High above Equestria, the floating city of Cloudsdale drifted on its preset course. To the untrained eye of an earth pony or unicorn, it was as if the cloud mass never moved at all. Every morning, the sun would cast its much needed rays through the rainbow factory's windows and at night the stars would illuminate the cloud streets better than any artificial light source ever could. It was a joy for any Pegasus to be in Cloudsdale because there was no other city like it. Pegasus from all walks of life had a connection to the city. From factory workers, to weather managers, to school fillies. No matter where you came from there was something there for every Pegasus, and only for Pegasus. It also helped that it was the training grounds of a certain rainbow maned Pegasus' idols.
Rainbow Dash sat atop one of the many pillars that surrounded the arena. She was never used to sitting still for any prolonged period of time unless it involved sleeping or a Daring Doo novel. But this time was special: she was keeping an eye on her competition. Whenever the Wonderbolts held tryouts, it was never a secret. Pegasus would gather from all over Equestria for a chance to show the famous stunt flyers what they were made of. The auditioner confidently landed in on a drifting cloud while Spitfire and Soarin' discussed his routine.
"So, what'd you think, Spitfire?" Soarin' whispered from behind his clipboard. He peeked up at the menacing looking Pegasus they were discussing before nervously looking back at his papers.
"How can he even fly?" Spitfire managed to mutter.
"I dunno, but you can't deny his... uhh... enthusiasm?" Soarin' mumbled from behind the pen in his mouth. The co-captain of the Wonderbolts shifted through the papers on his board and wrote a question mark before addressing the white pegasus. "Well, that was an interesting routine to say the least. We'll let you know something by next week."
"Yeaahhh!"
Both stunt flyers flinched at the flexing mass of muscle before them and wearily watched him strut towards the locker room.
"Seriously, how could he fly with those... those... tiny wings?" Spitfire stammered. She put a hoof over her nose, nearly gagging. "Blech! He smells like Red Minotaur and old gym socks."
"It's not the size of the wings, it's how much lift you can get." Saorin' grinned while arching his eyebrows and extending his own feathered appendages. Spitfire responded with a disinterested look and snatched Soarin's clipboard while he was distracted.
"Okay, next up..."
By this time Rainbow Dash gave up sitting attentively and resorted to laying down. Most of the tryouts were mediocre for the most part. The local mail mare had a somewhat entertaining routine involving barrel rolls. At least until she crashed through one of the empty spectator boxes. Rainbow Dash went to make sure she was okay but she was delusional, murmuring something about a talking rabbit telling her to hold right and press Z. Whatever that meant.
"Rainbow Dash! You're up!"
"Yeah, I'm a shoe in to make it this time. With my awesome skills, they should be begging me to join."
"Rainbow Dash..."
"Spitfire is probably the one keeping me from joining. I could fly circles around her."
"Rainbow Dash..."
"That's probably it! She must be imitated...imitatimidate... uhh.. intimidated by my awesomeness!"
"Rainbow Dash!"
The rainbow maned Pegasus looked down to see an agitated Spitfire pointing at her. "Rainbow Dash! It's your turn!"
Without hesitation Dash hopped to her hooves and glided down to the starting position. The rest of the contenders whispered amongst themselves conspiratorially. Words like awesome, fastest, amazing, and fearless popped up often and flowed through her cyan ears like sweet music. With a few neck cracks, stretches, and wing flaps she was ready to go.
One thing Rainbow Dash enjoyed about being Ponyville's weather manager was it was great conditioning. When she first started out, it was exhausting, leaving her flopping into bed with little or no free time. After a while, she found herself flying circles around the veterans and could manage an entire set of crops which usually required up to three Pegasus. Coupled with the training she did on her free time, Rainbow Dash has spent most of her young life preparing for this moment.
The routine Rainbow had prepared had a pretty standard start. She always considered doing something flashier, but it proved to be a great warm-up. Going out there at top speed and doing something especially dangerous off the bat would spice things up, but that's what the next phase was for. Besides, what's the point when it would never measure up to her final stunt... ever.
Phase two was a bit difficult. Nothing dangerous, but it required precision flying. Each bob and weave between clouds and pillars required expert calculation. Not that fancy bookworm scribble Twilight always tried to teach her, but actually feeling what angle to pull when making a sharp turn. Yeah, all those books and numbers about flying had nothing compared to actually doing it. The wind currents under her wings, the light contact from the tip of a feather barely touching an obstacle. Nothing in a book could make her any better at it.
Then came the conclusion to the flight routine. The last time Pinkie Pie watched her train, she said it was the icing on a cake. That would have to be one awesome cake to handle this icing. Rainbow Dash shot straight up into the air, pushing herself further and further. The wind resistance against her body brought intense pressure, she could feel her lungs struggling to stay full. Her ribcage tightened like a hungry python. Intense heat beat against her coat, threatening to ignite her at any given moment. But then there was nothing. Cold, empty, silent... nothing.
Rainbow Dash took a moment to look around. It was black and empty all around her. Her wings lazily flapped but by some miracle she was still in the air. When she looked down, there wasn't a trace of the arena or even Equestria for that matter. Just a giant round ball covered with a mixture of whites and greens, but mostly blue. This was the highest she's ever flown and if that was the case, then this was the highest anypony has ever been too. Except maybe Princess Celesta and Princess Luna. She made a mental note to check with them whenever she got a chance. Especially since it was getting much colder and she started to feel a bit dizzy. Besides, it was time for the final stunt.
It wasn't so much flying, to pull it off, more like falling while aiming. Tucking her back legs and wings in, Rainbow Dash thrusted her arms outward in front like an equine missile. The natural wind resistance tugged at her body fighting to tear her apart. She could literally hear every muscle, every ligament tugging tightly. It hurt a bit, but the payoff would more than make up for a few days of soreness. Especially since the hard part was over. Eyes watering from strain Rainbow Dash could see it, what she was trying to achieve. She was going to do it.
The wind around the free falling Pegasus formed into a cone, still fighting to the end to stop her from her goal. The air gave one final roar of anguish before Rainbow Dash punched through. What followed was a light show of epic proportions. It was like she dived into an ocean of color. Waves of blues, whites, yellows, greens, and purples danced across the sky, telling the tale of one of the most legendary stunts ever known to ponykind. Rainbow Dash took a brief moment to smile, because she knew it wasn't over yet.
Sailing downward like a bat out of Taurus, Rainbow Dash focused all her strength into her wings. She could feel them fighting against her will, hugging against her body like an anxious foal. All she needed to do was get one more flap before it was too late. Cloudsdale was rapidly approaching. If she was going to do it, it'd have to be now or never. She could feel every feather, every pinion nearly being ripped out of her wings, but it didn't matter, Rainbow Dash was going to do it, if this doesn't get her into the Wonderbolts, nothing will.
The Cloudsdale arena roared with hoofstomps and cheering from all who came to audition for the Wonderbolts. The Sonic Rainboom was a thing of legend. Even when Rainbow Dash pulled it off before, very few managed to see it. But word spread like wildfire throughout Equestria. Both Spitfire and Soarin' watched the explosion of color, trying to keep their excitement at bay.
"You know, I'll never get tired of seeing that." Soarin' struggled to say. Spitfire continued to look upward, only able to give a slack jawed nod. "So Spitfire, why haven't we made Rainbow Dash a Wonderbolt yet?"
"You have to promise not to tell anypony this. I swear to Celestia, if I find out you did, I'll make sure you never see another pie for your natural born life." Spitfire said with morbid passion. Soarin' slowly took his eyes off the Sonic Rainboom's after effects and looked at Spitfire who gave a deadly serious look that drew a twitch from her co-captain.
"Yeah, sure..." Soarin' forced himself to say in agreement. Spitfire looked back up at the cyan Pegasus falling from the sky, leaving behind a rainbow trail.
"Rainbow Dash is the greatest flyer in Equestria... no... the world. I'm afraid that if we do let her join, we'll only be holding her back from what she's really capable of."
"You mean capable of something like that?" Soarin' shot back, pointing up to the sky. Both stunt flyer's jaws dropped at the sight.
Another blast of color, almost as big as the previous one ran across the sky chasing after its predecessor. For a moment there was no blue sky, no clouds, no sun, just a prismatic sea. Inviting rainbow waves that danced gracefully across the sky. It was so beautiful it was painful to watch, yet it was impossible to look away. All Spitfire could do was stare. The corners of her eyes blurred, but she was too entranced to blink. Streams of moisture danced down the captain's cheeks at the marvel before her. It was beautiful... so beautiful...
Completely drained, Rainbow Dash tucked her legs and wings into her body. In a smooth leaning motion, she managed to fall into a somersault. It wasn't meant to look cool, (even though it did) but instead it was an attempt to stop herself from losing consciousness. She spent tireless hours perfecting the Sonic Rainboom to the point that she didn't feel like this. It was only a matter of time before she could do a second one. Maybe one day she'll be conditioned enough for a third one. But only time could tell.
Feeling the air run its nurturing fingers through her body, Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open. Between flips, she could see the Cloudsdale arena rapidly approaching. Even though she just pulled off one of the greatest stunts anypony will ever see, this was the hard part. Every part of the Pegasus' body ached, but she knew if she didn't do this last part, she'd be doing more than aching. Her wings felt like they were on fire. Piercing pain danced down from the tips of her feathers all the way down to her ribs. But with intense willpower, she managed to thrust her wings outward, just in time to glide down and land in front of Spitfire and Soarin' while striking a pose.
"How... was... that..." Rainbow Dash asked between gulps of air. Despite her entire body being covered with scrapes and bruises, she had a look of determination in her eyes that said she would go and do it all over again if need be. All Spitfire could do as stare, forcing herself to hold back tears, cursing herself for not wearing her uniform today. Soarin' just stared at Rainbow Dash. This battered, bruised Pegasus, eyes filled with fury, passion and defiance. He could almost feel himself drowning in those maroon orbs.
*POMF!*
"Uh... e-excuse me..." The Wonderbolt stallion stuttered while blushing furiously. When he tried to flap his fully erect wings to fly away, it was no use. Face red with embarrassment, he gave the still teary eyed Spitfire a nudge to get her attention. "HeySpitfirecanyoutellRainbowDashaboutherperformanceIgottatakecareofthisthanksbye!" And with that, Soarin' took off galloping into the locker room.
Chest rising and falling, feasting on air like an orphaned foal, Rainbow Dash focused her attention on Spitfire. For a few seconds everything went black, but she was determined to hear one of her idols give an open invitation into the best stunt flying team in Equestria. Spitfire took a deep breath, took a long blink to swallow up any wandering tears and looked at the greatest flyer she'll ever see in her lifetime.
"Yeah, that was pretty good. You should hear something from us next week."
"Huh?!" Rainbow Dash gasped as Spitfire walked past the now deflated Pegasus. She stooped down to pick up the clipboard she dropped and addressed the group of remaining auditioners.
"Okay, next up, Thunderlane..."
Unsure how to take the news, Rainbow Dash retreated to the locker room to lick her wounds.
The flight back to Ponyville wasn't as bad as it could have went. All the scrapes and bruises were pretty superficial at best. She was still sore, but no worse for wear compared to that time Ponyville needed a monsoon to make up for a terrible drought. But what really hurt the most was Spitfire's dismissal of the best stunt routine she ever came up with.
"Yeah, that was pretty good. You should hear something from us next week."
Rainbow Dash replayed that moment in her head during the whole trip. Maybe Spitfire was speaking in code. Or maybe she was so speechless, that's all she could really say. Dash drooped her head and began to glide downward when Ponyville was in sight. But suddenly, everything went black and the world around her felt like it was spinning. Forcing herself awake, she managed to shake her head. Just in the nick of time because the streets were only a feet away. Dash landed and tapped the side of her head just to get the cobwebs out.
"Hey Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?" A familiar voice called out from behind. Dash turned around to see Scootaloo approaching. Unable to resist having a cool demeanor in front of a fan she stood up on her hind legs jabbing at the air.
"Yeah squirt, I feel great!"
"Are you sure?" Scootaloo asked again tilting her head to the side blinking. "You looked like you were hurt up there but snapped out of it at the last minute."
Rainbow Dash landed back on all fours and scratched the back of her mane nervously. "Oh that- that was a new trick I was testing out."
"Really?" Scootaloo beamed, fluttering her wings with excitement. "You're gonna have to show me that later." The orange Pegasus curbed her enthusiasm and pawed at the ground nervously. "Well... after you help me with my tricks. I'm still having trouble doing an inside out loop."
Rainbow Dash put a hoof on the filly's shoulder in comfort. "Sure, I'll see what I can do about that." Suddenly she stopped and did a double take. "Wait, did you say you had trouble doing an inside out loop?"
"Uh, yeah." Scootaloo said looking up with a raised eyebrow.
"As in a flying inside out loop?"
"You sure you're feeling okay?" Scootaloo asked with concern written across her face. She surprised Rainbow Dash by hovering up and putting a hoof on her forehead. "You looked really, really hurt up there."
"No, really. I'm fine." Dash said while flapping her wings for show. "I'm just surprised you learned how to fly while I was gone." She concluded while grabbing Scootaloo out of the air and mussing her mane. Scootaloo backed away looking even more upset. The filly drifted in circles around her idol while tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"You're such a prankster. You almost had me for a second!" Scootaloo chuckled. "Anyway, I gotta catch up with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Bye!" Giving a wave, Scootaloo took of flying in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres leaving behind a rather impressive trail of orange and purple for a filly Pegasus.
Still a bit confused, Rainbow Dash shook her head again and tried to make sense of everything. But the sound of her stomach grumbling derailed any train of thought. Rainbow Dash sniffed the air, catching a whiff of some fresh baked goods from Sugarcube Corner.
"Maybe I'll get a bite to eat first. It's gonna be hard to think about anything on a empty stomach."
Sugarcube Corner wasn't particularly busy this time of day. Lunch hour was just about over and the last few straggling patrons within nervously ate as fast as they could to avoid being late. Rainbow Dash's stomach grumbled even louder as the smell of sugar, spice and everything nice attacked her nose upon entering. Everything looked so delicious and she was so hungry. Dash took a second to shake her head and focus on what to get.
"Hey Dashie!" Pinkie Pie called out, waving behind the counter. Rainbow Dash returned the wave and approached the party pony. "Wow! You look really, really, really hungry." Pinkie said, bouncing off on each 'really' for added emphasis. "What can I get you? We have doughnuts, cake, pie, bear claws, cannoli, baklava, sad cake, happy cake, moon pies..." Pinkie Pie took a deep breath before continuing. "...Cream horn, croissant, eclair, danish, fig rolls, kringle, quiche, strudel..."
"I'll just have a couple glazed doughnuts." Rainbow Dash interrupted with a raised hoof, her stomach let out a louder grumble than before. "Better make that a dozen."
"One dozen doughnuts coming up!" Pinkie shouted enthusiastically. Rainbow Dash laid a few bits on the counter and took a seat by the front window. A sudden surge of dizziness hit Dash and everything went dark again. After a few moments Pinkie Pie reappeared from the back and set a plate down in front of the reeling Pegasus.
"Here you go Dashie." Pinkie said, pointing to the plate of doughnuts. Rainbow Dash tapped the side of her head for good measure before digging in. "Heeey Rainbow Dash, are you okay?" The party pony asked while pulling up a chair.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired from tryouts today. I was so excited, I probably forgot to eat." Dash said between bites. After having her fill for the moment, she glanced out the window and caught Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walking with Scootaloo hovering above them. "Uh, Pinkie?"
"Yes Dahie?" Pinkie answered with a grin and an eye flutter.
Rainbow Dash took a breath, still in disbelief over what she was about to ask. "Do you remember when Scootaloo learned how to fly?"
Pinkie broke out into loud snorting laughter.
"What?"
"You're so silly Dashie!" Pinkie giggled. "You did, after she got her cutie mark."
"Cutie mark, I don't remember Scootaloo having a-" The door to the bakery opened, ringing the bell mounted above it. All three Cutie Mark Crusaders walked in and Dash got a good look at the pair of paralleled winged violet lightning bolts on her flank. Even Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had their own cutie marks. Reeling from the sudden discovery, Rainbow Dash nervously took a bite of her doughnut. Even more shocked, she looked down at the half eaten chocolate doughnut she was holding and shakily placed it with its companions sitting in front of her. "What the hay is going on?"
"What's wrong?" Pinkie asked.
"Something's not right? It's like.. things keep changing around me."
Pinkie Pie stared at Rainbow Dash confused. Dash stared back until she felt the room rocking and everything went black again.
"Dashie, what's wrong?"
Rainbow Dash re-opened her eyes and looked at the Party Pony sitting at a cafe table across from her.
"See? It did it again! Look!" Dash shouted, pointing all around her. Pinkie Pie looked around and back to the cyan Pegasus with a worried look.
"I don't see anything. Just a bunch of ponies looking at us." The party pony said. Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her forehead in frustration before getting up from the table and hopping over the cafe fence. "Where ya goin' Dashie?" Pinkie asked leaping over the gate and bouncing along side the confused Pegasus.
"Something funny is going on and I know just the pony that can find out!"
"So, why are we outside Twilight's Library?" Pinkie asked. "You never explained what's going on."
Rainbow Dash started knocking on the door loudly. "Honestly, I dunno. Ever since I got back from tryouts, everything's been all weird."
"Weird like what?" Pinkie Pie asked, blinking her eyes in confusion.
"Weird like.. like..." Dash trailed off feeling her head swirling around. This dizzy spell was worse than before and she felt like she would lose consciousness. Suddenly the door opened and her jaw dropped at the sight of Twilight.
"Hey girls, what can I do for you?" The librarian said. Rainbow Dash continued to gawk, trying to make sense of things. She looked like Twilight, but just... different. She had a light pink coat, white hair with a lavender streak in it. Instead of a six-sided star, she had six five-sided stars for a cutie mark.
"Weird like this!" Rainbow Dash said pointing at the mare that resembled Twilight, startling her. She turned to Pinkie and her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. Pinkie Pie was all white with a blonde mane, violet eyes and most important of all had a pair of wings.
"Something wrong, Firefly?" The mare that looked like Pinkie Pie asked.
"Yeah, something's very, very... what did you call me?"
"Firefly, that's you name right?" The mare that resembled Twilight said. "Maybe you should come in and sit down you don't look so good. Spike! Get some water."
Rainbow Dash warily walked into the library and caught a glance at her hooves when she looked down. Instead cyan, they were pink. Startled she made a break for the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Gasping from surprise, Rainbow Dash mentally prepared herself to look in the mirror. Looking back was a light purple aqua maned Pegasus. Just to make sure, she waved a hoof in front of her face and the mare in the mirror did the exact same.
"Okay...now I'm officially freaked out..."
Rainbow Dash stared into the bathroom mirror, horrified by her altered appearance. The trademark rainbow locks of mane of her namesake were no more. Replaced by aqua strands that felt the same as if to add insult to injury. Even her almost glowing cyan coat was gone, changed into a bizarre shade of pink. She felt the same, still full of energy, same memories, brimming with confidence as she's done every day before. But in the mirror looking back wasn't Rainbow Dash. Despite everypony's subtle change in appearance Twilight's library looked like it hadn't changed and the bathroom, even down to the little crack in the upper corner of the mirror was still how she remembered it. She couldn't help but compare her predicament to Daring Do and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and snorted at how badly that adventure was.
"Firefly! Come out of my bathroom. You're... starting to scare me." Twilight called out while knocking on the door. At least a pony that resembled Twilight. Just like Dash, everything about the librarian stayed intact. If that was the case she wouldn't be able to resist the urge to figure out what was going on, whatever color the obsessive bookworm may be. Rainbow Dash took her attention off the door and went back to looking at the stranger looking back at her in the mirror. She just couldn't wrap her head around it.
"That's it!" Twilight shouted in agitation. "If you don't come out... I'll... I'll wish you out!"
"Wish?" Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She stared into her reflection, completely focused on her altered look as if she could wish everything back to normal. As if it were all a dream and she would wake up at any moment where everything was as it should be. Suddenly, a flash of magic danced around the confused Pegasus, teleporting her out of the bathroom and back into the main library, but several feet in the air. Before Dash even had a chance to get her wings out she hit the ground, hard, fast and head first.
"Geeze Twilight, I think you need to practice your blind teleporting. You dropped her on her head... again." A familiar sounding young male voice called out. On the edge of losing consciousness, Rainbow Dash lazily tracked the source of the voice in just enough time to see a pink baby dragon with dark green fins on his head. As he approached, Dash's eyes got heavier while she silently hoped everything would be back to normal once they opened again.
"Oh my! She looks terrible Twilight."
"Y'all weren't kiddin' sugarcube, she looks plum tuckered out."
"Oooh! Do we have any plums? I could go for some right now. I don't care if they're tuckered out or not!"
"Let's get her over to the couch, darling."
"Here, let me help. Two unicorns are better than one."
"So what's all this about, Twi? Ah thought all Tartarus had broke loose."
"I'm not sure Applejack. She looked at me like I was a stranger and locked herself in my bathroom.
"Well, Ah reckon you can be a bit queer sometimes. Tain't nothin' to fret about."
"Ah don't mean it like that and y'all know it!"
"Um, girls, I think she's waking up..."
Rainbow Dash heard the familiar voices, but was too weak to answer them. The last thing she could remember was falling on her head thanks to a Twilight Sparkle look-alike. Getting some of her strength back she opened her eyes and tried to sit up, only to be forced back to the ground by something strong and orange. Dash reopened her eyes to finally see a familiar face. Even if that face didn't look too happy to see her.
"Hold yer horses, we gotta sort this out." Applejack said. Rainbow Dash felt herself smiling when she noticed the farmer looked just like she remembered. Same orange coat, same apple cutie mark, same blonde mane. She let out a sigh of relief that it really was all a dream. But where was Applejack's hat?
"Wait Applejack." An approaching Fluttershy said. Dash followed the direction the shy Pegasi's voice came from and felt more relaxed to see her yellow, pink maned childhood friend standing over her. Even if something seemed slightly off.
"Sorry haystack." Applejack began. "But we need to make sure she's not one of those doppelgangers left over from the wedding."
"Don't you mean changeling?" Rainbow Dash interrupted. Fluttershy and Applejack looked down at her with raised eyebrows. "I'm not a changeling. Twilight's brother and Cadence took care of all of them, remember? It's me, good old Rainbow Dash. You know, awesome! radical! Twenty Percent Cooler!" The Pegasus fired off her more infamous quotes in hopes of convincing her friends.
Applejack scratched the back of her head and looked to Fluttershy. "It's worse than Ah thought Posey, Firefly here ain't a doppelganger. She's down right delusional."
"Twilight? I didn't know you had a brother." Posey muttered to the confused pink unicorn. "Um, it's okay though. You were probably waiting for the right time to tell us."
While still under Applejack, Rainbow Dash struggled until she could get a look at her hooves. Still the same strange colors as before, she gasped and slipped from under the farmer's grip, backing away cautiously. Applejack and Fluttershy approached her cautiously.
"Firefly, calm down. We're your friends." Fluttershy cooed in a soothing tone. As she approached, Rainbow Dash finally got a good look at her fellow Pegasus and noticed... she was wasn't a Pegasus at all. Even her cutie mark was different. Instead of a trio of pink butterflies, this incarnation of the soft spoken pony had several pink, green stemmed flowers on her flank. Dash backed away even faster but bumped into something while trying to mount a retreat.
"Take it easy, darling." A voice that sounded identical to Rarity's said. Rainbow knew it wouldn't be that easy and turned around to meet whatever strange version of the the fashionista head on. Sure enough, it was the same Rarity in terms of manestyle and speech, but the the rest of the well spoken unicorn was slightly off. Given her blue tinted coat and lavender, rose streaked mane, she couldn't help but think of how the real Rarity would react. She'd probably throw herself across that her fancy red couch, sobbing at how gaudy her altered self looked.
"Yeah double "F," chill out." A voice much like Pinkie Pie's called out. Rainbow Dash looked around for the alternate party pony but there was no trace. Out of nowhere a white, blonde maned pegasus swooped down from above with a very Pinkie like wide grin. Dash shuddered at the thought of a Pinkie Pie... with wings. Giving up, the stunt flyer sat down in defeat and looked at her altered friends.
"Guys, I know this is going to sound weird, but I'm not who you think I am. I mean, I look like her..." Rainbow Dash stopped to shake out her aqua mane and let out a sigh. "...but I'm not her... in here." She concluded, tapping her chest. "I don't know how or why this happened, but we need to find a way to fix it."
"And that's exactly what we're going to do."
Dash looked up and saw Twilight approaching. The pink librarian's horn was aglow with a purple aura and a large tome floating alongside her. She sat down in front of the Pegasus and teleported a pen and quil into existence. Even if she wasn't the Twilight Sparkle she remembered, she was close enough. Twilight licked the tip of her pen and flipped over a fresh pad of paper to take notes.
"Maybe we should start with your memories. Start with something we all would know, like how we first met."
Deciding to get comfortable, Rainbow Dash laid down on her side, propping her head with an upraised hoof. It was going to be a long story, but if it would help to get to the bottom of what was happening, she'd have to endure sitting still.
"It all started the day before the Summer Sun Festival..."
"...and then, Princess Celestia asked Spike to take a letter. But it wasn't really a letter. She said you were going to stay in Ponyville and study the magic of friendship." Over the course of telling her story, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but get excited. Especially when she got to talk about herself. Contrary to what anypony else would think, this was one of her fondest memories. And talking about it only made her miss her real friends even more than she already did. Feeling a weight on her shoulders, Dash sat back down in front of Twilight and pawed at the ground anxiously. "Twilight?"
Finishing up taking her notes, Twilight began flipping through pages in the large book before her. She took a moment to look up at the Pegasus. "Yes, Firefly... I mean Rainbow Dash?" She stammered, still trying to get used to the name. Dash looked up from her slumped state, tears forming in her eyes.
"I... I want to go home..."
Twilight set her pad down and placed a reassuring hoof on the pink Pegasi's shoulder and gave a comforting smile. Applejack, Posey, Surprise, and Sparkler couldn't help but drop everything and gather around the sad Rainbow Dash, hugging her in support. Even if they weren't her real friends, at that moment, gathered together, they felt like them.
