Chapter 4: Betrayal
Rainbow Dash was waiting in the capitol building in Cloudsdale. She had been summoned here by Princess Celestia herself.
Rainbow Dash paced nervously. Was it about her being beaten by Thunderspark? Was the Princess going to banish her to the Everfree forest? Was she going to be stripped of her element perhaps?
The doors opened. Rainbow Dash shook a little from fear. She slowly trotted in.
The pony waiting for her was not Celestia. It was Luna.
Rainbow Dash was instantly in attack mode. "You!"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Oh stop it. Nightmare Moon is long gone."
"I don't care about Nightmare Moon! You ruined my grand prank on Nightmare Night!"
Luna chuckled at this. "Oh yes. You were the one trying to scare the younglings. Well it was all in good fun Rainbow Dash. However I'm here to discuss something else with you..."
"Where's Princess Celestia?" Rainbow Dash demanded.
"She's back in Canterlot." Luna replied coolly. "And I don't appreciate your tone Rainbow Dash. I am a princess too you know. And you are a particularly troubled subject."
"Hey! Who you calling troubled?" Rainbow Dash growled.
Luna rolled her eyes. "Look. If it helps at all, I don't want to be doing this either. But my sister isn't here. So you're gonna have to make do with me."
Rainbow Dash sighed and sat down. "So what do you want?"
"You're one of my subjects. And you've been showing odd behavior recently."
Rainbow shook her head. "I don't show odd behavior."
"You holed up in your cloud home and blasted rock music? That's not normal."
"Well hey! You don't see me knocking on you for your taste in music!" Rainbow shot back.
Luna drew herself up fully, towering over the small pegasus.
"Alright. Look. I know you don't respect me. You don't respect my opinion. But Princess Celestia told me to keep my eye on you. Make sure you're okay. So I don't want any attitude! YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Rainbow Dash backed away. "Okay! Alright! Chill out! The princess told you to keep an eye on me? Why?"
"Because of your recent defeat at the hooves of Thunderspark. She was unsure how you'd handle it."
Rainbow Dash looked away. "I'm handling it fine."
Luna arched an eyebrow. "Really? That doesn't seem like a typical Rainbow Dash reaction. As I recall you...what was it? Hate losing?"
Rainbow Dash refused to make eye contact. "Yeah. Yeah I'm not really a fan of losing."
Luna looked at a scroll in front of her.
"Seems you have developed interesting traits during your lifetime. Very stubborn. Hard headed. Highly competitive. A loose cannon with self-destructive tendencies."
Rainbow Dash suddenly became enthusiastic. "A loose cannon? Really? Celestia called me a loose cannon! Oh, that sounds pretty cool."
Luna rolled her eyes again. "It's not. It basically means you're a jerk."
"What? I'm not a jerk I just...I have friends!" She was turning red. "Alright that's it! I'm done here!" She turned to leave.
"Nope. You're not." She waved a hoof. The doors closed.
Rainbow Dash glared at the Princess. "You can't keep me in here."
Luna sighed. "I am not trying to imprison you Rainbow Dash. Just to reassure you that you can come to me for help."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah. The day the Wonderbolts allow me to join is the day I come to YOU for help."
"Rainbow, I heard about your father. I understand the trauma that can come from that. Especially at such a young age. You were just a filly."
Rainbow Dash paused. She looked at the concerned princess. "I...you...you don't know anything about my father!"
"I know all of my subjects. I know about your mother too..."
Rainbow Dash shook her head, getting angrier now. "Alright, just stop. You don't know anything about my family. You don't know anything about me. New subject please."
Luna looked at her with a calm expression. "I understand. It's been a long time. But you cannot simply leave your demons behind. I know that all too well."
Rainbow Dash looked increasingly uncomfortable now. "Could we please just drop this..." She felt her guard dropping. She felt a wave of sadness rise from deep within her. She had to keep it contained.
"But there is always one cure Rainbow Dash. We can talk about it. Get it out in the open. Then the problem becomes easier to solve. Enough bottling up all this sadness and anger. I promise you'll feel better."
Rainbow Dash looked down at the ground. A single tear rolled down her cheek and splashed on the ground.
"Is there anything you want to talk about Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash sniffled, then shook her head. Her guard was raised again. The sadness was forced back down from whence it came.
"Nah. I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."
The doors flew open. She turned to leave again.
"Rainbow Dash. Wait for one moment."
Rainbow Dash stopped and slowly turned around. "What?" She dreaded any more words about her family.
Luna looked at her scroll, then back at Dash. "You know, you are in a fortunate position. You have lots of ponies around who care about you deeply. Including me. And if it means anything..." She paused and thought about her choice of words. "...I really can't stand Thunderspark either. So do try and beat him next time."
Rainbow Dash managed a smile. "Thank you princess." She turned and flew out of the room.
Spike woke to find Twilight Sparkle asleep on the floor of the library. She was surrounded by books. He moaned. He knew who's job it was to pick up the books.
He looked down at his sleeping friend. She looked so peaceful. He knew he had to be extra quiet.
He set about putting the books back in the proper shelves, in the proper order. Suddenly there was a banging at the door. Spike jumped.
He ran to the door. "SHHHH! Twilight is trying to sleep!" He hissed.
The door blasted open. Spike was blown back. Twilight snapped awake.
Before him stood one of Discord's rock soldiers. They stomped in and grabbed Spike.
"HEY! LET GO! TWILIGHT! HELP!"
Twilight got to her hooves. She fired a spell at the rock man. It bounced off.
"Wait! Let him go!" She shouted. But the rock man turned and dashed out the door. Twilight ran out and looked out into the darkness.
"SPIKE!" She shouted. There was a faint response. The rock man was gone. And so was Spike.
Rainbow Dash tossed and turned in her bed. She snapped awake. She was sweating profusely. She looked around, then rubbed her eyes.
"Nightmares again." She said to herself. She got up from the bed and stretched. Her eyes rested on the closet in the corner of her room.
She slowly trotted over to it. Every step felt like a heart attack. She suddenly felt very faint. She struggled to keep her balance.
She reached out to open the closet door. Her sweaty hoof kept slipping off. She was shaking slightly. She managed to open it.
Inside were two drawers. She opened the first and felt a warm glow.
Loyalty. Her element. Safely stowed away. She stared at it. She had fought hard for this element. Loyalty. The word kept ringing around in her head.
She closed the drawer. Then she slowly opened the second.
A wonderbolt flight suit. Not hers. A very old one. It was ripped and tattered.
On the flank was a lightning bolt cutie mark. And a name. Dash.
She felt a tear come to her eye as she clutched the suit close to herself.
There was suddenly a knock at the door. She jumped. "C-come in!"
It was Fluttershy. She flew over to Rainbow Dash's room. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry...but they took..." She trailed off upon seeing the suit.
"Did you have nightmares again?" She asked timidly.
Rainbow Dash blinked through the tears and nodded. Fluttershy put a hoof on her friends shoulder. "It's okay. I have nightmares too."
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Not like these. These are intense. I can't handle them. I haven't slept in days."
Fluttershy pulled Rainbow into a hug. "It's okay. It's all gonna be okay. You should probably go back to bed. You need to sleep."
Rainbow Dash shook her head and wiped away the tears. "No. What was it you were saying? Who took who?"
Fluttershy looked around nervously. "A rock person."
Rainbow squinted. "What?"
"A rock person! He broke into Twilight's library and took Spike!"
Rainbow Dash thought a moment, then stretched out her wings. "What are we waiting for then?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "No it's okay. You need to sleep. We can probably handle this." She sounded uncertain about the last part.
Rainbow Dash shook her head again. "No. Are you kidding? You want to find a dangerous rock monster without me? Why, I'm the only one who could take it down! I wasn't getting much sleep anyway."
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy touched down outside the library. The others were already assembled.
"What happened?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
Twilight Sparkle rushed over to her. "Oh Rainbow Dash! Thank Celestia you're here! They took him! They took Spike!"
"That's okay. We can get him back. Which way did this rock monster thing go?"
Twilight started trotting away from the treehouse. "The tracks lead this way." She turned to Rainbow Dash. "Are you sure you're up for this Rainbow? With all that's happened this week..."
Rainbow Dash shook it off. "No. I'm fine. C'mon! We're wasting time!"
There was suddenly another flap of wings behind them. A loud stomp as a pegasus touched down.
Rainbow Dash turned around and scowled. "What do you want Thunderspark?"
Thunderspark grinned. "Word travels fast. Heard there was a dragonnapping. I wondered if the worlds fastest pegasus could lend any assistance."
Rainbow Dash growled and kicked up dirt with her hooves. She put her head down to charge.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie immediately grabbed onto her wings and tail.
"Woah there Dashie!" Pinkie shouted. "Take it easy!"
But Rainbow Dash was not going to let a measly two earth ponies keep her from revenge.
She kept pulling towards Thunderspark. He was mildly amused by the spectacle.
Rainbow Dash broke free and charged. She hit a purple force field.
"Alright! That's enough!" Twilight Sparkle shouted. "This is pointless! We have to find Spike now! You said it yourself Rainbow Dash. We're wasting time."
Thunderspark shrugged. "Another time I guess?"
Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at him and walked away.
The trail led into the Everfree Forest. The ponies gathered at the entrance. Rainbow Dash was stealthily making her way at the back of the group when she heard a rustling from a nearby bush.
She paused and stared at the bush suspiciously. She slowly trotted over to it. It stopped moving.
She eyed it carefully. Then she reached in and felt a mane.
She pulled.
"OWWW!" The mane six all jumped when they heard the scream. They turned and ran towards the bush.
"What in Equestria was that?" Rarity demanded.
Rainbow Dash pulled a struggling Scootaloo from out of the bush. "Just somepony out way past her bedtime."
"Look I really want to help you guys!" Scootaloo whined. "I really do! It's so boring in Ponyville! We just go to school and write for the paper! You guys get to go on adventures! It's not fair."
Twilight Sparkle trotted over. "I know it seems unfair. But it's for your own good. We are going into a very dangerous situation. It's unsafe for a little filly like you to go with us." She put it as gently as she could.
Scootaloo looked to Rainbow Dash, requesting assistance with her eyes.
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Sorry squirt. This is a job for grown ups. You'd only slow us down."
Scootaloo looked at the ground and closed her eyes.
"Pinkie Pie? Take her home." Twilight said softly.
Pinkie Pie took the upset filly back on the path out of the Everfree forest.
"Wow Rainbow. You really have a way with words." Applejack said sarcastically.
Rainbow Dash threw her hooves in the air. "What did I do?"
"You'd only slow us down? A bit harsh don't you think?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Kid's gotta learn AJ. I was just being honest."
"Would you two kindly keep it down?" Rarity snapped. "We are surrounded by the most vile monsters in all of Ponyville! We don't want to draw too much attention."
Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash. "The tracks keep going for a while. Can you scout ahead for us?"
Rainbow nodded. "Any chance to stretch my wings." She extended her wings and prepared to take off.
"Rainbow?" Twilight asked. Rainbow turned.
"Yeah?"
"Be careful out there. And good luck."
Rainbow smirked and turned back towards the path. "I don't need luck."
She blasted off the ground and sped deeper into the forest.
Rainbow Dash came to a stop next to a small encampment. A large group of rock people lay below her. She slowly crept around the perimeter of the camp.
Such strange creatures. They were small rock formations. But they were fully alive. They seemed to be in some kind of trance.
There was a jetstream sound behind her. Then a thump. She turned and came to face with what she thought was a mirror.
"Wh-What? Y-you're..."
"Me. Yes. Time to go to sleep 'Dashie'." The other Dash hit her across the face. She collapsed to the ground.
Grey Dash smirked over the collapsed Pegasus. "Nice to meet you 'Rainbow' Dash. Now, let's find out where your friends are."
The remaining four ponies had stopped to take a break. They were all nervous for their friend.
"How long has she been gone now?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, about an hour." Rarity replied. "This is strange. Something must have gone wrong. She should be back by now."
"I'm sure she's fine." Twilight Sparkle said unconvincingly. "She's pretty tough. Heck she might even come back with Spike!"
Fluttershy was shaking a little. She was the most nervous of them. And Rainbow Dash had been acting weird for a week. It was a scary situation.
Suddenly there was rustling all around them.
Rock people. They hopped out from behind bushes and trees and surrounded the four.
They all rushed in circles, looking for an exit. But the rock people moved inwards, sealing off any exit. They were completely surrounded.
Suddenly their came familiar laughter from over the trees. Grey Dash touched down in front of them.
"Rainbow? What...what happened?" Twilight asked.
Grey Dash smirked. They had fallen for the deception. Now the challenge was copying her voice.
"I see you've met my NEW friends." The voice was perfect.
Rarity looked around at the angry rock creatures. "These things are your friends?"
Grey Dash looked at her rock army. "Oh yes. And much better friends than you ever were."
"Rainbow Dash? What is this a joke?" Applejack demanded.
Grey Dash smirked again. "Oh no Applejack. This is no joke. I have better friends now. Friends worthy of my company. Friends who don't slow me down. Friends who know when to SHUT THEIR EGGHEADS UP!"
Fluttershy was on the verge of tears. "Rainbow? What's going on...?"
"Isn't it clear?" Grey Dash shouted. "I have replaced you! I've found newer, better friends! You ponies never supported me! You were jealous of my natural talent! You just hung around me so you'd look cooler!"
She gestured to the rock people. "These guys like me for who I am, not just what I am. And they don't like you intruding in their woods! So they're going to kill you now. Goodbye losers."
She turned to the Rock Creatures. "Make it quick. They shouldn't suffer TOO much."
She turned and flew away. The Rock creatures smiled. "It's pony crushing time."
The four shook as the rock creatures descended upon them.