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Rainbow Dash Goes All-Out
Part 1: Rainbow's Secret / Rainbow Meets Soarin'
Rainbow had always wanted to join the Wonderbolts, but she never got the chance to inquire. At the Grand Galloping Gala, she had the perfect opportunity, because the Wonderbolts would be showing off their newest flying tricks. Not a pony in Ponyville was left without knowing about Rainbow Dash's aspirations. But she had a secret: she secretly admired Soarin', the captain of the Wonderbolts, not just for his flying skill, but also for his looks.
After two days of preparation, Rainbow Dash was finally ready to leave for Canterlot, the glorious capital of Equestria, where the Gala was held. It was a days train ride to Canterlot, which seemed like forever to Rainbow Dash. When she finally arrived at Canterlot, there was a large crowd on the platform of the station. As she was stepping off the train, something caught her eye. A cyan-colored pegasus-pony wearing a blue suit emerged from the crowd in front of her. His eyes glowed olive green, and his navy-blue mane rustled in the wind. When Rainbow Dash realized who this pony was, her mouth fell open.
The courageous captain of the Wonderbolts began to move toward her through the crowd. Another pegasus-pony with a bright orange coat appeared next to him, and said something to him. She looked worried, and Rainbow Dash noticed her expression even through the dark pair of sunglasses she was wearing. Soarin' whispered something back, and continued toward Rainbow Dash. Soarin' reached her, and politely sat down, waiting for her to introduce herself. Finally, Rainbow Dash said. "Soarin'?"
"Yep. That's me!" He responded. "Well, I just love your-"
"Can I apply?" Rainbow cut in. "For the Wonderbolts, I mean," Rainbow Dash said, blushing. Soarin's expression said it all. He was going to say no. He proceeded to plot out Rainbow Dash, from head to hooves. When he got to her rainbow-colored mane, he stopped, and sighed. "Tell you what," he finally said, "meet me and Spitfire in room 207 at the Royal Canterlot Inn, eh? We'll see what we can do for you."
Rainbow Dash became excited, and then frowned. "Who's Spitfire?" she asked.
Soarin' gestured with his head. "Don't look now, sugarcube. She's not happy. I better go now. See you there!" And with that, Soarin' disappeared back into the crowd, leaving Rainbow Dash feeling like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, that some filly had just stumbled over.
Rainbow Dash knocked on the door with Room 207 written on it. When the resident opened the door, Rainbow Dash, took a step back. It was Spitfire.
"Oh. Hi. Come in." Rainbow Dash didn't move. "Don't worry. I only kick ponies that Soarin' doesn't like." She sounded resentful, and Dash didn't like her one bit, but she went in, and saw Soarin', leaned back in an arm chair by a fire. He got up, and greeted her. "Hey! Sit down, so we can talk." Rainbow Dash happily sat down on a couch across from Soarin'. She was about to speak up, when she noticed a small wooden frame with a photo of one of her best friends from Ponyville in it. "What's a photo of Applejack doing here?" she asked.
"Oh, me and Braeburn Apple are good friends, and he insisted that I meet his sister, Applejack. As it turns out, she's really awesome. But that's beside the point." Rainbow Dash frowned. "So, back at the station, why did you stare at-"
"So, I still don't know your name," Soarin' cut in.
"I'm Rainbow Dash."
Soarin' stifled a laugh, then said, "it goes with the color of your mane." Dash couldn't help smiling.
Soarin' came and sat on the couch next to her. "You know, it's been a loooong time since I've seen a pegasus-pony as...um...aerodynamic as you." There was something about his voice that she didn't like, but she told herself that he was probably just nervous. Soarin' edged a bit closer to her, and an emotional sonic-rainboom went off in her head. Rainbow Dash could feel the warmth of his body, and smell his sweet cologne. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash fell out of her trance, and realized that Soarin' was being yelled at by Spitfire.
"What do you think you're doing?! I thought you said you were done with this kind of...of...junk!" The sonic rainboom inside Rainbow's head reversed direction, and raced back toward the center of her pony-brain.
"Dude! Chill out!" Rainbow Dash yelled back.
Until Spitfire turned toward her, Rainbow Dash had never realized how Spitfire's mane looked like it was on fire when the sun hit it. "And you! I don't know how in Equestria Soarin' finds you attractive," Spitfire snapped.
"Well, you're a mare, so you shouldn't find me attractive anyway." Out of the corner of her eye, Dash saw Soarin' cringe.
"Fine. Fine! I don't care about you anyway, Soarin'!" Soarin' cringed even more. Finally he said, "why are you doing this to me? Why don't you run off and find your own special somepony?" Spitfire slammed the door behind her. Rainbow Dash relaxed again. She hadn't even realized how tense she had been. Both Rainbow and Soarin' were now thinking the same thing: "how am I going to make up for this?"
Soarin' opened his mouth to apologize to Dash, but before he could, there was a knock on the door. Soarin' glanced sadly toward the door and sighed. "It's for you," he said. Rainbow Dash slowly got up, and trotted to the door. She opened it, and in came Applejack, without being asked. She glanced at Soarin', then at Dash, then back at Soarin'. "Something bad just happened here," she concluded.
"Talk to Spitfire about it," replied Rainbow Dash.
Applejack shrugged, and then cleared her throat, and said, "Rainbow, I came to tell you something very important. This probably won't help your mood, but..."
"Why don't you sit down, and have a drink, AJ," Soarin' cut in.
Soarin' reached forward to put his arm around Applejack, but she recoiled, and said, "Stay away from me, you fillyfooler!" Rainbow Dash gasped. "You're telling me he's a - "
"It's true," Soarin' said, "but I'm just so tired of my Wonderbolt friends, especially Spitfire."
Rainbow Dash felt awful. Then she became angry. Soarin' saw her expression, and his eyes grew wide. "Soarin', why didn't you tell me before? If you had just admitted that you were a fillyfooler, I wouldn't have even cared!"
Soarin' lowered his head in shame. Then suddenly, he perked up. "So do you still not care?"
Rainbow Dash wanted to be angry. She tried to tell herself that Soarin' was a fillyfooling stallion, and that he deserved this. But the area of her mind that controlled silliness was on a revolt, and it wouldn't let her get away with this opportunity. To Soarin's surprise, Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. "Oh, Soarin'! I'll be your special somepony!"
Spitfire moaned from the next room over, but no pony took notice. Meanwhile Applejack had began to gallop back to Ponyville to alert Twilight of the situation. But for Soarin' and Rainbow Dash, it was a match made in heaven, and Spitfire knew that their moment would come, which is why she moaned even louder, and stuck her head under a pillow. Rainbow Dash felt good about her first kiss. Soarin' was an incredible stallion who was similar to her in many ways, not just some random pony she met at some club. He was the captain of the Wonderbolts! She didn't want to think about their future together. Not yet. For now, she would just enjoy the evening as it was.
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Rainbow Dash Goes All-Out
Part 2: Twilight Sparkle's Solution / Soarin's Misconduct
Applejack nearly broke down Twilight's door. Twilight jumped, and whirled around. "Oh, AJ. You scared me! What do you need?" Applejack was breathing hard. "Rainbow Dash...and Soarin'...room 207...Canterlot-" she stammered. "Oh no. Not Soarin'. Princess Celestia herself warned me about him." Twilight responded. "Well, we ain't separating them now!" Applejack huffed. "The best thing to do in this situation is to call a meeting. Tell everypony to meet at my place, okay?" Twilight answered.
After the five ponies were seated at the large, round, mahogany table, Twilight began with a lengthy presentation of her research on Soarin's history, and what Celestia had told her about Soarin'. "When I came to Ponyville," she explained, "I was told that I should be careful of a pegasus-pony with a cyan coat and navy-blue mane. She told me that he was a fillyfooler, and that it would be dangerous to cross him." Twilight paused to take a drink of water, and Rarity took the chance to get a word in. "Twilight, I'm the most beautiful mare in Ponyville! I know relationships. Ever since Rainbow Dash came to Ponyville, her cutiemark really caught my attention." Twilight was displeased with Rarity's interjection.
"Rarity, I was giving a presentation, not to mention cutiemarks are meant to show your unique talent, not how attractive you are."
"Well, your cutiemark doesn't mean much of anything. It's just a purple star. Maybe your talent is stargazing!" Rarity shot back.
Twilight was angry now. Rarity had insulted her, and interrupted her presentation! "Oh, and your unique talent is finding expensive things and-"
"Could everypony calm down, please?" Fluttershy whispered.
"-Pretending boulders are diamonds?!" Twilight continued.
"Everypony CALM DOWN!" Applejack finally yelled. Twilight slammed her hoof on the table, and said, "if no pony else believes me, I'll go on my own!" Before anypony could object, Twilight made good use of teleportation magic, and teleported herself to Room 207, at the Royal Canterlot Inn.
Twilight was quite satisfied with herself when she appeared in the room, and not in the entry hall, where she expected to pop out. Rainbow Dash casually glanced in Twilight's direction. "Hey there Twiley! Check out this video of this trick Soarin' did yesterday!"
Twilight sighed, and said, "I'm sure Soarin' has some amazing tricks up his sleeve, but right now, we've got more important things to talk about. Soarin' is a fillyfooler. You know that, right?"
"Of course! Do you think I care?" Responded Dash.
"Rainbow, I did my research, and there are over 76 ships online that involve Soarin'."
Soarin' gulped. He knew this was a fact that he couldn't deny, and that Twilight was a pony that he had to get rid of. In a desperate attempt to convince his "special somepony" of how crazy Twilight was, he looked Rainbow Dash in her maroon-colored eyes, and said, "Rainbow, honey, is Twilight Sparkle really your friend?"
Twilight rolled her eyes, and thought, "this won't even be difficult. Her element of harmony is loyalty! She would never leave my side as a friend!" But Rainbow Dash was hesitating far too much. Finally, she blinked, and said something that Twilight Sparkle would never forget: "No. No, Twilight Sparkle, you're not my friend. Why don't you go research how to ruin relationships, because you're making a really bad attempt right now." As Rainbow Dash continued raging, with every word she said, more and more of her body turned to gray.
This was not the first time Twilight had witnessed this phenomenon. Back when the six friends were together, they had a run-in with the spirit of chaos: Discord. Discord had the ability to make any particular pony strongly misrepresent his or her element of harmony, turning the pony grey in the process. This was the same phenomenon, but it drew power from a physical source, not from a spirit. It stated from Dash's hooves, and spread like a virus all the way to the tips of her downturned ears. Twilight couldn't believe how she could have overlooked a situation like this, but it was done, and she had to set things right. Her horn began to glow, and suddenly lit up with purple fire, but before she could use it, she lost control, and began to cry rivers of tears.
Her magic fizzled out, and she collapsed into a pile on the floor. As Twilight was crying, Soarin' clapped twice, and the bedroom door opened, revealing Spitfire, who looked pitifully at Twilight. Twilight stopped crying, and stood up. Spitfire trotted over to her, and whispered quietly into her ear, "sorry, sugarcube," and then loudly stated, "I only kick ponies that Soarin' doesn't like. Soarin' obviously doesn't like you." With that, Spitfire kicked Twilight in her side, sending her flying out the door. Soarin' slammed the door behind her.
Twilight galloped all the way back to Ponyville. She was too depressed to even tell her friends what had happened. She ran straight home, to her library, to sit down and read a good book. As she was rounding a corner, she saw her loyal pet dragon, Spike, arguing with a grayish-white mare.
Twilight trotted closer, and cleared her throat. "Uh...excuse me? What seems to be the problem?"
The gray pony turned, her flowing blonde mane catching the evening sun, her golden eyes glowing, one right-side-up, the other up-side-down. Her eyes reminded Twilight of an old friend, from elementary school in Canterlot.
"Derpy Hooves? What are you doing here?"
Derpy's eyes shone. "I was dropping by to say hi, but then Applejack told me about Rainbow Dash, who was in my class at Junior Speedsters Flying Camp, and I felt obligated to help you out!"
Twilight laughed, which felt good for her, after what had happened back in room 207. "Derpy, there's not a thing you could do to help me. Rainbow Dash has really done herself in this time."
Derpy pouted, and then produced a large sack. "Fine! Merry Christmas, Twilight!" She said, dumping the contents of the sack on the ground. Out fell a familiar mare with a bright yellow coat.
"Spitfire!" Twilight sneered.
"Oh by the way, Soarin' sent this to you, and trust me, it wasn't first class." Derpy said as she was trotting away.
It took Twilight a second to understand what Derpy was implying. When she did, she called for Derpy to come back. Twilight looked down at Spitfire. By the looks of it, she had been kicked, stepped on, and generally beat-up.
She opened one eye, and squealed softly. "I'm sorry I kicked you! I...I...he made me!" Spitfire stammered. With every word, she inched farther away from Twilight.
"Don't worry about it," Twilight said, rubbing the spot where Spitfire had kicked her. "That's not important now. Can you fly?"
Spitfire stood up, and flapped her wings, which proved to be useless due to her lack of balance. Determined to show Twilight she could fly, she tried out one of her latest tricks. Much to Twilight's surprise, she lit her hooves on fire, and shot up in the air like a rocket, leaving a trail of fire and smoke behind her. When she went as high as she could, she gently glided back to where Twilight was standing. "See, I can fly," Spitfire said, beaming at Twilight.
"Uh...yeah. Let's just take the train to Canterlot." Twilight responded.
Rainbow Dash Goes All-Out
Part 3: Twilight Does Some Research
"We're going where?!" Spitfire asked.
"The Canterlot library." Twilight responded.
"So, with Soarin', having corrupted Rainbow Dash, you want to go to a library?"
Twilight huffed. "Spitfire, let me explain this to you: Soarin' isn't just a filly-fooling stallion in need of a special somepony, he's evil! Two years ago, I helped to banish Discord, and turn him to stone. However, his spirit has escaped, and has possessed Soarin'! We need to find out how to expel Discord, and the best way to find things out is to do research!"
Spitfire rolled her eyes. "I'll leave that to you. I need lunch!"
"Keep in touch!" Twilight called after her.
Twilight read books like crazy. She took out every book with "magic" in the index. Twilight spent hours looking for anything that would help her defeat Discord again. Twilight stopped reading for a second to think.
When she and her friends had defeated Discord last year, they used the Elements of Harmony, which are locked in a vault that only Celestia knows the password to. Twilight would have used the Elements as her first choice, but Celestia was away on royal business in the Crystal Empire.
Twilight sighed, and picked up the next book in her pile. The title read: The Six Supplemental Elements of Life. Twilight was suddenly interested. "Six supplemental elements? I thought there were only six to begin with." She began to read, and was amazed.
""The six supplemental elements of life are a mixed bag of powers similar to those held by the elements of harmony. The six elements are as follows: Knowledge, Music, Loudness, Cunning, Elegance, and Strength. The elements were last seen in the index of a book.' What? The index of a book?" Curious, Twilight flipped to the back of the book, to the index. When she reached the page with the entry for "the six supplemental elements of life," the page shimmered, and a jar appeared, filled with six different colored pills. Each was marked with a symbol that depicted its element in use. "Yes! Now all I have to do is find six ponies that represent the six elements!" Twilight put the book back, grabbed the pills, and took off to find Spitfire.
Twilight found her sitting at a café table, drinking coffee. For some reason, her dark blue Wonderbolts uniform and her sunglasses made her seem dark and mysterious, but when she got up from the table and flapped her wings, once, then again, Twilight realized how graceful she could be at the same time.
Spitfire yawned, and said, "so, what'd you find?"
Twilight explained everything to her, about the elements, and the supplemental elements, and how six ponies were needed to activate them.
"Well, I can think of a lot of ponies that represent those elements."
"Yeah me too," Twilight responded. "We should make a list...and maybe...start..." Twilight's sentences began to break up as the realization hit her. "Elegance. Hmmm..." Twilight muttered.
"'Scuse me, but what in Equestria are you muttering about?" Spitfire asked.
Twilight suddenly said, "yes, I'm sure of it! You, Spitfire, should be the element of elegance."
Spitfire was speechless.
"You know Soarin' well, and you're an amazing flier," Twilight continued, "and I'll need all the help I can get! You know him better than anypony!"
Spitfire just put her head down on the table, and stayed there for awhile. Twilight sat down too, and Spitfire picked her head up, and said, in a shaky voice, "I guess I have to, right?"
Twilight was stunned by how torn Spitfire was. "You have to remember, Soarin's not our enemy, it's Discord."
Spitfire sniffed, and then slammed her hoof on the table, and said, "I'm in!"
Twilight smiled happily, but Spitfire raised a hoof, "but don't expect too much out of me, I've only had one cup of coffee this morning," Spitfire finished. They both began to laugh, and decided to spend the rest of the morning drinking coffee and talking about life back in Ponyville.
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Rainbow Dash Goes All-Out
Part 4: Twilight Finds Two Musicians / Trixie Meets Twilight For the Third Time
The first two elements were Music and Loudness, and Spitfire and Twilight both knew the two mares that matched the descriptions. In fact, they lived together in Ponyville, so they should be easy to find.
Twilight walked into the lobby of the apartments, and trotted up to the receptionist's desk.
"Excuse me," Twilight asked, "can you tell what apartment Vinyl Scratch and Octavia live in?"
The receptionist looked up from her book, and said, "should be 1277, or 1278 if Octavia's still angry."
Twilight opened her mouth to ask why, but decided to ask Octavia herself. "Thank you ma'am. Come on Spitfire! You'll really like Vinyl!"
Spitfire was interested now, and kept close behind Twilight. The room was on the third floor, in the corner of the building. As they approached the two doors, Spitfire heard two conflicting noises, one loud and chaotic, and the other soft and soothing.
Spitfire sniffed, and said, "lets pick the door with the good sounds. The one that says 'Octavia' on it."
Twilight nodded solemnly, and knocked on the door. The music stopped, and the door opened, revealing a dark gray mare with a black mane. Spitfire's gaze was immediately drawn to her white and pink necktie.
"Twilight? I haven't seen you for years! Do come in!"
Twilight thanked her, and trotted forward. Suddenly, Octavia gasped.
"Twilight, you've made some friends since I last saw you!"
"Well yeah. I've got Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack-"
Octavia shook her head. "No, no! I mean her !" She said shaking her hoof at Spitfire, who blushed. "Do...come in, miss...uh...Spitfire?" Octavia stammered.
"Just call me Spitfire," Spitfire told her.
Everypony sat down, and Twilight began explaining what they were after. When Twilight finished, Octavia sat up, and said, "well, I wouldn't mind representing the element of music," taking a sideways glance at the cello leaning up against the wall, "but I never really cared for Rainbow Dash. Too much boasting!"
Twilight giggled. "Most ponies say that about her. So," Twilight said, scratching her head, "where's Vinyl Scratch?"
Octavia's eyes flared. "She's next door. I wouldn't try to reason with her."
Spitfire stepped forward, and said, "that's all right. I'm used to handling obnoxious ponies."
Octavia shook her head, but followed them out the door.
The door opened as soon as Spitfire knocked. There stood a large, white mare with a messy blue mane and bags under her eyes.
She huffed, "fine, I'll turn it down, Octavia." She began to shut the door again, but Spitfire held it open.
"Excuse me! There are some guests here to see you!"
Vinyl huffed and said, "and just who are you?"
Spitfire's mouth fell open, and Octavia cringed. "I'm Spitfire! Co-captain of the Wonderbolts! How do not recognize me?"
Vinyl shrugged, "that's a cool name though. I might use it as a song title." With that, she slammed the door shut.
Spitfire knocked on the door again; Vinyl opened it, and huffed. "You're not delivering a pizza, or telling me to turn down my music, or inviting me to a party. Really, go away."
Spitfire put her hoof on her shoulder, and said, "actually, we are inviting you to a party. It's going to be in room 207, at the Royal Canterlot Inn."
Twilight became confused. "But that's where Rainbow Dash - oh. I get it now."
Spitfire continued, "so, are you in?"
"Don't have to ask me twice! I'll be there!" She slammed the door shut. Spitfire sighed in relief, but the door opened again, and Vinyl scratched her head, and said, "where's Canterlot?" Octavia stifled a laugh.
"You really don't get out, do you?" Spitfire said.
"What?!" Twilight yelled, looking at the list of ponies. "You put her down for cunning?! She once tried to kill me!"
Spitfire cringed. "I didn't know that! Besides, I'm sure she's better now."
Twilight huffed. "Let's hope so." Twilight trotted up to a pony leaning up against a wall, and asked, "excuse me sir, have you seen a short, blue mare with a light blue mane around Ponyville?"
He thought for a second, and then said, "oh, you mean Colgate! Yeah, she came by-"
"No," Twilight cut in, "she's got a cutiemark that looks sort of like a wand."
"Oh! Oh. You're looking for Trixie, huh? Looking to get revenge I suppose!"
Twilight's face grew red. "No, I just need to talk to her about something very important."
He nodded, and laughed, "it's funny, because she actually lives right-"
The window above him opened, and Trixie stuck her head out. "Did the Great and Powerful Trixie hear someone say her name?"
Octavia sniffed, "you know you're talking in the third person, right?" Trixie looked at Octavia with a look of disgust. "My dear, I always-" then she noticed Twilight. She stopped mid-sentence, and screamed loudly, slamming the window shut. Twilight calmly used her magic to open the window again. "Trixie, I need your help with something very important."
Trixie moaned from inside, "why did I come back to Ponyville?"
Twilight sighed. "Look, I'll even forgive you for trying to kill me, okay?" Trixie neglected to make an appearance. Twilight was about to give up, when the door next to her burst open, revealing Trixie, who had put on a purple cape and wizard hat. Her horn began to glow blue. "Now it's your turn to be scared, Twilight Sparkle!"
Twilight was one step ahead of her, cowering behind Spitfire. Suddenly, a mass of pink and white confetti erupted from the air around Trixie, who began laughing hysterically. She threw off her cape and hat, and pulled Twilight up off the ground. "How do you like my new repertoire? Confetti! I love it!"
Spitfire shook her head, "I'm confused! Are you going to kill her, or throw a party?"
Trixie gave Spitfire her oh-give-me-a-break-look, and turned back to Twilight. "It's been ages since we've seen each other!"
Twilight pushed her away. "Yeah. It's been two weeks since you came back to Ponyville to challenge me to a magic duel, that you cheated in, causing me to get kicked out of Ponyville!"
Trixie rolled her eyes. "Oh give me a break. That was so long ago! Besides, I knew you would find a a way to, ah, embarrass me and force me to leave Ponyville."
Twilight was very skeptical of Trixie, and didn't believe a word of what she was saying. "So, I've got something to explain to you," and Twilight told her the same summary she told Octavia. When she was done, Trixie breathed in heavily. "That sounds amazing. My magic has gotten better, and it would be a great way to practice a bit more." Twilight looked at Spitfire, who winked. Twilight was becoming more and more excited, but then she looked back at Trixie, and her excitement vanished.
"Okay, who's next Spitfire?"
Spitfire checked her list. "Big Macintosh, at Sweet Apple Acres."
Twilight was excited to meet Applejack's older brother. "Alright! Let's go!" The four ponies galloped off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.
Applejack saw them before anypony else. "Howdy everypony! What brings you-" she stopped mid-sentence when she saw Trixie. Twilight reluctantly got ready to defend Trixie. "We're not looking for trouble, Applejack, were just looking for Big Macintosh." Applejack sighed. "He went to Canterlot."
Twilight nearly jumped out if her skin. "What?! Why?"
"He was looking for a new plow, for the fields. I tried to convince him, but he didn't believe me." Applejack began to tear up.
"Oh, Applejack, I'm sorry. We'll find him before Soarin' does."
Applejack sniffed. "I hope so. Thanks Twilight, sugar. Oh, and by the way, some weird mare called Derpy Hooves wants to-"
"Yes I certainly do!" Derpy cut in, popping out from behind Applejack. "Come with you, that is." Derpy finished.
To everypony's surprise, Twilight began to laugh. "I don't have an element for you, but who cares? Strength in numbers, right?" Ocavia, Trixie, and spitfire were looking skeptical, but they nodded. "Not to mention there's no shaking her." Trixie muttered.
"Okay. Got the list, Spitfire? Okay. Elegance, check. Music, check. Cunning, check. Loudness and strength, we'll meet there. Sounds good to me!"
Spitfire hesitated, then said, "I don't know. Something doesn't seem right. I dunno."
Twilight sighed. "Whatever. Let's go, though. We still have to find Big Mac and Vinyl Scratch. That mare probably won't show up unless we show her where to go."
That made everypony giggle, which quickly ceased when Twilight added, "now's the time to say goodbye to anypony you might not see again."
The temperature seemed to go down ten degrees when Twilight reminded the ponies of the danger involved in their mission. Spitfire sniffed. "My only friend is a traitor who we have to get rid of."
Octavia chimed in, "yeah, and Vinyl's supposedly coming with us, so that's it for me."
Derpy remained silent, along with Trixie.
Twilight suddenly realized that she was the pony everypony was drawn to. She was the one with five dependable friends. Derpy, with her inverted eye, had no friends, because ponies are scared of her. Trixie, well, she had just made some bad choices that made her ridiculed. She probably had no friends either. Spitfire was in the same position that Soarin' was in: she was tired of her friends, and she was lonely. Now her last true friend, Soarin', was possessed by a spirit of chaos.
"Okay then...uh...let's go! To Canterlot!"
The walk to the train station was like a funeral procession, and Twilight hated every second of it. It would be a long trip to Canterlot, especially given the general mood of the group. They were missing two members, they had acquired an extra, and they were up against Discord, who had possessed the captain of the Wonderbolts. It seemed hopeless, and in Trixie's mind, it was. Trixie had been willing to play nice with Twilight, but not anymore. The Great and Powerful Trixie was looking for revenge.
Rainbow Dash Goes All-Out
Part 5: Trixie Strikes Back
"Finally! I thought we'd never get to Canterlot!" Twilight said, stepping off the train. The three other ponies piled off, and watched the train leave. Octavia suddenly sat up, and rubbed her eyes. "Hey! Hey! Twilight, it's Vinyl! She's over there! Hey, yo! Vinyl!"
She turned around, surprised to see all four ponies together. "What? You're kidding. Spitfire, Octavia, and you...uh..."
"Twilight." Twilight supplied.
"Yeah, yeah. What's going on?"
Trixie stepped forward. "We're going to banish-"
"-The dj at the party!" Spitfire cut in, "that's why we need you!"
Trixie shook her head, "a party? Actually-"
"-It's kind of more of a house-concert." Twilight interrupted.
Trixie was not happy. Twilight and her friends were holding something from her. "Twilight, what are you hiding from me?" Twilight looked shocked. "What?! I'm not hiding anything!" Derpy chimed in, "yeah, we're not hiding anything." Trixie fixed her eyes on Derpy, who, compared to Trixie, was smaller and less confident. Derpy tried to melt into her own shadow because of the look Trixie was giving her. "Don't get involved in things you don't understand, weirdo." Derpy buried his face in his hooves, and started crying.
"Hey, c'mon Trixie. That's not cool. Derpy's my friend," Twilight said.
Trixie huffed, "yeah, well, I'm not exactly enjoying your negativity toward me."
"But I didn't-"
"This mission is bound to fail. I refuse to be part of it."
Trixie turned her back, and Twilight let her. Twilight was gong to let her walk away too, but as Trixie took a few steps, her body began to turn grey, just like Rainbow Dash. Twilight shook her head, and tackled Trixie. She yelled in surprise as Twilight pinned her to the ground. Trixie struggled, but Twilight held her down. She began to use her healing spell, and ventured deep into Trixie's mind. She saw her true feelings: her loneliness, and her constant need for revenge against Twilight. Twilight began to feel weak, and a familiar laugh echoed around in her head,
"Now you've done it, Twilight! Give it up! Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa!"
Twilight finished her spell, and pushed Trixie away, and the evil laughing faded away. Trixie was back to normal again, but she was cold, and shivering. Twilight turned around and said, "Spitfire! Find Big Macintosh! Look anywhere farm equipment is sold!" Spitfire nodded, and dashed off to find Applejack's older brother. When Twilight looked down again, Trixie was gone. Twilight looked around, and saw Trixie running away.
Twilight began to chase after her through the streets of Canterlot. She saw some guards standing on a plaza, where Trixie was heading, and yelled, "stop her!" The guards responded quickly, grabbing the poor mare as she flew by. They dragged her over to Twilight, who sadly said, "let her go. She won't run."
She didn't. Trixie just sat quietly for a long time. Finally, she said, "Twilight Sparkle, can you forgive me?" Twilight smiled. "Again? I think you need to be less deceiving, and more cunning!" She said, elbowing Trixie, who smiled back. Twilight helped her up, and said, "now c'mon! We've got some chaos-spirit-exorcising to do!"
Rainbow Dash Goes All-Out
It's funny how things work in Equestria. Big Macintosh found Twilight and the other ponies before they found him. "Twilight! Spitfire's gone! She was walking with me, and then the air shimmered around her, and she was gone!"
Twilight huffed. "Chaos magic. She's been taken, most likely to room 207. She'll distract Soarin' for a bit, just enough time for us to get there. Come on, everypony!" Now all five ponies ran towards the tall, towering minarets of the Royal Canterlot Inn.
Spitfire had done an excellent job distracting Soarin'. In fact, she even managed to light the room on fire. Twilight didn't realize this until she got to room 207, and busted down the door. Flames came billowing out into the hallway, and began to spread.
Spitfire was like a demon, leaving fire everywhere she stepped. Discord was in complete control of Soarin', because he was using chaos magic, and he didn't have a unicorn horn. Every time fire came near him, the air around him shimmered with yellow light, which bent the flames like a photograph in a magnifying lens. Trixie was the first to react, and she used her magic to rip open a pipe on the ceiling, spraying water everywhere, putting out Spitfire, along with the rest of the room. "Alright, Discord! The Great and Powerful Trixie has arrived, and I've got a score to settle with you, for trying to corrupt me, and turn me gray!"
Trixie was on a roll, doing what she did best: boasting. "Whatever magic you've got, I've got better!"
"Yes Trixie, show me your magic," Said the voice inside her head.
Trixie let loose a beam of bright-red energy that raced toward Soarin', but the air in front of him thickened into a shield, absorbing the energy. Trixie yelled in frustration, and summoned a storm cloud, throwing it at Soarin', striking him in many different places with white bolts of electricity. Soarin' yelled in pain, with Discord's voice, and not his own. He stomped a hoof, and Trixie flew backwards into the wall, cracking it along the edge of her body.
Twilight began preparing an attack of her own, but Trixie wasn't done yet. Trixie somehow got up, and tried her magic again, but all she could produce was some pink and blue confetti. Twilight shoved her out of the way as a hoof came down where her head had been sitting. Twilight turned around, and got slammed against a wall, making her vision go blurry. When she regained focus, Rainbow Dash was standing in front of her, still gray, and very angry.
Soarin' lifted Twilight up, effortlessly, and showed her to the other ponies: Big Macintosh, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, and Spitfire. They all gawked at her, too stunned to react. "This is what happens when ponies oppose me," Discord said. His voice was smooth and calm, like that of someone sophisticated, maybe like a gambler playing poker who has just cheated to win the money. "Twilight was unfortunate enough to have tried to stand up for Trixie, however, there was never any hope for their friendship," he continued. "Let this be a lesson to all of you: don't cross me, and don't listen to Twilight." With that Soarin' tossed Twilight out of the window on the seventh story of the Royal Canterlot Inn.
Twilight saw many things as she fell. Her life flashed before her eyes, all her friends, that she never said goodbye to. One thing made her happy, though, and that was the fact that she'd die as a heroine of Equestria. She closed her eyes, and prepared to hit the ground. Suddenly, she heard the flapping of wings, and then, she no longer felt the air rushing past her, and she no longer felt gravity pulling her down. She opened her eyes, and saw a pair of wings, a blonde mane, and an upside-down eye.
Twilight was speechless. She just cried and hugged Derpy Hooves for all she was worth. "It's okay," Derpy whispered in her ear, "I didn't give up on you." Derpy circled around, and threw Twilight back in through the window. She landed on the floor with a thud, and casually brushed herself off. "Now, where were we? Oh yeah, we were at the 'don't listen to Twilight' part."
Trixie and Spitfire were out cold, and the others were still standing in the same spots as when Twilight was thrown out the window. Rainbow Dash and Soarin' were together again, both glancing back and forth between the three remaining ponies and Twilight.
Twilight knew somepony would make a move, but she didn't expect for it to be Octavia, the calm and collected musician. Octavia took something out from her pack, and began to play. It was only a cello, but it sounded like an entire orchestra. It had a rich and deep tone, and the element of music was helping her, because the air around her shimmered with various musical notes.
Twilight heard a fast, dramatic tune that sounded like a call to arms, but for Discord, it was a calming, gentle song. When Octavia finished, everything was different. The room was brighter, Twilight felt stronger, and by the looks of it, it had done the same to the three other ponies. While it may have not been dramatic, it changed the mood, and made everything seem a lot...better! The two things Octavia hadn't changed were Soarin' and Rainbow Dash. "Oh, please," Discord said, "music is not nearly enough to get rid of me. Come on Octavia, play us something...chaotic." Octavia gulped. Then she stood firm, "I've got it! Chaotic music? Meet Vinyl Scratch, my roommate!"
The door to the bedroom flew open, where Vinyl had been setting up her equipment. In the door were two large speakers, painted blue and white. The mare behind the equipment tipped her purple glasses, and said, "are you ready, Big Macintosh?"
"Eeeyup!"
"Are you ready, Twilight?"
"Yes m'am!"
Rainbow Dash huffed. "How much longer is this going to take? I'm tired."
Vinyl Scratch laughed, and hit the on button. "This is something I put together just for you, Discord. It's called 'exorcism'!"
The bass literally blew Soarin' away. Like a dusty pillow that has just been hit, a cloud of purple smoke was expelled from his body. Soarin' immediately collapsed, and slid to the floor. The cloud of smoke floated to the ceiling, and hovered there. As for Rainbow Dash, she tried to fly out the window, but there was no escaping the element of loudness. The sound waves reached her, and she too was buffeted by the force of pure noise. Like a insect coming out of its shell, the grayness began to peel off, bit by bit, until she was back to normal, rainbow mane and all. Octavia caught her before she hit the floor. Just like Octavia, the element of loudness was at work with Vinyl Scratch, feeding her with energy, and making the air around her shimmer with blue light.
In all the time Octavia had been living with Vinyl, she had never seen her be this happy. Realizing that Discord was gone from inside Soarin', Vinyl Scratch reluctantly hit the off button, and took off her glasses. The energy around her faded, and she returned to being just a free-spirited unicorn.
The cloud of purple smoke, no longer restricted, floated down to Twilight's eye-level. It condensed into the shape of Discord himself. He appeared as a tall dragon with small bat wings, large ears, and an odd twisted horn. When he spoke, it was no longer a voice in their heads, it was a deep, resonating voice that all the ponies heard. "So, Twilight, still causing trouble, huh?"
"That's coming from a spirit of chaos that was trapped in stone for 1000 years." Twilight fired back.
"I'm surprised, Twilight. I was sure Trixie was done for, but you managed to save her with your petty parlor tricks!"
Twilight's horn began to glow brightly, casting deep purple shadows on the wall. "We've got the six elements, we're all together, and that means another 1000 years punishment for you, Discord!"
Discord just laughed. He laughed for a long time. He finally gathered himself, and said, "you're wrong! I'm surprised you didn't realize earlier!" Twilight's horn glowed even brighter, and she planted her hooves. "You don't have the most important element," Discord continued, "your own: the element of knowledge!" At this, Twilight's magic got away from her, and her eyes glowed pure white. She was surrounded in an aura of pink light, and when she spoke, her voice was like Discord's: deep and resonating. "I am Knowledge. I took my pill," Discord bit his lip, "you've plagued Equestria for two years, and this time, you won't be put in a rock for 1000 years, you'll be completely dispersed, spread so thin, you will never reform."
Discord suddenly changed from being a deceiving cheater, to being a cruel and hateful figure: a true spirit of chaos. He turned into a tornado, and barreled towards Twilight, who easily side-stepped. With renewed vengeance, the other ponies joined the battle, all four of them. Discord didn't make it easy, though. He began to divide into multiple forms, engaging each individual pony. While the five ponies struggled with keeping the various Discords at bay, Twilight was dissipating fragment after fragment of Discord's being. After much effort, the six ponies cornered the two remaining forms of Discord, which merged back into one, tired, beat-up looking chaos spirit.
"Gaaahhhh," h
e yelled. Twilight signaled for Big Macintosh, who was breathing hard. He stepped forward, and didn't even bother to aim for a window, kicking Discord with all of his might, directly through a wall. Discord smashed through wall after wall, finally coming to a stop five rooms away. His form flickered, but he got up, and began to strut towards the six ponies that were standing in a room that was on fire, and glowing purple from Twilight's magic.
Vinyl Scratch planted her hooves, and put in her earbuds. Octavia was cowering behind her, shivering. Suddenly, Discord turned around and slammed something against the wall. Derpy Hooves had been trying to play the heroine, and save her friends from the evil chaos spirit, but she wasn't stealthy enough.
Twilight lost her concentration, and her magic faded. "Derpy! No!" Time seemed to slowed down as Twilight galloped toward her friend, and Discord's eyes lit up with fire, as he prepared to annihilate her. Twilight had almost reached Discord, but then her world turned rainbow colors, and her friend disappeared. Twilight screamed for a long time, until she had to stop and catch her breath. When she stopped, she realized that Discord was screaming too. He turned around, and the entire front of his body was scorched black. Twilight stared in awe at Discord's burned chest. Suddenly, a familiar voice said, "and that's what you get for hurting my friends!"
Rainbow Dash hovered proudly above Discord, clutching Derpy in her arms. Twilight clapped her hooves joyfully. "Yes! Yes! I knew you were healed! I knew it!" Rainbow smiled slyly, then glared back at Discord, who looked at his burned chest, then at Rainbow Dash, then at the seven angry ponies that were staring him down. He sighed, and relaxed his muscles, and said "well played, Twilight. Well played."
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Rainbow Dash Goes All-Out
Part 7: The Journey Back to Ponyville / Ending Notes
With Discord locked up in a special delivery crate addressed for Princess Celestia, the return trip was the complete opposite of the journey to Canterlot. It was a full out party (Vinyl Scratch had insisted,) and everypony was in an excellent mood.
Twilight set down her glass of root beer, and told Octavia she had to fetch a book from her room. She got up, and walked carefully down the isle of the moving train, grabbing onto seats as she passed to keep her balance. She opened the door to her room and grabbed the book: A Beginner's Guide to Playing the Cello, a book that Octavia had given her a few years ago.
She had never touched a cello, and never wanted to, but that didn't matter. It was just a gesture of friendship when Octavia met Twilight. Twilight was so distracted, she didn't even notice the cloud of pink dust enter the room. It hovered above her and said, "do you really think you'll get away with this?"
Twilight whirled around, dropping the book.
"You've got yourself into something much bigger, something not even Princess Celestia knows about."
Twilight sniffed, and turned on the fan, blowing the pink dust everywhere.
"Watch your step, Twilight! Your brother is-"
The cloud of dust dispersed completely, but Twilight continued yelling, "wait! What? What about my brother? Come back! Come back, Discord!" But he was long gone, not to return for a very long time.
Twilight returned to Octavia's side, and handed her the book. Octavia touched it, and recoiled. "What is this dust all over my book?"
Twilight sighed, "just the remains of an old friend." Octavia gave her a sideways glance, then relaxed, and took the book. "So, did you start playing the cello yet?"
Twilight just burst out laughing.
