Friendship is Equal to or Greater than Magic

by Fanon Canon

Dashy's Dilemma

It was a most beautiful day. The sun was shining (though there was little else it could do), the birds were singing, and... to most that was defined a good day. Maybe there were other factors to consider, but one did not have to venture far to get what was considered the perfect day. To most, all that really constituted a beautiful day was the quality of the picture presented before them. In this case, that picture happened to compose of the sight of particularly good sun beams, and a fine melody of various birdsong. Though how the sound of birds singing factored into a picture, one would never know.

The point being, it was considered a good day. A fine day, if one was in the mood for going out and lounging in the sun, soaking up its sizzling but substantial rays, one could. Maybe take a stroll or a trot down to a riverbank somewhere, pull up a lounge chair, snuggle in and take in the pleasant atmosphere. The slight splashing of the water as it ran along the contours of the small pond, or lake or something; contrasted by the humid beams of warmth that descended from above. A quaint little tropical existence of bliss where one was both warm and cool, far from both the extremes, existing in seemingly two states at once.

Needless to say (though in retrospect, very needful), such a pleasant day was lost on one particular pegasus as she strolled throughout the little but busting town of Ponyville. Quite the enigma that a pegasus should chose to stroll on her own four hooves when she was in possession of a good pair of wings. Well for Rainbow Dash, there was a lot about what she was doing that puzzled her that fateful day. But it was far from a concern of hers, for she was in very good spirits. She had just ascended to a very special position. Or so she thought...

"Dash. Hey Dash!" She heard a familiar voice to her.

Rarity was standing by a particular corner, for some reason, having just caught sight of her dear friend.

"Rarity!" Dash mimicked her by calling out her name in return. "Good day, isn't it?"

"Umm, sure." Rarity replied dismissively.

In truth, the state of the day did not concern her one bit. What did concern her however, was the state of her particular friend. Rarity knew a thing or two about the predicament of her ensemble of friends, which was more than enough reason for her to be in a constant state of anxiety about all of them. But she managed to keep her emotions under control for the time being.

"Hey Rarity." Rainbow remarked, closing the gap between exceptionally fast. "You don't sound so happy to see me."

"Well... well that's just it isn't it?" Rarity roundabout-like replied. "I'm not really supposed to see you am I?"

"Rarity?!" Dash began with a note of suspicion. "You're taking in that fancy tongue again. You know that's not my style."

"No what I mean to say is..." Rarity quickly explained. "I am not supposed to see you. Because you usually get everywhere by flying, don't you?"

"I do? I mean, I did." Rainbow replied. "I did, now I use my hooves, hooves are cooler. Plus flying's kind of weird to me now. One minute it's fine, the next I feel like I hate it."

"Yeah yeah, look Rainbow..." Rarity cut to the chase. "Are you okay?"

"Okay?" The pegasus parroted. "I'm fine. Better than okay, finer than fine. I'm grand. You know?"

"Well sure, but..." Rarity said, not so easily swayed. "Dashy darling, you know everypony's being having a rough time. I know I'm not supposed to interfere, but Rainbow..."

"Oh quit it Rarity." Rainbow cut her off. "Do I have to spell it out for you, I'm excellent. I was just on my way to my new job."

"New... job?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah that's right." Rainbow replied proudly. "I hold a very important position. I am now head of the Wonderbolts!"

"Head... of the Wonderbolts, Rainbow?" Rarity slowly repeated. "Rainbow, I'm afraid I don't understand. When did that happen?"

"Why it's been something I've been building towards for months." Rainbow continued to boast, heedless of her friend's concern. "I finally got the letter last night, telling me I've just invited to join the Wonderbolts."

"You've just been... wait a minute, Rainbow." Rarity said, her concern growing immensely now. "You got a letter saying you've been invited to join the Wonderbolts? But you said you were now head of the Wonderbolts?"

"Head of the Wonderbolts? Of course I'm now head of the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow continued. "Like I said, I've been working towards it for months, working my way through the ranks."

"But... but..." Rarity was now getting a little scared. "But you just said you were invited to join the Wonderbolts?"

"Wonderbolts? What Wonderbolts? I haven't been with the Wonderbolts for years now." Rainbow remarked, innocently.

"Oh my... Rainbow?" Rarity uttered, alarm taking hold of her. "Rainbow, I think you might need to see a doctor."

"Doctor!" The pegasus exclaimed in shock. "I can't see a doctor, I've got a wedding to attend!"

"Oh no..." Rarity whispered, her voice eerily shrill. "Rainbow Dash. Darling. Where do you think you're going today?"

"I told you Rarity!" Rainbow announced. "I told you, I'm am head of the Wonderbolts. I just got the invitation to join them last night this is something I've been planning for months and I can't let you... wait a minute."

Rainbow Dash went still. Her eyes went to the ground, a million thoughts that were not her own came flooding through her head. Rarity simply observed her, too cautious to make any sudden moves, for this was something she was not prepared to deal with. Suddenly Rainbow looked up at her, looking the most puzzled she had ever looked in her life.

"Rarity?" She uttered.

"Rainbow." A quiet reply issued from the unicorn.

"I think I need to..." The pegasus remarked.

But what it was she thought she needed to do, Rarity never found out. For at that moment, Rainbow Dash swayed on the spot, before she came crashing down, colliding with the ground at a painful angle, finally resting on her side, her limbs stiff and a ghostly whiteness filling her eyes.

"Oh my... Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cried out, frantically rushing the short gap between them.

Though in actual fact, Rainbow Dash was both a few inches and a million miles away. She existed in two states at once...

---

Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open, and upon the sight that greeted her an unpleasant mixture of confusion and anxiety overwhelmed her wounded form. For the sky that she was staring up at was not the sky she remembered looking at longingly when she woke up that morning. No, that sky was a clear blue, a vast ocean that stretched as far the horizon would yield, tempered by the bright ball of light suspended within that was the Sun. She remembered because she spent a good portion of the morning simply staring up at such a simple, yet substantial sight, wondering why of why did she not simply spread her wings and take up into that big bright blue. That was not this sky.

No, this sky was different. She knew that the moment her eyes had opened. This sky was blue as well, but it was different; not a grand old blue, but a... static blue, almost cyan like her coat, but it looked wrong somehow. Rainbow Dash could not quite place it, but the more she stared up at it, the more she felt like she had to look at anything else that did not share its inky hue.

She rolled her eyes over to try and get a better grasp of her surroundings. Immediately, she could feel the ground beneath her form, stretched out. Except, she was not laid out over grass, but rather sand; and to her right, she could see the waves of a vast ocean slosh upon the shore. The water shared the same eerie blue of the sky above, but it was a little more easy on her eyes, perhaps owning to how she had adjusted to the sharp change in scenery by now.

Rainbow did her best to find her hooves and get herself into a standing position. But that was no easy task, as her whole form felt immensely slow and unresponsive. It took a good deal of struggling for her to finally hoist herself and have her four hooves standing upon the sand, an unusually pale white than what she was used to when she to the beach. It was at that moment that Rainbow realised that she was, in fact a pegasus. She tried to spread her wings, but that fatigued her even more than trying to stand on her hooves. They were just as slow as the rest of her, and trying to maintain them wide and open threatened to send her crashing down again, so she reluctantly tucked them back into her sides.

Now she attempted to get a better look at just where she was. This strange beach she found herself on seemed to go on far longer than her eye could see. To her left, stark white cliffs rose high into the sky, blending in well with the sickening blue hue. It wounded her immensely that her wings were unresponsive, or else her first instinct would have been to take flight and see what lay beyond those peaks. The ocean to her right was just as menacing, and she doubted that she had it in her to try and swim. That meant that her only course of action was to take off down this strange beach she found herself in. So that she did.

The air was bitter, as it whipped at her coat, threatening to knock her off balance, but she stood strong. Rainbow Dash embarrassingly trotted up that pearly white and static blue landscape for an undeterminable amount of time. Time; somehow, Rainbow Dash felt that time had no place within in this eerie world. She tried to count, but found it almost impossible to picture anything in her head, a worrying giddiness clouded her head as she tried to think. So she stopped thinking, stopped doing anything, other than walking at her slow pace.

Eventually, the cliffs to her left began descending, as the sandy beach turned into a rocky trail. Rainbow Dash found herself climbing, leaving the ocean behind and up onto what appeared to a grassy plain of sorts. And even here, the grass was blue, an inky blotchy dark blue, looking almost like a sea of silent tentacles swishing and swaying in the cold air.

Rainbow followed the rocky path amongst the grass, and soon enough, she came to a wide opening. The dark blue grass edged around a large circle of dirt, and there the road ended. Rainbow slowly trotted into the circle, and the moment she did, the grass swallowed up the rocky trail she had been following, leaving her stranded within a sea of inky blue as far as the eye could see, under a cold eerie sky. What happened now, she did not know.

"Hello?!" She found her voice in her throat and called out, feeling like it was the first time she had ever done so.

"Hello there Rainbow! Lovely day is it not?" She heard a voice come from seemingly all around her.

Rainbow Dash turned on the spot in every direction, trying to find the source of the voice. When suddenly, right in front of her, a shape manifested from within the sea of grass. She braced herself, trepidation building within her as the figure emerged into the dirt circle to join her. A dark shadow of a pony stood before her, only for a second or two, before its inky form began to drip of, leaving a very identifiable pegasus who she happened to recognise behind.

"Spitfire?!" Rainbow exclaimed in bewilderment. "Is that you?"

"Why yes, it is in fact me, the only and only Spitfire." The mare remarked, her voice heavy in sarcasm.

That voice. That voice sounded very familiar to her. It sounded like...

"You're not Spitfire." Rainbow said.

"No I am not." The mare said. "I am... you."

"You? As in... me?" Rainbow replied.

"Right! Quite right!" The image of Spitfire responded with a good amount of enthusiasm. "I am you. And I have been sent by you. To help you. To sort you out from the many different versions of you. And to get you out of... you."

Spitfire simply smiled at her. Rainbow was confused.

"Come again?" She asked.

"Oh dear, it's a lot worse than I thought. I mean, you thought." The mare remarked. "This may require an explanation. But first, Rainbow Dash: where do you suppose you are?"

"Where?" Rainbow said, naturally turning to briefly observe just where she was. "I have no idea where I am?"

"Would you like to know?" Spitfire asked her.

"Yes! Right now!" Rainbow snapped impatiently.

"Well if you really want to know." The mare said. "You are in... your mind!"

She added a good deal of flair to the answer. Quite unnecessarily, but it had the intended effect upon Rainbow Dash nonetheless.

"Come again?" She asked.

"Your mind!" Spitfire repeated. "Your inside your mind, inside your brain inside your body. Isn't that just fascinating? You should feel lucky to be here. You certainly can't be your body at the moment."

"Then... wait. What am I then? I don't understand." Rainbow asked desperately, starting to feel very dizzy in her... head.

"Let's just say." Spitfire began. "You're something of a... representative of your being. And I'm a representative of your sub-conscious. And I have come to help you."

"Help me? Am I in trouble?" Rainbow continued to question the mare in front of her. She was not sure whether she understood it the more was explained to her.

"Oh yes Rainbow. Oh yes." The image answered with a sudden serious tone. "You. Or us. Are in a bit of a dilemma. Well, not so much of a lemma, more of a... di. You know."

"Just tell me what's happening to me?" Rainbow pleaded.

"Okay Rainbow okay." Spitfire started up once again. "You see, once upon a time, you were just ordinary old Rainbow Dash you, living your Rainbow Dash life. But then... something happened to you. Something very dire. Something that went and messed with your entire psyche, turning everything about you upside down, inside out. Does any of this seem familiar to you?"

"Well..." Rainbow replied. There was some familiarity in her words. "Yes, it does."

"Ah good. You are beginning to understand." Spitfire remarked. "You see, everything about you, everything that has happened, and will happen to Rainbow Dash was taken out of the neat order it belonged in, and mashed together in some messed up pile of inconsistencies and crisscrossing continuities."

Rainbow felt confused. The more she listened, the more it felt like her brain, her essence, was torn and stretched into new, freakish forms. It felt weird.

"Did you not feel like you did not know where you belonged?" Spitfire continued. "Did you not feel like you were an entirely different mare. Well now, you've proven that your body can't take it anymore. So you've come here. And your sub-conscious has sort fit to send me- send you, to help you sort out your messed up mind. Do you get it now?"

"I... think so." Rainbow answered, not really believing herself. "So... how can we fix this."

"I think you mean: how can you fix this." Spitfire replied. "Still, I was waiting for you to say that. Behold!"

She turned away. Rainbow stood in confusion for a moment, before something happened. Out in the sea of inky grass before her a object rose. High and higher into the sky two arches majestically rose; they were a steely white, one that looked comforting to behold. Eventually the met high above the two mares, forming a gargantuan gate that stood as high as the cliffs. And right in between the arches, a pearly whiteness filled the empty space. Rainbow Dash felt intimidated by the grand sight; yet at the same time, a strange sense of comfort and familiarity filled her form.

"Through there." Spitfire turned to face her again. "Is your salvation."

...Go on." Rainbow asked her, her curiosity at a peak.

"If you go through there, you will be faced with three incarnations of Rainbow Dash: past, present and future." She began. "Your mind, your whole psyche is colliding in on itself. What you find through there will make no sense to you, for it will all be out of place. It is your job to sort it out, make sense of it. Do that, and you may fix your broken mind."

"What... will happen if I don't go through there? Or if I mess up?" Rainbow earnestly asked.

"Well in that case." Spitfire said. "Your mind will utterly and irrevocably collapse in on itself, resulting in a utter disaster that will... probably not destroy all of time and space, but will be very bad for you."

"How bad?"

"Oh very bad." She clarified. "Like I said, you are in something of a dilemma."

"Well. Well looks like I don't have a choice." Rainbow reasoned.

"No. You don't." Spitfire said reassuringly.

"Right." Rainbow sighed.

She stepped forward, standing before the mighty gateway that reached into the dark sky. She breathed long and deep, trying to keep a lid on the swell of emotions stirring within her that felt like they were issuing from the gate itself.

"Good luck. You know, for both of us." She heard Spitfire her say.

Rainbow turned to face her. But as she did, the mare had gone, leaving her all alone before the might gateway in the sea of grass.

"Huh. Bring it on!" She cried out to the structure.

And just like that, she took one final breath, and with a sudden burst of energy, galloped right over the threshold and into the blinding light.

---

Rainbow Dash was a pegasus. That meant that she could fly, and what it did not mean was that she was a unicorn with a good affinity for magic. Yet even now, after being exposed to all kinds of magic by now, she could safely say that this, while looking and feeling very arcane, was not magic. It was something different.

Whiteness, whiteness surrounded her, it was all she could see. Yet that was an enigmatic suggestion in of itself for Rainbow Dash was not entirely convinced that she could see. For to see, one must have eyes, and right now she was not so sure about that. She was not so sure about anything at the moment, in fact it was safe to say that Rainbow Dash had no idea what wad happening to here as she stood, or rather... existed here. The feeling of uncertainly was so prevalent to her it felt as if she could just reach out and touch it. Or she could, if she possessed the required limbs to do so.

But then, that was the whole point of it all, was it not? If what... she said was true, then she existed within her own mind. Everything around her was her, yet what exactly was she then that existed within the middle of... her? It made her head ache to think about it. But then again, Rainbow Dash had no head, for she was already in her head, so just what was it that she was feeling?

Eventually, the shroud of white around her seemed to contort and blend into some strange kinds of shapes. Right in front of whatever it was that she had become, clouds seemed to be forming, a great many of them in fact, forming some kind of platform. A whole arrangement of platforms that suddenly struck her as belonging to her former home of Cloudsdale. It was a near perfect image, and Rainbow Dash could feel a sense of comfort brew within her to finally witness something within her own mind that she actually remembered. Well, it was almost perfect.

The sky was the same. Not the same she remembered from back when she was in the world of the living, but rather the electric, nausea inducing blue that she had first eyes on when she awoke here. It was a bitter contrasting image, the sight of something she remembered do fondly under something she longed to forget. But before she could dwindle on it, Rainbow Dash felt something strange happening to herself. She saw the clouds, getting closer and closer, worrying that her non-corporeal form might be sucked up in that mess of fluffy white.

But to her surprise, she felt her hooves land upon the clouds with a soft bump. Suddenly, she became aware that she now apparently had a body again, and unlike before, she felt energetic and strong.

Well, that meant was that she had properly immersed herself in her thoughts and was now where what... she had referred to as the past. The past, meaning her younger days when she was a little pegasus. Everything seemed to make sense now, or as best as it could, considering just where she was exactly.

Just then, she heard something. A voice of sorts, sounding almost like... herself. Rainbow felt a sudden sense of apprehension as confronting whatever it was that that voice belonged to. Yet, that was why she was here in the first place. So, trying hard to keep a lid on her growing concerns, she made her way to where the voice had come from.

The closer she ventured, the more it became abundantly clear that the voice drawing her near was the very same voice she had used when she was a but a little filly. Yet, here she was a little filly already? Now Rainbow grew curious as just what confrontation awaited her.

"And as you can see." The voice became much clearer now. "The rate at which the water is collected is entirely dependent on the amount of pegasi in the artificially controlled hurricane."

Whatever Rainbow was hearing, it did not sound like anything she had said in her childhood. Soon she came upon an area among the clouds fashioned like a classroom. And at the head of it was... her, in filly.

"Oh hello there." The filly Rainbow Dash spoke to the grown up one. "Care for a seat, the lesson has only just begun."

"You supposed to be..." Rainbow asked puzzled.

"Why, I'm Rainbow Dash, silly." The young pegasus answered. "I'm giving this class a lecture, as you can see."

Rainbow observed the area that resembled a classroom. Yet it was empty; which did not seem to heed her younger self.

"Look here, miss." She turned back to face the filly. "Are you sure you're Rainbow Dash?"

"Why of course I am Rainbow Dash." The filly replied. "Nopony knows me better than me, right."

There was sense there. Rainbow almost wanted to believe it, believe that this little filly in front of her really was the filly she once was. Bur it felt wrong somehow, like it was out of place, out of time, like it made little sense. But how could she correct it?

"Look miss." She began, struggling to take hold of the situation. "How can you be sure you're really Rainbow Dash? Like what really makes Rainbow Dash... well, Rainbow Dash."

"Why, if I know Rainbow Dash. And I should, considering I am her." The little filly said proudly. "The real Rainbow Dash sure loves to teach, for she is an old girl."

Yes, yes she was an old girl. Rainbow found herself agreeing with the young girl... that made sense, did it not?

"No, no no no!" She furiously shook her head. "No that's not what she loves."

"Oh, and how would you know?" The younger filly asked her, sounding quite coldly. "What makes you the expert on Rainbow Dash?"

"Rainbow Dash loves to... loves to..." Rainbow struggled to correct herself. "Oh, why can't I remember?!"

The answer to whatever she felt that Rainbow Dash loved felt like it was on the tip of her tongue. The little filly in front of her giggled at her plight, evidently finding it quite amusing. Somehow, in some way, that actually made sense...

"Yes! That's it!" Rainbow exclaimed ecstatically. "Rainbow Dash can be silly, and she likes to play pranks!"

"Hey... hey that does sound like something I'd do." Her younger self acknowledged, sounding almost impressed. "Got anymore?"

"Err... err." Rainbow stuttered, trying to find out what else she was like.

"I don't know about you, but I prefer teaching." The little cyan pegasus remarked.

"Stop... doing that! That's not right!" The elder pegasus demanded. "You're talking- wait a minute. Wait a minute. Teaching? Teaching? What does that remind you of?

"Err, learning?" The little filly replied.

"No no no. More like... umm..." Rainbow found herself struggling once again.

"Yes?"

"More like..." She repeated, getting desperate.

"Do you need to write it down?"

"No I... wait. Write... write- reading! Yes, that's it, I love a good adventure book!" Rainbow cried out triumphantly once again.

"Oh very good. Very good." Her younger self replied impressed.

Rainbow now felt a strange sensation about her. Somehow, everything seemed a little easier to understand. She felt sure of herself, like she was on the road to recovery..

"Last chance now." The filly said, sounding suddenly sinister. "Anything else about Rainbow Dash I ought to know?"

"... ... ... Let me think." Rainbow managed to say. "Let me think."

She turned away, struggling in vain to put the last piece of her psyche in place.

"Go on. What else makes up... Rainbow Dash?" The filly demanded, sounding less and less like Rainbow Dash and more... like something scarier.

"I know it. I know it." Rainbow Dash said sharply.

"Well what is it?" The filly asked.

"... ... I know this! I know I do!" She cried out pleadingly.

All about her, the boundaries of her mind were starting to grow dim. The clouds she stood on turned a stoic gray, and above the sky seemed to be descending on her, its cold, eerie blue was growing ever more prominent the more she sat there in her pitiful state.

"Well? I'm waiting?" The filly behind her asked yet again.

The sky was bothering her ever so much. Why, Rainbow had half a mind to fly right on up there and give it a piece of her... wait a minute.

"FLYING!" She bellowed. "That is it! I am a terrific flyer!"

Her wings sprung open, she turned round, looked at her younger self for a second before scooping her up in her hooves and zooming up and away into that blue. Not a cold, electric blue, but a bright, cheerful and inviting blue. Far and wide, Rainbow Dash soared throughout the seemingly limitless reaches of her mind, all the while hugging her younger self as tightly as she would let her. A glorious sensation was all about her, for she was literally all about her.

Eventually, the duo settled down on a fluffy knot of clouds. The younger Dash hopped off and sat herself down while the elder felt hovered in the air, feeling like she had just discovered that she was a pegasus, and could very well fly.

"Wait a minute." She said suddenly. "I already knew I could fly. So why was it so hard back there to remember everything?"

She turned to face the filly, but found herself looking at an empty patch of clouds. Before Rainbow could make any sense of it, she felt the world about her rumble. Suddenly, to her left, out in the fields of fluffy white, two pillars rose high above. Rainbow Dash felt puzzled, before it turned to understanding as she once again stood before a mighty gateway to the rest of her inner self.

"Well. Let's get this over with." She remarked, sparing no time in once again trotting herself through herself and into herself...

---

Submerged in the whiteness of her inner side for the second time, Rainbow Dash had some time to reflect on what she had been, was, and would be experiencing. She almost felt privileged to be in such a position, for it was not everything that a mare had the opportunity to delve into her own conscious and sift through her memories, trying to put the prices together that would fit into the mind and body that was Rainbow Dash. The whole process would be almost exhilarating, if it were not for the fact that she was fighting hard to suppress the overwhelming sense of terror within her. Her other self had been somewhat vague on just what would happen should she fail in this endeavour, but Rainbow got the impression that it would not be a pretty sight.

Those anxieties were once again at the forefront of her mind as her mind about her began to twist into a new form once again. Some immeasurable distance in front of her, Rainbow could make out buildings, buildings that she soon recognised as belonging to Ponyville. She felt herself slowly descending, her thoughts and feelings once again wrapping themselves into a fleshy form as she descended to the inviting grass upon the ground.

Touching down gently, Rainbow tried to get her bearings. Regrettably that was to no avail, as although she could identify her surroundings as Ponyville, everything looked disorientated, like she had been dropped into the middle of a painting that had been out in the rain, meshing all the bright hues together into one incomprehensible clutter of colour. Well, everything except the sky of course, which to her dismay had required that electric blue that she had long since grown to loathe. But there was little to be gained in complaining about that, for she had business here on the ground, not in the sky...

"Oh Spike, Spike, I am so sorry, I could have sent you flying a mile, and then two miles after that, and then another mile just to round it out."

Now that was a voice she recognised well enough.

"Err, sure. What were you doing, exactly?"

And that was another voice she recognised too.

Rainbow naturally made her way towards the pair of voices, and it was not too long before she stood before the pair of her and Spike, conversing somewhat amicably without paying her the slightest bit of attention. This was a conversation that Rainbow remembered, a conversation she that she remembered went smoothly, but to hear herself now, it was obvious that there was something very peculiar about her.

"Anyway, this has been fun, but now Rainbow Dash has got to go to… works."

And just as she remembered, the incarnation of her that was chatting with Spike soon took off into the air, giving him a wave before flying off into the electric blue. Rainbow sat back with Spike seeing her go, before the scene suddenly changed. Spike, and the buildings, and the grass all evaporated into the whiteness of her mind. Rainbow was puzzled, until she caught sight of her recently departure other self, not flying through the sky, but apparently lost within the great white. She took this as an initiative to get to work on herself, and so she approached the mirror mare.

"Wha... what's going on?" The other her cried out anxiously.

"Hey there miss." She initiated quite cheerfully.

"You." Herself turned to face... herself. "You seem familiar. Do I know you?"

Rainbow giggled. "Yes. Yes you do."

"What's going on?" She asked.

"You're kinda in a situation." She replied.

"I know you." The other Rainbow repeated. "I feel funny. Lost, kind of. What is going on?"

"I don't really know." Rainbow remarked. "But I'm trying to fix it."

"Fix it. Fix what, there's nothing to fix. Hello?" The mirror mare rambled incoherently.

Rainbow sighed in frustration. "Look here, I know what you're going through, I've been through it already."

"You know what I'm going through. Sometimes I don't even know myself." Her other self remarked. "Hello?"

Again, frustration brewed with Rainbow. Clearly, she could spend all of however much time she had left discussing with her other self how much nothing made sense to them and they were so very confused. But the time of confusion was over; now was the the time for action. But what kind of action?

"Look here miss." Rainbow said, an idea suddenly springing into her head. "Neither of us has any idea what's going on anymore. But I might know how we can solve this."

The other her suddenly stopped shaking her head about in the whiteness and turned to face her, registering her for the first time. Rainbow extended her hoof to the other Rainbow.

"Take my hoof." She requested.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously. "What's going to happen?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Rainbow confessed. "I just have a hunch that maybe this will make everything clearer."

"How do you know? How can you be sure?" Her mirror mare demanded. "What if what you think might work out just ends up causing more damage?"

"We are damaged!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We've been damaged ever since something we had no control over went and damaged us. I'm not asking you because I am confident it will work, I'm asking you to have faith."

"Faith? Faith!" Herself went. "How can I have, I don't even know what I am anymore."

"I do." Rainbow replied. "You are loyal. And that means you do have faith. See?"

The other her scoffed at her simplistic answer, but her words did seem to have had an effect.

"Okay you." She said. "Okay, I have faith. I'll trust you."

Slowly, but surely, she reached out with her own hoof and clasped the one Rainbow was offering her. A second or two of nothing occurred. But then, the pair of them felt the whole inner world around them rumble. The white intensified, practically blinding the pair of them; and then they started hovering into what substituted as the sky. Rainbow felt her hoof practically glued to her other self, as they stared into each other's eyes, both alight with fear and excitement.

Suddenly, the bodies of the duo started to blur within the whiteness. Their multicoloured manes burned bright and their bodies became a cyan cyclone, spinning furiously in the air, blending into one as the mind around them intensified in its actions, a brilliant haze of white light surrounding the blazing Rainbow until...

Until...

---

Rainbow hit the ground hard. Well, that's what she reckoned she hit at any rate; considering just where she was and what she had just experienced, the odds of it being a ground that she had quite painfully crashed into were just as high as the odds of it being something that quite easily substitute for a ground instead... like a floor.

Regardless, the fact that she had managed to discern that she had crashed into something fairly hard and unpleasant was proof that she was once again in what she imagined to be her body, for she could feel her head pressed up uncomfortably against whatever it was if not the ground beneath her. Her wings too, she could feel, apparently stuck up at a most uncomfortable angle. Her mane felt unusually wet for some unusual reason. Maybe she had crashed into another beach; that would not seem so unlikely, for she was in her own mind, so why the hay not?

Struggling immensely, Rainbow Dash finally managed to get her bent form into an appropriate position. Sitting square on the ground (she had indeed managed to discern that it was a ground and not something similar that she had crashed into), the first thing Rainbow Dash felt compelled to do more than anything, was to look up into the sky above her...

And the moment she did that, the pegasus breathed a sigh of relief, before it turned to wonder. For the sky at long last, had since discarded that sickening electric blue, but instead, was now an alluring indigo. Deep and mysterious, yet more than welcoming, it loomed over her, calm and silent. Rainbow spent a good long time staring up at that sky; it had been a long time, and it was very much unlike her to call something beautiful. But after spending what felt like far too long under the eerie static blue yonder, it was not too much of a stretch to say that she would miss such a sight should she succeed in her little endeavour.

"Ah. There you are." A voice said, almost expectantly.

Rainbow shuffled on the ground, drawing her eyes back down to reply to the one that had called her. To her fairly dull surprise, it was a voice she most certainly recognised. But to her most definite surprise, she found it hard to believe that the mare to whom it belonged to was really there.

"Twilight?" She asked. "Is that really you?"

The unicorn sighed in apparent disapproval, and Rainbow could see why. Perhaps she had simply worded it wrongly, but it was obvious that the real Twilight Sparkle was not there, occupying her mind along with her.

"Well it is me." She answered. "To an extent, at least."

Rainbow now properly got herself up into a standing position, so that she was now looking Twilight, or her perception of Twilight, in the eye.

"Well Rainbow Dash." The unicorn asked with a subtle sense of disdain. "Have you found this experience... enlightening?"

"Well Twilight." Rainbow began. "Not really. I don't really know what I've been doing most of the time. It's umm... good to see you again."

Uh-huh." Twilight sighed. "Now I must ask Rainbow. Now that you've spent a good long while rummaging about in your mind, what do you make of it?"

Twilight turned away from Rainbow to observe the peculiar landscape of her mind. To Rainbow, this particular scenery was a refreshing change of pace. Instead of the blinding white hues of her former layers, this one was composed of dark, inky colours, reminiscent of what she had observed when she first awoke within herself. A thick layer of wavy blue grass lay under the indigo sky, looking far more inviting than before.

"Well it's kinda... nice." She remarked.

"Well of course it is." Twilight responded. "You see, when you first awoke here, your mind was in quite the state. Everything felt so strange to you. But now, now that you're so very close to fixing yourself, it all looks more appeasing, does it not?"

"Umm... if you say so." Rainbow replied.

"No no, if you say so." Twilight retorted. "All of this is you, remember?"

"Right, right." Rainbow corrected herself. "So umm... am I alright yet?"

"Almost. Almost." Twilight said. "You still have one last thing to... take in. Do you know what this stage represents?"

"The future, right?" Rainbow guessed.

"Right." The unicorn said. "Now to business. I have to ask you a question, Rainbow Dash."

"Another one?" Rainbow went.

"This one's very important." Twilight said. "Rainbow: what if I told you, that all that has happened to you, is all because of me?"

"Err... that's sounds familiar." Rainbow remarked. "I'm not sure."

"Rainbow." Twilight continued. " I have done something to you. Something that has put you in danger. So much danger that if I had any sense about me I would have never even dreamt about attempting, let alone actually perform. And the absolute worst thing about it is that you're not the only one that I have done this to."

"... Oh Twilight." Rainbow cried pitifully.

"I only ask..." The unicorn said. "Is that when the time comes. Will you forgive me?"

"Yes! Of course I will!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Err... you will?" Twilight said in obvious bewilderment. "Really?"

"Come on." Rainbow said. "I'm the Element of Loyalty remember?"

"Oh yes." Twilight remarked. "Still. I just hope you keep that promise. Well, I think that's everything."

"So umm... what happens now?" Rainbow asked.

"Now?" Twilight said, laughing slightly. "Now, well. I'll leave that to you to decide."

Rainbow would have questioned her further, but before she could so much as get a word out, Twilight vanished in a splash of purple magic, leaving her alone in the middle of her mind. The pegasus pondered what would happen next, but she did not ponder for long before it soon happened. There was a shrill noise, that of the wind bellowing round her like a mighty hurricane had descended upon her. Then came a rumbling, a sound like that of an avalanche. Rainbow sat right in the middle of this for quite some time, bracing herself, a little nervous but no afraid. Until eventually, out of the sky, two mighty pillars descended, landing directly in front of her before a bright cyan filled the empty space between them, as Rainbow Dash once again stood before a gargantuan gateway. Where this one led, she had her suspicions...

"Now before you go galavanting off through there, there are some things to consider first." Another familiar voice went.

She turned, and out of the sea of grass walked a figure she had seen here before.

"Spitfire." Rainbow said, before remembering. "Does this mean I did everything right. Am I alright now?"

"Only you can answer that." The mare replied. "Fortunately, I am you. So yes, yes you have. Congratulations by the way, I was worried you might mess it all up and doom us all."

"So... what happens now?" Rainbow asked.

"Now you can go through there." Spitfire informed her. "And you probably know where you'll end up."

Rainbow felt a great sense of relief and success wash over her. It was over. It was finally over...

"So... what's the catch." She suddenly asked. "There's got to be a catch."

"Smart." Spitfire remarked. "When you go through there. And you come on out with all your memories in check, you will not remember... anything."

"Anything?" Rainbow asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Everything that happened after you were inflicted by whatever cursed you to go through this in the first place." The mare explained.

"Oh... my. Gosh." She uttered. "That's a lot of memory. All that I've been through, all that I've learned, gone. Just like that."

"I'm afraid so." Spitfire said. "But somehow, I'm getting the strange feeling that maybe, just maybe they'll be a way to reclaim these memories sometime down the road. Just when that will be, I don't know."

"Whoa. Right." Rainbow remarked.

She bowed her head, trying to take it in that it will soon be taken all out.

"You alright?" Her other self asked her.

"Yeah, give me a minute." She said, struggling with the faint sickness brewing within her.

The gateway still stood before her. It was abundantly clear to her that there was no way around it, other than the very unappealing prospect of remaining within her mind for as long as she would allow herself.

"Okay I'm ready." She said at last, standing directly in front of the great structure.

"Oh and one more thing." Spitfire said for the last time.

"Yes." She said, not taking her eyes of the gateway.

"It's been emotional." She said.

"That it has." She said. "Thanks for everything by the way.

Rainbow Dash heard no response. She took that as a sign that she now stood alone at the gate that would at last lead her from her mind. She cast one last look about, taking in the exceptional indigo sky once more before facing the blue of the gate.

"Well. Here goes nothing..." She announced, bending, stretching her wings and taking flight into that wild blue yonder...

---

Rainbow Dash looked peaceful enough, Rarity mused to herself as she observed the still body of the pegasus wrapped up beneath a snug layer of the bed she was slumbering in. Peaceful enough, considering that she had taken quite a tumble to the ground, but Rarity knew a slip was the least of her dear friend's worries. Quite frankly, Rarity was quite surprised at herself for keeping herself calm and collected considering everything. It was not every day one saw their friend fall to pieces both physically and mentally before their very eyes.

Though deep down, Rarity felt a state. She had been on tenterhooks ever since Rainbow had slipped from the world; for she knew just what it was that had forced the pegasus into this dire predicament. The thing that gnawed at her the most was that there was practically nothing she could do to remedy Rainbow Dash. She remembered all too well the words of Twilight, so long ago it felt; whatever it was that had claimed Rainbow, it was something that only she herself could overcome. In fact, now that she thought about it, there was a far graver threat here, because Rainbow was not the only one with this particular threat.

The more she pondered, the worse she felt. Rarity had faced dangerous adversaries before, but nothing quite so subtle as this before. Usually, there was a clear objective at hoof, or usually it would be Twilight who would be the one to tackle such a problem head on. But instead, it had been Twilight that had instigated this problem in the first place. And there was practically nothing she could do about it; Rarity knew what feeling helpless felt like, but knowing that there was nothing she could do to help her friends, her own sister. Now that was a bitter feeling if ever there was one.

Almost in defeat, her head dropped to the bed that Rainbow rested upon. She clutched the pegasus' hoof in her own, squeezing it in such a protective embrace that it started twitching in apparent protest. Rarity lessened her grip upon the hoof. But still it twitched, in fact it was starting to move about, fighting against her own hoof.

Rarity withdrew her hoof completely; obviously it was causing Rainbow harm she did not need. Instead she took to observing her face, still peaceful and undisturbed. Well, that is until it started twitching about like the hoof. Rarity was starting to feel nervous, contemplating whether or not she call a doctor, until the eyes of Rainbow Dash finally snapped open.

Now Rarity simply stared into those pupils, alight with activity, darting around the room, until they came to rest on her own. The two mares stared at each; Rarity with a deeply puzzled yet hopeful expression, whilst Rainbow was looking like she was contemplating something very important within her mind.

"Rarity? That is you, isn't it?" She spoke softly.

"... Yes Rainbow... it's me." Rarity replied, still unsure as to Rainbow's condition.

Rainbow cast a look around her surroundings yet again, the confusion in her eyes more than apparent. Slowly, she became aware of the rest of her body, and drew her hooves up to rub her weary face. Then she breathed in and breathed out immensely, as if she was exhaling the last few weeks of her life.

"What's going on, Rarity?" She asked innocently.

"Err... you kind of... umm, had an accident." Rarity explained.

"An accident?" Rainbow parroted back in disbelief. "That's funny. I don't feel hurt."

"How umm... how do you feel, Dash?" Rarity asked, deeply concerned.

"Well I feel..." Rainbow took some time to produce an answer. "I... feel great. I feel great. Exhausted, but great."

Rainbow cast a peculiar look at her friend, and was taken quite off guard to see Rarity burst into tears of joy.

"Oh Rainbow!" She exclaimed, bringing her hooves up to embrace her friend in an immense hug. "You have no idea how much that means to me to hear you say that!"

"Easy Rarity, I'm not that of mare." Rainbow expressed, finding her friend's sporadic change quite alarming.

"Oh sorry. So sorry." Rarity uttered breathlessly, withdrawing from the pegasus to give them both room to breathe. "It's just... you're back! You're finally back!"

"Where exactly did I go, Rarity?" Rainbow asked, concerned. "I can't remember the last thing I was doing."

"Oh it's a long story." Rarity explained. "To tell you the truth, I don't really know most of it myself."

"Well whatever..." Rainbow said dismissively, before yawning an immense yawn. "Wow. I am starving! Can we get out of this place or what?"

"Well I suppose if you really are fine, they'll probably let you go." Rarity suggested.

"Well could you please get a move on, then?!" Rainbow demanded. "Whoa, now I kinda want to see the rest of the gang all of a sudden."

"Ah, yes. That might be a little bit tricky." Rarity said. "It's a long story."

"Looking forward to it." Rainbow remarked wearily. "Now could... whoa! My wings are feeling really stiff, I've got some serious flying to catch up on."

"Yes I bet you do." Rarity noted. "I'll just go and get the doctor."

"You do that." Rainbow said.

"... Okay then. Off I go." Rarity said, making a move for the door. "Oh and one more thing, Rainbow."

"Yes?"

"It's good to have you back." She said, happily.

Rarity left the room in a hurry, leaving Rainbow to ponder just what it was that had happened to her...

Comments

[Shigawan]

Haha, as always, an odd chapter. This whole story has been one mystery after another, and I hope it all gets resolved in the end!