The First Pony to Time Travel Without a Spell

by Razor Blade the Unicron

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Main 6, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mystery, Rainbow Dash, Science Fiction
Length: 29928

Rainbow Dash has returned to Equestria, and nothing makes sense. She knows the pegasus that visited her, but if Rainbow had been gone for ninety two years, she should be dead. And she knows that purple unicorn, but she should be an alicorn.

Long ago, Starswirl the Bearded created a time travel spell. Nopony has ever traveled through time without the use of that spell. Except for one.

Rainbow Dash has returned to Equestria, and nothing makes sense. She knows the pegasus that visited her, but if Rainbow had been gone for ninety two years, she should be dead. And she knows that purple unicorn, but she should be an alicorn and look different. Her dragon should look different too.

But Nightmare Moon returns, and Rainbow and her new friends need to go obtain the Elements of Harmony to stop her from causing eternal night. But Rainbow doesn't want to send Princess Luna back to the moon again, and needs to show why she represents the Element of Loyalty.

Loyalty isn't always easy for everypony, but maybe Rainbow can make it look like it is...

This is the second story in the Shadow-Dashverse. Reading the previous story is highly recommended to understand what's going on.

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Published 2016-08-19 21:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-02-08 04:49:44 UTC

Confusing Totals

(When Rainbow Dash was a filly...)

Rainbow Dash smirked as she looked at the two bullies next to her. They thought that she wouldn't beat them in this race? As if!

"You're going down!" taunted one of them.

"In history, maybe!" retorted Rainbow, shifting to her ready stance.

The many fillies watching cheered loudly as Fluttershy raised the checkered flag into the air. Rainbow took in a quick breath as she stared down the racetrack.

Alright Rainbow, you can do this! Just need to win this race! she thought, Don't worry, Flutters! I'll defend your honor!

Fluttershy lowered the flag, and Rainbow took off as fast as possible. She quickly swirled around corner after corner, even doing an aileron roll at one point. She heard a loud smash, and glanced behind to see that one of the bullies had crashed.

I actually feel a bit bad for him... Well, at least the race is easier now!

Rainbow smiled as she flew through the clear sky, before being knocked to the side by the other bully.

"Later, Rainbow Crash!" he taunted, flying down towards the next ring.

"Hey!" yelled Rainbow angrily.

She quickly regained control, and also started to fly down towards the ring. Rainbow noticed that she had begun to gain speed, and felt her eyes begin to sting. She managed to keep her eyes open when suddenly-

...

(Back in Fluttershy's cottage...)

Rainbow Dash flinched suddenly, before falling on to the ground. Small sparks of blue and pink shimmered around her before dissipating into the air.

"Ouch!" yelled Rainbow angrily, "What just happened?"

"It looks like there's some sort of magic preventing you from telling us," said Twilight, "That's odd. Why would somepony prevent you from talking about when you were younger?"

"Don't know, do care! You're a unicorn, can you try and figure out where the magic's coming from?"

"Hmm... Well, I probably have a book at the library that could help, but I don't know what the spell could be called."

"Maybe in a sensory category?"

"That is a good idea, but maybe it could also be in an aura category?"

Rainbow and Twilight both began naming things that caused the four other ponies (and one dragon) to look at each other in confusion.

"Does anypony know what they're talkin' 'bout?" asked Applejack quietly.

"Beats me!" said Pinkie, speaking in an odd whisper.

"Uh, you're a unicorn, Rarity, do you know what they're talking about? asked Fluttershy in a quieter voice than usual.

"I think that they're talking about the categories that a spell could be in," said Rarity softly, "But magic's not really my area of expertise. I just tend to use levitation in the boutique and to find gemstones. I do find it odd that Rainbow Dash seems to know about all this, though. Not to rude, but why would a pegasus look up different magic categories?"

"The same reason Twilight looks up pegasi flight patterns." said Spike blandly.

"We've got several good ideas," said Rainbow, "Why don't we go look in the library now?"

"I'll head back to the library once I finish the last few things on my list," said Twilight, "Until then, you can see if you can find anything."

"Sure thing!"

"Applejack, Rarity, I still need to check on the food and the decorations. Could you please show me how each are going for you?"

"Sure thing!" said Applejack.

"Why, of course!" said Rarity.

"Thank you."

Twilight excited Fluttershy's cottage with Rarity and Applejack, being quickly followed by Spike.

"I would say that this has been a strange day for me," said Rainbow, "But I've definitely had stranger days! Do you guys want to come to the library with me to help me look?"

"If you think it's a good idea, I guess so..." said Fluttershy.

"Ooh! Twilight's staying at the library!" said Pinkie, bouncing into the air, "I can set up a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party for here there! Can I come, too?"

"Pinkie, I asked you if you would come!" said Rainbow, "So of course you can! Just nopony mess up any of books and place them all back on the shelves accordingly."

"Um, okay..." said Fluttershy softly, Wow, you're acting so much different since I last saw you, Rainbow...

"Pinkie, can you see if you can find any spellbooks on sensory spells?" asked Rainbow as they entered the library.

"Sure thing, Dash!" said Pinkie, who started to bounce from bookshelf to bookshelf.

"Fluttershy, can you look for spellbooks on auras?"

"Um, okay..." said Fluttershy walking quietly over to one of the bookshelves, "What part of the library should I look in?"

"Er... Do either of you know how the library is organized?"

"Alphabetically!" sang Pinkie happily.

"... You've got to be kidding me. Who organizes a library alphabetically?!? Ugh, it doesn't matter. Pinkie, 'S' section; Fluttershy, 'A' section; and I'll look in the 'M' section for magic in general."

The three ponies shifted off to separate sections of the library and began looking at the many books. Rainbow went at a slightly faster pace than the others, because she at least knew what books she was looking for.

Magic... Magic... Come on! How hard is it to find a book on sensing magic or auras? thought Rainbow irritated, And who organized this library? It makes it impossible to find anything unless you know the specific title of the book!

"Hey, Dashie?" asked Pinkie, popping out from one of the shelves Rainbow had been looking through, "Would a book called 'Sensing Magic Within A Pony' be what you need?"

"Yes!"

"Well, then, I got it right here!" Pinkie thrust the book into Rainbow's face with a large smile.

"Fluttershy, I think we found the book we needed!" said Rainbow happily, landing on the ground with the book.

"Um, you're sure?" asked Fluttershy, walking over to Rainbow and Pinkie.

"Positive," Rainbow opened to the table of contents, before flipping to a page titled 'How to Use the Spell', "Alright, this shows us how to do the spell, but we need a unicorn to do it."

"Twilight could probably do it!" said Pinkie, "After all, her cutie mark was a spark of magic!"

"Actually, it was a blue spark of magic with five white sparks surrounding it, and one white spark in the center. And I don't know how I just remembered that off the top of my head."

"Do you think she'll be back soon?"

The door swung open lightly as Twilight walked into the library with Spike, Applejack, and Rarity following her.

"Okay, I finished checking everything on the list," said Twilight, walking up to Rainbow, "Did you find something that could help?"

"Yes," said Rainbow, turning the book around so Twilight could see it, "We found this book with the very specific title of 'Sensing Magic Within A Pony', and it has a spell you can use."

"You're right, that is really specific," Twilight picked up the book with her magic (which Rainbow noted was the same color blue as her cutie mark) and read over the spell that was written in it, "This doesn't look too difficult to do. It basically shows us an image of what magic would be found in you. Can I test it out on somepony else before I do Rainbow?"

"Sure," said Applejack, stepping forward, "But it won't hurt, right?"

"Nope. The spell essentially scans what magic you have in you and projects it. Are you ready?"

"Ready as Ah'll ever be!"

Twilight glanced in the book one last time before turning towards Applejack. Her horn glowed brighter, with a few sparks jumping off of it, before emitting blue lines that covered Applejack before vanishing.

"Did it work?" asked Rainbow as Twilight's horn dimmed.

A blue screen of magic appeared, listing Applejack's name, cutie mark, and what types of magic were in her.

"I think that's a yes," said Twilight, satisfied, "According to this, Applejack is completely Earth pony, and nothing else."

"No surprise there!" said Applejack happily.

"Do me! Do me!" said Pinkie, bouncing over to Twilight as the blue screen vanished.

"Rainbow Dash first, though." said Twilight.

"Alright, let's see what magic is in me!" said Rainbow, stepping in front of Twilight.

Twilight nodded, her horn glowing bright, again. Blue lines came out again, covering Rainbow this time, before vanishing. There was a moment as Twilight's horn dimmed, before another blue screen appeared, this time with Rainbow's name, cutie mark, and types of magic in her.

"What do I have?" asked Rainbow looking at the screen, "Wait, what?"

"No way..." said Twilight.

"Do mind telling us what's so odd?" asked Rarity, "Because I can't understand any of the data on this."

"Well..." said Twilight, looking at the screen, "The types of magic in a pony are measured in parts out of one hundred. According to this, Rainbow Dash has 55 parts pegasus, 20 parts unicorn, 5 parts dragon, and..."

"And what?" asked Pinkie.

"And 20 parts alicorn!" said Rainbow in shock.

Author's Note

Isn't Rainbow's fillyhood so descriptive? *Cackles evilly*

What's Most Important

"20 parts unicorn?" asked Fluttershy.

"5 parts dragon?!?" asked Spike.

"20 parts alicorn?!?" asked Rarity.

"You're kiddin'!" said Applejack.

"No..." said Twilight staring intently at the screen.

"I have dragon and alicorn magic in me?!?" asked Rainbow, looking oddly at herself, "That... actually explains a lot..."

"Ooh!" said Pinkie, not fazed in the slightest, "What does it explain?"

"When-" Rainbow flinched again as more magic sparks of pink and blue jumped up from her, "Never mind, that hurt!"

"This doesn't make sense!" yelled Twilight, "How could you have gotten alicorn magic in you? The only alicorns are Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence!"

"Don't forget Princess Luna!" snapped Rainbow.

"Princess Luna?" asked Rarity, "You mean Princess Celestia's sister in that old pony's tale? Darling, she isn't real."

"Yes she is! She was corrupted by shadows that fed off her jealousy, which caused her to turn into Nightmare Moon! So Princess Celestia had to use the Elements of Harmony to send her to the moon for one thousand years, and she'll return on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration because that will be the longest day of the thousandth year!"

"Wait, you know about that, too?" asked Twilight, seemingly forgetting about the magic that had been in Rainbow.

"Who do you think saved my life when I was in space?"

"Saved yer life?" asked Applejack.

"Yeah!"

"How did Princess Luna, um, save your life?" asked Fluttershy.

"Ooh! Ooh!" said Pinkie, raising her hoof into the air, "Rainbow was in space, even though that should be impossible, but then there was a malfunction with her space suit and she got frozen in ice, even though that's also impossible, and she was frozen in the ice for a reaaaaaaaally long time before floating near the moon, which should have also been impossible, and Princess Luna flew up and saved her from being hit by something and brought her back down to the moon and put her in a special bubble to give her air that she changed to a coating of magic so they could race on the moon, which I think should have also been impossible, and sent her back to Equestria a few years later because she knew that she was going to return as Nightmare Moon!"

Everypony (and dragon) stared at Pinkie in complete silence as she stood, smiling.

"... How did you know that?" asked Rainbow slowly.

"Just a hunch!" said Pinkie happily.

"But-"

"Trust me," interrupted Applejack in a whisper, "Ya don't want ta ask any further."

Rainbow glanced over at Pinkie, who was stilling smiling, before giving a nod towards Applejack.

"Okay, we apparently know how Rainbow got into space, thanks to Pinkie," said Twilight, also glancing at Pinkie before turning back towards the others, "But we have a larger problem at hoof. The Mare in the Moon, aka Nightmare Moon, will be returning tomorrow during the Summer Sun Celebration, and the only way to stop her from causing eternal night is to use the Elements of Harmony."

"Which are located in the Everfree Forest." added on Rainbow.

"The Everfree Forest!" cried out Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy in shock.

"Isn't that place filled with dangerous monsters or something?" asked Rainbow.

"It's not just that..." said Rarity ominously.

"The weather occurs..." said Pinkie.

"The plant grow..." said Applejack.

"And the animals are taken care..." said Fluttershy.

"All on their own!" they all finished.

"Yeesh, that is creepy!" said Spike, shuddering.

"Wait, seriously?" asked Rainbow.

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight, "It is really creepy and weird!"

"You have got to be kidding me! That's creepy? The only thing dangerous about the Everfree Forest is the monsters! Weather happens by itself already! Plants grow on their own! Animals take care of themselves! Why is any of that stuff creepy?"

There was a few moments of silence before Fluttershy spoke up.

"Um, Rainbow, weather doesn't happen by itself. It's made in Cloudstale, remember? And plants do grow by themselves, but we make sure they get trimmed and stuff. And animals usually need help."

"Weather is made? Since when?"

"Since forever!" said Applejack, "What, are you from the past or somethin'?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"What?"

"And I would love to tell you, but I can't. How about we focus on getting the Elements of Harmony?"

"Good idea," said Twilight, "Now, there has to be a book on them somewhere in the library..."

"'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide'!" said Pinkie, looking at a bookshelf.

"How did you find that?" asked Twilight, running over to grab the book.

"The library is arranged alphabetically," said Rainbow, "Which is a really stupid way to organize books."

Twilight seemingly ignored Rainbow as she opened the book with her magic and flipped to a certain page.

"Okay..." she said after a few seconds, "According to this book, the Elements are in the Castle of the Two Sisters, and there are six of them: Empathy, Trust, Selflessness, Positive Energy, Loyalty, and the sixth Element is unknown."

"Unknown?" asked Rarity, "That's not very helpful..."

"It also says that the sixth Element can be found by a spark that occurs when 'all becomes clear'."

"So, are we gonna go get 'em?" asked Rainbow, flying into the air excitedly.

"No so fast, sugarcube," said Applejack, "As much as Ah don't want Equestria to fall into eternal night, doesn't this all seem a bit far-fetched?"

"Um, it is a little unbelievable..." said Fluttershy, barely audible.

"Plus," said Pinkie, "If we go and look for the Elements, how am I supposed to..." the lights suddenly went out, before turning back on to reveal party decorations and many ponies, "Throw you A PARTY!"

"What th-?" yelled Twilight before being drowned out by music and cheers.

"Do you like it? Huh? Do you?" asked Pinkie, bouncing in excitement, "It's a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!"

"Pinkie, I don't think that it's a good-"

"Cupcake?" Pinkie offered up a tray filled with cupcakes.

"No, I'm good, but Pinkie, I really-"

"Who wants to play Pin-the-Tail-On-the-Pony?"

"That sounds like fun..." said Fluttershy.

"Count me in!" said Applejack.

"Can I have the purple tail?" asked Rarity, as the three of them followed Pinkie over to where the game was.

"What just happened?" asked Rainbow, landing on the ground.

"I think Pinkie managed to set up a party without anypony noticing..." said Twilight in surprise.

"So what do we do now?" asked Rainbow.

"Well, Pinkie set this party up for me and Spike, so it would be rude if I didn't participate in any activities."

"Suit yourself, I'm going into the other room to read more the Elements and Nightmare Moon!"

Rainbow grabbed the book out of Twilight's magic and flew into the other room. Twilight stared at where she had gone for a moment before walking over to join the others in playing Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Pony. Princess Celestia had said that the legend was silly, so why was she one to argue? For a moment, she remembered the image she had seem in the book of the Elements, but shook it out of her head. Now was time to relax. Still, there was something about the colors...

Showing Loyalty (Part One)

"Hey, Dashie!" said Pinkie, bouncing into the room Rainbow was reading in, "Guess what time it is!"

"What?" asked Rainbow, looking up from the book she had been reading.

"It's time for the Summer Sun Celebration!"

"Already? How long was I reading for?"

"A long time, of course! Now let's go, so we can be in the front when Princess Celestia comes out!"

Rainbow got to her hooves, making sure to put the book she had been reading on the table. She followed several other ponies out of the library, ending up next to Twilight and Spike.

"Are you worried?" asked Rainbow.

"Why would you think I'm worried?" asked Twilight.

"Nightmare Moon."

"I'm not positive she is returning, or even exists, so I'm not particularly worried."

"Well, if she does show up, I'll be waiting near the Everfree Forest if you want to look for the Elements."

Twilight gave Rainbow a simple nod before joining the throng of ponies entering town hall for the Celebration. Rainbow stayed outside of a bit, looking up at the moon nervously. She could still see the vague outline of Nightmare Moon on it, but it looked as if it was fading.

Though I don't want Nightmare Moon to return, I want Luna to. And if Nightmare Moon has to return so she can, then that's the way it will have to be.

Rainbow flew in after everypony, finding a spot to land where she could see both the balcony that Princess Celestia was going to come out on, as well as the moon. She looked back the moon when the sound of a fanfare caught her attention.

"Fillies and gentlecolts," announced the Mayor, "As Mayor of Ponyville, it is my pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"

Ponies around Rainbow all cheered in response, but Rainbow continued to stare at the moon, and the rapidly vanishing figure on it.

Oh no...

"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and moon each day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony of all of Equestria..."

Fluttershy queued her birds to begin singing, and their tweets ran out over the room.

"Princess Celestia!"

The curtain was dramatically pulled away, revealing... nothing. Nopony was there. There were murmurers in crowd, wondering where Celestia was. Rarity had walked up to the balcony, and looked around everywhere.

"She's gone!" she said in shock.

The murmurers increased, and ponies began to worry. Rainbow didn't notice anything around her, only the trail of black and dark blue magic floating down from the sky.

Nightmare Moon!

"AHAHAHAHAHA!!!" cackled out a voice, as lightning flew through the air, "Why, hello my beautiful little subjects! I am NIGHTMARE MOON!"

There were loud gasps in the crowd, and a few ponies even fainted.

"What have ya done with Princess Celestia?" demanded Applejack from the crowd.

"Princess Celestia?" said Nightmare with a sneer, "She is no longer here! I banished her to the sun! Instead, you will praise before me! Did nopony really see this coming?"

"I did!" said Rainbow confidently, as everypony turned towards her, "I knew that you would be returning, and you won't keep Equestria in an eternal night!"

"Oh, you are well informed! Such a shame that you are wrong, and the night will last FOREVER! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Rainbow didn't stick around for a second more. She took to the air, and flew towards the Everfree Forest as fast as she possibly could.

Rainbow tapped her hoof impatiently. If Twilight wanted to come with her to find the Elements, she had about ten seconds before Rainbow went on without her.

"Rainbow Dash!" called out Twilight, galloping over to her.

"Twilight!" said Rainbow, flying into the air again, "Took you long enough!"

"Sorry, I had to bring Spike back to the library. I also ran into a few others."

From behind Twilight came Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.

"You guys want to come, too?" asked Rainbow in surprise.

"There's a madmare sayin' that she banished the Princess and that night will last forever," said Applejack, "Ah'm pretty sure that findin' these Elements is the best thing ta do right about now."

"And it would be awfully dangerous if you went alone..." said Fluttershy.

"We aren't just going to leave our friends hanging, now are we?" asked Rarity.

"And when we save the day, we can have a PARTY!" said Pinkie, confetti bursting out from around her.

Rainbow smiled, happy to have other ponies to help out.

"Then what are we waiting for?" she said, "Let's go find the Elements of Harmony!"

Rainbow flew into the forest, the other following behind her. They all looked around cautiously as they ventured deeper into the forest, but nothing had happened yet.

"Is there any sort of map for this place?" asked Rainbow.

"Not a chance!" said Pinkie, "The Everfree Forest is waaaaaaaaay to dangerous to make a map for! And even if somepony did make a map, the map usually vanishes mysteriously!"

"Well, that's not ominous at all..." muttered Rarity.

"Hold up!" said Applejack, causing everypony to stop, "Do y'all see that up ahead?"

"See what?" asked Twilight.

"Can't ya see those trees?"

"We're surrounded by trees!" said Rainbow, pointing her hoof in a circle.

"Ah know that, Ah mean those trees that look different."

"The trees all look the same to me..." said Fluttershy.

"Well, there's a few trees up ahead that don't look right, like they're gonna collapse any second now. We should make sure we go around 'em."

"I don't see any difference!" said Pinkie.

"Trust me, we shouldn't go near any of 'em."

"Well... I trust you." said Twilight.

"Us, too!" said Rainbow, "You do work with apple trees, after all!"

The group carefully wove their way through trees that were away from the group AJ said to avoid. When the reached the other side, and got back on to the path, Rainbow picked up a rock she saw, and held it back as if to throw it.

"Just gotta check something..." muttered as the others continued walking.

She threw the rock at one of the tree they had avoided, and the tree promptly collapsed, along with the other ones in the area.

"Guess Applejack was right..."

"Rainbow, are ya comin'?" called Applejack.

"Yeah!"

Rainbow quickly flew over to catch up with her friends, not noticing the black and blue magic coming out from the trees, and zooming above the group.

"Sorry, something caught my attention." said Rainbow, rejoining the group.

"That's fine!" said Pinkie happily, "We have a problem anyways!"

"What's the problem?"

"It's this bridge." said Twilight.

Rainbow looked over at a long bridge, with large spiderwebs hanging all around it.

"Whoa, that's a lot of spiderwebs!"

"No, kiddin'." said Applejack.

"So we can't fly across?" asked Fluttershy.

"No," said Twilight, "But somepony needs to cross the bridge to tell the rest of us if it's safe."

"I'll do it." said Rarity instantly.

"Rarity?" asked Rainbow.

"Don't worry, I'll be able to see if any parts of the bridge are unsafe because I'm good at seeing tiny details."

"Are you sure?" asked Pinkie.

"I'll be fine, darling!" said Rarity, walking up to the bridge, "If the bridge is safe, I'll come right back over!"

Rarity started across the bridge at a cautious walk, before being lost in the thick fog that had been forming around them.

"Do you think she's alright?" asked Fluttershy after a few seconds.

"I'm sure she's okay." said Twilight.

"Plus, if she fell, we would hear her." added on Rainbow.

"I'm back!" said Rarity, catching their attention.

"Wow!" said Pinkie, "You were really fast!"

"Well, the bridge was rather short. I marked any spots you shouldn't step on with my magic."

"Well, thanks, Rarity!" said Applejack.

"Why, anything for my friends!"

The six of them headed across the bridge, being careful not to step on any area marked in purple magic.

Huh... thought Rainbow Rarity was pretty selfless there...

As they continued walking off of the bridge, still nopony noticed the black and blue magic swirling above them. The magic zipped ahead of the group, absorbing into a nearby animal.

"Do you guys hear that?" asked Fluttershy.

"That growling?" asked Rarity.

Before Fluttershy could reply, as large Timberwolf jumped out in front of the group, growling and snarling. The six ponies stood in shock for a moment, before Rainbow flew straight at the Timberwolf, kicking it as hard as she could. Soon, Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity all ran at the Timberwolf, each fighting it as best as possible.

"Stop!" cried Fluttershy, flying in front of the Timberwolf.

"Flutters, what are you doing?" asked Rainbow as she approached the Timberwolf.

"Mr. Timberwolf, are you frightened?" asked Fluttershy, "We were only fighting you because you surprised us. We don't actually want to hurt you."

The Timberwolf growled, before licking Fluttershy's face.

"Oh! That tickled!" said Fluttershy, patting the Timberwolf, "Thank you for calming down. If you need a friend, you can come to my house in Ponyville. My other animal friends go there, too."

The Timberwolf licked Fluttershy one more time, before running off into the fog.

"How did you know it was scared?" asked Twilight.

"I could just tell. Sometimes, you just need to try and figure out how others are feeling."

Empathy! thought Rainbow, That's empathy! One of the Elements!

The group continued further into the forest, even going into a dark cave.

"It's really dark in here... said Fluttershy.

"No kiddin'..." said Applejack.

Suddenly, all of the light vanished from the cave, and they were left in darkness.

"I thought I felt something!" said Rarity.

"What?" asked Twilight fearfully.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Applejack.

"Maybe it's a huge boulder coming towards us!"

"Or a monster!" said Rainbow.

The five ponies managed to find each other, and clustered close in fear.

"Pinkie!" whispered Rainbow, "Where are you?"

"Oh, girls!" said Pinkie, music kicking in from somewhere, "There's no need to be scared!"

When I was a little filly and the sun was going down

"Tell me she's not..." said Rainbow.

The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown

"She is." said Twilight.

I'd hide under my pillow

From what I though I saw

But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way

To deal with fears at all

Then what is?

She said: Pinkie you gotta stand up tall

Learn to face your fears

You'll see that they can't hurt you

Just be happy and make them disappear

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A light shows up in the cave, showing the ponies that there's only a puddle and some rocks.

We were scared of this?

So...

Grin at the ghostly

Glow at the grossly

Cast out the creepy

Win over all the weepy

Crack up at the kooky

Smirk at the spooky

At tell those big dumb scary to things to take a hike and leave you alone and if they think they can scare you then they're got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing makes you wanna...

The cave is filled with light completely

Smiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile!!!!!!!!!

Everypony walked out of the cave, laughing and smiling, all of them happy.

"Pinkie, that was awesome!" said Rainbow.

"I know!" said Pinkie, "And look! There's a huge castle up ahead!"

"That's where the Elements of Harmony are!" said Rainbow and Twilight simultaneously.

The group headed quickly towards the ruined castle, entering without a problem. In the main area, there was a large stone statue (or something) in the middle of the room with five stone spheres on it.

"The Elements of Harmony..." said Rainbow softly.

"But the sixth one isn't here," said Twilight, "The book said that it would appear when 'all becomes clear'... What does that mean?"

"Maybe it means some sort of magic?" suggested Rainbow.

"That could be it! Could you bring them over to me?"

Fluttershy and Rainbow both flew up to the statue and carefully lifted the stones off of it and placed them in front of Twilight. Twilight then leaned down, and her horn lit up blue.

"Come on, y'all," said Applejack, "She needs her space."

Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie followed Applejack into the other room, but Rainbow stayed just in the entrance to the room with the Elements. She didn't want to just leave Twilight alone, something bad could happen.

"Rainbow? Are you coming?" asked Fluttershy.

But Rainbow stayed silent, looking for any sign of Nightmare Moon approaching. She started to smile when the Elements were lifted up in a blue magic, but her smile instantly faded when she realized that it wasn't Twilight's magic.

"The Elements!" cried Rainbow, zipping forward towards them.

Twilight's eyes flicked open just in time for her to see Rainbow and the Elements vanish in a swirl of black and blue magic.

"Oh no!" cried Twilight as the others ran in, "Where did she go?"

"Up there!" said Pinkie, pointing out of a ruined section towards a glowing tower.

"We'd better hurry!" said Applejack, taking the lead, "She could be in deep trouble right now!"

Showing Loyalty (Part Two)

Rainbow snapped her eyes open, feeling very dizzy. She looked around frantically for the Elements, to see them surrounded by black and blue magic.

"Hey!" she yelled angrily, flying towards the Elements, "Give those back!"

"AHAHAHAHAHA!!!" cackled Nightmare Moon as she formed from the magic, "Not a chance! And it's not like you can even make a spark of magic to make them work, anyways!"

Rainbow flew around backwards, before turning around and flying at Nightmare Moon at a high speed. Nightmare Moon started galloping towards Rainbow, her horn glowing. Just as they were about to crash, Rainbow spun to the side, and landed next to the Elements. She started to grab one of them, when Nightmare Moon teleported right in front of her, tossing Rainbow across the room with her magic.

"Nice try, but all your work will be for nothing!" Nightmare Moon brought her front hooves high, before slamming them down on he ground, shattering the Elements.

Rainbow stared in fear, shocked at what Nightmare Moon had just done. She felt like flying towards the Elements again, when she heard several voices coming her way.

Pinkie! Applejack! Rarity! Twilight! Fluttershy! They're coming! I can't believe that all of my friends are coming to help! Wait a second...

"Do you really think that you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" she asked Nightmare Moon smugly.

"Because the Elements of Harmony are right here!" said Twilight, with the others just behind her.

Rainbow flashed Twilight a smile as she walked next to her, also smiling.

"What do you mean?" asked Nightmare angrily.

"You may have destroyed the physical Elements," said Twilight, sharing a knowing look with Rainbow, "But the spirits of the Elements are right here!"

The shards of the Elements began glowing, and floating slowly into the air, much to Nightmare Moon's surprise.

"Rainbow Dash, who didn't know whether or not I would come to look for the Elements with her, but still waited, represents the Element of Loyalty!"

Several of the shards glowed red, and began to circle Rainbow.

"Applejack, who we trusted when she said to avoid several trees, represents the Element of Trust!"

More shards began to glow (this time green), and started circling Applejack.

"Rarity, who decided to test the bridge without a thought about herself and only for her friends, represents the Element of Selflessness!"

Nightmare Moon began to panic as several shard glowed purple and circled Rarity.

"Fluttershy, who calmly approached the Timberwolf without knowing what was wrong, but just wanted to help, represents the Element of Empathy!"

Fluttershy flinched a little as shards glowing yellow circled her, but remained standing with the others.

"Pinkie, who smiled and laughed when we were fearful to help us overcome our fears, represents the Element of Positive Energy!"

Pinkie bounced happily as shards glowing pink started circling her.

"But the spell didn't work!" said Nightmare Moon, "The sixth Element didn't appear!"

"It wasn't a spell that was needed! The sixth Element will appear when all becomes clear! And I know what's clear: that these five ponies are my friends!"

In a large glowing light, a final stone appeared, floating above Twilight.

"You see Nightmare Moon, the final Element is what brings all of us together now. It's the Element of Magic! Because Friendship is Magic!"

Everypony was lifted into the air, the Elements forming into gems around them. Rainbow smiled, happy that they were going to finally stop Nightmare Moon.

Back to the moon with you, Shadow!

Rainbow's eyes snapped open in surprise, as she looked at Nightmare Moon, who was motionless.

What was that? thought Rainbow as a rainbow began spinning around them.

We are going to banish Shadow back to the moon!

Who said that? And what do you mean?

The shadows corrupting Luna cannot stay here! And for that to be so, they must both go back to the moon!

No! Luna is my friend! I don't want her sent back to the moon!

But you can't do anything now! We are going to send her back! It's too late!

"No it isn't!" yelled Rainbow out loud.

Rainbow flew away from the others, just as the rainbow came spinning towards Nightmare Moon. Rainbow quickly landed in front of her, spreading out her wings protectively.

"I won't let you send Luna back!"

Twilight's eyes opened, and she looked at Rainbow in surprise, but saying nothing. The rainbow came towards Rainbow, loosing the red in it. Suddenly, the red gem hovering in front of Rainbow lit up, blasting out a beam of red magic at the Rainbow.

What are you doing, Rainbow?!? You're betraying your friends!

No, I'm not! Luna is my friend! I'm loyal to all of my friends!

Loyal to all of your friends? Are you saying you're being loyal by protecting Luna and Shadow?

Who is Shadow?

Luna told you that she was corrupted by shadows, right?

How do you know that? And who are you anyways?

She wan't corrupted by shadows, she was corrupted by Shadow!

But who is Shadow? Is Shadow some evil pony?

Shadow is not a pony. Shadow is an entity. An entity of pure evil and corruption. It is unknown how Shadow came into being, but it thrives off of others, by fueling the smallest amount of hate or jealousy to continue on and be evil.

But I'm still not letting Luna go to the moon again!

Fine, but I need to ask you something before you commit to that decision.

What?

How Loyal are you going to be?

I'll be Loyal to my friends until the end! All of them!

All of them?

I've said this already! To all of my friends! No matter how hard it is!

Okay, then. Just to let you know: you just rewrote everyone's destiny.

I what?!?

The red beam of magic coming from Rainbow's gem suddenly softened, joining in with the rest of the rainbow from the other Elements. The rainbow slowly spiraled above Rainbow, and towards Nightmare Moon once again. However, it was no longer go straight towards her, instead, it was spinning around her.

"NOOOOOO!!!!!" cried out Nightmare Moon, as the rainbow completely surrounded her.

There was a flash of light, and the rainbow vanished. Rainbow continued standing, her wings open protectively, as her friends were lowered softly on to the ground.

"Twilight?" asked Rainbow, flying over to her, "Are you guys okay?"

Twilight got up slowly, but she wasn't hurt. The others also got up, but none of them seemed hurt either.

"Ooooh!!!" said Pinkie suddenly, "That looks so cool, Rarity!"

"What?" Rarity looked down at her neck to see her Element of Harmony in a necklace, shaped like her cutie mark, "Oh that's lovely!"

Each pony looked down at their necklaces, each matching them. Rarity had a purple gem, Fluttershy had a yellow butterfly, Applejack had a green apple, Pinkie had a pink balloon, and Twilight had a blue spark of magic.

"Rainbow, your's looks amazing, too. said Fluttershy.

Rainbow looked down for her necklace, but didn't see one. She then looked up to see that she was instead wearing a crown with a red lightning bolt adorning it.

"Whoa..." said Rainbow, looking at in in surprise.

"Well Twilight, Ah reckon that you're right!" said Applejack, "Ah mean, when ya said that we were the Elements of Harmony, Ah though you meant that we were powerin' 'em up, but Ah guess you mean it literally! But Ah guess we really do represent the Elements!"

"Indeed you do."

All of the ponies looked up in surprise as the sun rose back into the sky. With a quick flash of light, Princess Celestia appeared in front of the six. Each pony automatically bowed, but Twilight ran up to her eagerly.

"Princess Celestia!" she said happily, "You're okay!"

"I am proud of you for finding the Elements of Harmony, and understanding the magic of friendship." said Princess Celestia, her eyes wandering over each pony, and stopping at Rainbow, who had run over to Luna, "And now it is time for another to understand the same."

"Sister?" asked Luna, who looked much different than on the moon, "Is that you?"

"Yes," Celestia practically ran up to Luna, and gave her a hug, "Oh, how I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you, too!" Luna hugged Celestia back, "But I've also missed another..."

Celestia gave Luna an odd look before letting her go. Luna then walked over to Rainbow, a smile on her face.

"I see you made it back safely." said Luna happily.

"I'm just glad that you're not stuck on the moon again!" said Rainbow, resisting the urge to hug Luna in front of all the others, "That's what the Elements were planning to do originally."

"Originally?"

"Luna," interrupted Celestia, "Do you know this pony already?"

"Yes!" said Luna, turning towards Celestia.

"How?"

"In space," interrupted Rainbow, "She saved my life."

Celestia raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"And how did you end up in space?"

"Well, I was interested in going- watch out!"

Rainbow suddenly pushed Luna away rather hard, just as a cloud of black magic had been going to hit her. Instead, it ended up hitting Rainbow, causing her to collapse on the ground. Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy all let out a gasp, running up to Rainbow as the magic black circled around her.

"Do not touch her!" said Celestia suddenly.

"Why not?" asked Twilight nervously.

"She is fighting." said Luna.

"Fighting? Who is she fighting?" asked Fluttershy.

"The shadows that fed off of my jealousy were released from me by the Elements of Harmony. And now, Rainbow Dash is fighting those same shadows."

"That's just awful!" said Rarity.

"Can we help her at all?" asked Applejack.

"Perhaps if she fights it enough, it will give you an opening to help." said Celestia.

"Yay!" said Pinkie, "We're gonna help!"

"How exactly?" asked Twilight.

"If her Element starts to glow," said Luna, "Then you should stand in a circle around her with yours, and you will join in the battle."

"What if her Element doesn't glow?" asked Fluttershy.

"It will," said Luna, "I can tell. The shadows will do something to try and pull her away from her friends, but she is the most Loyal pony I have ever seen. Did you not see her protecting me when the Elements unleashed the first rainbow? She didn't want me sent back to the moon, and showed her Loyalty to both you five and I."

"Wait," said Twilight, "Rainbow had said something about the Elements sending you back to the moon originally. What does that mean?"

"I do not know," said Princess Celestia, "And that greatly worries me. However, I don't think that Rainbow Dash is even fighting alone right now."

Rainbow's Element was sparkling brightly, yet not glowing. The shadows surrounded Rainbow were spinning faster, and Rainbow looked very mad.

"How much longer until her Element starts to glow?" asked Rarity.

"Soon," said Luna, "We just need to wait for her to show even more Loyalty."

Rainbow and Loyalty's Battle

"You weren't supposed to win!" cried out an indistinguishable voice angrily, "Destiny had written out what would happen! You weren't even supposed to be here!"

Rainbow looked around in the complete darkness she was standing in, but saw nothing. She only noticed that she was still wearing her crown when it glowed a faint red, giving her light. Rainbow wasn't sure where she was, but knew that it had something to do with Shadow, as Shadow had tried to attack Luna, which Rainbow blocked.

"Shadow!" yelled out Rainbow into the darkness, "I know you're hiding somewhere! Come out and show yourself!"

"Show myself?" snapped back Shadow angrily, "You weren't supposed to show yourself! I was supposed to come back with Luna as Nightmare Moon, send Celestia to the moon, and then take over with eternal night! But you messed it all up!"

"Well, yeah! We got the Elements of Harmony to stop you!"

"You weren't supposed to get the Elements!"

"Aw, what's the matter? Sad that your plan didn't work?"

"My plan wasn't what failed, it was destiny that failed, you fool!"

"Destiny?" Rainbow remembered some voice saying that she had changed everyone's destiny.

"Yes, destiny! Or do you not know what it means?"

"I know what destiny is! What do you mean that destiny failed?"

"I mean that destiny said that I was supposed to win with no one to stop me!"

"Are you talking about your stupid 'eternal night' plan or destiny?"

"DESTINY!" All of the darkness formed into the shape of an alicorn in front of Rainbow, leaving everything else illuminated by Rainbow's Element.

"Explain, then!"

"Oh, but sweet little Rainbow," Shadow had changed from angry to mocking, "I don't need to tell you anything!"

"Then what are you going to do, huh?"

"Simple, really," Shadow stomped their front hoof, causing darkness to start forming in another area, "It's just a little test I made up for you."

Rainbow let out a gasp as the darkness formed into Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Luna. Everypony expect for Luna was in a cage on the right side of Shadow, and Luna was in a cage on the left side.

"Let them go!" she yelled, flying towards Shadow.

"Why, of course!" Shadow held out their hoof, holding Rainbow in place, "I'll even let you pick!"

"What do you mean?" yelled Rainbow, trying to break free from whatever magic Shadow was using.

"You can either save your friends, or Luna. It's your choice."

"I choose both!"

"Tsk, tsk. That's not an option, now is it?" Shadow lowered their hoof, slamming Rainbow on to the ground, "Now pick."

Rainbow flew into the air, and tried to fly in between the two cages, but Shadow pulled her back, thrusting her on to the ground again.

"Pick one." said Shadow in the cruelest voice possible.

"I pick BOTH!"

Rainbow tried again and again to fly in between both cages, or to push over with the other, or even just free the ponies inside, but Shadow continued to pull her back.

"Rainbow Dash, I'm getting rather impatient, so hurry up and pick one to save."

"I... pick... both..." said Rainbow, getting off the ground again.

"No."

"I... will... be... loyal... to... all... of... my... friends..."

"NO."

Yes!

Shadow fell silent, and Rainbow did, too. That voice was familiar to her. As if she had heard it recently...

"Who's there?" yelled Shadow, furious.

Right in front of you!

Rainbow's Element lit up brightly, a light coming out of it directly in front of her. The light slowly formed into a shape, before letting out a large flash. Rainbow blinked, and then saw that the light had formed into a pony. A very familiar-looking pegasus, to be precise.

Does this answer you question?

Standing in front of Rainbow was a pegasus that looked exactly like her, expect that she was completely red. The only part of her that wasn't red was her cutie mark, which matched Rainbow's perfectly.

"Whoa..." said Rainbow, awe-struck.

"Who are you?" asked Shadow, their voice filled with hatred.

I'm not a pony, if that's what you're wondering, the pegasus flew into the air, landing next to Rainbow with a grin; Rainbow noticed that her mouth did't move when she spoke, I'm just an entity, like you, Shadow!

"Liar! You're just one of those pesky ponies!"

Ooh, looks like someone is denying what they see! I am Loyalty!

"Loyalty?" asked Rainbow, "As in the Element of Harmony?"

You could say that. But I'm not really here to answer little questions, now am I?

Rainbow and Loyalty nodded to each other, before each flying past Shadow and standing in front of the cages.

"Get away from those!" yelled Shadow, raising their hoof towards Loyalty, who was in front of Luna.

Gotta catch me first!

The cages holding Rainbow's friends all vanished in an instant as Shadow began chasing after Loyalty. Shadow's horn was ablaze with magic that dimmed the light around it, while Loyalty was engulfed in a red glow.

Hey, Rainbow! called Loyalty to a very confused Rainbow, Isn't Destiny fun to mess with?

Loyalty flew towards Rainbow, and turned into bright red magic that entered Rainbow's Element. Just as Shadow turned towards Rainbow, her Element glowed brightly, illuminating everything in a red glow.

"STOP!" yelled Shadow, who was standing away from the glow with a look of fear, "YOU CANNOT DO THIS!"

"Too late!" said Rainbow as five sparks of magic appeared beside her.

The sparks of magic quickly turned into Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie, who each had their Elements glowing in their respective colors.

"This probably won't beat you..." said Rainbow softly, somehow knowing that Shadow could hear her, "But it should put you down for a while. So don't you ever come near Luna or my other friends again. Maybe one day you'll be good, though..."

For the second time that day, a rainbow spiraled out from the Element's of Harmony. But this time, they hit Shadow dead center, and she vanished without a single word.

"Until we meet again..." whispered Rainbow as everything went white.

"Rainbow Dash!" said Fluttershy nervously, "Are you okay?"

"I'm good," said Rainbow, slowly getting to her hooves, "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," said Twilight, "We were worried about you! You just jumped in the way of that shadow so suddenly!"

"Wait, where did it go?" asked Rainbow, looking around.

"It vanished," said Luna, "All except for a small speck."

"So it will be back..." whispered Rainbow to herself.

The eight ponies were all silent for a moment before Princess Celestia spoke.

"I am glad that you are all alright," she said, "And I am especially glad that I have my sister back. I thank you all greatly."

"But, Princess Celestia," said Twilight, "You told me that the legend was silly!"

"My dearest student, would you have been able to make friends while worrying about Nightmare Moon returning?"

"Probably not..."

"Will you forgive me for misleading you?"

"Of course! You had good reason to!"

"Now, I believe that a town of ponies are panicking."

The group exited the castle at trot, with Twilight talking animatedly to Princess Celestia about what had happened. Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were also talking about what had happened to each other, but Rainbow wasn't exactly listening.

"Is something wrong?" asked Luna, who was walking next to Rainbow.

"Yeah..." said Rainbow, "It's Shadow."

"Shadow?"

"The name of the shadows who had corrupted you. (I didn't make up the name.) I know that they'll be back."

"Do not worry. You and your friends will surely be able to take on Shadow once more."

"Thanks," Rainbow was silent for a moment before speaking again, "But there's something else bothering me."

"What?"

"When I was battling Shadow, a pony came out of my Element. Well, not exactly. She said that she was an entity, and called herself Loyalty."

"So soon?"

"Huh?"

"It appears that you have met the Element of Loyalty that resides within yourself. I did not meet her or any of the others for quite some time. My sister took even longer to meet her Elements."

"You used to be the Element of Loyalty?"

"Indeed."

"And you... met her?"

"Yes. I assume that she resembled yourself."

"Yeah. Expect that she was red, like the gem."

"She was also red for me. Although, it never looked that good on her."

"Heh. So what do you mean that she resides within me?"

"You are the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, and to use it you must show true Loyalty towards your friends who bear the other Elements. So, naturally, you already have this magic deep within you."

"Wow, that actually makes a lot of sense! Just one more thing: why is my Element a crown unlike the others?"

"Destiny is a strange thing, Rainbow Dash."

"No kidding."

Part Teacher, Part Student

The Summer Sun Celebration had been really fun. After returning from the Everfree Forest, the ponies were greeted with an anxious crowd who cheered upon seeing them. Luna had been a bit shy to join in the Celebration, until Rainbow pulled her into the dance competition and the two had an extreme dance-off which Luna ended up winning.

"The Winter Moon Festival!" said Rainbow eagerly to Luna after they finished the dance-off.

"What?" asked Luna as she sipped some fresh water.

"Today is the Summer Sun Celebration and it's the longest day of the year, right? So you need to make the Winter Moon Festival where it will be the longest night of the year!"

"That... is an excellent idea! Did you just come up with that?"

"Yep!"

"Oh, I will tell Celestia as soon as we return to the castle! Speaking of, wasn't the castle that you fought Nightmare Moon in-"

"Yeah, the Everfree Forest grew around the Castle of the Two Sisters about 900 years ago, so Princess Celestia built a new one in Canterlot."

"Oh..."

"Hey, I bet she has an entire section of the castle designed just for you!"

"Knowing my sister, she most has done that."

Rainbow causally grabbed an apple fritter an started eating it. Luna also grabbed an apple snack, but nibbled on it a bit before speaking.

"Rainbow Dash, may I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"You consider me your friend, right?"

"Of course I do! Why would you ask something like that?"

"Well... My sister has Twilight Sparkle as her student, and has her sending Friendship Reports, so I was wondering if..."

"I could be your student?!?"

"Well, sort of. You'd be more like teaching me about friendship again."

"I'd love to do that for you! Plus, I also have a lot to learn about friendship. Kinda haven't had any friends in a hundred years or so."

The two shared a laugh, and Rainbow's face lit up.

"Oh! I wanted to tell you something that I found out with Twilight! It has to do with the magic in me!"

"What is it?"

"I have unicorn, dragon, and alicorn magic in me!"

"WHAT?!?"

"I'm not kidding! She used a spell to see what magic was in me after some magic prevented me from talking about when I was a filly- ouch!" Rainbow flinched as all-too-familiar sparks of blue and pink jumped up from her.

"That is very strange..." said Luna, as she used her magic to grab one of each colored spark, "Good. Now I can examine these to find out what specific spells they are."

Rainbow smiled, eager to find out what the magic was doing.

"Back to the being-your-student thing. I know that Twilight will be sending letters to Princess Celestia via Spike's dragon fire, but what will I use?"

"I can give you- wait, how do you know about dragon fire being used to send things?"

"I..." Rainbow trailed off, "Have no idea..."

"Perhaps this knowledge is tied to the dragon magic in you. Shame I cannot get a sample of that. Anyway, I can send you a dragon fire candle to use to send me letters. I think that one every week on the going-ons in Ponyville would be good. What do you think?"

"I think that's good. They'll always contain something about either friendship, major events happening here, or both!"

"Thank you, my friend." said Luna, giving Rainbow Dash a hug.

"Luna," said Princess Celestia, approaching her, "I do believe we should head back to the castle now. I want you to know that the castle is no longer-"

"It's okay. Rainbow Dash told me that it is in Canterlot now."

"Oh! Thank you, Rainbow."

"It's no trouble at all for a friend!" said Rainbow happily, "Bye, Luna!"

"Hopefully I'll meet up with you soon!" responded Luna with a smile.

"And hopefully your magic will have been restored!" said Rainbow, smiling back.

Rainbow waved along with the other ponies as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna headed back towards Canterlot in their chariot. They were also bringing the Elements of Harmony for safekeeping, which Rainbow thought was a bit foolish if something were to happen in Ponyville, but decided that it was for their safekeeping.

I'll always have Loyalty in me, even if the gem isn't with me. thought Rainbow, I hope Luna can find out what the magic is doing in me to stop me from talking about my fillyhood. Until then, I'll just have to be an excellent student, and an even greater friend.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" said Pinkie, popping up in front of her, "Another dance-off is starting! Think you can beat me?"

"Oh, Pinkie, you're so on!" said Rainbow, running out on to the dance floor.

"Sister, I can tell that you are confused by something." said Luna.

"Is it really that obvious?" asked Celestia, looking anxiously at her sister.

"No, but it's something you sister would notice."

"I've just been wondering about Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash."

"Ah, you are wondering why Rainbow Dash bears the crown and not Twilight Sparkle."

"Yes. I mean, the Tree of Harmony has her cutie mark on it! The Element of Magic was already shaped like her cutie mark! I thought Destiny had already written everything out!"

"Perhaps you are focusing too much on Twilight, and not enough on Rainbow."

"What do you mean?"

"Rainbow told me that she met the Element of Loyalty today when she was fighting the shadows."

"Already?"

"I was as surprised as you are to hear that they met so soon. Also, did you not see how her first reaction upon seeing the shadows coming towards me was to protect me?"

"She did do that..."

"Though you student may bear the binding Element, Rainbow Dash bears the strongest because of herself. She is extremely Loyalty to all of her friends, to the point of not letting me be sent back to the moon."

"Sorry, what? I thought you said that you were going to be sent back to the moon."

"I did. When the Elements of Harmony had powered up and sent a rainbow towards me, I could sense that for whatever reasons, they were going to send me back to the moon. Rainbow Dash could also sense it, as she broke away from the rest of the rainbow and stood to protect me."

"I see what you're telling me, Luna."

"Indeed. Rainbow Dash, through her extreme Loyalty, simply rewrote Destiny."

"But if she did, then that means that she will-"

"Tia, she has alicorn magic in her."

"What?"

"As well as unicorn and dragon magic. So even if she did complete the spell, she would not become one."

"But that means that something happened to put that magic in her!"

"I got samples of the unicorn and alicorn magic to study. It sparks when she tries to speak of her fillyhood."

"Why would such powerful magic prevent her from speaking of her fillyhood?"

"Because clearly, somepony else rewrote Destiny first, and won't let Rainbow Dash say who."

Something Familiar

"It's really big." said Fluttershy.

"No kidding!" said Rainbow, staring up into the sky.

The two pegasi were looking up at a large cloud house in the sky, held in place by magic. There was pools of rainbow gathered in areas, along with a large rainbow arching over the top.

"Are you sure this is for me?" asked Rainbow, turning towards Fluttershy.

"That's what the letter from Princess Luna said. Plus, it has your cutie mark over the doorway."

"Wow, it really is mine... So, I guess I have a house and a job now."

"Oh, when did you get a job?"

"Applied for the weather team and they accepted me really quickly."

"That's great, Rainbow!"

"Yeah. Anyways, thanks for taking me in while I was hurt."

"It's no trouble at all. It's what friends are for."

"I'm going to go look around the place, want to come with me?"

"I'd love to, but it's time to feed the animals."

"That's fine. I'll invite everypony over later. There's a cloud-walking spell in the library that the others can use."

"That sounds like it will be fun. See you later!

"Later, Fluttershy!"

Rainbow flew into the air towards her new house, landing at the door. She saw that there was a note taped onto the door, and plucked it off to read it.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

Since you, like myself, have been gone from Equestria for so long, I thought that you would need a house. So I had this cloud house made for you in the hopes that you would like it. Just think of it as a gift from a friend.

Princess Luna

Rainbow smiled before entering her new house and looking around. The house was beautifully crafted, with statues and drawing of things such as lighting bolts, wings, and pegasi.

"Wow, you certainly did it all, didn't you, Luna?" said Rainbow to herself while flying up to the bedroom, "There's nothing you could of put in here to possibly make it better!"

Rainbow entered her bedroom and froze. Though she noticed the bed with her cutie mark with lots of books surrounding it, her eyes had fallen on one object in particular.

"And I stand corrected..." said Rainbow, flying over towards the object and taking a note off of it.

I went back to the Castle of the Two Sisters, and I found this here. I'm not sure how it ended up there, but I knew you would want it back - Luna

"My space suit... I can't believe I have it again..."

Rainbow ran her hoof over her beloved space suit, examining it for damages. One of the wing encasements was missing, along with the helmet, and the ends of the sleeves had been cut flat, but other than it it was in perfect condition. Rainbow quickly pulled it on, and found that it still fit her perfectly.

"Heh, it still has the parachute..." she said happily, "Oh! I should show this to Twilight! She would find it awesome!"

Rainbow flew out the window (she would need to find some way to close that later) and headed towards the Golden Oaks Library with a large grin. She landed gently at the entrance, and knocked on the door.

"Hey, Twilight! It's Rainbow, can I show you something?"

"Sure thing!" called Twilight from inside, "Just be careful of the books!"

Rainbow opened the door to see that all of the bookshelves were empty, and instead all of the books were in large stacks.

"Whoa, what are you doing here?" asked Rainbow, carefully weaving through the piles.

"Reorganizing," said Twilight, placing down another stack of books, "Now, what did you want to show me?"

"This!" said Rainbow, landing in front of Twilight and showing off her space suit, "Do ya like it?"

"Wow! Did you make this, Rainbow?" asked Twilight, examining Rainbow's space suit.

"Yep! The helmet and my other wing encasement are missing, but other than that, it's till in perfect condition!"

"Still?"

"Yeah, it's my space suit! I made it to fly into space!"

"Amazing!" said Twilight, looking at Rainbow's wing encasement, "You made it so this metal could fold and unfold just like you wing!"

"There's also a parachute," said Rainbow, "Here, I'll show you!"

Rainbow pulled the small cord she had connecting to her parachute, but it didn't come out. Instead, a small metal object came out of where her parachute should have been.

"Is that you parachute?" asked Twilight, "Because it doesn't look like one."

"No... Wait... Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!" Rainbow quickly picked up the metal object and examined it, "This is my camera! I had it in my helmet so I could prove that I flew into space! I have no idea why it's where my parachute is supposed to be, though."

"You have documented proof of you flying into space."

"As long as the camera still functions!"

"Then let's see it!"

Rainbow played with the buttons on the camera before a small picture finally showed up on it, along with sounds.

"Can you do a projection spell to make it larger?" asked Rainbow.

"Sure thing." said Twilight, her horn lighting up.

The small picture was shown enlarged next to the camera, which Rainbow and Twilight watched with interest. There was a crackle of sound before a voice was heard, along with the picture of a grassy field.

"Oxygen tank filled? Confirmed. Carbon dioxide filter active and working? Confirmed. Emergency parachute available for use? Confirmed. Suit sealed? Confirmed. Wing encasements allowing movement? Confirmed. Helmet secured? Confirmed. Rainbow Dash, you are ready for takeoff."

"That's me!" said Rainbow excitedly, "I'm about to start flying!"

The video continued up until the point where Rainbow said, "Ice encasement forming! Oxygen tank at fifty seven percent, carbon dioxide filter inactive!" before cutting off.

"Wow..." said Twilight, "You really did fly into space..."

"I can't believe that I have complete evidence! We should show this to the others when you guys come to see my house!"

"Wait, you got a house?"

"Yeah! Luna sent it for me! Have you really not noticed the giant cloud house outside?"

"I've been organizing books all day..."

"Well, it's not like you can really even see it from here anyways... But I'll come by later to invite you over to see it!"

"How am I supposed to see you house if I can't walk on clouds?"

"Cloud walking spell. It's in some book in here."

"How do you know that?"

"Uh... I don't know! Weird, I keep knowing all this information, but I don't know how!"

"Maybe it's from some sort of magic?"

"Ugh, it's probably the same magic that won't let me talk about my fillyhood."

"Oh."

Twilight and Rainbow were both silent for a moment.

"Well, uh, see you later, Twilight!" said Rainbow, flying into the air, "And look for that book with the cloud walking spell!"

"Sure thing!"

As Rainbow flew back towards her house, she didn't notice the bit of magic on the side of her ear that was slowly getting larger...

Cases One and Two

"And this is my bedroom!" declared Rainbow, leading her friends in, "What do you think?"

"It looks like so much fun!" said Pinkie, bouncing on to Rainbow's bed.

"Well, it could use maybe a bit more decorations..." said Rarity, looking around, "Maybe a fresh coat of paint, some portraits..."

"Hey, Rainbow," said Twilight, "Aren't you going to show them what you showed me?"

"Of course!" said Rainbow, flying over to her closet, "You guys want to see one more thing?"

"Of course we do!" said Applejack.

"just give me a sec..." Rainbow hid behind a small of wall of clouds she had formed before coming back out, "Ta-dah! It's my space suit!"

"OH MY GOSH!" said Pinkie, reacting first, "You have a metal encasement, too!"

"What?" asked everypony (and Spike) simultaneously.

Pinkie instantly zipped over to Rainbow and grabbed her wing encasement.

"This! It's like the metal encasement on my front leg!" she said excitedly.

"Wait, that's metal?" asked Rainbow, "I just thought it was gray!"

"Nopesy-oaksy! It's metal!"

"Nopesy-oaksy?" whispered Rarity to Twilight.

"Why do you have a metal encasement on your leg?" asked Rainbow slowly.

"Ooh! I guess it's story time!" said Pinkie, bouncing up and down, "Can I go first?"

"Yeah-"

"Goodie! It was when I was still an itty-bitty twinkie Pinkie, and I grew up on my family's rock farm!"

...

Pinkamina Diane Pie (aka Pinkie Pie) bounced excitedly as she followed her big sister, Maud Pie, into her super duper secret laboratory! Today, Maud was going to give her a super duper special present that would make everything super duper fun!

"What is it? What is it?" asked Pinkie, her straight mane bouncing up and down as she did, "What is it? What is it?"

"It's something great that will help you out on the farm," said Maud in her monotone voice, "Plus, you'll really like it."

"Yippee! Fun work is the best kind of work! When do I get it?"

"In just a minute. I just need you to stay still so I can put it on you."

"Yep indeedy!" Pinkie instantly stopped bouncing, and stood completely still.

"This will only take a minute."

Maud gently grabbed Pinkie's right front leg, and held it out straight. She then started layering small pieces of metal down, until she blocked Pinkie's view.

"It's all done." said Maud after what felt like forever, "Ta-dah."

Pinkie looked down at her leg to see that it was completely gray and felt really weird!

"Coooooool!" said Pinkie, looking at her leg, "My leg is gray! That's so funny!"

"That's a special metal encasement infused with rock magic so it will grow with you. It allows you to smash rocks to pieces easily without hurting yourself. It also has some springs in it so you can bounce extra high. But don't try it in here. It don't want to have to fix the roof."

Pinkie zipped outside and bounced, putting extra emphasis to use her right leg.

"Weeeee!!!" shouted Pinkie, as she flew into the air, before landing safely on the ground, "Yay! This is so much fun!"

Pinkie started bouncing around and around the farm and not damaging anything whatsoever.

...

"The end!" said Pinkie, bouncing into the air with glee.

"That was it?" asked Applejack.

"Yup!"

"It's not that you had a terrible accident occur?" asked Rarity.

"Nope! My sisters have one on their legs, too!"

"What are your sister's names?" asked Twilight.

"Maud, Limestone, and Marble Pie," said Rainbow instantly, "Wait, how do I know that?"

"Good question!" said Pinkie, still bouncing.

"Magic..." muttered Rainbow.

"What?" asked Fluttershy, "We couldn't hear you."

"Nothing important," said Rainbow, waving her hoof, "Anyways, that's all of my house. I hope you guys liked it!"

"Well, Ah sure did!" said Applejack, "Though, Ah do need ta get goin'. Gotta get ready fer applebuckin' season!"

"Applebucking season?" asked Rainbow, "Why does that sound so familiar to me-"

Rainbow abruptly cut off, and her eyes glowed a bright pink. She heard her friends shout out in surprise, when she started to see things. She saw Applejack (looking extremely exhausted) collecting a trophy, incorrectly baking muffins with Pinkie, and causing a bunny stampede. But there was something wrong with the pictures she was seeing. Applejack's cutie mark had red apples instead of green ones, and Pinkie didn't have the metal case on her leg.

"Rainbow!" yelled Twilight, causing her eye's to stop glowing.

"Huh?" asked Rainbow, looking around in confusion.

"Are you okay?" asked Fluttershy, "You're eyes were glowing!"

"Yeah!" said Pinkie, "They were glowing pink, and you were just standing there like nothing around you was happening!"

"But I saw a bunch of stuff..." said Rainbow slowly.

"What did you see?" asked Twilight.

"I saw Applejack collecting a trophy, baking with Pinkie, and causing a bunny stampede!"

"Say what?" asked Applejack.

"But... It wasn't you and Pinkie."

"What does that even mean?" asked Rarity.

"Well, the Applejack I saw had red apples for her cutie mark, and the Pinkie I saw didn't have her metal casing, and her cutie mark was only blue," Rainbow paused for a moment, "Twilight, magic scan me."

"Sure thing, but why?" asked Twilight, her horn lighting up blue.

"I don't know, but just do it."

Twilight quickly scanned Rainbow, and looked at the magic information sheet.

"Wait..." she said, looking closely, "This doesn't make sense!"

"What doesn't make sense?" asked Rainbow, looking at the sheet.

"You now have more than 100 magic parts in you!"

"Oh my gosh, you're right!"

"Would you care to tell us how much magic she has?" asked Rarity, "I'm afraid that none of us can understand the information you have."

"Sure," said Rainbow, "I currently have 60 parts pegasus, 30 parts unicorn, 5 parts dragon, 25 parts alicorn, 10 parts Earth pony, and 5 parts of an indistinguishable magic."

"That does make no sense!" said Fluttershy, "How did you get more magic in you?"

"I don't know how she does." said Twilight.

"But I have an idea," said Rainbow, "I gained 5 parts pegasus, 10 parts unicorn, 5 parts alicorn, 10 parts Earth pony, and 5 parts of that other magic. If you divide each number by five, you get 1, 2, 1, 2, and 1."

"How is this important?" asked Applejack.

"I got this new magic when we got Shadow out of Luna! I must have gotten the pegasus magic from Fluttershy, the unicorn magic from Twilight and Rarity, the alicorn magic from Luna, the Earth pony magic from Pinkie and Applejack, and the last magic from Shadow!"

"That does actually make sense..." said Twilight.

"Then test it! Scan AJ, we know she had 100 parts Earth pony!"

Twilight quickly scanned Applejack, and she and Rainbow each gasped.

"What?" asked Applejack.

"You have 95 parts Earth pony magic and 5 parts Trust magic!" said Rainbow.

"And?"

"And that means that some of your Earth pony magic went to me when the Trust magic went into you!"

"Are ya sure?"

"Yes, but I'm sure you're still as strong as ever."

Twilight quickly scanned the others and herself, to reveal a similar pattern. Rarity had 95 parts unicorn and 5 parts Selflessness, Fluttershy had 95 parts pegasus and 5 parts Empathy, Twilight had 95 parts unicorn and 5 parts Friendship (or Magic, they weren't sure), and Pinkie couldn't be scanned for some reason.

"I'm going to go write Princess Celestia a letter," said Twilight, "Okay?"

"Sure thing," said Rainbow, "I'm going..." she trailed off as Twilight vanished in a flash of light.

"Um, should we be going?" asked Fluttershy.

"You guys probably should," said Rainbow, "Sorry to make everything so crazy."

"Crazy can be fun!" said Pinkie, who had finally stopped bouncing.

"It's no trouble, sugarcube." said Applejack.

Rainbow smiled as her friends started to leave, but saw another image flash in front of her eyes.

"Hey, AJ?" she called out.

"Yeah?" asked Applejack, poking her head back into Rainbow's room.

"You might want to hurry back to Sweet Apple Acres. Your brother's about to injure himself."

Applejack stared at Rainbow for a moment, before dashing off.

"And I'll write a letter to Luna..." said Rainbow to herself.

She quickly pulled out her brand-new dragon fire candle, a piece of parchment, and looked for a writing utensil.

"Why are there only quills?" asked Rainbow, "Well, Twilight uses quills, so... Eh, I'll just hold it in my hoof."

Rainbow grabbed a quill and an inkwell, then sat down at her desk to write Luna a note.

"Urgh, I can't get a good grip on this thing," said Rainbow, struggling to hold the quill, "Too bad I can't use magic like Twilight or..."

She trailed off as the quill was surrounded by a red magic. Rainbow looked around to see that her wings were also glowing red, just like Twilight's horn when she was using magic.

"WHAT," said Rainbow, "Okay, I'm Luna a letter right now before something else happens!"

Unspeakable Memories

Rainbow Dash flew joyfully through the air, making twists and turns as she flew. She wasn't doing anything in particular, just flying around and having fun.

"Nice going, Klutzershy!" came a mocking voice from below, "They ought ta ground you permanently!"

"Ha!" came another voice, "My baby brother can fly better than you!"

"Please..." came Fluttershy's voice, and it sounded like she was going to cry, "Stop it..."

Rainbow quickly flew down towards the voice to see two bullies making fun of Fluttershy.

"Leave her alone!" yelled Rainbow, landing in front of her.

"Ooh, what are you gonna do, Rainbow Crash?" asked the first bully.

"Keep making fun of her and find out!"

"You think you're such a big shot?" asked the second bully, "Why don't you prove it?"

"Whaddya have in mind?"

...

Rainbow smirked as she looked at the two bullies next to her. They thought that she wouldn't beat them in this race? As if!

"You're going down!" taunted one of them.

"In history, maybe!" retorted Rainbow, shifting to her ready stance.

The many fillies watching cheered loudly as Fluttershy raised the checkered flag into the air. Rainbow took in a quick breath as she stared down the racetrack.

Alright Rainbow, you can do this! Just need to win this race! she thought, Don't worry, Flutters! I'll defend your honor!

Fluttershy lowered the flag, and Rainbow took off as fast as possible. She quickly swirled around corner after corner, even doing an aileron roll at one point. She heard a loud smash, and glanced behind to see that one of the bullies had crashed.

I actually feel a bit bad for him... Well, at least the race is easier now!

Rainbow smiled as she flew through the clear sky, before being knocked to the side by the other bully.

"Later, Rainbow Crash!" he taunted, flying down towards the next ring.

"Hey!" yelled Rainbow angrily.

She quickly regained control, and also started to fly down towards the ring. Rainbow noticed that she had begun to gain speed, and felt her eyes begin to sting. She managed to keep her eyes open when suddenly a blue light surrounded her and kept her in place.

"Hey, what gives?" asked Rainbow as the other bully continued flying on.

Rainbow glanced around, and saw what looked like a purple alicorn carrying a purple baby dragon and a pink unicorn floating in the air with a blue light around her.

What?!? thought Rainbow, just as the alicorn, dragon, and unicorn disappeared, and Rainbow continued flying.

"Whoa!" yelled Rainbow as she went zooming down towards the ring she had been going towards earlier, "Pull up, pull up!"

Rainbow pulled up as soon as she hit the ring, and went zooming up towards the finish line. She flew past the bully so fast, that he flew completely out of control, and sailed off into the distance. Rainbow flew right through the finish line, and heard ponies cheering all around her.

"Woo-hoo!" yelled Rainbow as she soared over Cloudstale, "This is so awesome!"

Rainbow reached the highest point the Cloudstale, and then started heading back down to create a huge rainbow arch above the entire city. She didn't notice that she was beginning accelerate faster and faster, with the blue light still surrounding her.

"YEAH!"

Rainbow suddenly found herself going at double the speed of how fast she had been going earlier. Four times faster. Eight times faster!

"I can't stop!" yelled Rainbow, as she flew straight through the air, as opposed to flying downward, "Somepony help!"

Everything seemed to explode into white numbers and letters in a light blue world.

"Huh? Where am I?"

Lights of pink and green flashed around Rainbow, and the numbers and letters began to spin. Rainbow blinked as everything came near her, and then everything turned dark.

Rainbow gasped, and she sat up quickly from her bed. Her eyes stopped glowing white, and her wings stopped glowing red.

What was that? she thought, putting a hoof to her head, Was that... A dream?

Rainbow flew over to her desk and grabbed a quill and parchment with her magic. As soon as she put the quill down on the parchment, a rainbow of sparks came flying out in every direction, causing her to drop the quill.

What was that dream about? Why can I suddenly not remember?

"Stupid magic!" groaned Rainbow, "Now I can't even remember what I just dreamed about or even write it down!"

My pegasus magic is stronger than any of the others. Wait, now why I think that? Maybe... If I'm flying I'll be able to overcome the other types of magic in me!

Rainbow quickly flew out the window (which she still hadn't figured out how to close) and soared through the sky.

"When I was a filly-" she whispered before being cut off by pink and blue sparks, "Not again!"

What if I'm not going fast enough? But how fast would I need to go? And I can't just fly fast everywhere, that's not safe for others.

Rainbow sighed and landed on a lone cloud in the sky. She looked up towards the moon and the stars, and smiled.

Luna's night is so beautiful. The stars are amazing. Heh, that bunch looks like a lightning bolt.

She stayed on the cloud for a little bit longer, before flying back into her house. Rainbow laid back down in her bed and tried to fall asleep, again.

I'll figure all of this out later. Especially all this magic in me. I'll figure out everything that's happening.

My Griffin Pal Gilda

"Fluttershy!" called Rainbow, flying up to the door of her friend's house, "Fluttershy!"

"Um, yes?" asked Fluttershy, opening the door a crack.

"I've got a bit of a problem, can I come in?"

"Sure!"

Rainbow walked inside and carefully maneuvered through the many animals on the ground and in the air. She pulled out a letter, and then handed it to Fluttershy, who looked confused.

"I got this letter from somepony named Gilda," said Rainbow, "Do you know who that is? Because I can't remember."

"You don't remember Gilda?" asked Fluttershy, "She's a griffin that you became friends with in Flight School. But, um, I find her kind of scary..."

Rainbow was about to say something in reply when her eyes began glowing pink, again. She saw Pinkie on some sort of flying-contraption, which was being held still by a griffin, who she assumed was Gilda.

"Don't you know how to take get lost for an answer?" said Gilda aggressively, "Dash doesn't need to hang with a dweeb like you now that I'm around! You're dorkin' up the skies, Stinkie Pie, so make like a bee and buzz off!"

The scene switched to Fluttershy carefully leading some baby ducks through the street, before bumping into Gilda.

"Hey!" snapped Gilda.

"Please excuse me." said Fluttershy nervously.

"I'm walkin' here!"

"Oh, um, I'm sorry. I-I-I was just trying to...

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" mocked Gilda, "Why don't you just watch where you're going, doofus?"

"B-b-b-but I... I..."

Gilda took in a deep breath, before letting out a huge roar at Fluttershy, causing her to run away in tears. Rainbow's eyes stopped glowing, and she took in a deep breath.

"Uh, Rainbow?" asked Fluttershy, "Did you have another one of your vision things?"

"Huh?" asked Rainbow, "Oh, yeah! It was about Gilda..."

"What's wrong?"

"Well... Was Gilda nice to you in Flight School? Or was she a bully?"

"She was a little bit intense at times, but Gilda was nice. She was all alone until you became her friend. Sort of like me..."

"She was nice? But... She was being a jerk in my visions... She wouldn't let Pinkie hang out with her and me and... She yelled at you and roared at you!"

"I don't think I'd like Gilda when she's angry!"

"But... The vision I had with Applejack never ended up happening... So maybe this one won't happen either!"

"I'd really like if Gilda didn't roar at me..."

"Then again, you and Pinkie did look different in the vision... Pinkie still didn't have her metal leg encasement, your mane didn't have the tips of it dyed the same as your eye color, and I think your cutie mark was pink instead of blue-green..."

"It's emerald."

"Don't you worry, Fluttershy, even if Gilda turns out to be a complete jerk, I won't let her scare you like that!" Rainbow flew out the door, "Thanks for all your help, Fluttershy!"

"Um, you're welcome?"

Rainbow took a deep breath and stopped pacing around her balcony. Gilda was supposed to be flying in any second now, and Rainbow was very nervous.

Okay. Gilda is your griffin friend from Flight School. She was nice to Fluttershy, but could be a bit intense at times. She might be a jerk. Oh mare, this might be really difficult.

Rainbow could have sworn that she saw a figure approaching in the distance, but she didn't see a speck on brown, so didn't bother with it.

Gilda has brown feathers, whoever that is has green feathers. Why would she have different colored feathers? Wait a second...

Gilda landed on the balcony in front of Rainbow, which surprised Rainbow.

"Hey, Dash!" said Gilda, "Where ya been?"

"Gilda!" said Rainbow, "It's, uh, nice to see you! I hope..."

"Like this dye that I used?"

"Yeah! It's nice!"

Gilda flashed Rainbow a smile, and then walked inside.

"This your place? Sweet. I thought that the newspapers were just exaggerating!"

"N-newspapers?" asked Rainbow, following her in.

"Yeah!" Gilda tossed Rainbow a newspaper that showed her and her friends with Celestia and Luna, "You're kinda famous for stopping eternal night or whatever. I'm surprised that you don't have this photo tacked up all over your house!"

"Note to self: get a newspaper subscription..." muttered Rainbow.

"So where can I put my stuff?"

"Oh! I have a room that you can go in!" Rainbow led Gilda to the room she had prepared, "I hope you're okay with it."

"It's fine, Dash!" Gilda threw her bag in, "Much better than the rooms they gave us at Flight School, huh?"

"Uh, yeah... At Flight School..."

"By the way, cool metal wing-thing."

"Oh, it's my wing encasement. It can stand temperatures up to five thousand eight hundred degrees Kelvins and down to two degrees Kelvin."

"Since when you get so nerdy?" asked Gilda jokingly, "Anyways, want to go for a flight?"

"Sure that sounds-"

"Rainbow!" called Pinkie from outside suddenly, "Rainbow Daaaaash!"

"Looks like you got an adoring fan calling for you!" said Gilda, "Better go give 'em an autograph!"

"It's not an adoring fan, it's my friend Pinkie Pie!" said Rainbow.

"Then she's gotta meet me, because I am your one and only griffin friend!"

"Uh, sure!"

Rainbow and Gilda both flew outside, and gazed over the edge of the cloud. Pinkie was standing on the ground, smiling as happily as ever.

"Hey, Pinkie!" called down Rainbow, "What's up!"

"You are, silly!" called back Pinkie, "By the way, who's your friend?"

Gilda flew down and landed in front of Pinkie.

"Hey." she said.

"Neat-o-riffick!" said Pinkie happily.

Rainbow quickly flew down and landed in between the two.

"Pinkie," she said, "This is my griffin pal, Gilda. Gilda, this is my friend, Pinkie."

"Sup?" asked Gilda.

"She's a griffon! Part bird, part lion!"

"That's so amazing!" said Pinkie.

"Anyways, did you want something?"

"Oh yeah! I was hoping that you could help me with something!"

"Sorry, Pinkie, but I'm hanging with Gilda for now. She's only going be here a couple of days."

"Dash needs to hang with her cool friends!" said Gilda.

Rainbow tensed up with nervousness. She wanted Pinkie and Gilda to get along, so hopefully Gilda wouldn't end up being a jerk.

"Just wondering," said Rainbow, "What was it that you needed help with?"

"Pulling a prank on Spike!" said Pinkie.

"A prank?" asked Gilda, "What kind of prank?"

"One that will shock him!"

"Dash, we can't skip on doing some cool pranks! Let's go help out your friend! I need a good laugh, anyways."

Rainbow resisted smiling too much and nodded.

"Alright!" she said, "Let's go prank some ponies!"

"Over to the right!" said Pinkie as Rainbow and Gilda directed the cloud they had, "No no, a little to the left! Oh wait, back to the right! Now a little leftish while staying rightly. Stop. Hmm. Maybe a few inches to the south. Now a couple centimeters north... Okay. One more smidgimeter to the-

"Pinkie Pie!" cried Rainbow and Gilda.

"Uh, I mean, perfect! Now wait for my signal."

Rainbow and Gilda flew just above the cloud as Spike walked out of the town hall. Pinkie gave the signal (she waved a flag around), and Gilda and Rainbow jumped on the cloud, letting out a crash of thunder.

"Aah!" cried Spike, dropping the scrolls her was carrying and hiccuping.

"We startled Spike into getting the hiccups!" said Pinkie, her, Rainbow, and Gilda all laughing.

"Good one, Pinkie hic Pie!" said Spike good naturally, "Hic You're always pulling a fast one hic on me hic!" Spike accidentally blew out a breath of fire that caught one of the scrolls and made it dissapear.

"Oh no, you're not hurt are you?"

"No, hic don't be hic silly! Dragons are hic fire-proof.

"Oh, good!"

Spike started to pick up the scrolls he had dropped, but he accidentally hiccuped each time and breathed fire on them.

"I wish the same thing hic were true with scrolls, though." he said.

Rainbow, Pinkie, and Gilda all laughed, again.

"Have you ever seen anything more hilarious?" asked Pinkie.

"Maybe..." muttered Rainbow, before suddenly kicking the cloud.

Both Gilda and Pinkie both yelled in surprise, before they both started to hiccup.

Oh! I hope Gilda isn't mad! thought Rainbow.

Pinkie started laughing, with Gilda following soon after, relieving Rainbow.

"You hic know," said Gilda to Pinkie, "At first hic I thought that Dash had hic some dweeb friends, but hic now I think you're pretty fun hic, Pinkie! Sorry for hic thinking you were lame, hic dude."

"It's hic totally cool!" said Pinkie.

Whew... Looks like Gilda won't be like in the vision I saw at all!

...

The three snickered as they rang the doorbell to Carousel Boutique and jumped in the bushes to hide. Rarity came to the door and saw the flowers they had set up, and picked them up with her magic. She sniffed them, and the powder they had put on them caused her to start sneezing. Rainbow, Pinkie, and Gilda burst into laughter, holding up their container of sneezing powder.

...

The three all grinned as Applejack walked outside to see that all the apples in her line of slight were colorful and patterned.

"Land sakes!" cried Applejack.

They giggled, holding paintbrushes and paint pallets just a little bit away from Applejack. Somehow, Applejack managed to pick several apples from the tree in just a few seconds and threw them at Pinkie, Rainbow, and Gilda, who all ran off laughing.

...

"Is someone over there?" asked Pinkie, holding the water squeezer in her mouth.

"Yep!" said Gilda, looking through the telescope they had, "A pegasus with a pink mane and yellow fur! We're totally gonna get her!"

"Wait, she's pink and yellow?" asked Rainbow, "Lemme see," she looked in the telescope to see Fluttershy, "Oh, it's Fluttershy! We can't prank her! She's too sensitive!"

"You're right!" said Pinkie, dropping the squeezer, "It would hurt her feelings!"

"You sure?" asked Gilda, picking up the squeezer, "Because I've got a perfect shot!"

"We're sure." said Pinkie and Rainbow at the same time.

"If you say so," said Gilda, "But Pinkie Pie, you should totally look in the telescope!"

"Okay!" said Pinkie, looking in it, "What do you want me to see?"

"Just look in the water!"

Rainbow and Pinkie both looked in the water to see lines of ink surrounding their eyes.

"Got'cha!" said Gilda.

The two ponies laughed.

"Good one, G!" said Rainbow.

"But you forgot one thing!" said Pinkie.

"What's that?" asked Gilda.

"My party cannon prank!" Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and fired it at Gilda.

Rainbow held in her gasp, and Gilda blinked in surprise, as she was now covered in glitter.

"Oh yeah?" asked Gilda, grabbing Pinkie's cannon, "Prank fight!"

Gilda blasted the cannon at Pinkie, who threw a paint ball at Rainbow. After several minutes, the three of them were covered in pranks from each other. All three of them were laughing their heads off.

"Wait!" cried Pinkie, "I need to give you a Welcome-to-Ponyville Party!"

"A party for me?" asked Gilda, "That sounds awesome? You'd really do that for me?"

"You're my friend, silly! Of course I would!"

Gilda smiled, which made Rainbow smile, too.

You're a great friend, Gilda. I wonder what that vision was even of?

...

"Pinkie said that the party would be all set in an hour," said Rainbow as she and Gilda walked through the market, "Do you want to do anything specific before it?"

"Nah, not really," said Gilda, "I've been having so much fun just hanging with you and Pinkie, so maybe it's time for a break."

The two laughed as they walked further, before Gilda bumped into Fluttershy. Gild suddenly let out a humongous roar, and Rainbow gasped in shock.

"G!" she cried.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" cried Fluttershy, tearing forming.

"No, it's not your fault!" said Gilda, "I wasn't looking where I was going and my tail got caught, which made me roar! I'm sorry if I scared you!"

"R-really?" asked Fluttershy as Rainbow let out breath of relief.

"Really, uh, Fluttershy, was it? Here, I'll even get you something to make up for it!"

"No, it's okay," said Fluttershy, who was now smiling, "You don't have to get me anything. After all, you did apologize for roaring at me, so there's nothing more I need."

Gilda smiled again, and Rainbow nearly cheered with joy.

Take that, stupid vision!

...

The party Pinkie had planned went off without a hitch. Sure, she had set up pranks for Gilda, but she had laughed along with the other ponies as they had happened. Although, Rainbow still couldn't figure out when they had the time to set the cloud outside and gave her hiccups.

Wow, today was unexpectedly perfect! thought Rainbow as she sat down at her desk, My vision was so different from the outcome, so I wonder what was different? That doesn't really matter, though. It's just a vision. Right now, it's time for my letter to Luna.

Dear Luna,

Today, I learned that you shouldn't judge somepony, or in this case, some griffin, based off of a single prior experience or idea you've heard about them. You need to find what they're like to you and others. They're your friends for a reason. Just like how ponies shouldn't judge you based off of what Nightmare Moon was like, because that wasn't even the real you.

Your friend and student, Rainbow Dash

Unexplainable Urge

Rainbow yawned deeply, having just woken up. Gilda had left yesterday, and she had been a ton of fun to be around. So much fun, that Rainbow was suspicious of something major happening that would be anything but fun.

Why am I tempting fate? thought Rainbow, I'll just do whatever I need to do today, and not worry about something terrible happening.

She got up and slipped on her metal wing encasement. She then quickly lifted up her space suit with her magic and put it on easily. She still needed to find some books on magic to study, but Rainbow didn't want to do anything suspicious today. She casually flipped through her journal detailing the two different visions she had so far, but there was only the two.

Time to go see what today's weather is going to be. I wonder why they keep giving me the big jobs, though. I am the newbie, after all.

Rainbow flew outside and checked her mailbox, expecting nothing. However, there was a small pamphlet inside, so she pulled it out and quickly read it to herself.

Young Flyers Competition in Cloudstale? she thought, looking over it, Why do I suddenly want to do this so badly? I've just read this one little sheet, and I can't help but want to win! Granted, I'm technically not a young flyer, but I am so entering this! But why would they send out a pamphlet for something happening tomorrow right now?

Rainbow stood still for a moment before shoving the pamphlet back in the mailbox and flying to the weather office. Whatever her assignment was, she would finish it as quickly as possible and start working on a routine. She just had to win this competition!

"Now, what have we learned?" asked Rainbow, flying front of Fluttershy.

"Loss of control." said Fluttershy confidentially.

"Good..."

"Screaming and hollering."

"Yes! And most importantly?"

"Passion!"

"Right! So now that you know the elements of a good cheer, let me hear one!"

Fluttershy took in a deep breath of air.

"Yay!" she said at her normal volume level.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" encouraged Rainbow, "You have to cheer for me louder!"

"Yay!"

"Louder!"

"Yay!"

"Louder!"

"Yaaay!"

"Okay, so maybe we need somepony else who can be louder..."

"I'm sorry, Rainbow, but I just can't be that loud..."

"It's fine, Fluttershy. I'm just nervous for the Young Flyers Competition, that's all."

"I'm happy that you're entering it, though! You haven't done anything so much like when we were younger until now."

"Uh... You're welcome?"

Fluttershy smiled, and Rainbow just nodded before flying up into the sky.

"Alright, time to practice the routine!" she declared, "After all, the Competition is today!"

"Yay!" said Fluttershy, who was standing on the ground, "You can do it, Rainbow!"

Time for phase one... thought Rainbow, before diving down and weaving through trees.

She went back and forth between the trees, making sure not to go too fast, like Luna had said in her letter. She flew by the last one, before turning and flying above all of them upside down.

Phase two...

She then flew up towards several clouds in the sky, and spun around them. Each spun fast enough to make droplets of water fly off of them, and catch the sunlight, making a beautiful display of colors. Rainbow allowed them to spin for a few seconds before zooming downwards.

And now for the finale! A dive that I spin up from to create a small tornado that will pull in the droplets and create a rainbow effect!

Rainbow zoomed downwards, and noticed that she was increasing in speed, and a bit of force was forming in front of her.

"No, wait!" cried Rainbow, realizing that she could majorly speed up from this.

The force in front of her suddenly launched Rainbow backwards, and she went spiraling out of control. She spread out her wings to slow down, and caught a glimpse of the Golden Oaks Library.

"Incoming!" cried Rainbow, before coming in through the open window and heading towards one of the bookshelves.

Luckily, Twilight had heard Rainbow's shout, and grabbed her with her magic right before she crashed into the shelf. She just tapped one of the shelves, causing a book to fall off and land on Pinkie's face.

"Sorry, Pinkie!" said Rainbow.

"It's fine!" said Pinkie, her voice muffled under the book.

"Rainbow Dash, what in Equestria were you doing?" asked Twilight, setting her down on the ground.

"Practicing my routine!" said Rainbow, "For the Young Flyers Competition in Cloudstale!"

"Rainbow, are you okay?" asked Fluttershy, flying in.

"I'm fine, just need to do some work on my last move! Just work on cheering harder while I do that!"

Rainbow flew out of the window and back towards where she had been practicing. She could get this move right, but still couldn't figure out why she wanted to so badly.

"You've got to learn to be assertive, Fluttershy," said Rainbow as they landed in Cloudstale, "Don't be afraid to speak up.!"

"Well, well, well," said a somewhat-familiar voice, "What do we have here?"

Rainbow turned around to see the two bullies from Flight School walking up to her. She glared at them, and stood defensively in front of Fluttershy, who was cowering from them.

"It's our old friend Rainbow Crash!" said one of them.

"Get kicked outta any flight schools lately?" asked the other, making them both laugh.

"I didn't get kicked out!" snapped Rainbow.

"Face it, Rainbow Crash," said the second one, "Flight School had too many rules, and not enough nap times for you!"

"Ask her about the Sonic Rainboom!" said the other one.

"That's nothing but an old mare's tale! You don't have the skills to try something like that!"

Rainbow blinked in confusion.

"Now wait just a minute!" said Fluttershy, before cowering again, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm trying to be more assertive. Anyhow... She is going to do a Sonic Rainboom!"

"No she's not, 'cause there's no such thing!" said the first one.

"Then show up at the Cloudeseum and see for yourself! I mean, if you're free."

The two laughed.

"Yeah, I'll be free!" said the second one

"Oh, don't worry," the the first one, "We'll be there!"

"See you then, Rainbow Crash!"

Rainbow blinked again.

"Did you see that?" asked Fluttershy, "I was so assertive!"

"Uh, yeah!" said Rainbow, "You were so assertive in telling them that I was going to do the... Sonic... Rainboom..."

"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash! Just because you've failed the sonic rainboom a hundred thousand times in practice doesn't mean you won't be able to do it in front of an entire stadium, full of impatient, super-critical sportsfan ponies!"

Rainbow froze, and her eyes widened in fear. She blinked again, and Fluttershy gasped in surprise.

"Rarity?" she asked, causing Rainbow to turn around.

Behind them was Rarity, hovering in the air with the aid of some butterfly wings she had.

"Rarity!" cried Rainbow in surprise, "Are you flying?!?"

"I most certainly am!" said Rarity happily, "Aren't my wings gorgeous? Twilight made them for me. I just adore them! Why so shocked? We couldn't leave our favorite flyer without a big cheering section!"

"We?" a balloon carrier popped up through the clouds, carrying Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack, "I can't believe it! You guys made it!"

"Sure did!" said Pinkie, jumping out of the basket.

"Wait!" cried Rainbow, just before Pinkie landed safely on the cloud, "How'd you do that? Did you use a spell of something?"

"Haha! Pretty cool, huh?"

"I found a spell that makes temporary wings," said Twilight, getting out of the basket with Applejack, "But it was too difficult to do more than once. So I found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds."

"And we came to cheer you ta victory!" said Applejack.

"Guys, that's so nice of you!" said Rainbow happily, "I was actually starting to get a bit nervous..."

"Don't you worry, Rainbow!" said Pinkie, "We're gonna cheer you on as you do your Sonic Rainboom, just like Fluttershy said you were!"

"What?"

"She told us that you'd been tryin' to do one in practice," said Applejack, "And we're here ta give ya so much support that you'll actually do it!"

Rainbow froze in realization.

Fluttershy thought I was trying to do a Sonic Rainboom in practice! she thought, But she didn't realize that I was just doing a dive! But now, if I don't do it, those bullies will make fun of Fluttershy for thinking I could!

"Uh, thanks guys!" said Rainbow, "I'll do the greatest Sonic Rainboom you'll ever see!"

The group cheered happily, and Rainbow did her best to put on a good smile.

Oh mare, this just got difficult!

"We'd better get to the Cloudeseum," said Rainbow, "The competition is going to start soon!"

Everypony nodded, and Rainbow led the way, trying her best not to panic. She felt a slight gust of wing behind, and looked to see that Rarity was flying, as opposed to walking.

"Rarity, you know that you can walk on the clouds, right?" asked Twilight.

"Well of course I know, darling!" said Rarity, "But I just want to show off my beautiful wings!"

Rarity flew up higher, posing in front of the sun. This caused her wings to let off an array of colors that sparkled down on everypony watching.

"You know what you should do?" said some pegasus, "You should enter the Young Flyers Competition!"

"That's a great idea!" said Rarity.

"Wait, what?" asked Rainbow, but nopony was listening.

"I'll surely win with these wings of mine! Come along now, Rainbow!" Rarity flew in front of Rainbow and towards the Cloudeseum, "I have a Competition to win!"

Rainbow gulped and tried her best not to panic. Things just kept on becoming more difficult.

Rainbow quivered with nervousness, as she was the only pony left to preform. She had traded numbers until getting the last one, just to delay her inevitable failure and not be as hurt when Rarity won.

"Number fifteen, let's go!" said the pegasus in charge of telling each pony when it was their turn.

The door to one of the dressing rooms opened, and Rarity stepped out. She was completely covered in makeup, which Rainbow thought looked rather silly, but was still nervous

"Rarity... is ready!" declared Rarity.

"Look, ladies," said the pegasus, "I don't know what to tell you. There's only time for one more performance. If you both want to compete, you'll just have to go out there together!"

"Well, Rainbow Dash? Shall we?"

"S-s-sure!" said Rainbow, who was completely terrified by this point.

Rainbow flew outside and the crowd gave a cheer. Rarity came after her, and the crowd cheered even louder. Rainbow saw that both Princess Celestia and Luna were here, and she became even more nervous. Luna looked a bit nervous, but Celestia seemed very excited.

"Good luck, Rainbow Dash," said Rarity, catching Rainbow's attention, "Just do your best. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of changing our music. That 'rock and roll' doesn't really match my wings."

Some classical music started up, and Rarity began an aerial dance. Rainbow gulped with nervousness, before putting on a look of false confidence.

C'mon, Rainbow Dash. You can do this. Just remember the routine. Phase one.

Rainbow started by flying between the cloud pillars the same way she had gone through the trees. She made it through them, and turned to fly upside down, but grazed the top of one and ended up crashing into the side of the Cloudeseum. The two bullies laughed at her, but Rainbow continued on to the next phase.

Phase two!

She flew up to the clouds in the sky, and spun around them. Droplets of water flew out of them, creating the colors she wanted, but one of the clouds spun out of control and flew towards the Princesses. Both ducked in surprise, and Rainbow became more nervous. Hopefully they wouldn't be mad about that.

Alright, alright, it's time for phase three! The... Sonic Rainboom...

Rainbow took in a deep breath before flying straight up. Rarity was also flying upwards, but Rainbow ignored her. She flew higher and higher, seeing Rarity stop right in front of the sun.

"Look upon me, Equestria!" called Rarity, "For I am Rarity!"

Rainbow heard the crowd gasp in wonder, before hearing a searing noise. She then heard Rarity screaming, and looked down to see her falling. Three pegasi flew out from the crowd and towards Rarity, but she was flailing around so much that she knocked them out.

"Hang on, Rarity!" cried Rainbow, quickly flying down, "I'm coming!"

Rainbow streaked down past the Cloudeseum, where ponies were all watching in fear. Rarity cried out as the ground approached, and Rainbow pushed herself to fly faster.

"Come on..." she said, not noticing the bit of force in front of her, "Come on!"

She suddenly broke through the force, and blasted down with a burst of speed. In a single movement, Rainbow grabbed Rarity, the three pegasi, and started flying back up.

"Whoa..." she said in surprise.

As Rainbow flew back up into the Cloudeseum, she stopped flying so several pegasi could grab Rarity and the three other pegasi she had. Rainbow noticed that she was still surrounded by a rainbow color, when everything around her slowed down.

"What's going on?" asked Rainbow, "What's happening?"

She saw that Luna's horn was starting to glow, and Rainbow remembered that she had said not to fly too fast.

Oh no! I can't move, otherwise I'll fly out of control with insane speeds!

Rainbow tried to stay still. She did everything possible to not twitch a wing, until she felt an inch. Her left wing twitched downwards.

To say that she flew up with a bang would be an understatement. The closest analogy that Rainbow could think of of was an explosion, but even that was an understatement.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!" cried Rainbow as everything returned to normal speed, as she went zooming upwards.

She saw a rainbow of sparks fly up around her, and realized that she was diving down, again. The sparks seemed to be increasing her speed exponentially for each color, and Rainbow couldn't stop.

No! I'm going to travel back in time, again! she thought frantically, Unless... This had better work!

Rainbow tried pulling up as hard as possible, until making possibly the sharpest turn of all times. She switched from going diagonally downwards, to straight up, and couldn't stop. She tried using her magic, but that only seemed to make her go faster. Everything became a blinding swirl of colors and lights, and Rainbow did the only thing possible.

"SOMEPONY HELP!"

In another explosion, Rainbow vanished from everypony's view, leaving only a lightning bolt shape in the sky.

I Know You: Reprise

Rainbow Dash was floating in a void of numbers, math, and colors. Her wings were aching as if they were still flapping, but Rainbow was holding them still with her magic. She didn't notice the large lightning bolt shape behind her, or the one forming in front of her front all of the numbers and math.

"Hello?" called Rainbow, her voice wavering and echoing, "Is anyone there?"

I'm here! Although, I'm not sure that's what you meant...

"Loyalty? Is that you?"

A familiar light shined in front of Rainbow, before taking the shape of herself, except with a red coat and mane.

Of course it's me! said Loyalty happily, before switching to a more serious tone, But that's not important, right now.

"Where am I?" asked Rainbow.

This place doesn't have a name, Loyalty causally walked around on nothingness, No one has ever been here.

"Then what is this place?"

You cannot see because you're not a being of pure magic, but this place leads to other worlds.

"Other worlds? As in other planets?"

No. Have you ever head of the multiverse theory?

"That there is an unlimited number different universes that have even the slightest differences. Do you mean that this place leads to other universes?"

Not exactly. It doesn't lead to alternate universes, but alternate timelines.

"Alternate timelines? How is that different from alternate universes?"

Alternate timelines do not just exist as alternate universes do. They are created by someone or something. They can only form from universes that have had that someone or something do whatever action can make alternate timelines.

"Okay, this is getting confusing."

I'll admit that it can get confusing, but it's just as simple as breathing.

"Wait, if this place leads to alternate timelines, does that mean something happened in my universe to create these alternate timelines?"

Your universe is an alternate timeline.

"What?!?"

Although, if I'm being specific, your universe is the alternate timeline of an alternate timeline.

"WHAT?!?"

And it's all because of a unicorn and an alicorn! Can you believe that two ponies could cause that?

"A unicorn and an alicorn? What about a dragon?"

According to these databases there was a dragon with the alicorn, but he didn't create the alternate timelines.

"Do you realize how much this explains? When I did my Sonic Rainboom as a filly, I had seen a unicorn, an alicorn, and a dragon! It must have been them!"

Loyalty stopped pacing and stood in front of Rainbow.

Yep, it was them. At least, according to all of these databases that literally no one in history has ever touched.

"Wait, why is there a lightning bolt shape forming behind you?"

At the speeds you flew upwards at, you caused it so you're now travelling to the original universe where your timeline came from.

"But didn't I time travel again, like last time?"

You were flying straight up. If you had flown straight down, you would have ended up in a random alternate universe. If you had flown any other direction, you would have traveled through time.

"Will I be able to get back to my timeline? I can't just leave all of my friends!"

Don't worry, you'll be able to get back. However, I need to wait here so you can.

"Why?"

I'm a core part of your magic. You can't stay elsewhere without your core magic, so you will come back eventually. However, I don't know how long that will be. It could be seconds, but it could just as likely be years.

"Years? No way am I leaving everypony I know for several years!"

It could also be centuries.

"I'll find a way to get back to... Uh... I'll just call this place the Timeline Void. I'll find a way to get back here sooner!"

Good idea!

Rainbow found herself being pulled towards the lightning bolt shape. She took a deep breath as she touched it, and everything turned into numbers.

Good luck!

"Thanks!"

Rainbow Dash suddenly crashed down onto something hard and shiny. She quickly got to her hooves and looked around, to see that she was standing on a table that looked as if it was made of crystal. Everything around her seemed to be made of crystal, except for the seven thrones surrounding the table.

Wait, what are those pictures on the top of each of those?

Rainbow glanced at each throne to see that they all (except the smaller one that was next to one of the others) had images of her friends' cutie marks, except they were different colors. Applejack's cutie mark was red instead of green, Pinkie's was blue instead of gray and blue, Rarity's was blue instead of purple, Fluttershy's was pink instead of emerald, and Twilight's was pink instead of blue. The only one that was the same was her own cutie mark.

Pinkie's, Applejack's, and Fluttershy's cutie marks are the same color as the ones in my visions! Are my visions just of what happen in this universe?

"We can wait for Pinkie to finish cooking breakfast in the main room," said a familiar voice from behind one of the doors leading into the room Rainbow was in, "You know what, girls? I think that today might actually be peaceful and normal!"

The door swung open to reveal four familiar ponies. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack all stared at Rainbow, who stared right back at them.

"Rainbow," said Rarity, "What in Equestria are you wearing?"

"And didn't you say that you were gonna be a bit late?" asked Applejack.

"And when did you cut your tail shorter?" asked Twilight.

Rainbow simply stared at the four, who looked concerned.

"Hey, guys!" called a far-too-familiar-voice, "Wonderbolts practice was cancelled so I'm here!"

Behind the four ponies flew in Rainbow Dash, who landed in front of them.

"What?" she asked, when they all stared at her and Rainbow.

"Why are there two of you?" asked Twilight.

Other-Rainbow turned around to look at Rainbow, who was completely speechless.

"Changeling!" yelled other-Rainbow, flying towards her.

Rainbow quickly stopped other-Rainbow with her magic, which caused all of the ponies to gasp.

"I'm not a Changeling." said Rainbow.

"Then what are you?" asked Twilight, who Rainbow suddenly realized was an alicorn, "Are you another kind of shapeshifter? Or are you lying? Or is Discord pranking me again?"

"Where's the unicorn?"

"Huh?"

"The pink one that can fly with her magic. Where is she?"

"Lemme at her!" yelled other-Rainbow, trying to break free from Rainbow's magic, "She's a Changeling or something worse!"

"Wow, are we really the same pony? I would've thought that we'd be more similar..."

"I'm here!" declared a pink unicorn, suddenly teleporting into the room, "Did I miss anything?"

Everypony pointed wordlessly at the two Rainbows. Rainbow stared at the pink unicorn for a few seconds before speaking.

"Why exactly did you try to stop my Sonic Rainboom?" she asked.

"W-what?" asked the unicorn nervously.

"Do you realize how many alternate timelines you created?"

"Okay, let's pause right here," said Twilight, using her magic to pull other-Rainbow away from Rainbow, "And have an actually conversation about what in the hoof is going on!"

"We can have pancakes!" said Pinkie, suddenly bouncing into the room, holding tray-fulls of pancakes.

"To be honest," said Rainbow, "I would have expected that you had more sprinkles, Pinkie."

"Silly alternate timeline, Dashie! I have whipped cream with sprinkles already in it!"

After everypony calmed down, Starlight (which was the pink unicorn's name) conjured up a chair for Rainbow to sit in. Pinkie had given everypony some pancakes, and then started devouring hers. The other ponies were most interested in hearing about what Rainbow, Twilight, and Starlight were talking about. Rainbow had just finished telling them about the alternate timelines and universes she had just learned about.

"So you're from an alternate universe?" asked Twilight.

"An alternate timeline, to be more specific." said Rainbow.

"And... I created these alternate timelines?" asked Starlight.

"From what I can tell, either you or Twilight created several alternate timelines, and then the other created alternate timelines of those alternate timelines."

"So when Starlight used her time travel spell and stopped the Sonic Rainboom," said Twilight, "She created and alternate timeline?"

"Correct."

"And when I stopped her from doing it again, that created alternate timelines of those alternate timelines!"

"Sounds right to me."

"I'm getting really confused." said Starlight.

"You think you're confused? Try having to process all this information in the middle of a void between time and space!"

"But how do you understand all of this?" asked Twilight.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, our Rainbow is kinda..." she trailed off, and pointed at Dash, who had fallen asleep.

"She fell asleep? When did she fall asleep?"

"About three seconds ago!" said Pinkie happily.

"Okay, now I see why you're confused how I understand all of this."

"So how do you?" asked Twilight.

"Can you do a magic scan spell?"

"Uh, sure."

Twilight's horn lit up pink, and she quickly scanned Rainbow. A familiar screen popped up, and Twilight skimmed over it.

"WHAT?!?" she cried out in surprise, "How do you have over 100 magic parts in you?!?"

"Wait, WHAT?!?" asked Starlight, jumping over to the screen, "But that's impossible!"

"Somepony mind explainin'?" asked Applejack.

"They're looking at what kinds of magic are in me," said Rainbow, "By the way, you're one hundred percent Earth pony, if you were wondering."

"How do you have ALICORN MAGIC?!?" cried Twilight.

"I-"

"And you have GRIFFIN MAGIC?!?"

"Griffin magic?"

Rainbow quickly flew over and looked at the screen, gently pushing Twilight out of the way, as she seemed to have gone in a trance.

"60 parts pegasus, 30 parts unicorn, 5 parts dragon, 25 parts alicorn, 10 parts Earth pony, and 5 parts indistinguishable..." muttered Rainbow, "5 parts griffin? I must have gotten that from Gilda..."

"Did somepony say Gilda?" asked Dash, waking up.

"Wait... If Loyalty is waiting in the Timeline Void, why do I still have those five parts of indistinguishable magic?"

"Is there anything I do to help?" asked Starlight.

"Can you figure out what this indistinguishable magic is?"

"Give me a sec..." Starlight looked over the information in the screen, "Got it!"

"Griffin magic..." muttered Twilight, curling up into a ball.

"What is it?" asked Rainbow.

"Some kind of dark magic," said Starlight, "Or shadow magic. I'm not quite sure."

"D-did you say shadow magic?"

"Yeah... Is there something terrible about that? There's not that much, so it can't corrupt you!"

"Ever heard of Nightmare Moon?"

"Twilight and her friends defeated her and brought back Princess Luna, why?"

"Ever wonder how she became Nightmare Moon?"

"Uh..."

"Shadow. An entity of pure evil. And now some of Shadow's magic is in me, and I don't have Loyalty with me to stop them from doing anything!"

"I'm getting confused."

"Can you make spells?"

"I'm great at making spells!"

"Then I need you to make me a spell that will let me go into where my magic is stored, and get rid of Shadow!"

Gathering the Ingredients

As soon as Rainbow Dash vanished from the Timeline Void, Loyalty flew over to the lightning bolt she had entered through, and hung her hooves out the edge of it. She didn't want to take the risk that it would unexpectedly close, and it wasn't as if she had anything else she could do at the moment.

"Loyalty?" asked a familiar voice.

Hey, Luna, said Loyalty, Looking for Rainbow Dash?

"Indeed." said Luna, flying just outside of the lightning bolt.

She's in an alternate timeline.

"... What?"

She's in an alternate timeline. It's like an alternate universe, expect it's a timeline instead of a universe.

"You lost me."

She's not here is what I'm trying to say!

"Then bring her back!"

Luna, I don't know how!

"What?!?"

I don't know everything in the universe, I didn't even know that this universe is an alternate timeline until three seconds ago!

"But what if Equestria is threatened, and the Elements of Harmony are needed?"

There will be nopony to bear the Element of Loyalty. The Elements will be useless.

"Wait... If Rainbow Dash isn't here, then how are you here?"

I'm not quite sure, but it's keeping the Timeline Void from closing.

"But you are the spirit of Loyalty that resides within Rainbow Dash! It is impossible for you to ever truly leave her!"

I don't know how it works! Maybe it's because of the other... Elements... That's it! The other Elements! The other Elements of Harmony can help!

"The bearers or the gems?"

Both! Luna, I need you to bring me them! So we can get Rainbow Dash back!

"Gladly."

Loyalty's wings twitched nervously, which only managed to increase her worry. She was a being of magic, and only had a form to look like the being she was from. She had never flapped the wings she had, not with Luna, and not with Celestia. The sole fact that her wings were moving without her control completely terrified her.

"Pleasure to see you, Loyalty," said Celestia, flying up with a box held in her magic, "Though I wish the circumstances weren't so dire."

You brought the Elements? asked Loyalty.

"I have the gems in here. Luna is bringing up the bearers."

A balloon floated up into the sky, being pulled by Luna. Five ponies were standing in it, all of them looking very nervous.

"Princess Celestia," said Twilight nervously, "Where is Rainbow Dash? And why did we bring the Elements up here?"

"I believe that Loyalty can explain much better than I." replied Celestia.

"Loyalty?"

That's me, said Loyalty, I'm the spirit of Loyalty inside of Rainbow Dash.

The five ponies all stared at Loyalty with mixed looks of surprise and shock.

"The spirit of Loyalty?" asked Twilight, "What does that mean?"

I'm what helps to power up her Element, but we're not here to talk about me. We need to get Rainbow Dash back.

"Back?" asked Fluttershy, "Back from where?"

She's in an alternate timeline, but we're going to get back as soon as possible.

"An alternate timeline?" asked Twilight, "What does that mean?"

She's not here is what I mean! And we need to get Rainbow Dash back before some terrible happens! If she's not here to use her Element of Harmony, none of the others will work!

"What?!?" cried the five.

"Then we need ta get her back right now!" cried Applejack.

"What do we need to do?" asked Rarity.

See that lightning bolt? asked Loyalty, pointing at the bolt that Rainbow had traveled through to the alternate timeline, Rainbow went through there-

"Then let's jump in!" said Pinkie happily.

No! Don't go through it!

"But that's where Dashie is!"

We need to pull her back in, it's much too risky to go through it.

"Then we can just throw a rope in!" said Applejack.

We can't do that, either. A rope wouldn't be able to make it through this bolt, let alone two.

"How would ya know that?"

The only things that can go into this void need to have great quantities of magic. Which is why I needed the Elements of Harmony.

"What exactly are you planning on doing?" asked Luna.

Complex answer: we're using the magic in the Elements to slip through the two bolts, find Rainbow, and bring her back. Simple answer: we're making a Harmony Rope.

"So you can just walk up to a chamber filled with books on dark magic without even needing permission?" asked Rainbow.

"I am a Princess," said Twilight, as she, Rainbow, and Starlight walked through Canterlot Castle, "And I already told Princess Celestia about the situation, so she said it was okay."

Rainbow nodded as they stopped in front of a large iron door with six guards standing front of it. They all bowed to Twilight, who blushed with embarrassment.

"Princess Twilight," said one, "We were told that you would be arriving."

They all stood straight again, and two of them opened the door.

"Thank you." said Twilight, walking into the room.

Rainbow and Starlight both nodded politely to the guards before following Twilight in. The door was shut behind them, and a distinct locking sound could be heard.

"It sure is dark in here," said Starlight, "Are there any lights?"

"I don't think so," asked Twilight, "But we can just use a spell to light-"

She stopped talking as Rainbow's wings lit up bright red, and illuminated the room in a red light.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Rainbow as the two stared at her, "Let's start researching!"

"Okay..." said Twilight, before snapping back to focus, "So we need to find books to help us find a way to get rid of dark magic. Preferably without destroying the pony the magic is in."

"And if you see anything on Shadow, that, too." said Rainbow.

The three nodded, and each separated to a different section of the vault (library was not quite the right word to describe it). Rainbow began to pull out books with her magic, and flipped through the pages. She found that it was rather easy to skim through the book for certain pieces of information, and noticed that Starlight and Twilight were doing the same.

Do I get this scholarly part of me from Starlight and Twilight? she thought, The other Rainbow definitely isn't, but it could just be because we're from alternate timelines...

Rainbow continued looking through books, but her paced slowed as she began to think, again.

Come to think of it, how is all of this magic in me? And can it go away? If it can go away, will I lose all of my brains? No offense to the other Rainbow. But... Do I act like I do because of the magic in me? Am I only defined by the traits of others?

"Rainbow, have found anything yet?" asked Twilight, snapping Rainbow out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" she realized that her pace had majorly slowed, "No, I was just thinking about something. You find anything?"

"Nothing yet, but most of these books don't even make sense to me!"

"Me, either," said Starlight, "And I've seen some weird magic!"

"I'm understanding them fine," said Rainbow, before groaning, "Ugh, it's probably because of Shadow's magic in me! Why does the magic in me define who I am?!?"

Starlight and Twilight glanced at each other, pausing going through the books. Twilight walked over to Rainbow and put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"Rainbow, it doesn't define you." she said.

"But it does!" cried Rainbow, "The only reason I'm so smart is because of your magic and Starlight's magic! The only reason I traveled back in time was because of Starlight's magic! The only reason I survived in space was probably because of some other magic in me!"

"That might be true, but it might not be. Plus, you're not just smart."

"You're the fastest flier in Equestria." said Starlight.

That phrase rang in Rainbow mind, and a familiar memory of a race stirred in her mind. She had been going to do Sonic Rainboom, Starlight's magic had just given her a boost after she had done it

"Fastest flier in all of Equestria..." she muttered, "Heh... Second pony in space... First to time travel without a spell... Couldn't have done those without being me, could I?"

Twilight smiled, and Rainbow turned back to look at her.

"Thanks, Twilight," she said, "You, too, Starlight."

Rainbow around at all the books, and one caught her eye. She instantly flew over to it, and picked it up in her hooves.

"I think I found what we need!" said Rainbow, "Now who's ready to make a spell?"

Enter the Magic

Starlight gulped, and placed down the paper she held in her magic. Twilight had left to do something related to the Cutie Map, leaving Rainbow and Starlight alone in the castle. They had continued their research to make a spell to get rid of Shadow from Rainbow's magic, and it was almost complete.

"Clensare," listed Rainbow, as Starlight continued writing down on the paper, "Darcara, sinfara, insentiare, and... Hang on, this one's hard to read... Shad-a-par-a-no-card-re."

"How do you spell that?" asked Starlight.

"S-h-a-d-a-p-a-r-a-n-o-c-a-r-d-e. I think that's all we need for the spell!"

"Uh, shouldn't we wait for Twilight to come back before I cast it?"

"I want Shadow gone, and I want them gone now."

Starlight looked at the piece of paper in her magic nervously, before giving it to Rainbow.

"You should check it over, first!" she said quickly.

"It's fine," Rainbow gave the paper back using her magic, "Starlight, there no need for you to worry."

"But I've never cast a spell like this one!"

"You went back in time! This is nothing in comparison!"

Loyalty held Rainbow's Element tightly in her hooves, and turned towards Twilight and the others.

You can start now. she said.

In the balloon just outside of the Timeline Void, the Elements around their necks began shining brightly. Magic slowly flowed out of them, spiraling and twisting into a line. Luna carefully took the Harmony Rope and gave it to Loyalty, who secured it around the Element of Loyalty.

She slowly floated over to the portal to the alternate timeline Rainbow Dash was in, and loosened her grip on the Element. She took in a deep breath that she didn't actually need, but made her feel better, and threw the Element into the lightning bolt, vanishing the moment it touched it.

Starlight's horn lit up in its bright blue, and Rainbow's wings glowed red. They both stared at the words on the sheet of paper, as magic began to flow from their respective output points. Rainbow was just able to say that she was ready, when something hit the side of her head.

"Ouch!" cried Rainbow, losing concentration.

"Are you okay?" asked Starlight.

Rainbow looked at what hit her, and her mouth dropped open, "It's my Element of Harmony!"

Rainbow's crown had a thin multicolored rope tied to the end of it, which led to a tiny, tiny crack in space and time above the Cutie Map. Rainbow could sense her friends powering the small rope that was holding open the way to the Timeline Void. She picked up her crown, and held it in her hooves.

"Your Element of Harmony?" asked Starlight, "But Twilight told that she was the one who had the Element that looked like a crown!"

"Alternate timelines, Starlight," said Rainbow simply, "Oh, I am so happy to have Loyalty back!"

"You can, uh, go back to your friends now."

Rainbow looked up from her Element and stared at Starlight, "What, you think I'm just leaving?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

Rainbow silently pointed at the piece of paper on the table, holding the words to a powerful spell.

"You can use it with your friends!" said Starlight.

"None of them, not even my Twilight, have the same magic powers as you, Starlight," said Rainbow, "I need you to cast the spell."

"But I can't do it! It's too risky!"

"It isn't too risky. Starlight, I need you to help me. Just think of it as... an apology."

Starlight looked at Rainbow in confusion, "An apology?"

"For creating all of the alternate timelines, whether they had a positive outcome or not."

"..." Starlight stood in silence for a bit, "... Okay."

Rainbow smiled, and placed her crown on, and Loyalty's voice suddenly sounded in her mind.

Rainbow!

Yes, Loyalty? thought Rainbow as she and Starlight prepared the spell, again.

We need to bring you back sooner than later! Your friends are holding the rope together, so just use your Element and return to your timeline!

Not yet.

What?!? Why not?

We're going to destroy Shadow's magic that remains in me.

Wait, what?!?

Rainbow turned her attention towards the sheet of paper, and she and Starlight whispered in unison.

"Vo k miru strannykh i nechetnogo veshchakh. Clensare. Gde volshebstvo zhivet i protsvetayet, i nikogda ne ostanavlivayetsyak sdelayte pereryv. Darcara. K t'moy i svetom, my vkhodim bez . Sinfara. Insentiare. My priyezzhayem voyti v volshebstvo. Shadaparanocardre."

Rainbow, what are you-

Everything around Rainbow, except for Starlight, swirled away to inky darkness. The only light that could be seen was coming from their magic, and it illuminated nothing. Slowly, a small light began to shine in the distance. Rainbow felt herself drawn towards it, and approached the light.

"Rainbow?" asked Starlight, "Where are you going?"

Rainbow didn't respond, and continued walking until she was right beside the light, which she could now see was a bright red that matched the magic shimmering on her wings. Rainbow cut her magic, so all the light that remained was the light in front of her, and Starlight's magic.

"Can you make your horn stop glowing?" asked Rainbow softly as Starlight walked up to her.

"Are you sure?" asked Starlight nervously.

Rainbow nodded, and Starlight cut her magic. As soon as she cut her magic, the red light shone more brightly, and let out a blast of light. Rainbow quickly shielded her eyes, and then uncovered them just as fast. The blast of light had caused eight more dots of light to appear around the one Rainbow was next to. She turned to look at the other lights, as they all began to shine in different colors.

There was a small sized light in turquoise; medium sized lights in purple, pink, yellow, green, and dark blue; medium-large lights in green-yellow and magenta; and a large light, nowhere near as large as the red light in the center, in light blue. Above the red light, there was a patch of darkness, that somehow seemed darker than the areas around it.

"My magic..." whispered Rainbow, "These all represent parts of my magic..."

"That's a lot of magic," whispered back Starlight nervously, "How do you even have this many different colors?"

Rainbow chose to not answer Starlight's question, as the darkness shifted to bright whiteness. The only area that remained dark was right above the red light in the center, and Rainbow could tell that it was Shadow's magic. The dark area slowly shifted into the shape of an alicorn, and Rainbow's eyes narrowed.

"Rainbow Dash..." hissed a familiar voice from within the darkness, "You've finally come..." the alicorn's eyes snapped open, pure darkness flowing out of them, "I'm so glad you made it easier."

Magical Battle

Loyalty flew back into the Harmony rope, and quickly zipped up it back into the Timeline Void. She paused at the five color streams connected together to form the rope, and then flew down the dark blue stream. In an instant, she was now standing in a large library that had a blue glow floating around in it.

Friendship! she called, Magic! I need you to come out!

Loyalty... whispered a voice similar to Twilight Sparkle's, You know that I can't unless she find me...

But I need you! I'm not supposed to be the main one, it's suppose to be you! I've never had to be so strong!

The blue glow swirled around to form into the shape of a unicorn. The shape was very thin and broken, but it fazed neither entity.

Loyalty, said Friendship in her unicorn shape, I know this is hard for you. I know better than anyone or anything else. But you need to be strong. You need to be the main Element of Harmony, not me.

Loyalty bowed her head down, and a small red tear dripped out of her eye, You're all counting on me... But I don't know if I can do this... Isn't there a way for you all to help?

We are helping, Friendship placed her hoof under Loyalty's chin, and lifted it up, Our five Bearers are powering us just so you can get to Rainbow Dash. We would normally need the sixth Element to do something like this, but Rainbow has such deep Loyalty, that it even pierces into you.

I don't understand... I'm the entity if Loyalty, how can Rainbow have Loyalty towards me?

You know she changed Destiny. She could have changed a few other things, too.

Friendship's shape faded back into the blue glow in he library. Loyalty remained sitting on the ground for a few second, before turning towards the library door.

Just understand yourself... whispered Friendship.

Loyalty exited the library, and flew back down the dark blue stream. She flew back towards Rainbow, and watched everything change into bright whiteness. She saw Shadow and Rainbow staring at each other, with hate flowing between the two, and also saw Starlight Glimmer standing nervously near Rainbow.

"Easier?" asked Rainbow, who didn't notice Loyalty, "You wish."

"Wishes are foolish things to have, Rainbow," said Shadow, their voice flickering and changing with every word, "What one needs to have are goals."

"Like stealing the lives of others?"

"That's simply the base."

Shut up, Shadow, said Loyalty, walking up between Rainbow and Starlight, No one wants to hear your foolish ideas.

"Loyalty," said Shadow, turning her gaze towards her, "So glad you could make it," their horn lit up with dark magic, and blasted it at Loyalty, sending her flying across the terrain, "Now this will be even easier."

"Shut up!" yelled Rainbow, her wings glowing red with magic, "Get out of my magic!"

"Don't you know what that will cause, Rainbow? Getting rid of me?"

"It will make everything safer for me and my friends!"

"Oh, is that what you think?"

"That's what I know!"

Rainbow blasted a beam of magic at Shadow, who blocked it with their magic. In a single flap, Rainbow flew at Shadow, who quickly flew up out of the way. Rainbow chased right after Shadow, shooting beams of magic at them as she flew, but Shadow continued to counter them with their magic.

As the two continued their duel, Starlight quickly hurried over to Loyalty and helped her up off the ground.

Thanks. said Loyalty to Starlight, giving her a quick nod before flying into the air with Rainbow.

Starlight stared at the three in the air, finding herself unable to react in any way to them. Her eyes glazed back to a small red lighting bolt that Loyalty had flown out of, and walked towards it.

"Wait just one second, Rainbow," said Shadow, throwing down a shield that blocked Rainbow and Loyalty, "Why don't I give you a good reason not to get rid of me?"

"You don't have one!" cried Rainbow, blasting through the shield.

"Fine then, I'll show you the hard way!"

Shadow flew down to the turquoise light, and sliced a beam of dark magic through the bottom of it. The light instantly zipped away from where it was, and into the red lightning bolt. Rainbow felt her magic dip slightly in power, and realized what Shadow had done.

"So, you released some of 'my' magic?" she asked, landing on the ground and facing towards Shadow, "What makes you think that will make me let you stay?"

"You want me to do it again? Maybe this time to that light blue unicorn magic that you seem so fond of!"

Shadow quickly whipped their horn around towards the light that was Starlight's magic, and Rainbow automatically blasted another beam of magic at Shadow.

"Stop thinking you can make a deal with me!" yelled Rainbow, "I want you gone!"

Rainbow flew straight at Shadow, who flew up to get out of the way. Loyalty quickly flew above Shadow, who dove back down to avoid both pegasi. Shadow gave a small smirk, before lighting up their horn, again. The lights of magic began to slowly spin around in a large circle, accelerating faster and faster. The lights began to spin so quickly, that Rainbow couldn't stand to look at them, and she was forced to cover her eyes.

"Loyalty!" she called out, "I can't see anything!"

On it! replied Loyalty, before quickly flying around the spinning lights in the reverse directions.

"Ah, Rainbow," said Shadow, hovering in the air above the large red light in the center, "You may think you can defeat me, but you're just a mere pony. A mortal being. Whereas I am a being of pure magic. I won't get tired, and you can't even do anything because you can't see."

"Shut up!" yelled Rainbow, trying to open her eyes, but quickly had to shut them again.

"You will never win. I will always come out first. I turned Luna into Nightmare Moon, what makes you think that you can stop me when she couldn't? I convinced her what was best, and she eventually realized what was right. I was right, and she was wrong. So she let me take over like it should have been, and it was going to be amazing. The Elements may have locked me away, but I came right back without a break.

"You have have removed my influence on Luna when you used the Elements, but you still didn't destroy me. I entered your mind, and you fought back with those same Elements, but I'm still here. You have failed so many times, how do you not understand yet? I will always be here. You can't do anything to change that! You can't stop me! Nopony will ever stop me! So just let me stay here, Rainbow, and it will all be easier for you!"

Loyalty had finally managed to stop the lights from spinning, and Rainbow immediately flew at Shadow, pinning them down on the ground.

"You aren't going to trick me!" she yelled, her wings flaring up brightly with magic, "You aren't going to win this time!"

Shadow suddenly blasted Rainbow with a beam of magic, and she went flying across the area, and landed in front of the red light. She shakily got to her hooves, and stared at Shadow with a look of determination.

"You... won't... win..." she said softly.

"Yes, I will!" yelled Shadow, before blasting another beam of magic at Rainbow.

Shadow's beam of magic was suddenly intercepted by a dark blue beam of magic, which caused both Shadow and Rainbow to look at where it had come from.

"No, you won't." said Twilight with a grin.

"Twilight?!" cried Rainbow in surprise.

"Don't forget about us!" said Pinkie, bouncing out of the red lightning bolt next to Twilight, with her three other friends soon coming into view.

"But how did..." started Rainbow, trailing off as Starlight excited out of the lightning bolt.

"I thought you needed some more help." she Starlight sheepishly.

Rainbow smiled back at Starlight, and took a step towards her friends when Shadow blocked her way.

"You won't win." said Shadow.

You wish! yelled Loyalty, flying up and knocking Shadow out of the way.

Rainbow quickly ran over to her friends, and they all stood side-by-side. Five lights each corresponding with their Elements flowed out of the lightning bolt, and surrounded Rainbow's friends. A light flowed out of the red light in the center towards Rainbow, and surrounded her. The six ponies floated up into the air, and a rainbow began to swirl around them.

"As if!" yelled Shadow, blasting a huge beam of magic at them.

Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise, and the rainbow surrounding them switched to a shield, which blocked Shadow's attack.

How is Shadow resisting the Elements? thought Rainbow nervously, They've never been able to do this before! Why now?

Rainbow noticed that the eight remaining lights of magic surrounding her red magic were glowing slightly brighter, and she also noticed that the patch of Shadow's magic seemed to be stretch out towards the lights.

Shadow is siphoning off my magic! They're using it to fuel their own power!

Rainbow broke away from her friends, and flew towards the medium-sized purple light.

"What do you think you're doing?" yelled Shadow, switching to firing the magic at Rainbow.

Rainbow quickly sliced her wing underneath the purple light, and it instantly vanished. She dodged out of the may of Shadow's beam of magic, and ran towards the next light, which happened to be the pink one. Shadow's eyes widened slightly, and their beam of magic thinned a bit.

"Stop!" yelled Shadow, "You fool, what are you doing?!?"

Rainbow quickly sliced through the pink, yellow, green, and dark blue lights, and each time, Shadow's magic thinned.

"STOP!" screamed Shadow.

Rainbow sliced through the green-yellow and magenta lights, and felt a large majority of her magic fade away. The only remaining light was the light blue one: Starlight's magic. But to get rid of it, she would need to use it. So how-

"Rainbow!" called Starlight, running up to her, "I'll deal with it!"

"Thanks!" said Rainbow, before flying back over to her friends.

The rainbow shield finally broke back into the rainbow beam of magic, which completely surrounded Shadow.

"NO!" yelled Shadow, "NO! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO WIN! YOU WON'T WIN! I WILL COME BACK! YOU WON'T BE RID OF ME THIS EASILY, RAINBOW DASH!"

Rainbow closed her eyes as everything became a blur of colors. She was lowered back to the ground, and opened her eyes. She was standing in front of the red lightning bolt, in a white void. She only saw the red light that represented her magic, but there was something behind it. She walked over to what was behind it, and saw Starlight standing next to the light blue light that represented her magic.

"Starlight?" asked Rainbow, surprising the unicorn.

"Rainbow!" said Starlight, "You did it!"

"But why didn't you take back your magic?"

"Well... I was suppressing it so Shadow couldn't use it, so there was no need to get rid of it."

"But it's your magic. Don't you want it back?"

"I'm already magically talented. I really don't need it."

"But-"

"Think of it as an apology."

"An apology?"

"For creating the alternate timelines, whether they had a positive outcome or not."

"Didn't I say that to you?"

Starlight smiled, "Maybe you're just really quotable."

Rainbow grinned, but it faded when she saw that Starlight was becoming enveloped in a red light.

"Guess you're going back to your universe," said Rainbow, "It was nice to meet you, Starlight."

"You too, Rainbow." said Starlight.

Rainbow started to walk back towards the red lightning bolt, when Starlight called out to her.

"Wait!" Rainbow turned back around, "The me in your universe... She'll have just started her 'evil plan'. She's in north-eastern Equestria, in the middle of the desert. Can you try to stop her now? It's just... I want somepony to go before it's too late and... She does what I do."

"Of course!" said Rainbow, running back over to Starlight, "You're my friend, Starlight Glimmer! I'll make sure to do what I can to help you, even if it's not quite you."

Rainbow gave Starlight a hug, which surprised her. Starlight hugged Rainbow back,until she vanished back to her own universe.

"... Bye..." said Rainbow softly, before walking out of the lightning bolt, and back to her world.

"... Bye..."

I'll Win Again, Again, Again

"Will you ever give up?" asked Rainbow, landing on one of the many black crystals, which turned to blue at her touch, "You've lost so many times, do you think that it will ever be different?"

"It's much easier when you have a willing pony to work with," said Rainbow's opponent, who was standing across from her on a black crystal, "Especially if they're fine with using dark magic."

"You know, you can drop your look. I know it's you so why not be your all-powerful self right now?"

"Somepony's getting impatient, now isn't she?" a dark glow surrounded her adversary, and quickly faded away, "There. Now, that does feel so much better!"

Shadow gave Rainbow a wicked grin, and she simply glared in response. Shadow looked almost the same as in previous encounters, but the sharp red horn, red eyes, green corneas, and purple haze were new.

"How about you make this easier for the both for us," said Shadow, "And give me the Crystal Heart."

Rainbow tightened her grip around the Crystal Heart, and glared at Shadow.

"How about you just give up?" she asked.

A black crystal shot up in front of Rainbow, and she quickly flew into the air to avoid it. The blue crystal she had been standing on faded back to black. Rainbow glared down at Shadow from in midair, and clutched the Crystal Heart even closer to herself.

"You want it? she asked, "Then why don't you come get it instead of thinking that I will ever side with you!"

Shadow furiously stamped their hoof on the ground, and another black crystal launched up towards Rainbow. She flew towards the castle to avoid it, just as another on came up in front of her. Rainbow beat her wings at double time, and began to circle around the castle, slowly spiraling up towards the top. She didn't fly consistently, though, otherwise it would have been easy for Shadow to knock her out of the air with a crystal. She glanced down towards where the Heart was supposed to go, and saw that her way down had been blocked by crystals. Still, she could see ponies staring up at her as she flew, hoping that Rainbow would soon deliver the Crystal Heart to them.

"Rainbow Dash, you give me that Heart!" yelled Shadow furiously, rising up on a crystal spike, "You won't win this time, so stop your meaningless flight!"

"I'll win!" yelled back Rainbow, "Again!" she dodged a crystal, "Again!" she dodged another, "Again!" she flew up to the top of the castle, and hovered just above the peak of it, "And I don't care what I need to do to stop you! I won't let you hurt anypony!"

"Give me that Heart and I'll give little Loyalty back her speech!"

"Liar! She's get her voice back soon, anyways! You have nothing to offer me, while I'm here, holding what will stop you once and for all!"

With a roar of fury, Shadow's horn lit up with green, purple, and black magic, and they launched a beam of magic straight at the Heart. Rainbow tired to fly out of the way, but she was blocked by several crystal spikes, and Shadow's beam of magic hit the Crystal Heart, completely destroying it. Rainbow's eyes widened, and Shadow gave a malicious grin.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash!" they said with a cackle, "Looks like you were wrong! I just won, and there's nothing that you can do about it!"

Rainbow gave Shadow an icy glare, before she suddenly burst into laughter. Shadow's eyes narrowed, and Rainbow took in deep breaths to stop laughing.

"You laugh in the face of defeat?" asked Shadow.

"What defeat?" asked Rainbow, finally calming herself down, "You really think that I just flew out here holding the Crystal Heart, and casually fought you? That would be stupid! You should know by now that I don't do things alone!"

Shadow's eyes widened, and both ponies looked down to see Spike putting the Crystal Heart in its place, and it began to glow. Rainbow smirked, and looked back over at Shadow, who continued to stare in disbelief.

"You aren't going to win..." they whispered, "All you did was show me where the true Heart is!"

Shadow's horn flared up with magic once more, and Rainbow actually saw them wince from all of the power. They then blasted off a large beam of magic towards the Heart, which was just starting to glow, and Rainbow's eyes widened. Without a second thought, she switched to a diving position, and dove down towards the beam of magic. But she wasn't going fast enough. Rainbow began to pull out every bit of Starlight's magic that she still had in her, and her speed began to increase. She had to make it. But she wasn't going to make it.

"No..." whispered Rainbow, as the world seemed to slow down around her, "No!" her voice became louder, "No, no, NO!!!"

Rainbow snapped out of her thoughts as the carriage bumped down on to the ground. She smiled, and began to wave to the crowd, but her thoughts were in other places. A red serpentine tail caught her eye, and she was pulled back into other memories.

Ah, Discord. Being of chaos and disharmony. The labyrinth had been such a cruel trick, and still didn't appreciate it when he had "discorded" all of her friends. It was just awful having to deal with a grumpy Pinkie, a cruel Fluttershy, a constantly lying Applejack, an insanely greedy Rarity, and a sad and dejected Twilight. When they returned to Ponyville where the Elements actually were, they didn't work. Spike had tried to make her feel better and find some sort of way to restore everypony to how they had been, but then she had become "discorded", too. If it wasn't for Luna sending back her reports and friendship letters, Rainbow would have just let Ponyville forever. With Loyalty's help, she "undiscorded" her friends, and he had been sealed back into stone. At least he had been reformed by Fluttershy after the Changelings.

And the Changelings. That had been just so confusing. Rainbow didn't really know all that much about Princess Cadence or Twilight's brother, so it had looked like Twilight was being insanely possessive and that "Cadence" was just having pre-wedding jitters. But after Twilight's accusation of "Cadence", and everypony walked out, Rainbow knew she couldn't just leave her friend like that. So she walked back in just in time to see "Cadence" surround Twilight in a wreath of green fire and cause her to vanish. She would have gone to get the others, but "Cadence" saw her, and sent Rainbow to the caves, too. Twilight had been so happy to see that Rainbow had come back for her. They made it out with Cadence and stopped Chrysalis just in time. Apparently her story about Rainbow and Twilight being gone was that Twilight had run off in guilt and Rainbow had chased after her. Too bad she'd forgotten that she sent two winged ponies into the cave and made it far easier for them all to escape.

But Sombra-

Rainbow came out of her thoughts, again, as the carriage stopped at the doors to the castle, and she stepped out. The doors swung open, and Rainbow walked in There might have been music playing or something, but all Rainbow could see and hear were her friends cheering for her, and watching her. Fluttershy was actually cheering louder than the others, which was rather funny.

She stopped in front of the three Princesses, and everypony silenced. Luna began to speak first, but Rainbow was once again dragged back into her memories. Of Sombra and Shadow.

"NO!!!" screamed Rainbow, wrenching out all of Starlight's magic to increase her speed.

She suddenly streaked forward towards Shadow's beam of magic, a rainbow-colored line of magic behind her. She was just inches away from the Heart, and the beam of magic was behind her. She quickly pulled up out of the dive, and a rainbow explosion dissipated the beam. As Rainbow flew up, she saw the Crystal Heart lit up with a light blue glow, and a large flash of magic followed. A rainbow barrier flew out from the Heart, and Rainbow quickly turned in the air towards where Shadow was. She pinned Shadow down on the crystal they were standing on, and whispered just before the barrier came up.

"And if you still come back, I'll win again." she said coldly, just as the rainbow destroyed every bit of dark magic.

Rainbow hovered in the air for a moment, before she was engulfed in a ball of red magic. She looked at the magic in shock, when a familiar voice came to her.

It's fine. said Loyalty.

Rainbow simply closed her eyes, as she felt magic rush both around and through her.

"And we are pleases to announce the newest Princess in Equestria!" said Luna, "Princess Rainbow Dash! Princess of Loyalty!"

There was a huge applause, and Rainbow smiled with joy. She didn't know what the future was going to hold, but she knew that there would be more villains to fight. More hurtles to overcome. More friends to be made. There was still a certain unicorn in the desert that she needed to visit, which was more important to her than anything else at the moment.

Still, the horn on her head just felt so relaxing to have.

Dear Starlight Glimmer,

I haven't kept my promise to you, yet, but I won't wait any longer. You may be wondering how I managed to send you this letter, and it's because your magic should be returning to you. I lost it stopping Shadow one more time. But I'm not sad. I finally was returned to just having one magic: mine. And that combined with a certain act turned me into an alicorn. So thank you, Starlight. If you hadn't let me keep your magic, I probably wouldn't have even become an alicorn! Magic is strange like that.

I just want to say one more thing: thank you. I know I said it earlier, but I need to say it again. You may have created alternate timelines with outcomes that are less-than-ideal, but you also created my timeline, and I wouldn't exist without you. Good will prevail in the other timelines, I'm sure. After all, Friendship is Magic, and you can't stop either from happening.

You made me exist, Starlight, and I'll never forget that. You're not a bad pony. In fact, you might be the most amazing pony I've ever met. The version of you in my timeline won't top you. You helped make me who I am. But I'm not just the second pony in space, or the first pony to time travel without a spell. I'm your friend, which is more precious to me than the other two combined.

Maybe I'll see you again someday.

Sincerely, Rainbow Dash.

Author's Note

This story may be completed, but Rainbow's adventures aren't done yet!

More Mysteries to Be Unravelled

"Tia!" cried Luna as she ran towards her sister's room, "Tia, I just got an extremely important letter!"

"Luna!" cried Celestia as she ran towards her sister's room, "Luna, I just got an extremely important letter!"

The two alicorns turned a corner and crashed into each other. The two both winced and dropped the rolls of parchment they were each holding.

"Wait you got a letter, too?" they asked simultaneously.

"Clearly we can't talk about this right here," said Celestia, "Let's go to the Northern Tower to discuss this."

"Good idea." said Luna.

The two disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared in the Northern Tower. Luna winced slightly and put her hoof to her horn.

"Magic still weak?" asked Celestia.

"Yes, but it will return in due time," said Luna, "Anyways, we have something more important to talk about."

"Indeed," Celestia levitated up her roll of parchment that was held shut by a golden clasp with Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark etched on it, "Twilight Sparkle, my student, sent me a letter."

"My student also sent me a letter." said Luna, levitating up a roll of parchment that was held shut by a plain silver clasp.

"You have a student? When did that happen?"

"You really don't know? It's my friend Rainbow Dash."

"Ohhhhhhh. That makes sense!"

"Anyways, what did Twilight Sparkle tell you?"

"She said that Rainbow Dash had over 100 magic parts in her, including pegasus, unicorn, Earth pony, alicorn, dragon, and something else that they could not define."

"Is that all?"

"She also said that Rainbow Dash had a vision of her friend Applejack, but she didn't look the same as she does at the moment."

"Rainbow also told me that she levitated a quill to write the letter she sent me."

"She WHAT?"

"Apparently, it occurred after her friends had left, which is why Twilight didn't know."

"She can use LEVITATION?"

"It shocks me as much as it shocks you, sister!

"Okay, so now we have Shadow hiding somewhere, Destiny being messed with, and Rainbow Dash gaining magic from other others and being able to use it?"

"And Rainbow Dash having visions."

"Right, those, too."

"But why would she have a vision in which her friends looked different?" muttered Luna to herself.

"Wait... If her friends looked different, but were still the same personality wise, then that could have something to do with Destiny..."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Well, you know how the Tree of Harmony has the star shape on it from which we got the sixth Element?"

"Yes, but how is this related?"

"Twilight Sparkle has that same shape as her cutie mark, as well as bears the sixth Element."

"Very interesting, but why are you telling me this right now?"

"Just give me a moment! Twilight Sparkle earned her cutie mark during a magic exam into the School for Gifted Unicorns, but only after a certain event occurred."

"Which was?"

"The legendary Sonic Rainboom."

"WHAT?!? You've got to be joking!"

"I'm not. I saw the rainbow blasting through the sky myself the moment she earned her cutie mark. She also then had a magic surge, but she stopped after a bit."

"But who preformed the Sonic Rainboom?."

"If my guess is correct, it was Rainbow Dash who preformed the Sonic Rainboom."

"But she was on the moon with me after being frozen in ice for years."

"Luna, how does one do a Sonic Rainboom?"

"You would have to being flying fast enough to break the speed of sound."

"And what if the pony who was doing this Sonic Rainboom had a cutie mark that represented speedy flight?"

"That could help them speed up a bit."

"And what if the pony was also filled with not just pegasus magic, but alicorn, unicorn, and dragon magic?"

"Increasing the speed exponentially depending on how much of each magic they had!"

"Exactly! Something caused the magic inside of Rainbow Dash to activate, causing her to accelerate, cause the Sonic Rainboom, and travel back in time!"

"And that something is what changed Destiny and is now letting Rainbow Dash see visions of what the future would have been like if Destiny hadn't been changed!"

Celestia and Luna hoofbumped in excitement before calming down again.

"So that's our plan of action now?" asked Luna.

"I'll send a note to Twilight and you'll send one to Rainbow Dash. Tell her to go to Twilight once a week to be magic scanned, keep a journal of the visions she has, and to not let others seeing her use any magic other than pegasus magic. She needs to practice controlling it and being able to preform spells other than levitation."

"I'll do that as soon as possible. Is that everything?"

"We'll need to check in the Starswirl Wing for spells related to Destiny and time travel, as well as anything on the Elements and Shadow."

"Got it," Luna started towards the window before turning back towards Celestia, "Don't worry, sister. Everything will end up fine." She then jumped out the window and took to the sky to raise her moon once again.

Dear Rainbow Dash, my friend and student,

Thank you for sending me a letter detailing the events that recently occurred. You having more than one hundred magic parts is a unique case, but my sister and I are working on finding details. At the moment, I need you to do several things:

1) Have Twilight Sparkle magic scan you at least once a week and keep a record of the kinds of magic in you.
2) Keep a journal detailing any visions you have, making sure you put down noticeable differences between what you see and what you know
3) Do NOT use your magical abilities around others. Practice using it in private only, and do not tell your friends. This may not see like the best course of action, but it is for both your's and their safety. Your magic is very unique, as it is a large blend of different types, but your pegasus magic is the strongest. Be cautious when flying at high speeds.

That is all I need to tell you at the moment, and it is all you really need to do. If we find more details that could help, I'll have you come to Canterlot so we can discuss it in private.

Sincerely, Princess Luna.

I Know You

Author's Note

If you haven't read my prequel story, The Second Pony in Space, I highly suggest you do. It will make this story make a lot more sense.

I Know You

Twilight Sparkle was not a pony for doing things at the last minute. After all, for her exam to go into magic school, she had been walking out the door when her magic activated and she completed the test. Though she had successfully hatched the dragon egg, she had also done a lot of other crazy things until Princess Celestia herself came, and she stopped the excess magic.

After that, Princess Celestia had made Twilight her own personal prodigy, and also had her take care of the baby dragon she had hatched (she named him Spike). Though his egg had been purple, he ended up being light green with dark green spikes, but it didn't really matter. Judging what color he was going to be after hatching was like judging a book by it's cover.

To say that Twilight had only one close call at something such as her cutie mark would be very wrong. There had been many other close calls (or as Princess Celestia called them, "close Twilights"; Twilight didn't find this amusing) such as the time she had nearly been hit by a chariot because she was reading. Her hoof still got banged, though.

Today, Twilight was studying some history, including an interesting legend about the Mare in the Moon. The legend said that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars would aid in her escape, and she would return. There was also information that she was originally a "good pony" and that she was the first, and only, pony to go into outer space.

"Spike!" called Twilight calmly, "I require you to assist me in writing me a letter!"

Spike came to Twilight's side quickly with parchment and quill in his claws.

"To Princess Celestia, I assume?" he asked politely.

"Correct. Ahem, Dear Princess Celestia, I have just read about the legend of the Mare in the Moon, which claims that she would return on the longest day of the thousandth year. According to my calculations, that would be on the Summer Sun Celebration, which will be happening soon in the town of Ponyville. I believe that when she returns, still will try and attack you or harm you during the celebration. If this is true, then I wish to go to Ponyville to oversee the preparation of the Celebration, as well as find a way to stop the Mare in Moon when she returns. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle."

Spike rolled up the scroll and breathed green fire on it, transporting it to Princess Celestia. Within just a few moments, he breathed golden fire, and another scroll materialized from the fire.

"Well, that was a quick reply. Could you please read me the letter?"

"Sure thing, Twilight. To my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, Though the legend you speak of is quite silly, I will still allow you to go and oversee the Summer Sun Celebration preparations in Ponyville. I will be sending you a list shortly, as well as a chariot to take you to Ponyville. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

"Silly? This is definitely not a laughing matter! Well, when I stop the Mare in the Moon, perhaps I can tell Princess Celestia 'I told you so'."

Both Twilight and Spike laughed at this.

"Okay, I would never say that to her!" said Twilight, "Anyways, I'm going to just grab some books to bring with me."

"I would also suggest you brush your mane," said Spike, "It's a bit of a mess."

Glancing in a mirror, Twilight saw that her dark purple mane was a bit tangled, and she quickly pulled a brush through it. She then grabbed a few books, including the book with the legend, and went outside with Spike to wait for the chariot, and Princess Celestia's list of what they needed to check on.

"The preparations we need to check on is the food, the weather, the decorations, and the music." said Spike, holding on tightly to the letter Princess Celestia had just sent so it wouldn't blow away in the air.

"Is that all we need to do?" asked Twilight.

"No, there's one more note at the bottom. Make some friends."

"Make friends? Well, I guess if Princess Celestia thinks it's what I should do..."

The chariot landed and Twilight stepped off with Spike on her back.

"Thank you for flying us here." said Twilight to the royal guards, who gave her a nod before taking off again, "Spike, where do we need to go to check on the food preparations?"

"Sweet Apple Acres." he replied, glancing at the note.

Twilight glanced around until she noticed an Earth pony with a pink coat and mane standing nearby.

"I think I'll ask her where that's located." said Twilight walking over and lightly tapping the pony's shoulder, "Excuse me."

The pony turned around in a bounce, with a grin on her face.

"Hiya!" she said in a peppy voice, "My name is Pinkie Pie! What's your name? Ooh! Are you new to town? Have you moved to Ponyville? Where are you moving to?"

"Slow down!" said Twilight, surprised by the rush of words, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here to oversee the preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration. And no, I'm not moving to Ponyville. I just need to know where Sweet Apple Acres is located."

"So you're checking on the food?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to see Applejack?"

Twilight glanced towards Spike, who gave her a nod in response.

"It seems like we are."

"But she's not at Sweet Apple Acres right now!"

"Oh, where is she?"

"She's at Fluttershy's house! Follow me!"

Pinkie started bouncing down the road, with Twilight and Spike following her.

"Hey, Twilight?" asked Spike.

"Yes, Spike?"

"The list also says that you're meeting a pony named Fluttershy, who should be working on the music."

"Huh, that's somewhat odd. Who else are we supposed to meet with?"

"Besides Applejack and Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Rarity is working on the decorations, and Rainbow Dash is working on the weather."

"Did you say 'Rainbow Dash'?" asked Pinkie, turning around and bouncing backwards.

"Yes, why?" asked Twilight.

"Do you know her? Are you her friends? Do you know where's she from? How do you know her?"

"I don't know her, it just says that I need to meet with her on my list. She's the weather manager?"

"You have a funny list! Rainbow Dash only showed up in town a few days ago! Applejack found her in her orchard, and brought her to the hospital because she was ice cold! And then Fluttershy visited her because she knew who she was, but Rainbow Dash only kinda knew her! And then I threw her a 'Welcome to Ponyville Party'! And she's at Fluttershy's house right now! And so is Rarity!"

"How do you even know all of that?"

"Duh! Rarity is standing right in front of the door!"

Twilight looked around Pinkie to see a white unicorn with an indigo mane standing in front of a small cottage with animals around it.

"Hi, Rarity!" said Pinkie, bouncing in front of her, "I brought a new friend with me because she wanted to see Applejack! What are you doing her?"

Disregarding Pinkie's second question, Rarity turned towards Twilight and Spike.

"Why hello, darling," said Rarity in an odd accent, "My name is Rarity, what is your name?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia sent me here to oversee the Summer Sun Celebrations."

"Princess Celestia?"

"Yes, I'm her personal student."

"So... You're from Canterlot?"

"Yes-"

"OOOH!!!"

Twilight stepped back in surprise as Rarity squealed with glee.

"You're from Canterlot! My goodness! And you're in reference with the Princess!"

"Er..."

"I've always wanted a boutique in Canterlot!"

"Then why not buy one?"

"Not enough money, darling! And even if I did, I wouldn't be popular or well known!"

Twilight stayed silent as Rarity rambled on about fashion and popularity. She knocked lightly on the door, and then waited, trying to block out Rarity's (and Pinkie's) chatter.

"Just a second!" called a voice with a strong accent, followed by a few crashes, "Mah bad!"

The door opened to reveal an Earth pony with an orange coat, blonde mane, and a stetson hat.

"Sorry 'bout that," she said, "Ah'm not familiar with Fluttershy's house that much."

"Are you Applejack?" asked Twilight stepping forward.

"Yes, Ah am! Who are you?"

"Twilight Sparkle. I'm here to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I was going to see you to check on the food."

"Oh! Ah nearly forgot about makin' sure that the food was bein' prepped nicely! Ah've been preoccupied with helpin' out Fluttershy!"

"With what?" asked Rarity.

"Takin' care of her animals, as she's been so busy takin' care of Rainbow Dash."

"Hold up!" said Spike, surprising Rarity and Applejack who hadn't noticed him, "Is everypony that we need to meet with here right now?"

"I think so," said Twilight, "Do you think I could speak with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash?"

"Ah don't see why not!"

Rarity and Spike glanced towards each other as the three ponies (and one dragon) walked into house. Both of them turned away, each with slight blush on their cheeks.

"Fluttershy!" called Applejack softly, "There's a pony here to check on the music for the Summer Sun Celebration!"

Rainbow Dash anxiously flipped through her book again, stopping at a bookmarked page. She had been looking through as many books as possible since she had returned to Equestria, but had found scarce information about Nightmare Moon. It didn't help that Fluttershy wasn't letting her wander farther than the edges of her cottage.

"Longest day of the thousandth year... Longest day of the thousandth year..." she muttered to herself, "Thousandth year of what? Is it the thousandth year since she was banished to the moon? Or is it the thousandth year since something completely random and obscure?"

"Rainbow Dash?" asked Fluttershy, peeking into Rainbow's temporary room, "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." she trailed off in thought.

"It's just that you, um, have been acting kind of weird. I mean, not in a bad way! But, it's just that I remember you being more of an athlete who was mostly concerned about flying... And..."

"And what?" Rainbow looked up from her book.

"You know, you going on about how you had traveled through time..."

"I did travel through time! I just haven't figured out how it happened, yet!"

"Sorry if I upset you..."

"It's okay. I've just been trying to figure something out. Also, thanks for letting me stay with you while I try to get a place of my own."

"It's no trouble, I let plenty of my animal friends stay here, so of course I could also let one of my pony friends stay here, too. Plus, it's the least I could do for you standing up for me in Flight School."

"You know, whenever you mention Flight School, I suddenly picture a unicorn, an alicorn, and a dragon in the sky. I have no idea why, though..."

"I'm just going to get you some leek soup, okay?"

"Thanks, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy pulled her head back out of the doorway, lightly shutting the door behind her. Rainbow turned back to her book, and continued to mull over what day Princess Luna would return as Nightmare Moon. On the moon, she had said that she would return soon, but how soon? She had been on the moon for over nine hundred years, so for her, a year would qualify as soon.

"Why couldn't you have told me what day you'd come back on? Did you not know? Were you not sure? Come on, Luna! You could have given me something to work with!"

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow started at hearing Applejack's voice, "There's a pony here to check on the music for the Summer Sun Celebration!"

"Summer Sun Celebration?" muttered Rainbow, "I think I heard Fluttershy mention that she was practicing with her birds for that... Wait... Summer Sun Celebration?" she quickly picked up another book she had and flipped through it, "The Summer Sun Celebration is a celebration in which Princess Celestia publicly lowers the moon, and raises the sun for the entire day. It is the longest day of the year, and is celebrated each year in a different location that the previous year. The longest day! And it's coming up soon enough! This has to be when the stars will aid in her escape!"

"Um, Rainbow?" asked Fluttershy, poking her head in again, "There's a pony here to see you..."

"Wait, what?"

"She said something about the weather and her list..."

"Uh, okay!"

Rainbow neatly placed her book back down and flew past Fluttershy to see whoever this pony was. She noticed that there were quite a few ponies in Fluttershy's house; Applejack, Pinkie Pie, a white unicorn (wasn't her name "Rarity"?), a purple unicorn, and a green dragon.

"Hello," said the purple unicorn, "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm assuming that you're Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah..." why was this unicorn and that dragon so familiar?

"I was sent here by Princess Celestia to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. According to the list she delivered to me, you're the weather manager for Ponyville."

"Weather manager? I don't even have a job yet! I only came to Ponyville a little bit ago!"

"How long ago did you move to Ponyville?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that I moved here-"

"More like mysteriously arrived..." muttered Applejack.

"But I did come here around three days ago." finished Rainbow, choosing to ignore Applejack.

"Three days ago?" asked Twilight, "If you've only been here for three days, why would Princess Celestia believe that you were the weather manager? Or even lived in Ponyville? Something's not right, here..."

"You're telling me! I can barely even remember anything from before I went into space!"

"You went into space?!?" asked everypony, staring at Rainbow.

"Uh, yeah..."

"How did you get into space?" asked Twilight, "Only Nightmare Moon has gone into space!"

"I flew. Duh."

"That's not possible! Unless you used a machine, maybe. Did you use a machine?"

"No, I just made a space suit and flew up using my wings."

"But that is physically impossible! You could only get somewhere if you go fast enough, not if you just go up!"

"Wait, what?"

"And every time you flapped your wings, you should have gone nowhere! If you pushed your wings backwards and forwards, since you had no air, those actions would have cancelled each other out and you should have gone nowhere! The only way you could have done this was with magic! And I'm sure that only an alicorn or extremely skilled unicorn could have preformed a spell to make you negate physics!"

"Alicorn? Wait, an alicorn! That's why you're so familiar!"

"Sorry, what?"

"And the dragon was there, too! And that's where I met Fluttershy!"

"Rainbow, you're not making any sense..." said Fluttershy softly.

"That unicorn! She's not here, is she?"

"Darling, could you slow down and explain what you're talking about?" asked Rarity.

"That explains everything!" finished Rainbow triumphantly.

"Could ya explain why everything makes sense now?" asked Applejack.

"And how you went into space?" asked Twilight.

"And where you've been all these years?" asked Fluttershy.

"Oh, yeah!" said Rainbow, "You guys have no idea what I'm thinking! Sorry! Okay, so it all started when I was a filly in Flight School, and I had been defending Fluttershy from some bullies..."