"You want your Rainboom? I'll give you a Rainboom!" Starlight Glimmer took hold of the small cyan pegasus with her magic, and hurled her at a nearby telephone pole. SNAP! Every bone in Rainbow Dash's wings were shattered, knocking her unconscious, and she fell through the clouds, plummeting towards Ponyville. A yellow pegasus filly a few years older than her watched in horror. She wanted to do something, but her wings were far too weak for her to fly down and catch Rainbow Dash.
Twilight Sparkle hovered to the filly's side. "Your friendship will give you strength."
In a rush of adrenaline, the filly dove through the clouds after Rainbow Dash. Her wings snapped back behind her, the air began to thin around her, and she could feel her body stretch like a rubber band before...
BOOM! Fluttershy grabbed ahold of Rainbow Dash, stopping herself just in time before they both hit the ground, and of course, rushed her friend to Ponyville Hospital. She took no time to notice a dark pink star alongside a butterfly and a lightning bolt on her flank...
Pinkamena sighed as she rolled the rocks into a pile when a loud explosion-like sound caught her attention. Looking up, she saw a stream of dark pink light come apart to form a six-pointed star. It was beautiful...
Her hair sprang up, and as her eyes gleamed, the rocks around her began to float and spin. Her family stared in shock as she giggled and spun the rocks in the air with her mind. When her giggling subsided and the rocks hit the ground, Pinkamena looked down at her flank. A set of pink bubbles appeared, accompanied by two white stars in the corners, and a large, dark pink one in the middle.
"Cocka-doodle-doo..." Applejack sighed, staring out the window of her Manehattan apartment. A bright pink star in the afternoon sky shone down on Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack quickly gathered her necessary belongings and took a few bits from her piggy bank. It would be enough to get a train ticket back to Ponyville.
Applejack ran into her mother's arms. It was at this moment that she knew where she belonged. A large red apple appeared on her flank, with five smaller orange ones on the inside, one for each other member of her family.
Rarity groaned in frustration, slamming her "fists" on the table. "The costumes for the play have to be PERFECT!" Her fit was interrupted by a loud boom outside her window. She looked out to see a beam of dark pink light forming a star. She looked back down at her sketchbook. Her designs paled in comparison, but she smiled. They were just fine.
Unfortunately, it started to rain during the play. Rarity slumped down in sorrow. Her horn began to glow, and as if by force of habit, Rarity began to move the rain clouds away from the stage. Everyone stared at her in amazement. Never before had a unicorn been able to control the weather so effortlessly. Staring down at her flank, Rarity noticed a white cloud raining down radiant blue diamonds.
The Twilight Sparkle of this time sat in the middle of the floor. "I'm sorry for wasting your time..." The star-shaped explosion rang out, and her horn began to glow, shooting beams of light at everyone's heads. These beams stretched all across Equestria, altering the minds of anyone who knew the young filly; it even changed her genetic makeup, rewriting any DNA that indicated she was related to somepony the universe no longer wanted in her bloodline. The pink and purple streaks in her hair and her violet eyes turned a royal blue color, and upon her flank appeared a white crescent moon next to a yellow five-pointed star. When the streams retracted to her horn, she began to form them like balloon animals and other things that would make a filly smile. From that moment on, she was known as Twinkle Dusk, and everypony in Ponyville flocked to Sugarcube Corner to witness her ability.
Each of Twilight's friends earned their Cutie Marks that day...
Except for Rainbow Dash...
A few months went by, and Rainbow Dash was finally admitted from the hospital. Her family had moved to Ponyville after the accident, and she was walking by herself to her new home. She hung her head the whole way there. All the bones in her wings were fully healed, except the growth plates. Once she grew up, she'd never fly again. She'd be lucky to fly again now. A spool of thread tapped her hoof, and after staring at it for a moment, an idea hit her. "So I can't fly anymore? That won't stop me from at least feeling like a pegasus, right?"
Rainbow took the spool of thread in her mouth and galloped the rest of the way home. She took an old pillowcase and a bag of cotton balls from the bathroom cabinet, and had sewn herself a brand new pair of grown pegasus wings. They weren't exactly functional, but she could still sort of flap them with the tiny stubs of filly wings on her back. They made her happy. She felt like a true pegasus again.
Her Cutie Mark from every previous timeline appeared on her flank, accompanied by three blue diamonds.
When the vortex opened, it instead took Twilight and Starlight to this moment. The realization hit Starlight. In tryin to stop the Sonic Rainboom, she ruined Rainbow Dash's future... In that moment, she had regretted everything, but it was too late... "First I lose my parents, then my best friend, and I let that get the best of me..." The words escaping her lips began to mock her. "Boo hoo, my best friend moved away and now I'm evil!"
Twilight rested her hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "If you take me to the you from this time, I can help you fix this."
Starlight sniffled. "Really, Princess?"
Twilight shook her head. "Call me "Mom"..."
