It took Rainbow nearly three days to get to Mareapolis, and she had to sleep a full day after arriving to recover her strength. The next day after a BIG breakfast she left to go look for City Hall. While three times the size of Ponyville and more industrious than the farm town, Mareapolis was still a small city, and Rainbow had no trouble finding City Hall, a five story brick building. Rainbow went in through the front door and went to the front desk. A mare with glasses was typing something at the desk until she noticed Rainbow.
“Welcome to City Hall, how can I help you?” the mare asked.
“I'm looking for your Weather Offices,” Rainbow replied.
“Fourth floor, on your right.”
“Thanks.” Rainbow flew up the right stairwell. She counted the floors until she got to the fourth. There, she landed and began scanning the doors until she came to a brown wooden door labeled "Weather Management". Before she could go through, though, she heard a voice.
“Can I help you miss?” Rainbow look to see a middle age mare looking at her inquisitively. Rainbow gave her a smile and answered.
“Just applying for a job, ma'am.”
“Oh, well I'm the head weather manager in the city, so let's go into my office.” The mare opened the door and led Rainbow into a conference room twice the size of Rainbow's office in Ponyville. Several side offices were along the walls. The mare led her to the office near the back. Upon entering, Rainbow glanced around and saw diplomas, certificates, and photos of several pegasi in group shots. The mare took a seat behind a desk and looked at Rainbow. “My name is Sky Rain, and I have been leading the weather team for the past ten years.”
“Mine's Rainbow Dash, and I used to head the weather team in Ponyville for the past two years, and I worked there for another four before that. I was winner of the last Young Fliers Competition, and I can do the Sonic Rainboom.” That last part may be bragging a bit, but it made her look good, so Rainbow mentioned it anyway.
“You have some documentation?” Sky Rain asked. Dash used her wing to open her saddle pack, and she handed over a folder with her documents. Sky Rain look over it and nodded. “Yes this matches what the mayor of Ponyville sent over. She gave you praise for the work you've done and let me know of your style of working. You appear lazy, but you'd always get the job done. However, she didn't mention why you left.”
“Personal reasons, ma'am, but I couldn't live there anymore.”
“Okay, I can respect that, but I always have my ears open if you need them. The farm section of our jurisdiction needs a new head since our last manager there moved away to take care of his parents. You match the requirements, and you are familiar with what is needed for a farm area. The pay is the same as your pay was in Ponyville. Can you start tomorrow if interested?”
“I am interested, ma'am, and I can easily start tomorrow.”
“Okay, report to the Fair Deal Office Building at nine in the morning. We have a small space in the building where your branch of our teams meet for assignments or announcements. Sky Walker will help you over there.”
“Thanks a lot, ma'am. Anything else?”
“No. Enjoy your day, Miss Dash.” With a nod, Rainbow left the office and took a stop to get her mailbox set up and be officially recognized as a resident of Mareapolis. That done, she left the building and decided to tour the city to get a feel for it. There wasn't much of a market place since, unlike Ponyville, farming wasn't its main industry, but what farmers there were set up stalls for those products buyers wanted fresh. Rainbow went down and got a few things to restock her food supply. She saw a Barnyard Bargains and similar stores. Hayburger and Dairy Princess were also present, of course. She did a quick flyby of what's to be her area and found five farms, each about half the size of Sweet Apple Acres. After that, she decided to practice her stunts for the rest of the day.
As the sun set, Rainbow entered her home and passed a counter. It was then she noticed the picture there. It was of her and the girls the day after beating Nightmare Moon, and Twilight had just heard she could stay in Ponyville. They were all happy, not knowing what the future was to be. She thought they were her friends back then. With her hoof she slammed the picture frame down so she did have to see it anymore. It hurt too much to look at it now.
* * * * *
The next morning, Rainbow awoke tiredly. Her sleep wasn't the most restful, as she relived the reveal of Mare Do Well and the others' treachery. What was weird, though, was that she could swear she saw Princess Luna in it. But she wasn't in Ponyville when that crap went down. Well, she thought, first day of work. Better grab some grub and head out.
She had already located the building yesterday, and she could she why Sky Rain rented an office there. The eighth floor had a balcony, perfect for pegasi and, thus, the weather team. She spotted the banner for her team and landed. A couple of pegasi were still on the balcony chatting when they noticed her. Rainbow waved at them and went inside. She looked around the space they had and noticed that it was simple. A break room, an office for herself, and a conference room that could fit ten ponies. She headed back to the office and noticed some papers there. Looking them over, she found it was the weather assignment for the week. So the workers would come to the office once a week. She could deal with that. Punching in from the break room she headed back into the conference room, seeing some of her team already there. She went over to study the map hanging on the wall. At the assigned time, the rest of her team came in.
“Morning, everypony. My name is Rainbow Dash, and I'm your new team leader.” She saw a few eyebrows go up as some recognized her. “The bosses want sunny, but partly cloudy, days till Friday, when they want a light drizzle over the farms. Which one of you is Sky Walker?” A stallion with white fur and a dirty blonde mane lifted a hoof. “Okay, I want you to assign who goes where for the time being. You know the team and what they are used to better than I do. I might change it later if I feel the need. Any questions?” Rainbow waited a minute before looking back at Sky Walker and giving him a nod. He got up and went to the map and started assigning sections, and Rainbow made note of who was who and where they were going. Sky Walker looked back at Rainbow and asked a question.
“Miss Dash, where would you prefer to go?”
“A farm area if one's available.” She said as she lounged in a chair.
“Well then, you can have the carrot farm and park area.”
Thank Celestia he didn't give me the apple farm; too many bad memories with that one, Rainbow thought as Sky Walker finished up.
“Okay, team, now head out to your assigned areas, and unless there's an emergency, we'll see each other Friday before the storm.” Rainbow ended the meeting with that. Everypony started to leave except one of the mares. She had yellow fur with a green mane in a style that was uncomfortably similar to Rarity's. Her name was Cloud Tipper if Rainbow remembered correctly.
“I just have to say I'm honored that the legendary Rainbow Dash is leading our team.”
That brought a smile to Rainbow's lips. At least I still have good rep somewhere, she thought. “Thanks, Cloud Tipper. I'll see you in the sky.” Cloud Tipper nodded and both of them moved out.
* * * * *
Rainbow flew over her area and noticed too many clouds.
“Time for some old-fashioned bucking,” Rainbow said, beginning to zip in. She did various stunts as she bucked the clouds, getting her work done in ten seconds flat. Looking over the area again, she made sure the carrot fields were clear and sunny, while the park area had the bulk of the remaining clouds so ponies had some shaded areas, not to mention good napping spots. With that done, she decided to see how her team was doing.
She got more stunt practice done between the sections and spent a few minutes in each section watching her team work, seeing if they needed help or not. Luckily, it seemed she had a good team assigned to her, but it will take a few more days to be sure. With everypony in good shape, she flew back to the park. She found a good cloud and lay down on it, planning a good nap and forgetting Ponyville.
* * * * *
Twilight yawned as she awoke from a difficult sleep. The reveal the day before did not go as planned. While she had always planned on revealing who Mare Do Well was to Rainbow, she never had a set time. And when Pinkie was revealed, Twilight decided to wing it. She thought that, after the reveal and explanation, Rainbow would thank them for caring so much. Instead, she yelled at them and called them backstabbers and hypocrites. She must have missed something, but what? Well, maybe after a few days, Rainbow will calm down and realize what they were doing. Twilight will explain that she never meant to hurt Rainbow, just teach her a lesson. She washed up and was heading downstairs to the kitchen when she heard a knock on the door.
Odd, we aren't open for another hour. Maybe it's Rainbow wanting to talk, she thought as she went over to the door and opened it. It revealed Scootaloo, one of Applebloom's friends. She was scowling at Twilight.
”Scootaloo? What are you doing here?”
“Here to give these to YOU!” Scootaloo threw Mare Do Well cape and hat at her.
“Why?” Twilight asked, shocked at the filly's actions.
“Because I know about you, MARE DO WELL. But you are only one part of the so-called hero, aren't you. But considering that you saved Winter Wrap Up, I figured you had to be the head part. Thanks to you, Rainbow Dash is gone. I was going to ask her to take me under her wing one day, but that will never happen. ALL THANKS TO YOU! Rainbow deserved better friends than you five,” Scootaloo said with tears in her eyes. She jumped on her scooter and took off for school. Twilight stood there in shock for a few minutes before taking the cape and hat inside. She looked out a window for Rainbow's home.
It was gone.
Her eyes became pinpricks. This couldn't be true. Rainbow, gone? Wait. Rainbow was the weather manager. She had to go the mayor to quit. Twilight raced over to Townhall and into the mayor's office.
“Miss Sparkle!?” was all the mayor managed to say before Twilight interrupted.
“Mayor Mare, where's Rainbow Dash?”
“If she's gone, then she's likely on her way to Mareapolis. She resigned from her position yesterday claiming we all threw her under the carriage for Mare Do Well and that she couldn't stay anymore.” Twilight left the office barely giving the mayor a goodbye. On her mind was only how her plan had blown up in her face. They wanted to teach Rainbow humility, but instead they drove her away. How could it have gone so wrong? She was so focused on her plan's colossal failure that she didn't notice the white mare in front of her until Twilight bumped into her. Twilight shook her head and looked up.
“Princess Celestia! I'm so sorry.”
Celestia smiled at her before saying, “It's okay, Twilight, but I have come with disturbing news.”
“Disturbing news?” she asked. Just what I need right now.
Celestia's smile vanished and she explained, “Twilight, I was inspecting the Elements when I discovered this.” Using her magic Celestia presented the Element of Loyalty. It looked the same except for one glaring difference. The lightning bolt-shaped jewel, the shape signifying its bond to Rainbow Dash, was gray instead of the dark red it usually was. “Twilight, I can only conclude something has happened to Rainbow Dash. Any idea on what that may be?”
Twilight sighed and told Princess Celestia about the events leading up to and during the Mare Do Well incident, finishing up with how Rainbow initially reacted.
“And now, I just heard that Rainbow has left for Mareapolis. I just don't know what went wrong.” Twilight looked up at her Princess, who had a frown on her face.
“Twilight, gather your friends together. We need to have a talk.” All the warmth the Princess usually had was gone. Twilight hurried to do her task. It was fairly easy to get most of them. Fluttershy was the hardest since she was bawling in her cottage with Angel running interference. But a Princess's summons managed to get her out.
It was an hour later when she had all her friends minus Rainbow Dash with her in the library and Celestia began.
“Twilight has told me of recent events, and I am disappointed in you all with your actions in this issue. I know that Rainbow Dash has a strong ego which tends to get to her head, but it sounds to me that you didn't even talk to her about it. Yes, Mare Do Well was a viable option, but it should only have been a last resort, just like my having to use the Elements on my own sister.” Twilight heard Princess Celestia's voice crack a bit on that one. “I had tried everything else first before using them on her. I carry the guilt of not paying attention to her pain earlier and having been forced to do that. But what makes your actions worse was that you did this to the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. As its bearer, Rainbow Dash values loyalty above all else, and the clearest sign we see of how she feels about your actions is this!” She showed them all the gray Element of Loyalty. They all gasped at the sight. “Thanks to your actions, Equestria's first line of defense is gone. Harmony is broken, and now it is up to you girls to renew the bonds of friendship if it is possible. Next time, try thinking things through before acting, or you may make the same mistake I made a thousand years ago.” With that, Celestia teleported away, leaving the five mares with shame on their faces.
The original episode was stupid. Like seriously, stupid.
I really hope they can all make up!
5607061
You know, I have seen this line-of-thought several times before, and I have always thought that it feels too one-sided toward one direction, just like the line-of-thought with the Royal Wedding have been. I'm not saying it doesn't have any good merits, but I have always felt that it doesn't seem to included any counterpoints to keep it from becoming a bit extreme. For example, let's us say that they did talk with her before the whole Mare Do Well business happened. Taking into account how bad Dash's behavior have gotten at that point, as well as her natural personality, what would you think would have been her reaction? Would it really have done any good?
Personally, I like the episode myself, and always thought the whole episode was blown out of proportion for the worst. Mare Do Well never did anything to really belittled Dash and actively tried to glorified 'herself' (even when 'she' was standing up in front of the crowd, that was more just Pinkie being herself and having fun), 'she' just appeared to save the day and then disappeared. It is true that Mare Do Well did caused Dash to become jealous, and that their primary reasoning behind being Mare Do Well was a bit flaw (though, not as big as others are making it out to be), but like the Great Derpsby roughly noted, Dash's behavior at that point would had dire consequences if it wasn't for 'her' coming to help.
As for this story, I wanted to be fair to you, so I took a quick skim over it to see how it's like, and I couldn't help but to cringed. Like with a few stories involving the Royal Wedding and Mare Do Well, this story feel more like a bash fic than anything else. I especially cringed at chapter three, feeling that not only Celestia was severely being unfair to the girls, but the logics that she tried to used against the girls seems both flaw and childish. The whole things just doesn't seems really thought out, and it lacked the mature balance that keep it from turning ugly. There was no real mental conflict with Dash, there was no attempt at trying to be fair to the girls, there was no logical sense of emotions and reactions from anyone, it was just a story that bashed the daylight out of the girls for an action that wasn't really all that bad.
5624325 If they had tried the talk and failed then it makes Mare Do Well more justifiable. The issue with the episode is not really the moral but how it is done. many review have stated that if they just altered a few things here and there and it could have been a good episode.
The Wedding does have a glaring flaw that one guy gave a possible reason why. Think of it, at this point Celestia likely sees Cadance on a daily basis and after this episode we see the real Cadance's personality. Chryssy's portrayal of Cadance is very poor. She's pratically Blueblood. So Twilight, who hasn't see Cadance in some time catches to something being wrong and Celestia never does? THAT'S the issue there.
Also note that Rainbow is not turning into a villian in this story like others do. And the wedding will be a major point on the arc of this story.
5624758 Good points all. That while Mare-Do-Well is honestly one of my favorite MLP episodes, that's honestly the way that I looked at it, too.
Because, if someone (like Dash) is bothering you with such behavior, you try talking to them, reasoning with them first. Then, if that doesn't work, you resort to something else. (In this case, Twilight came up with the MDW idea, then sold the other girls on it. (Not oner of her better ideas, admittedly, as I doubt that she foresaw it blowing up in her (their) face(s) like this.))
Also, this:
All I can say is...thank you for that.
I was actually worried about this, due to the Shadowbolt-colored lightning bolt cover art for the srory, as well as the (rather ominous) description that accompanied it. But, now that you said that, I feel a bit more relieved.
Still, I have seen her go that route. (Not that I blame her for it all that much, mind you.)
And Scoots taking out her own hurt and anger out on Twilight for her own loss was one of the highlights of this to me. I wanted to give her the biggest hug for that.
And Celestia getting in on it, too. Good. Maybe between her and Scootaloo, it'll finally hit home to Twilight and the remaining members of the Mane 6 just how badly they messed up with this.
And having the jewel of the Element of Loyalty turn gray is a nice touch.
So the Royal Wedding's going to be a major part of this, too, huh? Wonder what's gonna happen during that?
Can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter!
5624758
Like I noted before, the argument does have some good merits (and I do agreed that talking it out would have been a good idea), but it wasn't as bad as the reviews are making it out to be, and the episode was still enjoyable. As for the reviews themselves, I have always felt that they didn't try hard enough to look at things fairly, that most of them were one-sided and overanalyzing the negative side of the episode. I mean, I could understand the fuss if the girls was actively trying to steal the glory and reputation, but they just wanted to help Dash (they would have save lives, regardless of their reasons for being Mare Do Well, so let throw that line of thought out of the argument). As it was, I can't really see Dash being this upset, especially after one of them (Twilight) saved her life from being drowned.
Actually, I was aware of this when I posted (I have seen that arguments a lot). However, I feel that not many people really give this argument much thought in term of looking into its counterargument. First, while the episode never mention the time that Cadance/Cadence was kidnapped, but logically, I would expect it to be close to the date of the royal wedding, since it would give the Changeling Queen a smaller window to be discovered. Second, while I do agreed that Chrysalis was not a very good 'Cadence', I am sure she would pull one of the most infamous move that a typical spoiled brat bully would make around their love ones: act all nice and insincerely innocent whenever they are around them, then acted like a jerk when they are not. With Celestia busy as she was with both her royal duties and the wedding, I wouldn't be surprised that she had not been able to spot any small clues that 'Cadence' was showing through the cracks of her false innocence (again, she would be a bit more careful around her), and with the others either thinking that she was just suffering from wedding jitters or suffering from massive headaches that would have redirected any suspicions away (Shining did seem to show signs of almost seeing 'Cadence' for who she really was, at least until those blasted headaches come around and 'Cadence' then playing the loving wife-to-be), it would be reasonable to understand why Celestia would not have been able to get enough information to even considered that something was wrong with 'Cadence'.
Well, that's some good news. And, I am sorry if I sounded a bit harsh with ya, I have nothing against you or the story, and I'm not really upset with you (and I know that you are a good author, from what I can see by your other stories). I just feel that it needs to be a bit more balance: make Celestia more sympathetic and less willing to pin most of the weight of the issue onto the girls like that (while not talking it out was a bit of an oversight on their part, she would have understand that the situation was just a combination of 'good intentions gone awry', ‘one bad thing leading to another’, and hurt emotions); make the girls expressed their regrets a little better before having Celestia talked about it (I’m sure the girls would have talked it over and feel a bit down about it, since they cared greatly for the mare); and have Dash feels some form of doubts, even if she still feels upset enough to move away, since they have been great friends for a while (ex. As Dash was slowly moving off toward her new life, she couldn’t help but to look back at the town she had lived in for some good amount of time. As angry as she was with the town and the girls, memories of good times was still there, and memories of happy moments with the girls. Sighing at the thoughts, she paused and ponders that perhaps, maybe, she might visit once in a while to check up on them, once she settled down and sorted out her hurting emotions a bit.).
5626010 Celestia being how she feels is a two fold thing. One the Elements are now useless thus a major line of defense gone. That is serious. She also expected more from Twilight and this situtation hits close to home. It reminding her too much of what happened between her and Luna. She will assist both sides to mend the rift as best she can. And Luna will also play a role in that. A major plot point is going to be the wedding. And there is a sequel planned but this story is far from over.
5625734 Well I do like MDW look and plan to use it in another story.
And for Sahdowbolt, let's just say that a small bit of the what the girls tried to teach Rainbow did get through and a Shadowbolt doesn't nessecarily mean evil.
Scoots still has another role to play in this, haven't fully figured out the details for it. And the girls are already learning. Heck Fluttershy got it right after the reveal chapter. She is Rainbow's oldest friend and learning how much she hurt Rainbow devastated her.
And I figured that Celestia had to get involoed at some point considering who they are and i can't take full credit for the grayed out Element Rainbow's End Story started that along with the basis for Shadowbolt. Another story has also changed some of what i was going to do. But will reveal that later.
5626576 Cool.
Really? Well, good. I'm glad to hear it.
And this is true.
Good to know. Scoots is one of my favorite fillies in the show, and I'm glad to hear that she's going to have a bigger role in the story.
I'm glad they did. It's a sad fact that sometimes, you have to learn lessons the hard way. So it is here.
Well done.
Yeah, she did, on all counts.
Well, she knows the Elements well, and I'm sure that the grayed-out Element clued her in that something was seriously wrong with Rainbow and the rest of the girls. So I wasn't entirely surprised when she read them the riot act over their foolishness in this matter.
Gently, of course, but she did.
Really? Cool.
And if you wrote those two, might I have links to them? I'd like to read them, too.
5626606 http://www.fimfiction.net/story/141028/the-rainbows-end
I'll PM the other one for Spoiler reasons
5626629 Okay, thanks.
And that's fine.
I'm assuming that the spoilers have something to do with this story, but I'll check Shadowbolt out, either way.
5626540
As serious as the situation with the Elements is, Celestia would still have been more fair to Twilight and her friends, and probably would have explained things without rubbing salt in their wounds. And, considering that she had made a similar mistake with Luna, I would figured that it would have made her more sympathetic toward the girls. I can understand a little disappointment from Celestia, that was never the problem, but she would have still been more fair than that.
But, I guess this whole thing isn't really going anywhere. Just two different point of views, and neither isn't really wrong. In any regards, I'll let it be and wish you good luck with this.
5626673 she will help them try to mend the rift. In fact it will be one of the reasons she and Luna invite Rainbow to come to the wedding planned.
I must say the title led me to read this. And seeing Rainbow's friends suffer fills me with delight! More! Make the ponies suffer!
Correction, Equestria's ONLY line of defense.
5640879 give the Princesses SOME credit
5640882
Plus I'm not counting that poor attempt of DBZ that is the fight against Tirek.
so what Celestia basically means is
god I feel dirty for using that
5641077 they took care of Discord and Sombra on their own. they are the second line.
and the thing with Tirek was a poorly written thing.
5641843 oddly appropiate considering what is to come.
5642024 They attacked him while he was having a laughing fit and Sombra was badly written as well.
5642098 his character yes. what the sister did to him. nope.
5681194 hence the (unedited) part. And this Rainbow did take more than the betrayal away from it the clue is in the art.
Final Analysis: This story requires serious editing to account for bad punctuation and grammar, but the concept is honestly one which I find, if not enjoyable, then worth reading.
5681211 I do have editors and wait for them to be done. past experience has led me to post the first draft then update when edit comes in.
5710442 I did, and my own belief is that the level of editing required is extensive.
5710562 note i do might best before hand to make it readable. But i will not wait weeks or mon ths for an editor to get done. so i post uneditted. as long as you can understand what I'm saying does it really matter?
5710738 A more cleanly written story is a more enjoyable reading experience for most people.
That said, if you want to post and then get the edited version in later, that's your choice.
5711060 I do try on my own to make it clean. sometimes even trying a different word when I'm not sure on the spelling.
5710562 So how about wait till the editors work it over. Come on it says right in the title unedited, complaining about the lack of editing in an unedited story is like complaining about the lack of tuna on your pizza if you ordered the pepperoni and extra cheese special.
5712597 How about calm down about something that's been hashed out?
5714198 How about learn to tell when someone is upset vs when they are really calm?
5715956 Not worth it. Good day.
5716389 Well don't be shocked if you get called out more often.
So when is a next chapter going to been.
5743635 be a few days, working on Nightmare, Nightmare's next chapter. Then Born For Loyalty, then this will get an update.
5743685 Cool to know, as I was wondering when it would be updating again myself.
Can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter!
5754902 well you got lucky. an issue came up with Nightmare, Nightmare so Shaodw is being worked on right now
5754925 Really?! Cool!
I mean, cool that you're working on Shadow, not that you're having an issue with the other one.
Been there, done that, though, actually.
5754996 It's a timeline issue with the other one and waiting for a response from Pen Stroke. . Shadow will likely be up in a day or so.
5755040 Oh, I see. Well, I hope you guys work that out before long.
And that's cool to know, too. I'll be on the lookout for it.
THAT'S MY LINE!!!
5641843 don't worry i'll make you feel clean later.
U tell them celestia. SUPER EPIC loved wat scoots said.
Well, it seems Princess Luna already has an eye on Rainbow Dash. I suppose she'll be helping RD work through her issues, which is kind of necessary since I doubt Dash is going to listen to anything her friends have to say without outside intervention.
Getting rid of Dash? Oh no!
I
How did she know she was there before going through the door?
Celestia spitting facts.
It's funny that Celestia says that before exiling her sister, she tried other options, although in the series we were shown that when Luna became Nightmare Moon Celestia only said one phrase to her, which looks more like an order to lower the moon. (somehow it doesn't look like trying to reason).
so either in your story, these events took place differently (with a lot more phrases in between), or Celestia puts herself in the best light, which is not far from hypocrisy.
10911987
i feel that what we saw was the condense version. I figure Luna going Nightmare Moon was a long process.