Rainbow Samurai

Circumstance & Adjustment…

A little over a month had gone by since Rainbow’s arrival in Canterlot. She made a speedy, albeit incomplete recovery, as she regained the full use of her wings. Her cuts and bruises had also healed, but her hind leg was still troubling her, as she still couldn’t put very much pressure on it without sending small jolts of pain through her body. Despite this, she hadn’t needed to wear a cast, which was a plus for her. Instead, the ailing appendage was wrapped with gauze. Over the course of the past month, she’d made friends with Twilight Sparkle and managed to become acquainted with the Princess and some of the guards around the castle.

However, she was still troubled by her growing homesickness and coping with the loss of her only family. She’d also been plagued with recurring nightmares regarding that life-changing afternoon. Despite her melancholy feelings, she’d accommodated well to what she began to think of as her new home. When she wasn’t going through therapy to whip her leg back into shape or being lectured on various boring topics not straying far from books and magic by Twilight during the day, she was out in the gardens, zooming around in the open air and practicing aerial maneuvers to take her mind off of her situation.

The exhilaration of flying at high speeds always relaxed Rainbow when she was upset or sad. The feeling of the wind pushing itself against her as she tore through open skies practically made her lose herself in a blissful daydream where no one could disturb her. She’d always chosen the garden as a suitable flight spot because it, with consideration from Princess Celestia and the royal gardener, became the final resting place of Daring Do. The knowledge that her mother could always be close to her, despite being separated by a rich, beautiful assortment of carnations, dasies, and other miscellaneous flowers, as well as six feet of earth, brought her a mystic feeling of relief... Almost like the mare was still physically alive to watch over her. With everything that happened on that fateful day, she found more solace than ever in flying freely in open air. She’d been bedridden for two and a half miserable weeks after she was brought to Canterlot, and she was going to make up for lost time.

“Rainbow Dash!” called a masculine voice from an open door. “It’s lunch time! Come on in!”

“In a second, Mr. Aegis,” the filly called back. “I just need a few more minutes!” with that, she flew very high into the air and continued her airborne ballet.

“Rainbow, if I have to come up there again, you’re gonna be sorry!” Aegis shouted impatiently. Aegis was one of the two guards assigned to keep a constant watch over Rainbow in the case that the group of ponies she’d warned Celestia about had come to attack her. The two had grown somewhat close in a short amount of time. Rather than a bodyguard for the filly, he more or less became a foalsitter for her. In that time, Rainbow proved to be a bit hardheaded when it came to obeying orders, as he proved to be impatient with her rambunctious disposition. He’d had to drag the strong-willed filly just about everywhere, especially when he had to end her flying time.

“Oh yeah!?” she playfully challenged. “Come and get me then!” she stuck her tongue out at him before flying off.

“Oh, that little…!” Aegis took off after her, quickly gaining on her. Rainbow turned to notice him closing in and picked up speed. The Pegasus guard followed suit, intent on capturing the rebellious filly. Just as he inched himself to a close enough distance to be able to wrap her up in his fore legs, she pulled a ninety-degree turn upwards, effectively blinding him in the trail of polychromatous light she inexplicably left whenever she soared past a certain speed. Not one to tolerate being made a foal of, Aegis shook off his blindness and continued tracking his prey, who’d taunted him by hanging her tongue out and shaking her head wildly as she made a teasing noise before dashing off. His determination and anger increased dramatically, he sped up after her. Time and time again, the crafty little Rainbow Dash would trick her foalsitter into thinking he’d caught her before pulling some sneaky tactic that would throw him off.

“What’s wrong?!” Rainbow called behind her as the two Pegasi flew upwards. “You used to be able to catch me all the time!”

“Yeah, keep pushing me!” Aegis shouted, thoroughly infuriated at his inability to catch Rainbow. The filly suddenly went into a dive bomb, flying at a speed she had no experience flying at before. Aegis didn’t hesitate to follow suit, but he was shocked to find two things: He couldn’t catch up to her and he noticed an air cone forming around Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow, wait!” He fearfully called, afraid of what might happen to the filly as she accelerated. He found his call completely ignored as she began rapidly picking up speed, the cone around her body becoming more evident as she lost track of her bodyguard. Rainbow Dash was speeding towards the ground at an entirely dangerous rate, but she was too caught up in the excitement of how fast she was flying to stop. Aegis tried desperately to catch up to her, to no avail as she was much too far out of his reach. Rainbow had shown no signs of slowing down, and any attempt at doing so would prove disastrous… if not fatal if she wasn’t careful. Horrified at the thought, Aegis pumped his wings beyond their limits to save Rainbow from what he perceived would be her dreadful death, until…

*KABOOM!!!!!!!!!!*

An intense explosion rocked the entirety of Canterlot as Rainbow Dash suddenly shifted direction upwards at a ninety-degree angle, leaving a kaleidoscopic shockwave of colors in her wake. Alarmed, the filly craned her head to marvel at her endeavor. She saw that her mane and tail had united into a multicolored streak of light as she flew much faster than she’d ever even dreamed of. She also took note of the shockwave she’d created, and was beyond impressed by her creation. She managed to gradually slow herself down to a stop before rejoining with an utterly dumbfounded Aegis, who gawked at the filly with open-mouthed shock.

“H… how… did you DO that!??” he found the sense of reason to ask.

“I don’t know… It just kind of… happened, I guess,” she replied, just as clueless as he was.

“What’s going on out here!?” Princess Celestia shouted as she galloped into the garden through an open door, accompanied by her most faithful student and her pet dragon to see the results of Rainbow’s flight. The mare and the filly took on looks of disbelief as they looked on to see that the garden had been severely damaged and most of the windows in the surrounding area were completely shattered. They’d also caught the last semblances of the shockwave before it scattered across the land. Rainbow and Aegis joined up with the Princess and the Unicorn filly, Aegis’s face still frozen in shock.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called. “What happened?”

“I-I don’t know! I was flying and then Aegis tried to catch me, so I flew faster and faster until this really huge explosion happened behind me!” Rainbow’s words rang a bell in the Princess’s head.

“Sonic… Rainboom…” Celestia murmured, capturing the attention of everyone around her.

“A… a what?” Aegis stuttered.

“Sonic Rainboom…” the royal Winged Unicorn began. “It is said that any Pegasus pony who accumulates enough speed to exceed terminal velocity by a certain exponent, would not only break the sound barrier, but also cause a temporary disruption of the color spectrum… This was supposedly proven to be completely impossible to achieve…”

“And look!” Twilight practically squealed as she pointed towards Rainbow’s flank. Rainbow quizzically turned and looked, her face brightening up at what she’d laid her eyes on: A portrait of a cloud with a lightning bolt consisting of the colors red, blue, and yellow coming out of it, right there on her flank.

“My Cutie Mark…!” she said in quiet excitement. “I got my Cutie Mark! Yes! Yes!” she cheered as she flew around in excitement.

“You’ve also gotten yourself in a lot of trouble, young filly,” Celestia scolded, cutting Rainbow’s celebration short. “While it’s wonderful that you’ve performed a feat that nopony has ever performed before and you found out what makes you special, you’ve also caused a lot of damage and possibly attracted attention to yourself, I’m sure not all of it welcome. The shape of your Cutie Mark also raises some concern… We must go inside. Now.” With that, the entire group of ponies made their way into the castle to further discuss the event and its possible consequences.

It had been a slow and uneventful school day for Fluttershy. She hadn’t been showing much focus in her schoolwork or her flight lessons, feeling as if she’d lost all motivation to do so. For the entirety of the month that had gone by, she hadn’t heard from or seen her mommy at all. Her daddy was far too busy to spend time with her, making up for lost income by taking on extra shifts at his job on a daily basis. She was further demotivated by the series of rumors that had spread about her almost-friend, Rainbow Dash.

Every time the blue filly’s name was mentioned, it was instantly linked to the subject of homicide, which was scary to the frightful filly in itself. These same rumors caused most of the other schoolfoals to steer clear of her. Stemming from the rumors of Rainbow killing her mother, another rumor formed about Fluttershy regarding her knowledge of it. Ponies were genuinely afraid of her, silencing themselves and staring at her like injured animals whenever she walked by. She hadn’t been alone in the isolation, however. Thunderlane, Flight Path, and Trailblazer were also lumped together as accomplices, for the simple fact that they’d been seen conversing with Rainbow during lunch the day it happened. It certainly didn’t help that Gilda had moved away almost immediately afterwards.

“I don’t understand… why doesn’t anypony like us…?” the filly asked her only friends as they sat at a lunch table far away from other ponies.

“They still think we had something to do with Rainbow doing what she did…” said Flight Path.

“This is so lame!” Trailblazer complained. “All we did was talk to her, and now we’re as alone and unlikeable as she was! Why did she have to do that!?”

“I… I um… I don’t think she did it…” Thunderlane nervously confessed, capturing the attention of everyone around him.

“What?? What do you mean you don’t think she did it!?” asked a shocked, yet inquisitive Flight Path. “All the evidence was right there in the house!”

“Yeah, but… what no one knows as of yet is that… is that my dad and I were the first to see her after everything went down… she was covered in blood, yes, but… she came to the door holding a sword that was too big for her to hold steady, much less stab somepony with…”

“So?” said a skeptical Trailblazer. “Doesn’t mean she couldn’t have done it.”

“Yeah, but… when I saw her mom, she had cuts all over her… that and Rainbow was only covered in blood; nothing else. No bruises, no scratches, nothing. But then, her house looked totally trashed inside, like there was a huge fight… and Dash kept swearing that she wasn’t the one that did it. She kept saying some bad ponies did it…” As Thunderlane explained his views on the circumstances of the events, he captured the group’s full attention.

“Well… why didn’t you tell your dad that you didn’t think Rainbow Dash did it?” Fluttershy asked. The question froze the black colt in embarrassing fear. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke up.

“Because… because I lied to him about how we met…” he bitterly admitted. “I was too scared of getting punished for beating up on you, so I lied and told him that Gilda hit me out of jealousy for trying to become friends with you, her, and Rainbow Dash…  and then I told him that I was shaken up by what Rainbow did after seeing her…”

“Oh… I guess it didn't help that he found out the truth from Gilda?”

"No... but thanks to you, he didn't punish me too badly. Thank you, Fluttershy..."

“Dude!” Trailblazer shouted. “What the hay!? You should’ve told him!”

“He wouldn’t have listened to me anyway!” Thunderlane snapped. “He never listens to me or ANYpony, for that matter! Once he gets an idea, he keeps it unless he’s proven wrong!”

“Oh, so lying to him to save your own flanks only to get found out makes everything better?” Flight Path began. “What about Rainbow Dash!? Everypony thinks she’s a murderer and only NOW are you telling us that she might not have done it. It’s too late to change any minds at this point.”

“And for that matter, if you knew all of this from the start, why didn’t you let Rainbow know that you believed her!?” asked Trailblazer.

“I don’t know!” the black colt answered, now feeling guilty for his actions. “I… I was scared… and my dad would’ve probably punished me even worse if I—!”

“Who cares what your dad would’ve done!? Rainbow Dash ran away with her mom’s body and nopony’s heard from or seen her ever since the day it happened. She wouldn’t have had to run away if it wasn’t for you. Now she’s probably somewhere far away, starving, injured or even dead… all because you were too scared of a little punishment from your dad to tell him the truth. Plus, everypony’s scared of us and won’t even so much as look at any of us because they think we know about the—!”

“Trailblazer…” Fluttershy tried to interrupt.

“…murder. All of this is YOUR fault!” The orange colt’s harsh words cut deep into the black one’s conscience. Why DIDN’T he say anything? Why did he allow his father’s will to overpower his judgment so strongly? His cowardice got Rainbow in a lot of trouble… possibly even killed, for all he knew. He lost the power to even look any of his friends in the eye as he lowered his gaze to the table below, a knot in his throat and tears welling up in his eyes.

“It… it’s not his fault,” Fluttershy defended as she scooted close to Thunderlane to hug him, which alarmed all three colts. “He didn’t know what to do, and he didn’t know how to prove that Rainbow Dash didn’t do it… not to say that she DID do it… or that she didn’t do it. Mr. Roaring Wind should’ve asked Rainbow what happened and listened to her… but he didn’t. It’s not his fault, either, though…”

“Well, whose fault is it?” asked Flight Path.

“Nopony’s,” Fluttershy simply stated. “At least, it’s nopony’s fault until we… um… we…”

“…find Rainbow and find out what she knows,” Thunderlane finished as he finally gained the courage to lift his head up to show a look of determination in his eyes.

“What??” the other two colts simultaneously asked in surprise.

“I’m going to look for her. I’m starting after school today. I messed up in not telling my dad that I believed her, and now I’m going to correct that mistake. Are you guys with me?” At that, a long, tense silence passed over the table. However, before anyone could give an answer, the bell signaling the end of the lunch period rung, prompting each of them to go their separate ways to their respective classes.

Later…

The remainder of the school day had passed rather quickly, with each of the four foals being distracted from their isolation by their contemplation of a possible new mission. After the final bell had rung, Thunderlane took it upon himself to wait by the entrance of the school for his friends. Eventually, the four foals were reunited to discuss their plans.

“So… you guys with me on finding Rainbow Dash or not?” the black colt asked.

“…Sorry, dude. I can’t. I’m still on thin ice for what we did to Fluttershy a month ago,” Trailblazer apologetically explained. “If I don’t get home soon, I’ll get grounded again…”

“I honestly don’t think it would be that easy to find her…” Flight Path began. “It’s been way too long. She could be anywhere in Equestria by now. Maybe even in another country, for all we know. There’s no way four foals are gonna find her if nopony professional could. Count me out.”

“Are you serious??” Thunderlane asked, appalled by the unwillingness of his friends to locate the blue Pegasus filly. “We might not have been friends with her for long before she disappeared, but we have to! I honestly believe she didn’t do it, and we should at least try to find her to give her a chance to explain herself.”

“Dude, you’re not making sense! We have NO idea where she is, and we’d be wasting our time looking around like we do! We don’t even know if she’s ALIVE at this point!”

“I’ll help you…” Fluttershy offered. The black colt lit up with relief at her.

“Thank you!” he praised. “At least SOMEpony has a sense of faith…”

“I just need to fly home and let my daddy know that I’ll be going out first… if that’s okay…”

“That’s perfectly fine. Meet me at Rainbow’s house in about a half hour, okay?”

“Okay…”

“I’m telling you, you’re just wasting your time…” Flight Path warned before the group dispersed to their respective homes…

Fluttershy hadn’t been able to catch her daddy before he left for his second shift of Weather Patrol Duty, so she left him a note explaining her whereabouts before she left to help Thunderlane. She was lost in her thoughts about Rainbow Dash and her current objective. She really didn’t know how to go about taking up such a task; searching for somepony who could quite possibly be a murderer on the run? That sounded extremely dangerous! But then… what if she wasn’t a murderer? What if she was only on the run because she was afraid and/or hurt? In that case, she’d be helping a new friend clear her name and regain her life, for the most part. The conflict going on in the yellow filly’s mind was frustrating to mull over, but she was confident that she was doing the right thing… that is, until she heard an enormous, yet distant explosion coming from seemingly nowhere.

“EEP!” Fluttershy quietly shrieked in fear. “W-wh-what was that???” she asked as she stopped in her tracks to look around. Less than a moment later, she caught sight of a blinding multicolored flash of light heading towards her at a rapid rate. Before she could react, the light collided with her, hitting her with a dangerously strong gust of wind akin to that of a powerful hurricane. She tried her hardest to resist, only to be blown away like a stray piece of paper. She flared her wings to try and stop herself, to no avail as they were too weak to battle the heavy momentum at which she’d been sent plummeting through the air. She was powerless; unable to open her eyes to see, unable to stop herself from spinning uncontrollably to the point of complete disorientation and developing a sudden case of nausea, and unable to hear anything but the wind blowing into her ears as she was thrown like a ragdoll towards an area very far away from Cloudsdale.

*CRASH*

*BOOM* Shockwaves of agony burst through the poor filly’s body as she barely managed to open her eyes to gain some insight as to what happened to her. Her vision was blurred, she felt sick to her stomach, and she was in too much pain to move. She managed to catch a glimpse of her body to see that she’d been severely damaged; cuts and bruises all over her. She found herself succumbing to the grips of unconsciousness before she’d been able to take a look at her surroundings. The last thing she laid eyes on was a blob moving towards her before she passed out.

Thunderlane had arrived at the rendezvous point and had been waiting there despite hearing, but not seeing the results of an explosion shortly after arriving home to tell his father he was going to play with Fluttershy. The colt’s father wasn’t home, however. He had work during the afternoon and usually came home about two hours after Thunderlane did. The colt figured he’d leave a note that said he was going out to play with the yellow filly before taking off to Rainbow’s house. There, he’d waited there for about an hour for Fluttershy to arrive so they could begin their search.

“Hmph… I guess she can’t make it…” Thunderlane solemnly mumbled as he took flight away from Rainbow’s house. He’d wondered why Fluttershy agreed to help him, only to stand him up. He didn’t know her very well, but from what he could tell, she was really nice... she was also kind of… dare he say, cute.  Considering the way she presented herself, she couldn’t be one to lie about anything. But at the same time, she seemed like one to be extremely frightful of everything. Maybe her dad came home early and told her to stay after that explosion happened.

*CRASH*

“What was that?” Thunderlane asked after hearing something break from within the abandoned household. He cautiously approached the front door, being very slow to open it. He was shocked to find that it had been unlocked in the first place, not to mention afraid of entering a house in which someone had died. However, his curiosity overrode his other feelings as he carefully entered the house, shutting the door behind him.

“H-hello…?” he called. No answer. He observed his surroundings to see that any sign of a crime being committed was erased. No blood, no broken furniture… in fact, the house seemed empty, save for a few artifacts, as well as a bouquet of flowers surrounding a picture of Rainbow and her mother smiling with joy sitting up against a wall. Under the picture was a ribbon that read, “Gone, But Never Forgotten… Rest In Peace, Daring and Rainbow…” The epitaph sent a chill down Thunderlane’s spine. He already knew Daring Do was gone, but the mere thought of Rainbow Dash suffering the same fate… it frightened him stiff. He would never live down the guilt of knowing that she’d run away and died because he didn’t tell the truth when he had the chance…

“NO! She can’t be dead…” A thought suddenly occurred to him. “Rainbow!” he shouted, assuming the mysterious presence to possibly be that of the blue filly he’d been searching for. “Rainbow! I believe you! I don’t think you killed your mom! You don’t have to hide!” He galloped through the living room and made a right, hoping to discover the filly in hiding. He threw the door open, but was shocked by what he came in to see: A mysterious grown Pegasus pony of an indiscriminate gender in a black spandex suit with red goggles and a strange symbol on its flanks. The figure was standing in a room that seemed to have been ransacked, various materials scattered messily about the room. It took notice of the colt and froze in place. “Wh… who are you…?”

The figure said nothing as it slowly approached the colt. It crept towards him as if to attack.

“What are you doing here…? W-Why are you here…?” Thunderlane frightfully asked as he backed away from the ominous figure, intent on hightailing it out of the house as fast as he could.

“You are searching for the one called Rainbow Dash?” the figure finally spoke, still approaching the colt. Its voice was low and monotone, yet feminine. How it knew of Rainbow piqued Thunderlane’s curiosity, swaying him from his initial decision to run.

“What’s it to you!?” the colt defensively asked as he stood his ground, ready to defend himself. The figure moved up and stopped right in front of him.

“I can help you…”

“Yeah, right! You expect me to believe you? You’re in her house and trying to steal from it, thief! How do you even know if she’s alive?”

“What if I told you… that she IS alive?” Thunderlane’s resolve was quickly deteriorating to a mixture of curiosity and apprehension as he listened to the mysterious mare.

“How would YOU know?”

“Did you not hear the explosion that happened earlier? Did you not see the results of it?”

“Well… I heard it, but I didn’t see anything.”

“I see… well, have you ever heard of the Sonic Rainboom?” Thunderlane’s eyes widened with shock.

“Yeah… but nopony’s ever been able to pull one off. It’s not possible.”

“Oh, it’s very much possible… In fact, take a look at this,” the mare said as she reached into a compartment in her suit to pull out a picture. She showed it to the colt to reveal it to be that of the daytime sky with a rainbow-colored distortion running through it.

“Wha… how…?”

“As I’m sure you’ve heard, anypony who successfully initiates a Sonic Rainboom will cause a disruption of the color spectrum that takes on the colors of the performer’s hair.”

“Yeah…?”

“And do you see how this picture shows that there is every color under Celestia’s sun in the disruption?” The colt was alarmed beyond belief at the information he was receiving. Rainbow… alive? And performing a Sonic Rainboom? It was ridiculous! There’s no way this thief could be telling the truth… but then… the thief HAD proof that the explosion wasn’t caused by any normal circumstances.

“H-how do I know you’re not lying…?”

“I will answer that with this: Why do you think I am here?”

“To steal stuff, obviously. You’re a thief. The suit you’re wearing says it…” At that, the figure sighed in annoyance before moving to take off the goggles and mask, much to Thunderlane’s shock. The mare revealed her coat to be dark blue with a long, wavy mane of golden yellow with sporadic streaks of a brighter yellow in it. Her eyes were a brilliant light brown. Thunderlane was captivated by her beauty, but dumbfounded as to why she’d reveal her face to him.

“Listen to me, and listen hard,” the mare sternly began as she lowered her head to meet his gaze. “I am also searching for Rainbow Dash. I am part of a secret operative group that is on a mission to bring harmony to the world. The organization I am with works in the shadows, making sure that everypony is able to live their daily lives without the threat of danger. We believe that this Rainbow Dash can help us in ways neither you nor I can imagine. Despite her going missing for an extended amount of time, the Sonic Rainboom gave me a clue. Taking into account the strength of the shockwave, she can’t be too far from here. As for you, for the simple fact that you see me as I am now, you are now faced with the choice of joining me in my search or dying.”

“W-wh-what?? Why do I have to choose?”

“Because, colt… We follow a strict code so as not to be seen or known about by any civilian ponies, be it stallion, mare, or foal. Those who catch wind of us are either recruited into our ranks… or killed where they stand, so as not to reveal any information about us or possibly become a threat to our cause… we haven’t had many deaths since our foundation, so the rest is up to your imagination…” she lifted a hoof to extend a knife, the sight of which made Thunderlane gulp in terror. She leaned in close to him, pressing the broad side of the ice-cold blade to his cheek while pressing the side of her muzzle against his other cheek. “And you could be of some use to me, with proper training…” she enticingly whispered into his ear. “What’ll it be, handsome…?”

Thunderlane was caught between a rock and a hard place. On one side, this enigmatic mare claimed to know Rainbow’s whereabouts. The sooner he could find her, the sooner he was able to tell her that he would help her regain her innocence, thus clearing his own conscience. Plus, if this mare was telling the truth, he and Rainbow could possibly become part of an expedition for world peace, and who doesn’t want that? On the other side, that came with a hefty, contradictory price: Joining up with this thieving stranger who was threatening to kill him if he didn’t comply. Who was she? What organization did she work with? How did she know who Rainbow Dash was? And what did she mean by “proper training”? The questions were building up in his mind, but he didn’t feel like he was going to have them all answered immediately, considering the pony giving him the offer was also pressing a knife to his cheek.

“Well?” The mare asked again, nudging the knife after a brief moment of silence.

“I’ll… I’ll join you…” the colt reluctantly answered, valuing his life and wanting to know where Rainbow could possibly be, as well as what kind of organization this mare worked for.

“Smart colt…” she whispered before retracting the knife, caressing his face with a fore hoof and planting a small kiss on his cheek, further bewildering him. She backed away from him a little to grab her goggles and mask. “Just… one more thing before we leave, sweetheart…”

“What’s that?” the mare didn’t answer. Instead, she trotted towards him again, lowering herself to his eye level. She then wrapped her fore hooves around his neck and pulled him into a surprise kiss. Thunderlane was thrown for the loop of his life as his eyes widened in both shock and a bit of arousal as the mare pressed her lips to his. Part of him wanted to pull away and ask what she was doing. However, another part of him began to enjoy the rush of the moment. It was of course, his first kiss, and it happened to be from a pretty mare. Suddenly, a wave of pain erupted in the back of his neck, and everything went black before he'd hit the ground. The mare delivered a strike to the back of his neck, effectively knocking him out. She proceeded to put her mask and goggles back on before picking the unconscious colt up and placing him on her back.

“We can’t have you knowing everything just yet… You’ll understand soon enough, when we return to base…”

In the throne room, Princess Celestia, Rainbow, Aegis, and Twilight were discussing the significance of the Pegasus filly’s self-discovery.

“Your Cutie Mark… It bears a striking resemblance to the Element of Harmony you’re wearing…” the Princess informed Rainbow. “In addition, said Element has bonded with you, unable— or possibly unwilling— to part with you. This is beyond the shadow of a doubt, a sign…”

“A… sign of what, Your Majesty?” Aegis asked.

“A sign that the time for the Elements to make their presence known is soon approaching… A sign that this world has fallen into such a collective condition of poor shape and dissonance that only the Elements of Harmony would be able to make things right… As you know, Aegis, many of our neighboring lands have been in conflict with one another for centuries. No matter how much Equestria has tried lending a helping hoof in settling these chronic disputes, things never turn out well.”

“Yes… in the past year, Great Britmane and Gallopistan have been at each other’s throats over the issue of fair trading. Hoofania and Meclopolis have been warring with one another for almost a decade. And Trottopia has simply been a third-world country since its civil war a little less than seven years ago ravaged its resources and divided its people over many of its problems…”

“And we have tried many a time to extend aid to each of them, and to promote peace and unity. Yet, every time Equestrian officials set hoof in one land, at least two of the others become upset. Each time we lend financial aid to one country, the others expect us to do the same for them, forcing us to explain that we don’t have the kind of money necessary to fund all of the other countries, especially when they use the money to fund more fighting and segregation… No matter how hard we try, there doesn’t seem to be a way to save them all… at least, until now…” Celestia finished, turning her gaze to Rainbow Dash.

“Wait… ME???” the blue filly asked in shock.

“Not just you, Rainbow… There are five other Elements hidden across the lands of this world… and five other ponies who have been chosen to wield them. However, I do not know who these other five ponies are and I cannot look for them myself, as I have an entire country to oversee…”

“But Your Highness! She’s just a filly!” Aegis argued. “Plus, she’s still injured! There’s no way she’d be able to find the others in her current state! Not alone! She doesn’t have the skills necessary and she’s not old enough!”

“Yes, I realize that… that is why I am hereby instructing you to train Rainbow Dash in the royal guards’ chosen form of self-defense once her leg is fully functional.” Her order alarmed everyone in the room.

“I… I will obey, Princess Celestia…” Aegis concurred, albeit with a grain of salt.

“Princess…?” Rainbow spoke up. She had already accepted the fact that she would eventually embark on an arduous journey. However, the journey she had in mind was a bit different from the one Princess Celestia had in mind for her.

“Yes, dear?”

“What… what about—?”

“The sword you were in possession of when you were found?” Celestia could tell that Rainbow wouldn't resist that she'd have to take up the task. However, the filly still showed signs of uncertainty.

“Yeah… It belonged to my mom… and I want to know if I can use it in my training… as a way to remember her…” Rainbow had more reason than the simple fact that the sword belonged to Daring Do for her to request that she be able to use it. She still remembered her promise of revenge against the adventure mare’s murderer. Fearing that such a reason would cause the Winged Unicorn to deny her permission to make use of the weapon, she kept it secret.

“I see… There aren’t many guards who are trained to use weaponry such as that sword… However, I will see to it that one who has the necessary skills is appointed to you when you’re strong enough to carry it.”

“But I’m strong enough now!” Rainbow argued. “I was able to kill a Timberwolf with it when I was in the woods!”

“I see… but exactly how were you able to use it to accomplish the act?” Rainbow was stumped as memories of her battle came flooding back to her. She’d remembered the first swing she took with the sword; how clumsy and uncoordinated it was and how it did next to nothing to harm the wolf.

“I… It was really heavy for me…” she admitted. “I had to fly really high up in the air and swing at the wolf as hard as I could… after the first swing I took got the sword stuck in its cheek…”

“Yes, and this is why you need to train yourself up to be able to keep it steady before you learn how to use it. It may take years before you’re strong enough, and I know that isn’t what you want to hear… but as the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, it is your responsibility to be able to defend yourself as best you can to complete this mission.”

“Princess Celestia…?” Twilight finally found it in herself to speak.

“Yes, my student?”

“What about me? Do I have a part in all of this?”

“Hmm… yes, actually. Throughout your time here, you’ve shown that your aptitude in magic is far beyond that of any normal Unicorn. It was only a year ago that you took the entrance exam in my School for Gifted Unicorns in which you had to hatch the egg that contained your pet dragon. In that exam, you were on the verge of failing before you allowed your frustration and pure determination to unlock your true potential. I remember it as if it happened yesterday… Such power in such a small filly… Not only did you hatch the egg, you turned the baby dragon into a full sized one, all the while transforming your inspectors and your parents into various items and losing control of your power before I intervened… I was originally going to train you to control your power for the sake of you and everyone around you. But now I see that there is a greater cause in your presence here. You will continue your studies under me and the School for Gifted Unicorns, but you, Shining Armor, and I will be spending more time training you to control your energy.” Twilight hardly needed to ask why to be ecstatic about spending more time with her mentor and idol alongside her older brother, whom she'd harldy ever seen after he'd been drafted into the Royal Guard. However, given the circumstances, she asked anyway.

“Why?”

“Because when your training is finished, I’d like for you to accompany Rainbow in her quest for the Elements.” Once again, the Princess managed to elicit reactions of shock from everyone else.

“Princess!” A different guard shouted as he galloped into the throne room.

“Yes, what is it?”

“There have been numerous reports of an explosion followed by a rainbow-colored shockwave seen by all of Canterlot! Many citizens are in a state of panic! What should we do?”

“I will attend to the matter posthaste. Gather up a platoon of fellow guards and inform the city that I will be making an address at the heart of the city in one hour.”

“As you command, Your Highness!” the guard complied as he quickly rushed out of the room.

“It appears this discussion has reached its end. Twilight, you are free to go until I return so we may discuss your training regimen. Aegis, accompany Rainbow to the rehabilitation center. Aid her in her recovery until she feels she is ready to begin her training.  I must take my leave. Farewell, all.” With that, Equestria’s leader swiftly made her way out of the throne room, leaving the two fillies and the Pegasus guard to perform the tasks she had given them…