Equestria, a magical place, where diverse creatures lived, and which currently seemed to be the most peaceful place in the world, diverse species living in harmony and learning about the value and power of friendship, all thanks to the bearers of the elements of harmony.
Only 6 ponies who together, saved Equestria several times, had managed to bring peace, and of course they were all enjoying it.
"zzz... no, that cider is mine..."
Some more than others.
Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty, was sleeping peacefully on top of a cloud, until suddenly her tail was caught in a rope and she was pulled to the ground, waking up scared.
"Ouch! Where am I!? What year is it?! Buck Biceps is King already!?" asked Rainbow Dash as she woke up.
Hearing laughter, Rainbow Dash realized who was to blame for disturbing her sleep.
"Applejack..." Rainbow Dash said, gritting her teeth as she glared at the orange mare.
"Good morning Surgar Cube, did you sleep well?" Applejack asked with a smile.
"Oh, I slept until somepony threw me on the ground, what do you want?" Rainbow Dash asked grumpily.
"Well, things on the farm are pretty tough, so I thought I'd call in one of the many favors you owe me," said Applejack.
"Hey, do you want me to help you on the farm? It's my day off," Rainbow Dash said.
"The earlier you start, the more you can enjoy your time off, it's just a few things... mainly the ones you're less likely to mess up," said Applejack.
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed indignantly.
"Anyway, it's just a few basic and simple things, if you do everything well I guarantee you'll be very well rewarded" said Applejack.
"Applejack, I just got back from a long trip, a little cider isn't going to make me-" Rainbow Dash was interrupted.
"So how about being rewarded in another way?" Applejack asked with a smile.
Rainbow Dash blushed.
"Ehh... what do I need to do exactly?" Rainbow Dash asked with a smile.
Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Princess Twilight Sparkle was working calmly as always.
"ARRRG! THIS ISN'T WORKING! SPIKE!" Twilight screamed in frustration.
Spike entered the room almost instantly holding a cup of coffee, being careful not to trip, or dirty any book or parchment on the floor, he approached Twilight who had dark circles on her face and a messy mane.
"Here" he said handing over the coffee.
Twilight wrapped the cup with her magic, and then drank, after a few seconds she let out a sigh.
"So... are you better now?" Spike asked nervously.
"A little, thanks Spike, sorry for yelling, but I'm so stressed" said Twilight.
"I honestly think we should tell the others about this," Spike said.
"Tell what? I still don't know exactly what to do, or what's going on, I'll just worry them and all of Equestria" said Twilight tiredly.
"You saw 7 emeralds, with different colors right?" Spike asked.
"They looked like emeralds, well, I think the colors would be due to the magic they must emit, they were responsible for what happened on New Year's Eve," said Twilight.
Flashback...
It was New Year's Eve, Twilight had gotten a little break that day, she knew she would have more work when she got back, but she wouldn't miss that moment, she was talking to Pinkie Pie, Futtershy and Rarity about the news, and watched Rainbow Dash and Applejack having what seemed to be an argument, but they knew they were flirting in their own way.
"I still don't understand why they don't just date," said Twilight.
"They don't feel ready for a normal relationship, they're proud, they have different lifestyles so at the moment they'd rather just flirt with each other and... have a lot of fun at night" said Rarity with a smile.
Twilight and Fluttershy blush and Pinkie Pie starts laughing uncontrollably.
"Rarity, don't talk about things like that in a place like this, at a time like this!" Twilight scolded.
"It's okay, I'm just commenting," Rariy said.
"Commenting on what?" Rainbow Dash asked, approaching Applejack's side.
"About this interesting relationship you two have," Rarity said.
"Oh, I told you before that we're not looking for a serious relationship," said Applejack.
"Yes, yes, but we know that will change one day," Rarity said.
"No way, I'm a free spirit, I can't imagine myself dating anyone seriously, or getting married" said Rainbow Dash.
"I don't have time for that, and having a relationship with Rainbow Dash? I'd rather fight 1,000 dragons," Applejack said.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash asked, offended.
"Don't get me wrong, you may be good... in action, but you're certainly not what I'd call a lifelong partner," Applejack said.
"Well, and you have a nice flank, but I definitely wouldn't want to be in a relationship with someone AS boring as you," said Rainbow Dash.
The two stare at each other for a moment, Twilight was about to interrupt when she notices Rainbow Dash's mane, which was glowing, each color shining with intensity, until suddenly returning to normal.
(What was that?) thought Twilight confused.
"Look, I don't know if you guys are going to fight or make out, but I think you should leave that for another time," Rarity said.
"Yes, when they are alone in the room," said Pinkie Pie smiling.
"Pinkie?!" said Fluttershy, surprised and blushing.
"What's up? We're not on TV, and this is a T-rated fanfic," said Pinkie Pie.
...
...
...
"Alright, we'll deal with this later," said Rainbow Dash.
The party continued, everyone was happy talking and having fun, until finally the time came, everyone gathered outside the castle, and started the countdown.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
Twilight noticed Rainbow Dash's mane glow again, along with her tail and cutie mark.
3
Twilight had a bad feeling.
2
"Rainbow-" Twilight can't finish.
1
"HAPPY NEW YEAR-"
Equestria... no the world... the universe felt a strong energy, the sky changed color several times in just one second.
"What the hell was that?!" Applejack screamed in surprise.
Rainbow Dash fell to the ground unconscious, and Twilight was in a cold sweat and breathing heavily.
"Uhhh... Happy New Year?" said Pinkie Pie, wanting to break the silence.
End of flashback.
"That was weird, I've never seen anything so strong, and I'm constantly having these dreams..." said Twilight, lying on the floor tiredly.
"Hey, it's going to be okay, it's been a month, no one remembers or cares about it anymore" said Spike.
"It's not just about whether or not anyone remembers Spike, Equestria could be in great danger, and Rainbow Dash seems to be related, she was in a coma for a week" said Twilight.
"It's Rainbow Dash, if you let her sleep for a month, and besides that she's fine, she even went on a trip, and flew very well" said Spike.
"But that doesn't mean she's out of risk, her mane was shining before that happened, when it happened she fainted, I want to know more about these emeralds, before something bad happens" said Twilight picking up another book.
"...and how can I help?" Spike asked.
"How about you get some more tea?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, sure..." Spike said before leaving.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was collecting some apples, the way Applejack had lost, and without eating any apples, after all she wanted to receive her reward.
"Working on the farm during my downtime, Applejack owes me at least 3 nights" said Rainbow Dash as she picked up the bucket full of apples.
Rainbow Dash didn't notice, but her mane began to glow, and she had the feeling that there was something nearby, she felt drawn to an apple tree, which looked like an ordinary apple tree.
(hmm... maybe this one has better apples) Rainbow Dash thought
Rainbow Dash approached, placed the bucket on the ground, prepared herself and hit the apple tree with her hind legs, making the apples fall, but something hard hit her head, and then everything went dark.
...
...
...
When Rainbow Dash woke up she realized that she wasn't in the orchard, her bed, her room, or her house, she was in a place... strange, but it seemed very familiar, the ground, it seemed to be water, but she wasn't wet, and she didn't sink, she seemed to be in space, but she was breathing and not floating.
"Rainbow Dash!"
"Twilight?" Rainbow wondered as she turned around.
When she turned around she saw a floating rectangle, and in it she saw her friends, not only her friends, but also her, something that caught her attention was that there were destroyed robots on the floor, and she was holding a blue glowing stone.
"Rainbow Dash!"
It was Fluttershy's voice, she sounded desperate, she turned and saw another rectangle, and in that rectangle she saw something strange, it was a creature she didn't know, but it was strangely similar to her, it wore clothes, walked on two hind legs, and had arms and hands.
"But what..." Rainbow Dash thought confused.
That Rainbow-like creature joined its hands together and an energy with the colors of the rainbow appeared.
"PRISMATIC EXPLOSION!!!!" He shouted as he fired the energy at a creature of the same species that also seemed very familiar.
"Okay, this is all very weird," Rainbow Dash said emotionlessly.
She saw more of those rectangles and she saw a lot more of those rectangles, and in all of them she saw that in all of them there was always someone who looked like her, some were ponies, others were like that creature that Rainbow Dash didn't know, and there were some that were practically a mix of both.
"Okay... now how do I get out of here?" Rainbow Dash asked herself tired of it.
She turned around, and this time she didn't see one of those rectangles, she saw a pony, who looked just like her, but her eyes didn't have pupils and they were glowing, and she was smiling, but despite that Rainbow Dash didn't feel afraid...
...
...
...
She felt nothing.
"Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Applejack, who was holding her.
"Did I die?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"It seems not," said Applejack.
"So why does it feel like I'm seeing an angel?" Rainbow Dash asked, smiling.
Applejack then lets go of Rainbow Dash, causing her to fall to the ground and groan in pain.
"It looks okay, what happened? And what is this?" Applejack asked, pointing to a glowing orange rock.
"I think that's what hit me in the head," Rainbow Dash said, standing up and rubbing her head.
Applejack picks up the rock in her hoof, and then looks up at the tree above them.
"Did that fall out of the tree?" Applejack asked, confused.
"I think so, I went to get some apples from here, and I felt something hard hit my head" Rainbow Dash explained.
"Hmm... this is glowing, and I'm no expert, but I think this is magical," said Applejack.
"Is your apple tree magical?" asked Rainbow Dash before getting hit in the head "Ouch!"
"No, something must have happened and it got there," said Applejack.
"So... what do we do?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"In the old days we could easily go to Twilight and ask her if she knows what it might be, but now she's farther away, so I guess we'll just have to wait," said Applejack.
"I can go now," Rainbow Dash said.
"No, we're not done with the job yet, if you still want your reward you'll have to continue and leave that magic stone for later," said Applejack, walking away.
"Damn..." Rainbow Dash sighed before following Applejack.
Neither of them noticed, but Rainbow Dash's mane glowed again, along with the emerald.
Meanwhile, inside a room, there was a stallion, an earth pony, with red fur, no mane, a large brown mustache, and wearing sunglasses, it was not possible to see his cutie mark, he was looking at a screen, which showed a map of Equestria.
"Hmm... so the orange emerald is near Ponyville..." said the pony, as he looked at the screen.
Two shadowed figures approach the stallion.
"Do you want us to take care of that, doctor?" asked one of the figures, who had a female voice, but it sounded strange.
"No, I'll send some robots there, it should be enough to get just one emerald, after all Princess Twilight doesn't even live there anymore" said the stallion.
"Understood," the figure said, walking away with the other figure.
The stallion looked at the screen with a smile.
"Soon... very soon... I will have the 7 emeralds... and no one will be able to stop me!" said the pony with a big smile.
"sneezy!" Rainbow Dash sneezed.
"Cheers," said Applejack.
Author's Note
Well, that was the chapter, it was supposed to have been published much earlier, however, I had some problems.
has a prequel which is "the end of one year, the beginning of another"
It was supposed to be a longer chapter and with the first confrontation, but I had to shorten it, and leave it for the next chapter, it may also have several grammatical errors, because I am not fluent in English, so I had to translate with Google Translate and I didn't check due to lack of time, comment what you thought of this prologue
