Once a Hero

Noon

The Crystal Empire

The day was reaching its hottest point. Shining Armor decided the search party could take a break. He shot a signal flare from his horn. Soon, the search party was gathered. No sightings of Discord or Rainbow Dash, yet. Shining Armor sighed.

Twilight motioned for her friends to gather around her. She muttered in a low voice.

"The Crystal Empire of all places. I have a bad feeling about this"

"Ya don't reckon it has anythin` to do with Sombra?"

Fluttershy's eyes widened.

"Oh.. my"

"What is it, darling?'

Fluttershy gulped.

"Uh.. The Crystal Castle. It was locked, when we tried to search it. We though it was Shining Armor"

"But, Shining Armor never locks the door to the castle!"

Twilight gasped with revelation.

The Crystal Castle.

Rainbow must be trapped there. It was the place she first disappeared, after all.

Applejack hurried to tell Shining Armor, while Twilight began to move in the direction of the Castle.

"Shouldn't we.. uh.. wait for the guards?"

Fluttershy said nervously.

"Rainbow's in trouble. Besides, Applejack alerted Shining Armor. He'll follow up soon"

Applejack galloped to catch up with them.

"He's gonna follow us in a minute"

Fluttershy was relieved. She looked back to see the guards getting up.

They reached the stairs and started to climb.

Twilight groaned as she remembered the vast amount of stairs she had encountered last time.

That moment

Top of the Crystal Castle.

Rainbow was waiting. It seemed they had finally decided to take the bait. She would have to get ready for them.

She took a red object out of her bag and placed in on the ground. It glinted in the sun's rays.

Sombra's horn

The Crystal Heart was no longer here, and Sombra had been saving his strength. He was ready to make a comeback. Well, almost ready. He needed one last thing.

A single drop of an enemy's blood would do. One of the Elements of Harmony would do just fine.

She rummaged in her saddlebag to take out the ropes. Her hoof caught on something unexpected. She pulled it out, curiosity getting the best of her.

A propeller.

Confused, she inspected the object. She had no idea why it was in her pack. After a while, she placed the propeller on the floor, unsure what it was. She listened to the distant sounds of climbing stairs.

They're getting close.

That moment

The Throne Room

Twilight summoned dark magic, as she opened a staricase leading down. Twilight hated having to use dark magic, but it was a neccessary to getting up. Twilight's eyes returned to normal, as she abandoned the spell quickly.

They trotted down carefully. Twilight has been here before, and the other elements were relying on her.

Shining Armor and the remaining search party entered the throne room right behind them. A few guards were hurt before Shing Armor realized they were blocked by some kind of a barrier.

Shining Armor inspected the problem. He grimaced. It would take quite some time to break through.

A few minutes later

Top of the Castle

The horn crackled a second time. The Elements must have passed through the door at the bottom of the stairs. It would take another few minutes for them to get up.

The barrier holding Shining Armor out would last another few minutes as well. She smiled.

It would be over before they even managed to catch up.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Twilight panted as she neared the top floor of the castle. The gravity spell did not work for multiple ponies, so they ended up walking all the way.

Applejack was the first to get up on the platform. She whispered excitedly.

"She's here!"

The others quickly stepped up on the floor. A multicolored pegasus was sprawled on the ground. Fluttershy quickly moved toward the fallen pegasus, Rairty following close behind her.

Twilight quickly performed a advanced scanning spell, and confirmed she wasn't a changeling and was perfectly healthy.

Wait, Healthy?

Her eyes widened as she noticed the bandage on the pegasus's wing. She read the small printing on the fabric.

Canterlot Hospital

Twilight's heart nearly stopped.

"Fluttershy! Rarity! Get away from Rainbow Da-"

Too late.

The "unconscious" pegasus swept her wing across the ground. Rarity and Fluttershy lost their balance. Rainbow's hooves slammed into their backs, then quickly produced a rope and tied them up.

"Unexpected?"

Rainbow grinned as she grabbed another coil of rope from her bag.

"Bring it on, eggheads"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Shining Armor cast the last bit of his spell and the barrier broke. He hurried through the throne room to the passageway. The pegasus guards flew straight down, carrying few guards down with them. The process repeated itself. Shining Armor could hear a distant shriek.

They were in trouble.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Rainbow dodged the projectiles. A frying pan whizzed past her snout and a pot nearly knocked her off balance. The pink mare had an uncanny accuracy, and judging from the sounds of crunching metal behind her, she was hurling them with a lot of force, too. Rainbow dodged a bowl and reared back to knock out the baker.

Her hind legs caught in a loop as she lost her balance. She quickly turned to see another lasso bearing down on her.

Maybe she had underestimated them. She'll have to step up her game.

She grabbed the lasso and pulled. The orange pony stumbled, and Rainbow kicked her across the room. She crumpled, groaning as a bruise blossomed. She turned and ducked instantly. A beam of magic passed right above her.

Twilight cast spell after spell. Rainbow nimbly dodged them all. Without the constant danger of being caught in a lasso, she could move much freely than before.

Narrowly avoiding a flying spoon, the cyan mare charged Twilight. She shut her eyes. She quickly sent a telepathic message to Shining Armor alerting him of the problem.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Shining Armor was surprised when a message from Twilight got in his mind. She told him about Rainbow Dash attacking them, Fluttershy and Rarity, Applejack being down. And to get there quick

He tried to send a message of his own.

"We'll get there, soon Twi. Hold on a little more!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Twilight heard a thud and she opened her eyes.

A well thrown baking pin collided with Dash's hind legs. She yelped as her legs gave away beneath her. She struggled back up, and surveyed the area.

Nopony was bleeding yet. Only bruises were made. Dash searched for a sharp edge that could be used as a weapon.

She snapped her attention back to the pink pony. The baker was approaching her with a frying pan in her mouth. Dash kicked out. Not expecting the kick, Pinkiepie stumbled and Dash took the chance to land a blow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The guards had all arrived at the bottom floor and Shining Armor opened the door.

More stairs

Celestia *Damn** these stairs.*

They began ascending the stairs. Shining Armor tensed as he heard sounds of a fight above.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Rainbow readied to strike, as the baker helplessely raised a hoof to protect herself. Twilight tried to cast a spell to somehow stop her, but the two ponies were too close together. She was afraid she might hit Pinkie.

Right before the punch made contact, Rainbow yelped as her hooves contracted beneath her. She fell to the floor, tightly bound in a rope.

"It's gonna take more than one blow to throw me out of a fight, sugarcube"

Applejack grinned, tightening the rope even further.

Rainbow struggled. The rope was strong. She noticed the propeller on the ground beside her. It wasn't very sharp, but it would do. She slowly edged her way toward it.

Applejack trotted over to Pinkiepie to inspect her leg. Twilight hurried to check if Fluttershy and Rarity was still unconscious.

A small slicing noise echoed and Applejack turned around, confused. Her vision went black as she saw a cyan hoof hurtling towards her.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Shining Armor cursed the stairs.

From the looks of it, they were barely halfway to the top.

The sounds of fighting ceased above them.

He gulped and hurried upwards.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Rainbow Dash dispatched Pinkiepie in the same manner. Then turned to confront the allicorn.

Twilight gulped. She readied herself for a fight. She was powerful, but she had no experience in combat.

Within a minute, Rainbow had Twilight on the floor bound. Twilight was too tired to cast any sort of spell.

"Rainbow, why.. why are you doing this?..? I thought we were friends..!"

Twilight whimpered.  Rainbow hesitated, confused. Discord's spell to disguise her as the Element of Loyalty must be still working. She chuckled.

"I am not your friend. I tricked all of you into thinking that I was the Element of Loyalty"

It was Twilight's turn to be confused. What was she saying? She gasped as realization hit her.

"Rainbow! Listen to me! You've been tricked by Discord! You are the Element of Loyalty!"

Rainbow stumbled back, clearly confused. That couldn't be right.

"What are you talking abou-"

She faltered as her mind reeled.

"What is she doing here?" Chysalis glared at her with hatred.

"Pinkie Promise that you'll be back soon!" said the pink mare as she boarded the train.

Discord avoiding her gaze when she asked about the Elements.

The mysterious memory loss in the Crystal Mountains.

She tried to rid her mind of these stupid memories.

"Nonono.. You're trying to trick me!"

Rainbow yelled at Twilight. One drop of blood was all it would need. She picked up the propeller and raised the blade. Twilight's eye's widened.

She started to bring the blade down.

They had called her Rainbow Dash.

Discord had said she was disguised as the Element of Loyalty. But, they had still called her Rainbow Dash. Then.. that meant..

She hesitated. Twilight tried for the last time.

"Rainbow.. Please.."

Rainbow shook her head. It was probably just a coincidence. It had to be. She raised the propeller again. Twilight shut her eyes.

As she brought the sharp edge down slowly, Rainbow noticed something written on the propelle blader. She squinted to make out the writing.

Tank

The propeller clattered to the floor, narrowly missing Twilight. Twilight opened her eyes to see the pegasus trembling.

Waves of memories crashed into Rainbow's mind. She stumbled back clutching her head. Her eyes widened as she realized what she had done.

Rainbow buckled to her knees.

"Twilight, I... I.. No... No!. I...!!!!" She stammered.

Twilight smiled weakly. Rainbow was back.

Rainbow fumbled to untie the ropes as tears streamed down her face.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something to comfort her, to tell her that it wasn't her fault.

"Rainbow, I know you didn't mean the things you've done"

Rainbow wiped her tears and opened her mouth to reply, when a blast of magic hit her directly. She was thrown to the other end of the room.

Her head collided with a pillar and a trickle of blood ran down her forehead. She heard Twilight yell out in surprise.

Well, at least I deserved that.

Rainbow Dash blacked out.