Rainbow Dash felt trapped in her own mind. As her body went through the motions of following the prince and his orders, meanwhile she drifted from her body to the depths and back again as she fought to regain full control of her body. Each time she fell into the fog of her mind, images and voices came to her. To her surprise, they weren't ones from the cave.

One spot she kept returning to was a cloud that seemed to talk to her. It was the same cloud from her dreams. But now… it seemed different. It's voice sounded… more familiar.

She sat on the cloud as she wondered if it was best to stay in this place. "I mean… I'm wondering if it's worth the pain of fighting through the fog just to be forced back here." She sighed. "I… don't know how many more times I can take the embarrassing crash."

"It's not always easy to get up when we fall. But it is when we hit our lowest that our true strength is revealed." The cloud stated. "It is in these moments that we must remember that it's it's with the rainfall that the true beauty rises up-"

"Shooting across the sky as a beautiful rainbow…" Rainbow finished with a sigh. After a few moments, a soft blush crossed her face. "It's kinda funny… I kinda feel like I've heard that before."

"Perhaps you have. Maybe that is why you don't want to leave."

Rainbow blinked and looked back at the mound of cloud before getting up, unaware of her body's change as she made her way to the other side of the cloud before gasping in shock at what she saw… a lone feather sticking out of the cloud. Narrowing her eyes at it, she spread her wings.

"I am Rainbow Dash… I am the fastest pegasus in Equestria… I am the element of loyalty…" She said picking the feather up and fixing it to her main as her body returned to normal. "And I will regain everything that was taken from me." Looking up at the fog for a moment she wade her chances before looking at the wall of clouds in the distance. "Time for a bit of cloud busting before I go."

The prince looked around the town with the princess as she went over some matters that he definitely didn't care much for. But he had to at least stay for a majority of it so he knew the basics of how the town worked. At least that was the plan.

"Why don't you go check out the nearby farm." Celestia suggested quietly. "I have a feeling this will be a while."

"Thanks mom." He whispered back. "Maybe I might find a new friend."

She gave him a sad hopeful smile as he ran off before calmly turning her attention back to the assistant Mayer.

It didn't take him long to find the farm and start making his way to the barn. It took him even less time to ditch the guards and vanish into the trees to explore. "We are so fired." One of the guards sighed as he saw the prince's tail vanish into the trees.

After a bit of exploring, he came up to an odd looking house. What was odd about it was that it was in a tree. "Wow… I've heard about these… but I never really seen one before."

"Ya like it?" A voice asked behind him.

Turning, he saw a mare with a soft smile. "Yeah. I always wanted a treehouse… but it's not really something a noble should really be focusing on." He sighed.

She blew a raspberry at that. "Hogwash. Ma said that us kids should be able to enjoy life. Just don't let it get in the way of helping your family." She thought for a moment and looked from him to the clubhouse. "Ya know… normally I don't allow boys in my clubhouse… but y'all seem like one of the good ones. Want to look inside?"

"It would be an honor my lady." He replied with a bow.

"Just call me Applejack." She laughed. "What's your name?"

He bit his lip and looked away for a moment before smiling back at her. "You can just call me… prince."

She raised an eyebrow at that for a moment before shrugging and led the way. "I got some snacks inside. Hope ya like apples."

The prince smiled and followed her into the clubhouse where they spent a few hours talking about family as they ate. It wasn't long before the conversation shifted to family matters and farm life.

"Ya know. Sometimes I feel like my brother doesn't listen. He just keeps talking without giving others a chance to counter him." She sighed.

The prince thought for a moment before smiling at her. "He's your older brother. I'm sure he just wants to share his knowledge with you. Maybe you can have a talk with him and your grandma about the communication problem."

She thought for a moment and smiled. "Ya know what?... That's a good idea. Granny is always looking after us. She'll know how to handle it." She paused for a moment as she looked at a box in the corner of the clubhouse. She quickly went over and dug through a box.

Sipping some apple juice, the prince watched in interest as she pulled out a small box and brought it over. "What's that?"

"An Apple family tradition. I remember granny said that I should give it to somepony I would trust with my heart… or something like that." She replied, setting the box down. "And you're the first honest colt I met. I can't think of any pony outside of my family I'd trust my life with more than you."

"But we just met."

"That don't matter." She countered. "Y'all been honest from the moment we met. Plus, granny said I'm a good judge of caricature."

The prince looked at the box before slowly opening it to reveal an apple shaped rainbow wooden carving. "Thank you." He sighed. Slipping it into his bag, he looked out the window at the setting sun. "I should go."

"Y'all stop by sometime. Yeah hear."

The next day, he wrote in his diary after setting the apple in his box. "I know mom means well. But I'm beginning to wonder if seeing new ponies is really worth it. At least Spike and Big Mac are willing to keep the secret and keep me informed about how their sisters are doing… Soon we'll be going somewhere near the town. Maybe… I may be able to find answers there."

Author's Note

Dash seems to be battling with a few things. And it looks like the apple family has a connection to this... I wonder what's going on. Who all knew him? Do any of the girls have something that might help them remember him? How will they fix the damage that's been done? And how long till one of the girls snaps? Lol