//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - Loyalty Replaced // Story: Under Her Wing // by Tinyweasels //------------------------------// Chapter 10 - Loyalty Replaced After the goodbyes and hugs, she finally set off to her own place, a human-sized house on the outskirts of Ponyville, supplied by the princesses for being on call 24/7 as an Element of Harmony, along with a generous stipend. Life was good. She found some large packages on her kitchen table, on top of which was a note. Hi Rainbow! After the crash I went back and found your parachutes and had them sent to Otherside to be mended and inspected and the girls and I chipped in and got you a new wingsuit in your custom colors. Hope you like it! Pinkie Rainbow sat and unpacked the suit and the parachutes, finding everything good as new. She really did have the best friends in the world. However, having been around everypony for the last three weeks just made her own home feel so empty. “Maybe I should get a pet,” she mused. The next few days turned into a routine of walking and light upper body exercise as she began retoning her body in preparation for her full recovery. When Derpy delivered the mail, she was delighted to see a letter from Scootaloo, in addition to a separate letter from Lady Golden Meadow. She opened Scootaloo's letter first as she sat at her kitchen table and had lunch. Rainbow Dash! I'm so glad you're getting better, I've been really worried about you. Thanks again for saving me. I was really surprised when Lady Golden Meadow said you didn't want attention for your awesome rescue. Why? I was ready to tell everypony how awesome you are! I’ve been reading up on you and your friends and you’re all so amazing! I hope one day I can be a great hero like you. Scootaloo Rainbow smiled as she read the letter; it was good to know she had made a big difference to somepony. Then she read the letter from Lady Golden Meadow. Dear Rainbow Dash, You should have seen Scootaloo's eyes light up when she got your letter! We had been afraid that she would be embarrassed by the events of the fall, but it seems quite the opposite. She wants everypony to know about your bravery. Rarely have I seen such a turnaround in the emotional state of a filly. I think you have a fan for life! I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if we came to visit? She still is concerned about you, despite your assurances that you're recovering fine. She's worried you were more injured than you let on. It would mean a lot to her if she could see you in person. Sincerely, Lady Golden Meadow With the letters taken care of, Rainbow went to her couch to lie down and rest. She took the damaged recording crystal from her pocket and set it on her coffee table. “Play,” she said as she turned onto her side to watch as the room lit up to replay the jump. It was still intense to watch, and this time she let it play to the end. With a shudder she realized Twilight had been right—the sound of her impact did indeed sound like Bulk Biceps sitting on a bag of pretzels. “Stop,” she said and light faded from the crystal. Rainbow reached for a small wooden box on the table and opened it to reveal the crystal recordings of her favorite dives. She gave the damaged crystal a place of honor in front of all the others. The next morning, Rainbow mentioned the letters as she and her friends were enjoying a pancake breakfast at Twilight's castle. Twilight looked up from her pancakes, a thoughtful look on her face. "Rainbow, why don't you ask them to stay overnight? They can stay here at the castle. They'd probably enjoy getting the royal treatment. Oh, I know! Invite them to stay over the weekend." "Are you sure, Twilight? You just had me underhoof for three whole weeks," Rainbow said. "I'm quite sure, Rainbow. It's nice having guests, and after you had left the staff admitted to me that they enjoyed having something more to do than just looking after my and Spike's little needs. It's only the 'noble' and official guests that I don't like around, acting like they're so special and entitled. And besides, they're friends of yours." "Cool, I'm sure they'd like that. Come to think of it, when I was at the orphanage I can't recall Lady Golden Meadow ever taking a vacation." Rarity chuckled and smiled. "Sounds like a spa visit is in order for the diligent matron." Now Rainbow laughed. "Yeah, I seriously doubt she's ever treated herself to anything like that. She was certainly dedicated to her job, and to us." "We'll do everything we can to make her visit feel super happy special for her and Scootaloo," Pinkie Pie assured her with a big smile. After the breakfast they moved to the map room and each took her place on their thrones. Twilight began going over her plans for summits to renew and strengthen ties between the major cities of Equestria, and even more ambitious plans to reach out to other races that bordered Equestria. Rainbow wasn't listening with full attention, as another issue had been at the back of her mind since the accident. "Earth to Rainbow," Pinkie Pie said, giggling. "Huh, what? Sorry," Rainbow said, returning to the moment. "Is something bothering you, Rainbow?" Twilight asked with concern. "Well, sorta. Since I'm still wracked-up and out of action for a few weeks, what happens if duty calls?" "If trouble calls you're gonna follow the doctor's orders and stay safe," Apple Jewel said, making it clear she meant every word. Twilight looked thoughtful for a few moments, pondering the topic. "I'm not sure what we can do about that, Rainbow. I see what you're getting at though. Even though we don't physically have the elements anymore, we have them in spirit, working together as a team where each element is needed." Rainbow sat back and pondered Twilight's words, then another thought came in. "Hey, where's Discord?" The others looked around, confused by the abrupt topic shift. Discord suddenly appeared in the room; he was patting down his ears, which were smoking, and spoke with a hurt tone, "My ears were burning, so I guessed somepony must have been talking about me. Ladies, a pancake breakfast and you didn't invite lil ol' me?" "You were invited," Fluttershy mumbled. Discord produced a daily planner made of clay tablets and paged through it, each page crumbling to dust as he did so. "Oh, so I was. And I had a whole monologue about how I question if we're really friends and that would have hopefully guilted you all into some kind of friendship mis-adventure." "Cadance and I had enough of your friendship mis-adventures," Twilight grumbled. "Oh Twilight, years from now you'll look back on getting attacked and nearly devoured by a tatzlewurm and laugh." "It wasn't funny, Discord, and never will be!" Twilight said in annoyance. While it was always amusing to watch Discord and Twilight butt heads, Rainbow had a serious reason to want him here. "Hey, everypony chill out. Discord, you're probably wondering why I called you here." Discord whirled around and was suddenly dressed as Sherlock Holmes. "Is it because you know somepony in this room is the murderer?" he said with a dramatic flourish. "Nooo. What's your second guess?" "Well, nothing as interesting as my first one," Discord said as his costume vanished. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and prepared herself for the storm that was soon to follow. "Discord, I hereby give you temporary promotion to Element of Loyalty." The room went deathly quiet. Pinkie Pie dropped a pin. Discord removed his ears, shook the soot off them and reattached them. "Did you just say..." he muttered. "Are you cuh-razy?!" Twilight demanded. "Hear me out," Rainbow said to her agitated friends—well, except Fluttershy who looked utterly delighted. The others grumbled but settled down. "Look at it this way. I think we're all agreed that Discord's made a real change for the better after the whole Tirek thing, and we're all trying to trust him, but it's only ever going to be tiny little things we'll trust him with and our friendship will always be guarded. Let's face it, at some point we're gonna have to take a leap of faith and trust him with something big. I don't want to believe that Harmony spared him and went to all this trouble only to use him as a pawn against Tirek and then just throw him away. I want to believe that he's got some greater destiny like we do." Discord snapped his fingers and turned into his stallion form. He whirled around and his coat turned cyan blue and cardboard cutout wings appeared on his back and he wore a rainbow afro wig. "I'm the new Rainbow Dash!" he said, which just annoyed the others more, but not as much as it bothered Rainbow. "Discord!" she shouted, startling everypony. "I'm going to bat for you, and you need to take this seriously." The smile left Discord's face and he returned to his basic pony form. "Sorry." "Are you up to this, Discord? Can I trust you with something this important? This isn't a joke or a game. This is as serious as it gets." "Sure, easy peasy." Rainbow got face to face with him. "Look me in the eye and say you will do your duty as Element of Loyalty." Discord was clearly startled, not thinking she truly was serious. He gulped nervously, suddenly put on the spot. "Well, Discord, you always question our feelings and motives. Time to put up or shut up." He seemed like his mind was a million miles away—and with him that might literally have been true—but then he snapped back to himself, leaned forward and looked Rainbow Dash in the eye. "I accept the duty of Element of Loyalty. I'll even Pinkie promise as my word doesn't mean much. Cross my heart—" Rainbow interrupted him. "No. Don't Pinkie promise. Just give me your word, Discord, and I'll consider that good enough." The only time she had ever seen him more surprised was when Tirek had betrayed him. He was silent for a few moments. "I give you my word of honor." "Good enough for me," Rainbow said with a smile. Suddenly a flash of light radiated from Rainbow's throne. The image of her mark on the back of the seat was glowing; a copy of the image slowly rose from the throne and glided over to Discord and took a place on his flank, replacing his tornado cutie mark. Rainbow was just as incredulous as the others in the room. "What just happened?" Pinkie finally asked. Twilight stepped up to Discord, her horn glowing, examining the mark. "I think Harmony is actually letting Discord sit in as Element of Loyalty." Rarity rubbed her temples. "Well, Harmony better be quite certain about this." Twilight looked to Discord, her features impossible to read--annoyance, indifference, acceptance, happiness or maybe a bit of each. Fluttershy had the biggest smile and was trying to hold back tears of joy. "Discord, I think I speak for all of us... don't screw this up! We're giving you a big chance!" Discord had remained silent for the most part, still astonished by this unexpected turn of events. He switched to his normal form and the mark vanished, but when he returned to pony form it was visible. "I don't know what to say." Rainbow Dash smiled. "Just be awesome, since you're standing in for me."