The Return of Loyalty

Rainbow Dash’s senses took a long time to catch up with her. The world around her spun uncontrollably, all she can see were blurry images of objects and, maybe ponies, in a small space. She tried to open her eyes but the orange light burned her retinas. The pony couldn’t remember a thing. To her it was like swimming through a thick blackness for a long time until someone forced her out. Her body felt weak again. She stumbled and almost collapsed when Clovis and Miss Paradigm caught her just in time, then laid her safely on the pile of pillows.

No word was uttered from anyone in the tent, not even a shot of breath. Rainbow Dash slumped on the pillows while chest rose up and down in trying to catch her breath. Miss Paradigm silently communicated with Bubastis, wondering if the brew actually worked. Clovis, meanwhile, had other things on her mind. The pony before her said her name was Rainbow Dash, but there was something else that was wrong. Immediately after looking at her long enough he knew what it was that bothered him.

“Oh dear,” he muttered.

Clovis mumbled to himself as he approached the pony cautiously. As to not frighten her he waved his hoof until he received Rainbow Dash’s attention. His mouth was dry and the words wouldn’t come out when their eyes met. “Are you Rainbow Dash?” he finally asked.

“Yes,” she answered. Rainbow Dash looked around and realized she was inside a large tent. Many questions were racing through her mind. “Where am I?”

“You are in the world of Szardoz,” said the medium. Rainbow Dash looked to see a goat approaching her. “My name is Miss Paradigm. I am the one who has brought you here. Are you feeling well?”

“I don’t know. I’m so confused. What am I doing here?” There was a rising tension in her voice. As though some had flipped a switch on the back of her head, she began to remember fragments of what happened before. For a few moments she said nothing, although Miss Paradigm understood what was going on with her. She was trying to remember. “The sonic rainboom,” Rainbow Dash said. “I was doing the… the Rainbow… my trick. What happened to me? Did I do it?”

The only thing anyone can do now was to look at her. Even Bubastis was at a loss for words. Rainbow Dash was going to demand for an answer until she had a weird sensation that something wasn’t right. For some reason she did not feel complete, whole. Rainbow Dash looked to her sides and came upon a horrifying realization.

Her wings are missing.

Panic overtook her breathing once again. She thought her heart will explode from her chest right there for everyone to see. Clovis tried to calm her down, but Rainbow Dash gave the old pony the most furious glare he’d ever seen.

She sat up and stood firm. “What did you do to me?” she demanded in a loud voice. “What did you do to my wings? Answer me right now!”

“Please, if you allow me to explain,” began Clovis.

Rainbow Dash was hearing none of it. She used one of her front hooves to scratch the ground like a bull. Clovis thought he saw steam coming out of her nostrils. Penny stood between them, acting as a shield for her elderly uncle. Miss Paradigm can feel the swell of emotion rising from the pony. She looked to Clovis, who desperately tried to calm her, but it looked as though Rainbow Dash might harm him, or find a way to run out of the tent. Bubastis wasted no time and leaped toward the frantic pony and laid his black paw on her forehead, releasing some kind of soothing energy to make her stop yelling. Rainbow Dash sat down while the energy from the cat coursed through her. Miss Paradigm approached her again.

As the soothing energy slowed her down, Rainbow Dash gathered all the strength she can to ask in a slurred voice, “What are you doing to me?”

“The question is not what I am doing,” said Miss Paradigm. “However, the real question is where have you been.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t think of a response, so she only stared at her. Miss Paradigm nodded at Bubastis, and the black cat removed his paw from Rainbow Dash’s forehead. The goat and the cat sensed the anger inside the pony dissipating, although she was still confused. Rainbow Dash noticed the young filly was still protecting the old stallion from her, which suddenly caused her to remember she had no idea where she was.

“W-where have I been?” stammered Rainbow Dash. “What happened to me?”

Clovis, Penny, and Miss Paradigm took turns explaining to Rainbow Dash of her current predicament. She didn’t display any emotion; not anger, nor anguish, not even confusion. All she can do was let their words sink in, hoping she’ll come to understand it in time. Although the pony couldn’t remember what happened during her greatest sonic rainboom she never experienced anything like this, and she watched Fluttershy give a harsh scolding to a fire-breathing dragon.

She listened to everything from the sonic rainboom to her imprisonment and escape from Mobil. Miss Paradigm presented to her the memory brew she consumed, although why her wings or her cutie mark hadn’t appeared she did not know. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure of what to feel or say. The storytellers let her have a moment to herself until she gave her answer.

“This doesn’t make sense,” she finally said.

“No it does not,” replied Clovis.

“So… what do we do now?” Rainbow Dash asked somberly. She already knew she will not like what they had to say.

“Well, you have to go back to Equestria, reunite with your friends and restore harmony,” said Clovis, although he was unsure if that will work due to recent developments.

Rainbow Dash understood his tone and looked at her wingless sides. Then a thought came to her. “Wait a minute… what do you mean by restoring harmony? What happened to Equestria? Is everyone alright?” Her voice carried a tremor of fear.

Clovis could simply tell her what was going on, but he felt it would be effective if Miss Paradigm show her. She was good at that sort of thing. He turned to the goat and silently indicated what he wanted her to do. Miss Paradigm, with a little wave of her hoof, dimmed the lights inside the tent until it was almost dark. Out of the blackness something spherical and shiny appeared in front of Rainbow Dash.

“Come my child, and look closely,” said Miss Paradigm.

Rainbow Dash shivered with a growing fear, but did what the goat ordered. A swirling mist enveloped the glowing sphere. As the light conjured images, Miss Paradigm’s voice spoke like a soft wind.

“Glory has vanished from the land you call home. The sun and the moon have fallen. Darkness has consumed light; harmony is a fleeting memory… and the spirit of hope suffocates in smoke made from the fires of despair.”

The images that appeared in the crystal sphere were as clear as day, and Rainbow Dash’s immediate response was to look away. A yin-yang formation of a white sun and blue moon appeared, as bright and wonderful as the princesses themselves. The glowing light faded, and a black mist covered it like an ugly hand. Out of the blackness came symbols - a multicolored lightning bolt lost its colors, and the bolt dissipated; a pile of apples withered and rotted; diamonds were crushed; balloons inflated and popped; butterflies dropped like flies. And last, but certainly not least, a beautiful lavender star emerged out of the sea of shadows, trying to shine as great as it could until the darkness surrounded it, and then it was no more.

“No more. Please, no more,” said Rainbow Dash. “I don’t want to see anymore!” she shouted.

Immediately the tent was luminous and the glowing sphere vanished. Rainbow Dash breathed heavily, her panting worse than when she “woke” from her soul-sleep. The horrible images burned through her mind. Slowly she was on the verge of tears. This had to be a nightmare, she thought. She can no longer fly, Equestria has fallen to darkness, the power of friendship failed to save the day. It was madness. There was no way this was actually happening.

Miss Paradigm laid a hoof on her. “Now you know what is at stake,” she said. “Harmony must return to Equestria. You must fill their hearts with hope.”

“... How?” Rainbow Dash asked wearily. “How can I do that? I can’t fly! I don’t have my cutie mark! I’m not even Rainbow Dash anymore! How can I save Equestria myself? I don’t even know what happened to my other friends!”

“There are other ways to bring hope,” said Miss Paradigm. “One does have to fly or do extraordinary feats to be great. You must simply be the best pony you can be.”

Rainbow Dash wiped her eyes of the incoming tears. She turned to Clovis and Penny. “You should have just left me in whatever world I was in! I can’t do this! At least I was sort of happy! Why did you pull me away?”

“Because Equestria needs hope right now,” said Penny. “Your friends need you.” Rainbow Dash only turned away. Penny didn’t want to do this, but she had to bring out the big motivator. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. “Scootaloo needs you,” she muttered.

“What did you say?” whispered Rainbow Dash.

“Everyone in Equestria is suffering… even Scootaloo. If you don’t come back, who knows what will happen to her.”

“What happened to her? Tell me!” Rainbow Dash demanded.

Penny decided not to say anything. While she and her uncle spent their time searching for Rainbow Dash Penny visited Miss Paradigm so she can see what has happened to Equestria while they were gone. It was almost always the same thing, only much worse than the last. When it came to Scootaloo… it was best if Rainbow Dash found out for herself.

“I can’t say,” said Penny. “But I implore to please help my uncle and I save Equestria. Only by uniting the Elements of Harmony can peace and harmony flourish once again.”

“But I don’t know where my friends are,” retorted Rainbow Dash.

“We will help you find them, no matter the cost,” said Clovis.

Rainbow Dash gazed at her teammates. A young filly and an elderly stallion. This was not the ideal strike force she was hoping for. And what about the goat and the talking cat? Were they going too? Doubt filled her thoughts. What can she possibly do against whatever made Equestria into a total mess? She wasn’t even the incredibly-awesome Rainbow Dash to begin with. And she didn’t want to think about who the bad guy was.

“I don’t want to go back,” she muttered. “Take me to another world. At least my friends can think I’m still dead.”

Clovis stamped his walking cane on the ground. “Are you mad? We can’t do that,” he said sternly.

“Why not?”

“Before the Fall, Twilight Sparkle had an inkling that you were not dead. She, along with a pony named Doctor Hooves, investigated your disappearance. It was only then when they got closer to solving the mystery that evil strangled the very life out of Equestria. That’s why she gave us the ruby from your necklace to find you.”

“Why did it chose me if I still don’t have my wings and cutie mark?”

Clovis thought for moment. He didn’t want to admit he couldn’t think of an answer. The ponies looked to see Miss Paradigm meditating. Her eyes were shut and she sat on the ground like a statue. Not one inch of her moved. A minute later she opened her eyes.

“I have found the answer to your question,” she said. “Spiritually you are still Rainbow Dash. Your memories, your personality, your heart is intact. However - just as in the past life, you must prove yourself by performing the greatest act of loyalty the world has seen. Only then will you be whole.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t like where this was going. How was she going to do that? What qualifies as an act of loyalty, she wondered. Rainbow Dash was lucky enough to still remember all of the times she helped her friends out, but how can she outdo that? Saving Equestria was going to be a challenge without her friends. She still wanted that stallion and his niece to take her to another world and to forget about all of this, but she knew she couldn’t do that when Penny mentioned Scootaloo’s fate in this new Equestria.

She stared at Penny straight in the eye. “If I go with you, will you take me to Scootaloo?”

“I’ll try.”

Try? Try wasn’t good enough, but it will have to do. Rainbow Dash took one last moment to think about this, then she nodded her head. Although the moment was somber, it was the best news Clovis and Penny heard in a long time. They were one step further into saving Equestria. Clovis rushed to Miss Paradigm to shake her hooves.

“Thank you, thank you ever so kindly!” he said. “Thank you for helping us in our time of need!”

“Anything for an old friend,” said Miss Paradigm. She turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. “You will venture into what used to be your home. Do not give up when all seems hopeless. Only when others see perseverance in you will they be inspired. But they must see you are truly the spirit of loyalty.”

Rainbow Dash nodded her head. Before the left the tent Penny gave her the necklace with the lightning-bolt shaped ruby. The ruby released a red glow when Rainbow Dash wore it around her neck. Penny smiled, knowing the necklace is in the hooves of its rightful owner.