm with the five neckalces worn around it along with the tiara in his eagle hand.

"Agh! Where did you get those?" demanded Twilight in a paniced voice.

"I've taken the elements before you know. It's not hard. Hmm... It has been rather a while since I've seen these."

"Give them back Discord!" cried Twilight.

"Of course!" replied Discord, letting the necklaces slide off of his arm and fall below.

Twilight simply watched open mouthed as all five necklaces dropped unceremoniously into the dirt.

"Come now Twilight," said Discord. "These are only the elements of harmony after all. Show a little respect."

Discord released the element of magic, which Twilight managed to catch with her magic at the last moment before it hit the ground.

"You were being serious?" said Twilight in a voice that indicated that she was in fact only talking to herself. "All I had to do was ask?"

"If you need them to send Rainbow Dash and myself back to our own time then I will do for you whatever you wish."

"Wait," said Twilight. She turned back to Rainbow Dash. "Him? Discord is the 'pony' that you brought with you from the future? What were you thinking?"

"Twilight, you promised that you would trust me!"

"I know, Rainbow! But I think you have made a serious lapse in judgement!"

"Discord's not... evil... and stuff. Anymore. Remember how we helped Luna see the light again? We were able to help Discord too!"

"Rainbow, I'm not sure that I should believe you anymore." Before Rainbow Dash could protest, Twilight quickly added, "I'm not sure that you should trust yourself anymore. What if you are not from the future at all? What if Discord is controling you again and this is all some rediculous phony story that he made up and made you think it was true?"

"Twilight that's the most- Okay, actually that does kind of make sense, but you're wrong. He just now gave you the elements of harmony. Why. Would. He. Do. That. If he was trying to take over Equestria?"

"And," added Discord, "If I was here to take over Equestria, I wouldn't be wasting my time here. I would be out there spreading some much needed chaos."

"There!" cried Twilight, turning back to Rainbow Dash. You heard it from his own mouth! He wants to spread chaos!"

"Okay," said Rainbow Dash, "I'll admit, just because Discord isn't evil or whatever now doesn't mean he doesn't still act like a foal. Discord, you were supposed to stay out of sight so this wouldn't get complicated!"

"Oh, but that would be so boooooring!" whined Discord.

"Rainbow Dash," said Twilight sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, but there is just no way to prove that you are both telling the truth!"

"Well, what about that?" asked Discord. Twilight followed his pointing finger. She stared at the pegasus that he was pointing at, unsure what the significance of Rainbow Dash sleeping on a cloud some distance away was.

Twilight turned back to the other Rainbow Dash.

"Oh. Rainbow! Hide!"

"What? Why? This is awesome!"

"You promised me you would stay out of sight! Especially from her!"

"Oh. Right. Hey Discord, scoot over."

"Hurry!" urged Twilight!

"Yeah yeah."

*Splash*

"Really Discord?"

"Alright, alright I'll get rid of it!"

"Ugh. Oh-kay Twilight, I'm in. Nopony is going to see me."

"Good!" whispered Twilight. "Now keep your heads down! I need to take you someplace safe!"

"Fine," whispered Rainbow Dash. "But can you hurry? It's kind of cramped in here!"

Suddenly the carriage lurched and the sky above Rainbow began to move.

"Whoa! Careful!" cried Rainbow Dash.

"SHH!" whispered Twilight. Somepony is coming!"

"You didn't check to see if anypony was there before picking up the carriage?"

"SHH!"

"Hey Twilight!" said Pinkie Pie.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. Pinkie was not a pegusus and would therefore be unable to see who was in the carriage.

"Um. Hello Pinkie Pie?"

"You're holding the elements of harmony!" said Pinkie cheerfully.

"Ummmmm... Well, the Princess, she asked me to, eh, hold on to them for a little while. You know? Just in case anything... really bad happens?"

"That makes sense to me!" cried Pinkie. "You know, I don't know why she didn't do that earlier. It's not like anypony else but us can use them anyway."

"Um, well, I hate to be rude," Twilight chuckled nervously, "but I have something very important to get to back at the library, so if you don't mind..."

"What's with the carriage?"

"What? Oh, you mean this carriage?" said Twilight, looking up and making an expression that suggested that she had never seen it before.

"Mmhmm. Any why is Rainbow Dash riding inside?"

"...Welllllllllllllllllll... She was... pretty tired today, you know, from doing all that flying and fancy tricks, so she just fell asleep in this carriage that I have never before seen in my life, so I thought that I would take her back to my place?"

"Oh, I can see that. She does look tired."

Twilight followed Pinkie's eyes, which were not pointing anywhere near the carriage. "What are you- uph!"

Pinkie was looking up at the cloud where the present-day Rainbow Dash was sleeping.

"Well, I better let you go then so that you can get Rainbow Dash into a proper bed!" said Pinkie Pie. "It must be so uncomfortable to fall asleep in a carriage."

"..."

"Well, bye then!"

"Goodbye... Pinkie."

When Pinkie's hoofsteps had died down and Rainbow Dash felt that it was finally safe to say something, she whispered "that was close."

"Much too close," agreed Twilight. "Hey, Rainbow."

"Yeah?"

"It sure is a good thing that she didn't realize that... Discord... is in there with you."

"He's not anymore."

"What?" said Twilight, barely remembering to whisper.

"He disappeared when Pinkie Pie showed up."

"Where did he go?"

"He'll turn up."

"He had better. We're back. Don't come out yet."

Rainbow Dash heard a door open. She also began to hear a strange metallic noise, apparently from within the library.

"What is that sound?" she asked.

"I have no idea! said Twilight. "Libraries are supposed to be quiet places!"

Rainbow watched as the carriage was pushed through the library door and the ceiling came into view. A moment later the door was shut.

"I can come out now, right?"

"Yes, I think so. Spike has been asleep all day, so if he sees you, he won't think there's anything strange going on. Although there's no way that he can be sleeping through this racket! What is that?"

"It sounds like a pair of pots being bashed together," offered Rainbow Dash.

"It sounds like it's coming from my basement!" replied Twilight. She threw the basement door open and beheld another Twilight Sparkle bashing the two mind reading bowls together like a pair of cymbals.

"What is going on here!" shouted Twilight loudly enough to be heard over the noise while running toward her double. "Don't tell me that you're from the future too! Do I wind up being driven as loony as Pinkie Pie in the future?"

"Unfortunately, no," said the other Twilight, who then proceeded to morph into Discord while continuing to bash the metal bowls together.

"Discord!" shouted Rainbow Dash in what part of Twilight thought sounded a lot like the tone one would use toward an annoying sibling. The rest of Twilight was busy trying to comprehend the situation.

"Discord, stop that noise!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

Discord complied. "Hmph. Do I ask you to stop when you're having a bit of fun?"

"Why did you just now look like me?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, that. Your dear little dragon friend came down here to find out what the noise was too, and I knew I shouldn't let him see me, so I pretended to be you.

"Spike thinks that I'm in the basement acting like a complete fool?" demanded Twilight angrily.

"Oh, no. When he asked me why I was acting like that, I told him that it was an experiment for SCIENCE!"

"..."

"Don't look at me, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash. "You said so yourself that stuff like this is preferable to complete chaotic tyranny. Of course, it was future you that said that."

"... And then I told Spike to go spend the rest of the day with Miss Rarity," said Discord. "That should keep him occupied for a while. I thought it would be a good idea to get him out of your mane until we are gone."

"You know about his feelings for Rarity?" said Twilight.

"He knows all about all of our friends, Twilight," said Rainow Dash.

"I'm not sure that I am comfortable with that," said Twilight. "Look, I'll be honest. I don't trust you Discord. But I do trust Rainbow Dash, and I can't deny that you two are clearly from the future. I will help you if I can, but remember, I've got my eye on you, Discord."

"Fine then," said Discord, crossing his arms. "If you're going to be like that, then lets get straight on with business. Go ahead and go grab your friends so we can use those elements of harmony to magic our way back to the future."

Twilight glared at Discord for a moment before answering with, "It's not that simple. Unfortunately, we can't just harness the power of the elements of harmony to do whatever we want, whenever we want. They only yield their power when they are used to banish evil from Equestria, and, technically, that is not what we would be using them for.

"And then there is another problem. I cannot overstate this. We cannot let either of you two be seen by anypony! It could cause severe changes to future events if you were to interact with anypony. You're already having to interact with me. Anypony else might lead to even bigger changes!

"So," began Rainbow Dash in despair, "You're saying that not only are we both really stuck here forever, but we can't ever even leave the library?"

"Well..." said Twilight hesitantly. "Not forever. Once I manage to reverse engineer the time machine and build another one, the old Discord and Rainbow Dash will be gone and then you two can come out of hiding and pretend that nothing ever happened. I can't just use this time machine here because if that would create a paradox in which the time machine was never created."

"I'm not just going to sit here!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Although... How completely nutso would it be if it turned out that Twilight has secretly been hiding a Rainbow Dash from the future in her basement for all this time and I never even knew it?"

"I don't think we'll have to do that!" cried Discord.

"You don't?" asked Twilight and Rainbow Dash together.

"You said that the elements of harmony will only work if they are banishing evil, right?"

"Yes?" said Twilight, even more confused.

"Then I have a plan!" declared Discord happily. "I will stage an 'evil scheme' and you and your friends can use the elements to 'defeat' me again, but when their power hits me, it won't work because I'm not really being evil and we can redirect their energy into the time machine, sending Rainbow Dash and I back into the future!"

"That's a very... interesting plan, but there's just one problem," said Twilight. "It won't work unless the wielders of the elements of harmony genuinely believe that you are evil."

"Then we just won't tell them." said Discord.

"You want me to lie to them?" asked Twilight, shocked. "About this?"

"You're not going to be lying," assured Discord. "You will just be selectively leaving out information. Besides, do you want Rainbow Dash and I to be stuck here forever instead of in the time where we belong, or would you rather play just a harmless little trick on our friends? You can even tell them what it was all really about afterward."

"Well," said Twilight hesitantly, "it would be for the greater good... But there's still a problem! What about me? I will know what's really going on!"

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Discord. "The elements will work anyway, if the other five of them are fooled."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm certain."

"Hold on," said Rainbow Dash. "Let me get this straight. All we have to do is get Twilight and our friends, plus my other self, to hit us with the elements of harmony at the exact same time that I'm performing a sonic rainboom, and we have to have them do it without letting them know that it's exactly what we need them to do, and we can't let anypony know that we are actually Rainbow Dash and Discord? Did I get all of that right?"

"Well, not quite..." said Twilight. "Actually, we can get away with Discord being seen. The present-day Discord is stuck in a statue back at Canterlot Castle, and nopony is going to go check to see if its still there when the future Discord, that's you, shows up in Ponyville. But we absolutely cannot let anybody know that you are really Rainbow Dash. The other Rainbow Dash will have to be there too after all!"

"I still don't see how we can possibly pull this off!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Leave it to me!" said Discord proudly. "Give me a moment to figure out a plan and we will be out of here before anypony is the wiser! It's time for... just one last 'evil' scheme!"

We have a Plan!

"Discord," said Twilight sternly, "No! Just like the last four ideas you've had, this idea is entirely too... chaotic!"

"Twilight, I am Discord", replied Discord in deadpan. "Chaos is my business. I can't have an evil plan without chaos."

"I know," said Twilight. "But can't you think of something a little less... conspicuous? Something that doesn't result in mass destruction of property and terrorizing the citizens of the town?"

"Hmph," said Discord grumpily as he folded his arms. "You're not giving me much to work with."

"Oh, come on!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she threw up her arms. "We've been sitting at this table for nearly an hour trying to think of something! I'm going stir crazy!" Rainbow started to hop up and down in her chair with her wings."

"Rainbow, I told you!" said Twilight. "We can't risk letting you leave until we have real plan!"

"But I need to fly!" insisted Rainbow Dash. "And the whole town is out there just waiting to be explored!"

"Rainbow," said Twilight reasonably, "you've seen Ponyville before. I know that it will be hard, but you need to stay here! You can fly for as long as you like after we solve this."

"It's not the same!" cried Rainbow. "Ponyville changed over the last few years! And don't get me wrong, Ponyville in the future is a fantastic place, but there are some things about it that just never will be the same again! What's the point in going back in time if you can't even go anywhere because somepony might see you?"

"I can understand if you are feeling nostalgic," said Twilight, "but... well, this is more important!"

"But we aren't getting anywhere!" whined Rainbow. "Come on, please? Just until the two of you finally work something out? What if you use your magic to give me a disguise or something?"

"Umm..." Twilight thought about it for a bit. "Well, I could change your coloring, but I can't just hide your cutie mark. Even magic can't hide who you truly are."

"Twilight," replied Rainbow Dash, "you can just use makeup to cover it up."

"Well..." said Twilight hesitantly.

"For the record," added Discord, "I agree with Rainbow Dash. I would be out enjoying myself right now if I could, but unfortunately I have to stay here and think of something. Not to mention that I don't think I'd be able to resist making just a few tiny little changes here and there."

Twilight glared at him.

"Hey, I am holding myself back, am I not?"

"Does it really mean that much to you, Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight sincerely.

"I dunno Twilight," replied Rainbow gloomily. "I've always been about living in the moment, about the here and now! But... now that I stop and think about it... I just wish that I had taken more pictures from before everything changed. I don't even own a camera!"

"Here's one," said Discord, pulling out a camera from nowhere and tossing it to Rainbow Dash, who caught it in her hooves and stared at it for a moment. "Knock yourself out!"

"Discord!" cried Twilight accusingly. And then she looked into Rainbow's pleading eyes.

"...Well," said Twilight. "Okay. But you are not going out without a disguise."

"Lavender? Really, Twilight?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, come on, I think it looks good on you!" Twilight replied to her newly dyed friend.

"And a black mane?" Rainbow continued.

"Well," said Twilight, "because your mane features every color of a rainbow, those colors would bleed through in different ways and your mane would still not be a solid color. So the only way to hide it completely is to go completely black."

"Ugh, whatever you say," said Rainbow Dash. "So what are you doing for my cutie mark?"

"I realized that that camera could be a perfect cover story for you," said Twilight as she finished applying the last bit of makeup to Rainbow's flank. "You're going to be a traveling photographer with a camera for a cutie mark! And if anypony asks you what your name is, tell them that it is Flash Photography! There! All done!"

Rainbow Dash turned her head to get a look at her new 'cutie marks'.

"I guess it will have to do," she said. "At least now I can go outside, right?"

"I guess so," said Twilight reluctantly. "But please try to stay out of trouble!"

"Come on, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash dismissively. "What are the odds of that?"

"That's what I'm afraid of," said Twilight.

"I'm just going to go out taking pictures," said Rainbow Dash as she picked up the camera that Discord gave her. "It will be fine. Now can I go?"

"Yes," answered Twilight. "But remember, you're just taking pictures!"

"Finally! cried Rainbow. "And I know just what I'll take a picture of first!"

"What would that be?" asked Twilight curiously.

"The library!"

"The library?" said Twilight in confusion. "Why would you want to take a picture of the library?"

"Oh!" said Rainbow Dash, realizing her mistake. "No reason. Just felt like it. I don't have any pictures of it yet, after all."

"Of course," replied Twilight knowingly. "That makes sense."

"Well, see you later Twilight," said Rainbow as she ran toward the door.

"Be back in a couple of hours!" Twilight shouted after her.

"Excuse me," said Rainbow Dash, who was currently inside Carousel Boutique. "But could I have just a moment, Rarity?"

"Oh, hello there Rainbo- oh!" said Rarity as she turned to look at Rainbow. "You're not- It's just that from your voice I thought... Well, it doesn't matter, how may I help you?"

"My name is-" suddenly Rainbow stopped and coughed, and when she began talking again her voice had changed. "Uh... Flash Photography. And I've heard all about you."

"Have you?" asked Rarity. "Oh, but of course you have! My reputation does precede me, after all!"

"Uh, right," continued Rainbow Dash. "Anyway, I'm taking pictures all over Ponyville and I was hoping that-"

"Oh, but of course you can take pictures of my designs!" squealed Rarity. "It would be sure to help draw more customers!"

"Um, well actually," said Rainbow hesitantly, "I was hoping to get some pictures of you."

"Of me?" asked Rarity in surprise. "Oh! But of course! And I know just what to wear!"

"Wait!" shouted Rainbow Dash before Rarity could rush away. "I just wanted to get a picture of you. Not you wearing some fancy dress, just... you!"

"Oh! You wanted to a before and after sort of thing?"

"Rarity, listen!" cried Rainbow. "I didn't come here to take pictures of dresses! They're nothing special!"

"Nothing... special?" said Rarity, tearing up.

"What I meant was," said Rainbow quickly, "that... they're not nearly as special as the pony who created them!"

"Do you mean that?"

"Of course I do! So, will you do it?"

"Well, I understand what you are thinking," said Rarity. "but wouldn't you rather have pictures of both myself in a gorgeous dress?"

"Ugh, fine. But let me take at least one picture without a dress?"

"I suppose so," conceded Rarity. "That way, everypony who sees your pictures will be able to see just how much more fabulous my designs make me look!"

"They don't do that much for you..."

"What?"

"What I mean is, you're already so fabulous that there isn't much left that they can do for you!"

Rarity began to tear up again. "That... That's one of the nicest things anypony has ever said to me..."

"Oh, give me a break..." muttered Rainbow. "I mean, no problem!"

"So you do or do not want me to take a picture?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy squeaked from her hiding place behind Angel, who had an annoyed look.

Wordlessly, Rainbow raised the camera up and snapped a picture. Fluttershy had no further reaction other than to continue to cower.

"I'll take that as a yes then?"

"Eep!"

"Well, goodbye, I guess."

"A picture?" asked Applejack. "Of me?"

"Of course!" said Rainbow Dash. "And maybe a few around the farm. Like, uh, the barn?"

"But ah'm workin'!" said Applejack, who then proceeded to buck an apple tree. "Ah'm all sweaty and tired lookin'! Maybe ya should come back later?"

"But I... uh, I'm... showing off everywhere in Ponyville! I've already taken pictures of the water tower, the library, the town hall, the market square, Carousel Boutique, and other places like that."

"Oh, ah see!" said Applejack. "You're trying to capture what life here in Ponyville is all about!"

"Um, sure!"

"Well then, how aboutcha get a shot of me right in the middle of a good ol' apple buck?"

"Um, sure!"

"I suppose that's enough pictures..." Rainbow Dash mused as she flew back toward the library. "Twilight did ask me to not be gone for too long."

She had decided that it would probably be a bad idea to try to find Pinkie Pie since she would probably somehow see right through the disguise.

Suddenly a colorful splotch in the clouds caught her eyes. "What is that?"

She inspected it for a moment. "Oh, of course, that's just my other self! Maybe... Maybe I should get a shot of... her too.

She took off into the sky and was quickly hovering in front of the sleeping other-Rainbow Dash.

"Wait, do I really look like that when I'm asleep?" she asked herself. "That's not cool. There's no way I'm taking a picture of that."

Rainbow hesitated. "I could wake her up... But I'm not supposed to let my other self see me. Although, I am in disguise..."

"HEY!"

"Whoa! What? Huh?" cried the suddenly awakened Rainbow Dash.

"Oh," said past-Rainbow. "Who are you? What do you want? Can't you see that I was taking a nap?"

"Yes, I could see that," said Rainbow. "My name is Flash Photography, and I have been photographing the coolest ponies in Ponyville! But I guess that the pony who pointed me to you must have been mistaken."

"Whoa, hold on," said past-Rainbow angrily. "You've got the right pony alright. Only the coolest in Equestria!" she struck a pose.

Rainbow grinned to herself. 'This is too easy!' she thought. Suddenly, she felt rather embarrassed for the same reason. Regardless, she raised the camera and snapped a picture of the other Rainbow Dash.

"Hey!" cried past-Rainbow in annoyance as she dropped the pose.

"So," said Rainbow. "You talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"You know it is! They don't call me D- Flash for nothing!"

"Ha! Well they don't call me Dash for no reason! But I hope you're up for more than just walking!"

Without another word, past-Rainbow flew off.

"Hehehe," laughed Rainbow. "It is on." She jumped into the sky and began to follow her past counterpart.

After a little while past-Rainbow flew by her while doing some looping tricks. "Hey, slowpoke! I'm doing tricks around you!"

"That's just what I was hoping for..." cackled Rainbow to herself before snapping another photo.

She allowed past-Rainbow to stay far ahead of her for long enough to get a couple dozen pictures before the camera finally ran out of film.

"Aw man," Rainbow said to herself. "Oh well, that should be plenty. Now time to crank it up a notch."

She accelerated toward her past self and slowed to match her speed when she was right beside her, grinning.

"Whoa!" cried past-Rainbow. "You devious pony! You've been holding back!" she said with a grin of her own. "But you still can't keep up with this!"

Suddenly past-Rainbow dive-bombed and future-Rainbow quickly followed suit.

'We're heading straight at Ponyville Lake!' Rainbow realized. 'She's going to pull up at the last minute! And she thinks that I will either pull up before her or I will crash into the lake! Well, I'll show her!'

Rainbow watched as the lake came closer and closer, but she was resolved not to make a move until her other self did so. At the last moment, past-Rainbow pulled up and then-

*SPLASH*

"Bwahahahaa!" laughed past-Rainbow. "You know, I didn't think you had the guts to even try it. Are you okay?"

Future-Rainbow surfaced in the lake sputtering and coughing.

"Huh?" said past-Rainbow in confusion.

When future-Rainbow had finally stopped coughing, she began to fly out of the water and said, "Well, I guess you win, huh?"

"What happened to your mane?"

"My mane?" Rainbow looked up into her mane and her pupils shrunk.

"And what happened to you're cutie mark?" shouted past Rainbow. "Why are you impersonating me?"

"Uh, uh-" Rainbow no longer bothered to change her voice.

Suddenly, with a rush of wind, both Rainbows had taken off.

"Hey!" shouted past-Rainbow. "I'm talking to you!" She managed to tackle Rainbow Dash to the ground.

"Who are you, really?" she shouted into her face.

"Why, she's exactly who she says she is!" said Discord's voice. "She's Rainbow Dash."

"Huh?" said past-Rainbow, suddenly panicked. She looked up and saw that, sure enough, Discord was laying on a cloud and watching.

"Or should I say," he continued. "She's the better Rainbow Dash. You see, unlike you, she's my friend! And I am her friend!"

"What are you talking about? How did you escape, Discord? What are you doing in Ponyville?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know. Seriously, it's all rather interesting, but unfortunately for you, I can't tell you. As for what I'm doing in Ponyville, well, let's just say that I have the most interesting of plans.

"Oh yeah?" shouted past-Rainbow as she began to hoof at the ground. "Not on my watch!"

"And Rainbow Dash here," continued Discord, indicating future-Rainbow, "is going to help me do it!"

"Huh?" Past-Rainbow stopped and stared at her other self in shock.

"You see, I've learned a lesson since you imprisoned me," declared Discord. "I should make some friends!"

"That is not what that means and you know it!" shouted past-Rainbow with a stomp of her hoof. "You can't just force everyone to like you and call them your friends! And that Rainbow Dash is a fake!"

"Oh, I think you will find that my friend her is quite real," assured Discord. "You see, I need one of her... special abilities."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your sonic rainboom has a rather interesting power," said Discord, but suddenly future-Rainbow Dash flew up to him and slammed a hoof over his mouth.

"You can't tell her about that!" she hissed to Discord.

"Don't worry," he replied back to her from behind her hoof. "I know what I'm doing." He moved her out of the way and turned his gaze back upon the other Rainbow Dash, who was watching with even more confusion.

"The sonic rainboom has the fascinating power to inspire everypony around it, to remind them of everything beautiful in life," explained Discord. "And when my dear friend Rainbow Dash makes a sonic rainboom for me, everypony who lays eyes on it will finally see the beauty of chaos! They will finally see what they have all been missing, and nopony will even want to stop me! Muahahahahaha!"

"Well, that's not going to happen!" shouted past-Rainbow as she started accelerating toward Discord.

Suddenly her head collided with something.

"OW! What the-"

"Of course, I can't have you running off and telling everypony that my friend isn't the real Rainbow Dash now, can I?" said Discord as past-Rainbow stared horrified at the giant candy cane cage that she suddenly found herself in.

"Oh, how ever will you escape from this?" laughed Discord as the cage was lowered to the ground.

"Ugh!" grunted past-Rainbow as she bashed the candy cane bars with her front hooves with all her might, but they didn't even crack. "Ewwww!" she moaned as she realized that her hooves were sticking to the bars.

"Buahahahaha! Ahahaha ha ha ha HA!" Laughed Discord.

"Hahahahaha!"

"What are you laughing at?" demanded past-Rainbow as she pried a hoof off the bars and pointed it at the other Rainbow Dash.

"You look hilarious in there!" answered her double. "Hey, Discord, got any more film for this camera?"

"No problem, my friend!"

Future-Rainbow took the film and quickly exchanged it for the spent roll inside the camera, then snapped a picture of the Rainbow Dash in the cage. "Oh, I am never going to let myself live this down!" she laughed to herself.

"Hey!" shouted past-Rainbow as Discord and future-Rainbow turned and flew away. "Get back here! You can't leave me like this! Help! HELP!"

"Hi there Rainbow Dash!" said Pinkie Pie.

Now Let's Go Home!

"So, Discord..." began Rainbow Dash. "What you said back there about making everypony see the 'beauty' in chaos... That was all a lie, right?"

"Yes, it was all a lie," confirmed Discord. "Even if I had turned you into a beacon of chaos, which I haven't, ponies would still have to make the choice to actually like it. Of course, I could just force everypony to like it in the same way that I once forced you and your friends to be jerks, but I'm not that kind of Draconequis anymore. Although, if I had thought of all this before my reformation- Never mind," said Discord upon seeing Rainbow Dash's glare.

"How did you know I was in trouble anyway?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Twilight and I sort of got into an argument. She doesn't trust me without you there. So I decided that it was time I find you again. Also, you had been gone for a long time."

"Oh," said Rainbow guiltily. "Sorry about that. So how does the rest of the plan go?"

"Well, we just go along with everything and hope it works out, of course."

"That's the plan you and Twilight came up with? She would never agree to that!"

"We didn't come up with a plan," said Discord. "Twilight didn't like any of my ideas, and she couldn't figure out anything for herself. I kept telling her to just let me do my thing, but she won't have it."

"But what was all of that, back there?" asked Rainbow Dash, slightly panicked. "My other self has seen us now and thinks that you're planning on brainwashing Ponyville!"

"And there's no taking it back now," said Discord. "For the record, it was you who let yourself be seen. I had to do some quick thinking. Now we have no choice but to go with it. At least it was one of my plans. I imagine Twilight won't be too happy about that."

"Hey, Discord? About what happened to Twilight in the future... and to us... Do you know why it happened?"

"Ah! Finally!" cried Discord. "I tried to warn Twilight, but she wasn't really listening when I tried to tell her how dangerous it was!"

"What?" cried Rainbow Dash in a confused voice. "How did they get here before us?"

She watched from above as Pinkie Pie and past-Rainbow Dash flung the front door of the library open and disappeared inside.

"It doesn't matter," said Discord. "Wait for them to leave."

"Twilight, we have a big problem!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow, there you are! Wait, why is Pinkie with you?"

"Twilight, Discord is on the loose in Ponyville!" cried Rainbow, ignoring Twilight's statement. "We need to get the rest of the girls together and figure out how to stop him!"

"Wait, you've seen Discord?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah I did. Right before he locked me in a cage!"

"Locked you in a cage?" cried Twilight in concern and confusion. "How did you get out?"

"Oh, that was easy!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "I just ate it."

"You... ate the cage?"

"Yep!"

"It was made out of candy canes," explained Rainow Dash. "Now, we need to hurry! Discord somehow made a copy of me and he's going to make her do a sonic rainboom, and everypony who looks at it is going to be brainwashed into liking him!"

"What!" cried Twilight angrily. "You saw the other Rainbow Dash?"

"No," said Rainbow. "That Rainbow Dash is just a fake! That's why she's helping him! I mean, who in their right mind would willingly help Discord do this?"

"I... I see," said Twilight. "Where did you last see Discord?"

"Right by Ponyville Lake!"

"Alright," said Twilight. "You two go and gather the others together and meet me there. I have to do something first."

"Twilight, this is important!" cried Rainbow. "What could be so important that you can't come right now!"

"I... I have to get the elements of harmony! They're all upstairs in my room!" said Twilight honestly.

"Oh yeah!" said Pinkie Pie. "I saw you carrying them earlier today! It sure is a good thing the Princess decided to give them to you today! It's almost like she knew what was about to happen!"

"Yeah..." said Twilight. "Now then, let's not waste any time! Go and gather the others!"

"We're on it!" cried Rainbow Dash before zipping through the door.

"You can count on us!" said Pinkie as she did the same.

"Ugh!" moaned Twilight.

Rainbow Dash appeared in the front door again.

"So, uh, is everypony else gone?" she asked.

Twilight stared at her uncomprehendingly for a moment, then quickly answered "Oh! It's you! Yes, it's just me now."

As Discord came through the door to join Rainbow, Twilight's face turned sour. "This is not what I had in mind!" she cried with a hoof-stomp. "You were supposed to consult me before doing something like this!"

"Hey, don't look at me," said Discord. Suddenly he morphed into a sign shaped like an arrow pointing at Rainbow Dash which read, 'It's all her fault!'.

Twilight looked at Rainbow expectantly. Rainbow let out a sigh and said "I accidently let my other self see me and Discord had to convince her that I'm not really her."

"Well, there's no stopping it now," said Twilight. "I just hope this works. I've already told the others to meet over by the lake. I have to hurry and meet them before somepony comes looking here. You'll be there too, right?"

"Of course," answered Discord. "Oh, and here. I thought I would save you a bit of trouble." Discord held out his arm and offered her the elements of harmony.

"But you only just- Ugh, never mind. Thank... you. Discord."

Twilight took the elements and opened up the door, but then hesitated. She turned back to Rainbow Dash.

"I just realized that this is probably the last time I'm going to see you for a long time," she said sadly. "Well, the future-you I mean... I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too Twilight," answered Rainbow Dash.

"And what about little old me?" asked Discord with false-pleading eyes.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I can't say that I will miss you..." she began.

"Well!" cried Discord, crossing his arms.

"But," continued Twilight, "I will admit it. You're not as bad as you used to be. Maybe our Discord deserves a chance too."

"He does?" asked Discord, surprised. "I mean, I do? That's... very kind of you, Twilight."

"Well, goodbye then," said Twilight, a little sadly. "And good luck." And then Twilight closed the door.

Neither Rainbow or Discord spoke for a moment.

Suddenly, Discord said "Hey, Rainbow Dash."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that us being here has changed history? Or do you think that we've just made a new history?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Discord stopped to think about how to convey his thoughts.

"I was trapped in a statue on this day," said Discord. "I can't have remembered all of this. But you were here on this day. Do you remember me trapping you in that cage?"

"Oh! I see what you're saying," said Rainbow. "Actually... no, I don't remember that. And I don't think that that's the sort of thing that I would forget either."

"How interesting..." said Discord, mostly to himself.

"Yes, interesting," said Rainbow dismissively. "Discord, I don't know what your point is with all of this, but we have somewhere to be."

"Okay, okay," answered Discord. He snapped his fingers and a riding helmet with holes for his horns appeared on his head. "Let's go home!"

"Okay everpony, this Discord's last known location!" said Twilight. "Spread out and see what you can find!"

"Found them!" said Pinkie Pie, pointing up.

"Oh no!" shouted Discord in mock fear. "You've gathered up all of your friends and the elements of harmony!"

"There's no need for sarcasm, Discord!" said Rarity. "We already know what you're up to!"

"And we're going to stop you!" shouted past-Rainbow Dash.

"That's what you think!" cried Discord. "When Rainbow Dash here performs her sonic rainboom, nopony will be able to stop me! Are you ready, Rainbow Dash?"

"I'm always ready!" answered future-Rainbow before accelerating through the air with a burst.

"Quick, everypony!" shouted past-Rainbow Dash. "Let's hit them now before there's a rainboom!"

"Wait!" cried Twilight. Everypony looked at her confused.

"Um, we need to wait for the right moment!"

"Twilight, that fake Rainbow Dash is almost as fast as I am!" cried past-Rainbow. "Look at her! If we don't hit them with the elements now, it will be too late!"

"Okay..." said Twilight uncertainly.

Nothing happened.

"Twilight!" said Applejack. "Hurry!"

"I'm trying!" Twilight lied.

"Hurry!" cried the others in unison.

Twilight looked up at future-Rainbow Dash. 'Just a little bit longer!' she thought.

A rainbow erupted from future-Rainbow as she finally crossed the sound barrier.

"Twilight," screamed past-Rainbow, now in full panic. "We have to use the elements right now!"

"Okay!" said Twilight quickly. "I'm trying!"

Nothing continued to happen.

"I'm trying!" cried Twilight, now panicked. "What's going wrong? Why isn't it working?"

"Oh, Twilight!" shouted Pinkie Pie. Twilight turned to her, confused. She sounded upset. "I'm so sorry Twilight, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry-"

"What did you do?" asked Twilight in confusion.

"I'm sooooo sorry, Twilight! I looked at the sonic rainboom!"

"Uh, I didn't want to," said Applejack, "but I couldn't help it. I looked too."

"So did I!" added Rarity.

Twilight stood dumbfounded. Then she squinted in anger. "Discord!"

And then she lowered her head in defeat.

"This is all my fault," Twilight declared.

"Twilight, don't blame yourself," said Fluttershy soothingly. "It could have happened to anypony."

"No, you don't get it!" Twilight cried. "It's my fault that the elements aren't working! I've known that Discord is back all day and I didn't tell anypony!"

There was a unanimous gasp from all of the others.

"Discord gave me a bunch of hooie about how he's 'changed' now," continued Twilight. "He made up a phony baloney story about the reason that he was in Ponyville, and I believed his nonsense! But I see now that he was really just trying to make sure that we couldn't use the elements against him again! I don't know why I ever thought that he could ever be telling the truth!"

"Don't you worry about that, Twilight," said Applejack sadly. "We know that you couldn't help it. You were just under his spell. And now... we all are."

"And because of me," Twilight continued in despair, "Everypony in Ponyville will be singing Discord's praises and there will be eternal chaos!"

"But... I don't want there to be eternal chaos!" cried Rainbow Dash.

"I don't want eternal chaos either," declared Fluttershy.

"Nor do I!" wailed Rarity.

"But it looks like now we have no choice," said Applejack.

"Well, chaos is fun and all..." said Pinkie.

Everypony around her shot her a look.

"But I don't want eternal chaos either! It just makes everypony so sad!"

Twilight suddenly felt as if her heart had skipped a beat.

"Wait a minute!" she cried happily. "Discord's plan didn't work!"

"It didn't?" replied her friends.

"No! It didn't! Discord thinks that he can beat us by deciding what we think and who we like for us, but he can't!" cried Twilight triumphantly. "He may have had a sonic rainboom on his side, but he failed because he doesn't understand that a relationship in which you tell others what to think isn't a friendship at all!"

"Come on, girls!" Twilight shouted determinedly. "Let's send Discord back to where he belongs!"

"She did it!" cried Discord happily as he watched the wave of power emerge from the elements and rush toward him. "I knew that she could do it! Yes!" he shouted, magically amplifying his voice so that the element bearers below could hear. "Yes! Thank you, thank you everypony for your assistance! I will see you all again, very soon!"

"Brace yourself," Discord said to Rainbow Dash in a normal volume. "I'm not entirely sure what this will feel like, since I've only ever been petrified by it before."

All Rainbow Dash was able to do in response was grunt and continue struggling against the wind.

The wave of energy was still approaching.

"Hey, Rainbow, it looks like Twilight's aim was just a teensy bit off. Could you move over to the left a little bit? Yes, just like that, perfect. It really is taking it's time getting here, isn't it? I suppose we are rather high up. Oh, you know what? This is a perfect time for a selfie!"

Discord grabbed Rainbow's camera and pointed it toward Rainbow Dash and the energy wave, then positioned his head in front of it so that it was looking into the camera cheerfully.

*Click*

"Oh, this will be the best one yet!" said Discord excitedly. "I can just see it! 'And this is a picture of Rainbow Dash and myself about to be blasted in the face by the elements of harmony!' Nopony will ever be able to top that! Oh, here it comes, here it comes!"

"Bwhahahaha!" laughed Discord with in his magically amplified voice. As the energy of the elements of harmony finally hit the carriage. "Ahahahahahahahaha!"

The bearers of the elements of harmony watched from below as the energy fade away.

"They're gone!" exclaimed Applejack.

Everypony burst into cheer, save for Twilight.

Finally, Twilight said, "They're just... gone? Not turned into stone, but... gone?"

"Sure looks that way," replied Applejack.

"The one thing that I want to know," said past-Rainbow Dash, "is what kind of villian says 'thank you' and laughs like a maniac as he watches his doom approaching?"

"The crazy kind," answered Applejack confidently.

"Yeah," whispered Twilight. "The crazy kind."

Rainbow Dash watched anxiously as the rainbow of light around her began to fade away and she started to be able to see the sky in front of her. Then she frowned as she tried to figure out what the erratic blue thing filling her vision was.

*SPLASH*

There were screams all around Rainbow, muffled from the water around her. Rainbow Dash struggled to regain her senses, but it was too difficult after having hit a wall of water so suddenly.

Suddenly she felt the water around her fall below. There was a tremendous splashing noise. Now free of the water, Rainbow was able to regain her composure and pull herself and the carriage out of free fall. She slowed down to examine the scene.

There were dozens of pegasi scattered around Ponyville Lake, most of them coughing or wheezing, and all of them soaking wet.

"Oh, hey guys!" shouted Rainbow nervously. "I know that I said that I was busy helping a friend today, but I just thought I would swing by to see how you were doing with delivering that rainwater!" The ponies below were either too shocked to respond or were still trying to regain their breaths. "... Sorry for throwing everypony off like that... So, keep up the good work everypony, but I have stuff to do, see ya!"

"Bye everypony!" added Discord from the carriage as it raced away. "Have fun!"

"There she is!" cried Rainbow Dash as they neared the field where Twilight had set up the time travel experiment. She could just barely see that Twilight appeared to be running away from something. There was also a dull roar of buzzing.

"Wait, Rainbow! Not yet! Look!" cried Discord. "That's us!"

Rainbow looked and saw that, sure enough, there was another Rainbow Dash and Discord flying through the air with the time machine. Rainbow Dash decelerated and beheld the scene. She could now tell that there appeared to be thousands of blue specks flying through the air and chasing after both the other Rainbow Dash as well as Twilight.

Suddenly the air around the other Rainbow Dash began to take on a familiar conical form.

"Rainbow!" bellowed the other Discord, trying to be heard above the noise of the buzzing. "Don't do it! The time machine is-"

Suddenly a flash of rainbow was released, but it only lasted for a moment. The other Rainbow Dash and Discord had vanished without a trace.

"I told you that I tried to warn you," said Discord.

"I was being chased by giant blue bees the size of my hoof!" retorted Rainbow Dash. "You can't blame me for not listening to you! Now let's get down there!"

Rainbow raced toward the ground toward Twilight, who was now surrounded on all sides by the blue bees and had given up on running and was curled up on the ground with her hooves over her head and probably wishing that she was a turtle. Rainbow Dash and the carriage landed with a thud.

"WAIIIIIIT!" Rainbow screamed. The seemingly surprised bees lowered their enraged buzzing and looked toward Rainbow.

"Rainbow Dash!" shout-whispered Twilight, looking up. "What are you doing? Fly, you fool! Fly away before they catch you too!"

"Twilight didn't mean it!" Rainbow shouted to the bees, ignoring Twilight's statement. "If she had known that she was stealing nectar from your hive in that cave in Everfree Forest, she wouldn't have done it! We're sorry! We'll give it all back! Right, Twilight?" she finished warningly.

"What?" said Twilight slowly, dumbstruck. "I mean, yes! Yes, please! I'm so sorry! It won't happen again! Here!"

Twilight produced a single jar full of blue liquid and set it on the ground before backing up hurriedly and watching the bees nervously.

The bees started to buzz with anger again.

"Oh no!" cried Twilight. "They know that there's not nearly enough of it left!"

Suddenly Rainbow Dash was at her side. "Into the carriage, Twilight!"

Twilight didn't waste any time with doing as she was told. As soon as she was inside the carriage, Rainbow Dash rocketed forward, leaving the furious insects behind.

"You can outrun them, right?" shouted Twilight in panic.

"Yeah, I should be able to!" answered Rainbow Dash.

"No," said Discord urgently, "It won't work. You might can outrun them for now, but you will get tired sooner or later! And they will never stop following you until they get their nectar back!"

"Can't you stop them, Discord?" cried Twilight.

"Those are etherial bees!" replied Discord as he snapped his fingers to demonstrate. "Magic doesn't affect them!"

Twilight closed her eyes and her horn started to pulse. Soothing music began to play through the air.

She opened her eyes and, to her horror, the siren song spell was definitely having not affect on the bees.

"There must be something you can think of!" insisted Twilight.

A brick wall suddenly appeared in mid air behind them. Many of the bees were caught by surprise and crashed into it, but seconds later they were flying at the carriage once again, possibly even angrier.

"There's too many of them!" shouted Discord. "I don't have enough time to stop them all!"

"Then there's only one thing left to do!" shouted Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, she stopped in mid air and faced the bees before shooting forward, straight toward them.

"Ahhhhhhh!" screamed Twilight. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Apparently so," said Discord. "She must be doing something right then."

Rainbow Dash dived below the bee swarm before they could react and began flying inches above the ground. As she flew by the jar of blue liquid, she scooped it up in her hooves.

"Here!" she cried as she tossed the jar to Discord. "Use it! Get us out of here!"

"To what time are we going?" asked Discord as he popped the lid off and dumped the liquid into a tank on the time machine.

"Any time that isn't here!" shouted Rainbow.

Discord quickly hit some buttons on the time machine. "Okay, do it!" he shouted to Rainbow Dash.

"Wait a second," said Twilight. "What did you just-"

Suddenly Twilight was cut off as the time machine was engulfed in rainbow light.

Author's Note

And that's all folks! Sorry that it was rather short, but I originally wrote this by hand and even this much made my wrist hurt. I have finally gotten around to writing the sequel, and Twilight, Rainbow, and Discord are in for an even wilder adventure!