The Pursuit of Loyalty-ness
Author's Note
The following story is set after Friendship Games but before Legend of Everfree.
Loyal Teen Shows Loyalty
The worst thing? It hadn’t been cool.
Rainbow Dash had been walking out of Canterlot High School with her friends one cold mid-February day. A gentle snow was falling from the sky, which meant that the steps outside the front doors were covered with a thin layer of fresh powder.
She had turned her attention to Rarity, teasing her friend – good-naturedly, whether or not Rarity realized it – about the three-layer ensemble she was wearing. After all, it hadn’t even been windy. Rainbow’s natural instinct was always to get out of school as quickly as possible, so, while pointing out that between the bomber hat, double loop infinity scarf, and faux-fur-lined boots, Rarity looked like a poodle, she made her move to run down the stairs two at a time.
And that’s why she didn’t see that underneath the snow, there was a thin layer of ice.
The next thing Rainbow knew, she was lying on the ground, clutching her left arm. She tried to play it off as no big deal, but she just had to have a friend who could tell when she was lying. If it hadn’t been for Applejack (and maybe also the involuntary look of pure agony plastered across her face), she could have gotten away with it.
Instead, her friends insisted she get in Applejack’s family’s truck (she could have walked!) for an immediate trip to the hospital. That was where she received the diagnosis of a broken wrist and the cast that came along with it.
If it had happened at home, she could have at least made up a good story about how she broke it. But no, it had to happen where all of the other students could see her. Breaking her wrist didn’t bother her – after all, it was far from the first bone she had broken. It was the lame way that she broke it that really ticked her off.
Six weeks had passed since it happened, and Rainbow was getting frustrated. With her left hand permanently stuck in a flat, extended-fingers position, she couldn’t play her guitar. (At least, she couldn’t play anything other than the six notes of the open strings.) As a result, she couldn’t pony up to get those awesome wings that let her fly. Rainbow Dash loved those wings. She loved being able to fly. It was almost as if she was supposed to be a skilled flying creature instead of a teenage girl whose legs made up more than 50% of her entire height.
One afternoon, as she was eating lunch with her six friends in the school cafeteria, she felt the frustration build up to intolerable levels. Without warning, she spoke, sending flecks of sloppy joe flying across her tray.
“I wish I had wings.”
Twilight Sparkle, the newest member of the group, replied, “Oh, is that the kind of thing you can discuss with friends? Because I had that problem too on a particularly heavy month. It isn’t comfortable, but in an emergency, you can place a second pad perpendicular to the first one—”
Sunset Shimmer quickly reached up to place her hand on her upper arm. Twilight, not used to friendly physical contact, stopped speaking. “That isn’t what she’s talking about,” Sunset said.
“Also,” Rarity added, “the proper solution to that dilemma is to discreetly ask another girl if she has one you can use.”
Sunset removed her hand from Twilight’s arm while Pinkie Pie held her own hand up to Fluttershy’s face to see whose skin was pinker at the moment.
Sunset explained, “Rainbow is referring to when we play music together. Some kind of Equestrian magic – Equestria is the pony world where I come from –”
Twilight’s eyes briefly unfocused as she remembered that she was speaking to a girl who used to be a magical horse.
“– leaked through into this world, so whenever we play, we grow pony ears and longer hair. Rainbow Dash also grows pegasus wings.”
Twilight’s eyes briefly unfocused again as she came to the realization that this was her life now.
“And I haven’t been able to fly for almost two months!” Rainbow said. “I know you guys don’t understand, but once you find out what it’s like, being stuck to the ground all the time is really lame.”
“Actually,” Fluttershy said, “I don’t mind—”
“I need to be able to fly again,” Rainbow continued. “I need those wings!”
Applejack said, “So why dontcha just do the other stuff that makes you pony up?”
Rainbow gave her friend a confused look. “What other stuff?”
“You know, like when you sang that big rallyin’ song before the Friendship Games.”
“That was music, too, Applejack. I can be awesome without a guitar, you know.”
“What about the motocross event durin’ the games?”
The second event of the Friendship Games began to replay in Rainbow’s head. She had done so many mind-blowingly cool things in her life, it sometimes took a while for her to remember them all.
“Oh yeah! I ponied up then, too! Quick – where’s the nearest dirt bike?”
Fluttershy reached her full speaking volume, which meant that her friends could barely hear her over the chatter in the cafeteria. “But your cast…”
“I can do awesome stunts on a dirt bike one-handed,” Rainbow said. “Actually, that’ll make them even more awesome.”
“What Applejack means is,” Sunset said, “you also pony up when you do something that demonstrates the friendship virtue you exemplify.”
Five of the others just gave her confused looks. Twilight eagerly waited for her to continue.
“Loyalty,” Sunset clarified. “When you do something especially loyal, you pony up.”
“Oh!” Rainbow said. “Why didn’t you tell me that two months ago?” Before Sunset could respond, she said, “So all I’ve got to do is something that shows my loyalty.”
She paused for a few seconds.
“How do I do that?”
“Loyalty loyalty loyalty…” Pinkie Pie said. “Do you know any streets where the pavement acts like quicksand?”
Rarity, ignoring Pinkie, spoke up. “If you were dating somebody,” she said, “you could be loyal to them.” Her eyes brightened as she recognized the real-life opportunity to engage in one of her favorite mental exercises. “Let’s set you up!” She took a moment to regain her composure as she sat back down. “Now tell me, what are you looking for in a gir— bo— um… significant other?”
“That’ll take too long,” Rainbow said. “I want my wings back now!” She reached into her backpack for a pen. “But at least now I know how to get them. And I’ll have something to focus on for the rest of the day.”
“Shouldn’t you be focused on your classes?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow wrote the word “LOYALTY” across the joints of her palm where the fingers connected – just above her cast. That way, she wouldn’t forget. “I’ve just gotta figure out how to be loyal. That shouldn’t be hard, right? After all, if it makes me pony up, that means I’ve got to be an expert on it. I bet I’ll have this figured out by the end of fourth period.”
The final bell rang. School was out. And Rainbow Dash was no closer to figuring out how to demonstrate the concept of loyalty. She didn’t understand why she hadn’t made any progress. She had even spent a good half hour flipping through pages in the dictionary. She assumed that her teacher wouldn’t give her a hard time about it, but Mrs. Solver had told her that it wasn’t appropriate to study the dictionary during algebra class.
Applejack’s locker was the closest to the exit, so as was their custom, the seven friends gathered there before leaving school for the day. Because Rainbow had to stop at the library to return the dictionary, and then because she had to stay while she was scolded, as the dictionary was a reference book and therefore not to be removed from the library, she was the last to arrive.
As she reached her friends, she could hear Twilight Sparkle talking. “…I don’t know what’s worse: The fact that I think I’m having bad dreams or the fact that I’m apparently blocking them from memory. I mean, my ability to analyze—”
“Today has been a total waste of time!” Rainbow announced.
“No it hasn’t,” Pinkie said. “We made lemon bars in home ec today! Try one!”
Just as Rainbow was taking a breath to respond, Pinkie shoved an entire lemon bar into her mouth. Rainbow quickly removed the pastry as she began to cough.
“Triple the powdered sugar means triple the deliciousness!” Pinkie proclaimed.
“Here you go,” Applejack said as she reached into her locker and gave Rainbow a small bottle of apple juice. She then took another bite of her own lemon bar.
“Honestly, Applejack,” Rarity said, “you have powdered sugar all over your mouth.” She reached out with a handkerchief.
“Oops. Pardon,” Applejack said as she wiped her face with her forearm. Rarity recoiled.
“Why has today been a total waste of time?” Sunset asked.
Rainbow swallowed her apple juice. “Because,” she said, “I haven’t figured out how to be loyal and get my wings back!”
“I don’t think loyalty is something you can force,” Sunset said. “It’s just something that happens when the right situation comes up.”
“You’re right,” Rainbow said. “I’ve got to force it! But how?”
She went to look at her hand on which she had written the word “LOYALTY.” However, it was now holding the lemon bar.
“Pinkie!” she said. She stepped over and put her other arm around her friend’s shoulders, inadvertently pouring the remaining apple juice onto the floor. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ll always be there for you.”
Pinkie seemed genuinely touched. “Really?” she said. “What if I accidentally did something terrible?”
Rainbow was a little taken aback but replied, “Even then. I’ll always be loyal.”
“Even if I threw a party but didn’t make enough cupcakes, so each guest could only have three?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Or if I got sick so I couldn’t give you a hug, but then I didn’t text you open parenthesis, open curly bracket, closing curly bracket, closing parenthesis?”
“What—”
“Even if I forgot to tie balloons to your mailbox, roof, locker, and jacket on the anniversary of the day you moved here?!?”
“You know, you really don’t have to—”
Pinkie began to sob. “I’ve been a horrible friend!” She turned and gave Rainbow a hug. “Thank you for still being there for me!”
“Um… you’re welcome?” She awkwardly tried to pat Pinkie on the back but only succeeded in sprinkling powdered sugar into her hair.
They remained that way for fifteen seconds. The other five girls just stood there, staring at the two and occasionally glancing at each other uncomfortably.
“Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yes?” Pinkie said, her voice muffled by Rainbow’s jacket.
“There aren’t any wings growing out of the back of me, are there?”
Pinkie, still locked in the hug, rubbed her hands up and down Rainbow’s back. “Nope.”
“Then could you maybe let go?”
“Oh!” Pinkie said, abruptly back to her cheerful self. “Okay!”
“So as I was saying,” Sunset said, “you can’t—”
“Obviously, that didn’t work,” Rainbow said. “Maybe the problem is that because I’m already loyal to you guys, it can’t happen again. But who else can I be loyal to?”
Cloudy Kicks ran through the hallway, past the group, and out the door.
“Of course!” Rainbow said. She almost slapped her good hand to her forehead, but remembered that she was still holding a bottle. “The soccer team!”
“What about ’em?” Applejack asked.
“I can go train with them! You don’t use your arms in soccer, right? So even though I’m injured, I can show the team that I’m still loyal!”
“Seems to me like you just wanna go play soccer.”
“No – I want to get my wings! You’re probably not even allowed to have wings when you play soccer.” She thought for a moment. “I should check the rules about that.”
“But what if you fall?” Twilight asked. “You could do serious damage to your wrist.”
“First of all,” Rainbow said, “I don’t fall. I know you don’t know me that well yet, so I’ll let that slide.”
Fluttershy said, “But didn’t you break your wrist in the first place by falling—”
“Second of all, my wrist is in this hard cast. That’ll protect it even if I do get hit or something.”
Twilight responded, “I don’t think that’s exactly why they put the cast on you.”
“She’s right, Rainbow,” Sunset said. “Trying to impress the soccer team in your condition isn’t loyalty – it’s recklessness.”
“Impress, nothing,” Rainbow said. “I’m still the captain, even if I haven’t been able to practice with them yet. They need me, and I’m not about to leave them stranded.”
She took off for the door, tossing a “See ya!” over her shoulder as she sprinted away. She nearly crashed into Octavia Melody in the process.
“That girl’s gonna get herself seriously hurt if she keeps this up,” Applejack said. “I don’t suppose any y’all got some kind of flyin’ machine.”
“No,” Twilight said, “but if you give me a couple of weeks, I could build a jet pack.”
“I was bein’ facetious.”
“Aw.”
As it turned out, soccer practice was a bust. The rest of the team refused to let her be aggressive – any time she got near them, they would simply stop playing, both as a means of not accidentally hurting her as well as trying to force her to take the hint that she needed to get off the field. After 55 minutes, Rainbow finally quit trying.
And even though she spent the rest of the time on the sidelines, practicing kicks while repeatedly shouting, “I’m never gonna let you guys down!”, her wings didn’t appear. In the end, the only thing she did was confirm that she was amazing at soccer. And she already knew that.
Saturday came and went, with Rainbow Dash no closer to figuring out how to be loyal enough to get her wings. The problem continued to gnaw at her, and by early Sunday afternoon, she found herself speed walking aimlessly through town, lost in thought. She didn’t even notice as she approached Sunset Shimmer, who was headed in the same direction on the sidewalk.
“Hey, Rainbow,” Sunset said, stretching out to wave her hand in front of Rainbow’s face. “What’s up?”
“Oh – hey, Sunset. I’m thinking about selling myself for a day.”
Sunset stopped walking.
“…You what?”
“You know,” Rainbow said, “as a butler. A girl butler. Butlers are really loyal, right?”
Sunset exhaled. “Oh. Okay. Um, yeah, I guess so.” She resumed walking, moving faster in order to catch up to her friend.
“So I was trying to figure out what I would need to do to advertise that my services are available for the right price.”
“I’d start by finding a way to rephrase that.”
“Well, I’m not going to offer myself up for free! I mean, if I’m going to lose a whole day doing whatever somebody else wants, I need to make sure I get paid.”
“…As a butler.”
“Yes, as a butler! Haven’t you been listening?”
“Oh, I’ve been listening. I just don’t think you’re going to get the kind of takers you’d expect.”
“Well, I can’t do it for more than a day. I know I could keep going for as long as they’d be willing to pay me – after all, I’ve got more stamina than anyone else at CHS – but I can’t let them be my master forever. I still have sports and classes and stuff.”
“Maybe you should stop and really think about what you’re saying.”
Rainbow did stop. And she did think. Sunset stayed quiet, willing to let the process take as long as was necessary. Finally, Rainbow threw her uninjured arm into the air as she came to a realization.
“Of course! Butlers have to be loyal for years! I’d just end up wasting the day! Thanks, Sunset – you really are a good friend.”
“Um… sure. Happy to help.”
“So, what’re you doing?”
“Oh, yeah. I was just on my way to pick up some groceries.”
“Cool. Mind if I tag along? Maybe I’ll get some ideas at the store.”
The supermarket wasn’t very far away, so the two arrived in no time. Before they entered the building, Rainbow stopped to read the signs posted around the door. Suddenly, she flung her arm out, excitedly pointing at one of the signs, nearly smacking Sunset in the process.
“There’s my answer! Right there! A loyalty card! That has to work!”
Sunset simply watched as Rainbow ran into the store. After a moment, she casually followed her in. By the time Sunset caught up to her, she was already at the customer service counter, filling out an application.
“Just my address and phone number? That’s so easy!” Rainbow quickly finished scribbling down her contact information. The very moment she finished, she shoved the form across the counter toward the employee, who, with the kind of apathy that can only be developed through years of working in customer service, impassively handed two cards to her.
“The little one goes on your keychain,” the employee explained. Rainbow took the cards and held them high above her head.
After ten seconds, Sunset finally broke the silence. “What are you doing?”
Rainbow didn’t move. “I’m waiting for this loyalty card to give me my pony powers.”
Sunset turned to the grocery store employee. “This makes sense in context, trust me.” She turned back to her friend. “That isn’t how loyalty cards work, Rainbow. In any possible way. You use it when you buy groceries. The more you use it, the more the store is able to track how loyal of a customer you are.”
Rainbow finally put her arm back down. “So I’d have to use it a whole bunch of times before it decided I was loyal?”
Sunset opened her mouth, but then paused as she decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “Pretty much, yeah.”
Rainbow’s shoulders slumped. “How come there aren’t any ways to show loyalty to something – or someone – you’ve never seen before?”
“Because that wouldn’t be loyalty. That would just be weird and creepy.”
“So I guess I have to figure out how to be loyal to one of you guys, then.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Sunset!” Rainbow somehow was able to suddenly address her, even though she had been talking to her the entire time. “Let me buy your groceries for you! That’d show you how loyal of a friend I am!”
Sunset thought for a moment. “That’s really nice of you,” she said. “But that wouldn’t be loyalty. That’d be generosity.”
Rainbow gnashed her teeth. “Why is this so hard?” she shouted. Without waiting for a response, she ran out of the store.
Sunset simply sighed. She turned to the store employee, who had watched the entire exchange. “Sorry about that. So… are Honey Nut Oat Rings still on sale?”
As she left the supermarket, Rainbow didn’t really have a destination in mind. She simply ran. Rainbow Dash liked running – she was good at it, and it was part of her name.
As she wondered whether she could get her wings by showing off some core value of herself that wasn’t loyalty – maybe running a lot would make her pony up? – she found herself entering the park. Within a few seconds, she saw Fluttershy sitting on a bench, feeding some birds. And squirrels. And a stray cat. And a deer.
Rainbow ran up to her friend, scaring away all of the animals in the process. “Fluttershy!” she shouted, even though by that point she was only two strides from her.
“Um… yes, Rainbow?” Fluttershy said. She was probably upset about the animals being frightened away, but it was impossible to tell.
Rainbow stood in front of Fluttershy. If she had had her wings, she could have hovered in the air. That would have been cooler. Instead, she bobbed in place on her tiptoes.
“What’s a really loyal animal and why?”
“…And why?” Fluttershy repeated in a tone of voice similar to that of a person who walked into the middle of a conversation.
“Because I need to do something loyal to get my wings! Remember?”
“Oh. Right.” She apprehensively looked around to see if anybody else in the park was staring at the two of them. She hadn’t thought to do it while she was sitting by herself, surrounded by over a dozen wild animals. “Well, dogs are known for being loyal.”
“Dogs! You’re right! The more I act like a dog, the better chance I have of flying!”
Rainbow ran over to where two children were tossing a Fribzee-brand flying disk. Plucking it from the air, she said, “I need to borrow this,” then ran off before either child could react.
She returned to Fluttershy. “Throw me the Fribzee, and I’ll catch it!” she said. “This shouldn’t take long at all!”
“Um… okay. If that’s what you want.”
Fluttershy gave the Fribzee a gentle toss. Rainbow quickly retrieved it and told her to throw it harder. So Fluttershy threw it nearly fifteen feet. Rainbow brought it back, then told her to really put some muscle into it.
“Okay,” Fluttershy said. “But you know, you don’t have to try to catch the Fribzee with your mouth.”
Rainbow ignored her. “Just throw it hard. Tell you what – I’ll run over to where I want you to throw it so you know about how far it should go.”
She started to jog toward another section of the park. As she made her way up a gentle hill, she saw Twilight Sparkle.
Rainbow stopped and waved. “Twilight! Over here!”
Twilight, with Spike walking alongside her, changed direction to approach. “Hi, Rainbow Dash! Did you come out here because of the weather, too? Taking into account the current humidity and wind speed, this park is within point-five degrees of the ideal temperature for this time of year!”
Rainbow ignored her, too. “Great – you brought Spike with you! Fluttershy and I were just trying to figure out what makes dogs so loyal and how I can do that so I can get my wings back.” The Fribzee hit her in the side of the head.
Spike picked the disk up off the ground and ran it back to Fluttershy. She took the Fribzee, scratched him behind the ear, then followed him over to where the other two were standing.
“I’ve never really done any research into why dogs typically exhibit loyalty,” Twilight said. “I just know that Spike has been my faithful companion ever since I got him.” She knelt down to be closer to his level. “Is there a specific reason you’ve been so loyal to me? Or do you feel that it’s simply innate to who you are?”
“I don’t know,” Spike said. Rainbow took a step back in surprise – she hadn’t known Twilight Sparkle for very long, and she always forgot that her dog could talk. “I guess the second thing? I just know that you’re part of my pack, and that’s important.”
Twilight looked up at Rainbow. “Does that help?”
“Yeah…” Rainbow slowly said. She then realized that if she didn’t follow that statement by ponying up, everyone was going to figure out that she was lying. “…No.”
“Well, we’re going to walk a couple of laps around the park,” Twilight said. “If you want to gather some observational data, you’re welcome to come along with us.”
Something deep inside Rainbow Dash spoke to her. Instinctively, she knew – it was her sense of loyalty!
“No thanks,” she said proudly. “I’m going to stay here with my friend Fluttershy!” She put her good arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders and squeezed her in a side hug.
“Oh, that’s okay, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said, politely extricating herself from the embrace. “If you want to go exercise with Twilight and Spike, I don’t mind.”
“But…”
“I’m just going to go back to my bench and wait for my animal friends to return. You’d be bored anyway.”
Rainbow looked at Fluttershy and Twilight, torn between her friends. How could she be loyal if she had to leave one of them behind?
Ultimately, she made her decision the same way she made all of the most important decisions in her life: By instinct. And her instinct told her to take off in a burst of speed and pass between the two girls, screaming as she ran away.
After all, her options had been either sitting quietly or scientific inquiry. Even though it got her no closer to her wings, in her heart, Rainbow knew she had made the right choice.
Rainbow made no further progress for the rest of the day. But by lunchtime on Monday, she didn’t care – she received a text from her mother with the news that the doctor said her cast could come off that afternoon!
To help her celebrate, her six friends accompanied her to the hospital. Also, she needed a ride – she could have walked, but the sooner she got the cast off, the sooner she could get home, play her guitar, and finally fly again.
After being chastised by the hospital staff when the first thing she did upon removal of the cast was seek a high five, Rainbow and her friends walked through the parking lot toward Applejack’s and Fluttershy’s vehicles.
“I’m glad you got that off in time for the concert,” Sunset said. The Rainbooms were scheduled to headline a benefit concert during the forthcoming weekend to help the school library purchase more modern computer equipment. “I would’ve felt guilty having to cover for you on lead guitar.”
Rainbow replied, “I’m just glad I get to help the school out with my awesome guitar skills, rather than finding something less cool to do.”
“Really?” Applejack said. “If you couldn’t be front and center up on that stage, you weren’t gonna just stay home and pout?”
“Yes, really,” Rainbow said. “I would’ve been there to run the refreshment stand or something. CHS really needs those computers.”
“I ain’t never seen you spend more’n five minutes inside that library. Why do you care so much about it?”
“Hey – just because I’m never going to use it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be there for anybody else who needs it. Our band made a promise to help. And I wasn’t going to let anyone at school down just because I couldn’t be up there playing guitar.”
At that moment, Rainbow began to glow. Slowly, she began to rise into the air, where she sprouted pony ears and a pair of pegasus wings.
“Oh, come on!”
