Once upon a time, in a small town called Ponyville, the friendliest town of Equestria, there was a pony....who just didn't know what to do, or how to write if her life depended on it.
"AHH, Spike help me out!" Twilight yelled, tossing another ruined scroll over her shoulder and onto the baby dragon who, was busy picking up the other thirty-two. "In order for me to get this spell into practice, I have to get a signed signature from Princess Celestia! And I don't know how to word it!"
Spike sighed as he walked towards the latest addition to the floor. "Twilight.. If you don't tell her what it's about in simple words," he said in a threatening manner, picking up the scroll and glaring at her. "I am going to piece all of the words in these scrolls you threw over your shoulder together and send it myself."
Twilight gasped and turned around in her seat, glaring in horror. "Don't you dare, Spike! This has to be perfect!"
"Or you can make it simple by using simple vocabulary, simple writing, and get straight to the point instead of doing something like..." Spike cleared his throat. "'Dear, Princess Celestia. Today I have discovered the exponential functions that are used in the Pythagorean Theorem to discover that there are over 356 stars visible in the night, while there are only 242 visible in the daytime. If you rotate our star thirty degrees north towards its cooler side, our stars will show during the daytime, giving the ponies a wonderful show while they go about their busy day. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.'"
"I sound nothing like that!" Spike gave her a nonchalant look, then reached into the pile of scrolls he just picked up, unrolling a specific one.
"Twilight, you just wrote that and threw it over your shoulder, hitting my forehead." He tossed the scroll aside and walked up to his caretaker. "Just tell her simply what's on your mind. Something like this: Can you get me twenty juicy diamonds that I've been begging to taste for these last few weeks, thank you!"
"You're right."
"Yeah," he whispered. "Yeah, I know."
"I should probably just use a few words! It's so simple! Thanks, Spike!" She grabbed another scroll and started writing, ignoring Spike's expecting glare. "And yes, you can have a diamond out of the locked drawer. That's for giving me an idea."
"How about thirty two more for picking up thirty two scrolls?"
"No, Spike."
Spike sighed before going over and picking out the diamond. "So what is this stupid spell for anyway? You know so many, you could make your own real life pony."
"It's not stupid, Spike," Twilight replied. Then set down the quill and swiveled around. "This spell increases the power of ponies. It can be used for our Royal Guard and for the Elements of Harmony in case Discord reverts back to his old ways, we have to face off against a whole swarm of Changelings, or if King Sombra, for some reason, returns. Think of how many lives could be saved and what ponies will become!"
"Yeah, power hungry just like you, who wouldn't want that," he replied. Twilight grunted at his sarcasm. "You running around shooting people with magic, Applejack bucking trees through entire towns, Pinkie baking way too many cakes that will be way too big, Rarity taking everyone's gems, and Rainbow Dash doing three Sonic Rainbooms in one flight. I would love to be just like you guys."
Twilight just looked at him unamused before shooting him a mischievous smirk. "And~ it can make baby dragons bigger and grow wings." Spike stopped chewing and looked at her suspiciously.
"You're pulling my tail."
"I'm way over here, nowhere near your tail. Think about it, my number one assistant. You have the best wings and you can fly. No more need of a balloon."
Spike squinted his eyes at her before holding out his palm. "Send the letter. Send the letter now."
Twilight chuckled before finishing it and dropping it into his palm. He took it in his claws and blew the flames, sending it soaring towards Canterlot. Once the deed was done, Twilight whispered, "Now all we do is wait for a good response." The front door to the library suddenly flew open as Rainbow Dash sped inside and crashed right into a bookshelf. Toppling all the books onto her body in a pile she was trapped underneath. Twilight groaned loudly in frustration, and dropped her muzzle into her hooves. "Oh no."
"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow greeted loudly out from under the pile. "Could you uhh, could ya' help me out here?" Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. Then abandoned her desk for the pile nonchalantly. It was a daily routine. She pulled Rainbow out by the tail with her magic. "Thank you." She popped back up and shook the open book from off her head onto the floor. Then walked over to Twilight with a smile. "Whatcha' doin'?"
"Well I just sent a letter out to Princess Celestia," Twilight replied happily, facing her. "I'm trying to get permission to practice a spell. It's supposed to boost our magic and other abilities."
"Ohhhh, so I can get even faster?" Rainbow asked excitedly.
"Most likely. But it's a very dangerous and careful process. It's important that no one does anything to interrupt me with the spell as it could have disastrous results that could last for a week. Hint hint."
Rainbow scoffed and waved a hoof at her. "Please, Twilight! I'm the definition of careful."
"Uh huh, say that to Applejack's barn.....the whole barn," Spike interceded for Twilight. "Gone, the whole thing."
"All I did was crash through the door," Rainbow protested. "I didn't know that ALL the walls were going to fall apart."
"It's alright, just....try not to let it happen again," Twilight warned, poking a hoof into Rainbow's chest accusingly. "Your stunts are causing a lot of damage across Ponyville. We're trying to keep it in good shape, not like the Badlands."
"I know, I know," the fast flyer said, holding up her hooves. "I get it. I'll try not to break anything, jeez."
"Good." Twilight walked towards the kitchen. "You want something to eat?"
"Sure, what you got?"
"Food, you eat it." The librarian opened the refrigerator and picked out some things, placing them on the counter next to her.
"What do you have to eat?"
"JUST EAT IT!" Rainbow stopped and looked at the mare who instantly calmed back down and offered an obviously insincere smile. "Sorry, would you like some soup?"
"Yeeeeaaahhh..........sssuurrreeee." Spike chuckled at Rainbow's uneasy attitude as he walked past.
"Don't worry about that," he consoled her. "Most of the time it's due to her being stressful. The rest is may be because she doesn't like you. Either way it won't hurt you." Rainbow Dash watched him walk inside before sighing and walking in after him. She's been noticing that about her friends a lot lately.
Whenever she was around, they would become hostile. Especially Rarity. She was practically ready to tear her apart when she accidentally spilled some gems from a drawer. She had to run away from that crazy mare after she tried to hit her with her magic, literally flying out of the boutique with Rarity still trying to chase her to her cloud home. It was just a bunch of gems you can put back in the drawer. They don't even break, it wasn't that big a deal.
Pinkie Pie was just being Pinkie Pie. No trouble in that regard. Applejack though got really upset with her too when she accidentally crashed into the barn door, got stuck, and made the walls and roof fall down with her still in the door. Applejack chased her around the grounds and started bucking wherever she stood. She even cracked a tree just trying to hit her! That was enough to send her flying away.
Fluttershy was a little aggressive too. More than when she yelled at that dragon a while back. Rainbow had came over to visit, not knowing that it was her spa day with Rarity. So she arrived at the same time they were leaving. Unfortunately, Rarity still held a grudge and chased her around the grounds where she accidentally hit Harry with her magic. Fluttershy instantly jumped to the conclusion that Rainbow did it, although knowing that she had no Unicorn magic, let alone was even a unicorn. Were these ponies becoming feral or something? She just couldn't get it!
The pegasus groaned just thinking about it before walking into the kitchen. At least Twilight didn't snap on her. Or did she just do that?
She sat down at the kitchen table as the mare in question set the bowls down in front of her before sitting down opposite of her. "So how you been?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow took a slurp out of the soup before responding. "I'm well. Been working on my flying lately and hanging out with Scootaloo, trying to teach her how to fly still."
"Is she making progress?"
Rainbow sighed and took another slurp. "Well....it's more like......she's getting there really slowly. She'll get there although it'll take her a few years." Twilight hummed before she started on her own soup, feeling the warmth going down her body. "The soup is great, Twilight."
"Thanks," she said, giving her a smile.
"What about you? How have you been?"
"Working on this spell," she sighed. "It's exhausting. I just hope nothing goes wrong, it was really hard making it. It requires a lot of concentration and effort. So it's like trying to move a single column of bricks with only your mind. It has to be perfect."
"You'll do great," Rainbow said towards her, making her perk up. "I believe you'll be fine."
"Thanks, Rainbow," she replied gratefully, giving her friend a sincere smile.
"That's what friends are for. Now hurry up and eat your soup, you don't want it to get cold." Twilight chuckled as she shook her head. Rainbow's priorities.
A few days later, Twilight was given permission to go along with the experiment. Of course along with the motherly warning from Celestia to be careful since the elements needed to be available all the time. There was no telling when the next villain was going to strike. Twilight was giddy out of her shoes, er....hooves....and agreed that she would be completely careful during the test. The next morning she grabbed the rest of the elements and took her into her library after she had set it up. Rainbow was nowhere to be found. But they figured that it was because she was setting up the rain for the day. Ponyville was supposed to get a full shower.
"Alright, Twilight," Applejack greeted as she and the rest of the group walked in. "We're here, now what was it that you wanted?"
Twilight pointed towards the empty area before she started, letting all the girls take a seat first. Once they were all comfortable she started to explain.
"Thanks for coming everypony," she said in glee. "Today, I will be attempting to test the metamorphic spell, that will give ponies enough strength, magic, and transformation that will help ponies everywhere."
"Darling, I hate to burst your bubbly attitude," Rarity interrupted, catching her attention. "But wouldn't it be just for Unicorns since they do direct magic, unlike Pegasi and Earth Ponies?"
"Uhhh....yes, it will have to be spelled by a unicorn onto another pony," Twilight corrected sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "But that's also a good thing. If this spell is approved, it can be distributed only to the most responsible of ponies so they don't do anything that can cause us trouble in the future. Like giving a certain party pony way too much energy."
Everyone turned to Pinkie Pie who was eating a cupcake next to Applejack. She looked up in mid bite, finally seeing everyone looking at her with smirks on their faces. "What? Is there a pony going on? Did I miss something? What's going on?! Where's the party?!!"
"Nothing, Pinkie, there is no party," Rarity assured before turning to the protege. "So how does this spell work?"
"Simple," she replied while walking towards the windows to close the curtains. "I simply must be focused. No noise, no vision. If I do lose focus, I may fire a beam that could ricochet in here, become unstable, and knock out all our magic. Unicorn, Earth Pony, and Pegasi. For a week."
"So it's a really careful process, then," Applejack said, watching Pinkie devour another cupcake beside her.
"Yes. I want to test it all on you. I know it will work, all I have to do is build up the power and hit you. The build up process takes a few seconds."
The group all looked at each other before turning back to Twilight and nodded, giving her permission.
"Alright. Hold still and be quiet please." They all stood to attention while she began the process.
"I don't know, Sunshower. I mean, yeah they're my friends, but lately they've been acting like I don't belong. Like I'm not apart of them. The only one who hasn't done anything is Twilight. And she lightly snapped at me yesterday after I asked about what food she has. She offered it to me!"
The yellow pegasus mare pushed another raincloud in place and jumped on it, making some raindrops fall down onto the town below before turning to the boss.
"Well why don't you speak to them about it, then?" She responded sincerely as she sat down next to her. "I'm sure if you talk to them about your problems, they can find a solution. Twilight hasn't gotten fully upset with you yet, right? That must count for something."
"I don't know," Rainbow said uncertainly, shaking her head. "I feel like.....if I lose my friends...I'll lose myself too. I can feel it. It's like a dark area in me will just show itself." She glanced to the right and whispered unheard, "Again."
"Then try to stop it by visiting your friends and talking to them about it. It's not too late."
The weather manager sighed before standing up. "Alright. I'll go do it right now before I forget or something. Thanks, Sunshower."
"Anytime, Dash," she replied, watching as Rainbow made a hole in the clouds and zoomed down.
The speedy pegasus righted her angle towards the library, knowing everyone was going to be there for something that she couldn't remember. Sunshower was right, she had to get this out.
She touched down in front of the usually lively library to find the curtains closed, the red fabric clearly visible through the window. It was also a little too quiet. Shouldn't Pinkie Pie be talking, yelling or something? Maybe there was a problem or something. She gasped in worry. What if something happened? Determined to find out, she walked briskly to the door and pushed in.
"Almost there," Twilight muttered with her eyes closed and horn pointed towards the others, feeling the familiar build up of magic ready to be released. "Almost there..aaaaaannnnndddd-"
"Hey, guys! You okay in here?" Rainbow asked loudly as she casually strode inside. Oops. Twilight yelped and jumped, firing the bolt of magic at the ceiling. The mares in front gasped as the bolt began flying and ricocheting around the room. Rainbow watched with interest, the other ponies doing the same as it hit the bookcase, the floor, the window, the staircase, and so on. Soon, it began getting brighter, really bright, making Rainbow gasp, bolt out the door and take to the air right when a loud boom sounded off inside the tree.
She looked back down in worry, eyeing the smoke waft out through the door and into the drenched air. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh!"
She flew back down and landed in front of the library, running inside to see her friends coughing and trying to get the smoke out. "Are you guys alright?!"
"Ugghh...great," Twilight groaned in annoyance, going over to open a window. "Great.....just great. Rainbow, do you realize what you did?"
"Open the door?" She suggested, shrugging her shoulders and walking back inside. "Then I see....this."
"Yeah! THIS! This utter destruction because of YOU!!" She pushed a firm hoof into her chest while the others walked forwards, staring daggers at the Pegasus.
"What? All I did was walk inside!" She said, pushing Twilight's hoof away from her.
"And broke my concentration! Now NONE of us can use our magic for a week because that blast knocked it out!"
Rainbow just looked at her before she continued. "Applejack won't be able to buck her trees, Rarity has to use her hooves to create her clothes, Fluttershy can't control her animals except Angel, Pinkie will be fine, and I will be the MOST affected out of all this because everything I do revolves around MAGIC!!!"
"WHAT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAD TO BARGE IN ANYWAY?!" Applejack yelled, literally glaring at Rainbow.
"I-I needed to talk to you guys about....about how you've been treating me lately," she said nervously, stepping back a little.
"WHAT!!!" Uh-oh. "You ruined a month long of studying magic because of what you're feeling?!" Twilight yelled.
"Do you realize what you did?" Rarity commented, putting in her thoughts. "I have clothes that needs to be made this week! And it's already Sunday!"
"I have a whole orchard of apples ta' buck and I can't even do it now!!"
"My animals won't know when to not go into the Everfree nearby at certain times!" Fluttershy yelled, her suddenly loud voice surprising her friend.
"I'll be fine," Pinkie said calmly, eating another cupcake. Where is she getting those?
"G-Guys, look. I'm sorry okay? I didn't know!" The pegasus retorted sadly, nearly on the verge of tears. "I really didn't know! Why are you guys being so hostile?"
"Because you always think it's about you!" Applejack yelled, fed up. "I can do this! I can do that! What about what WE can do, Rainbow?!"
The others all voiced their agreements, coming to the conclusion that Rainbow was self-centered. "I concur!" Rarity yelled, stomping her hoof on the floor. "Why are you even around, Rainbow Dash?!"
"Because you guys like me?" She hoped. "A-and I'm the Element of Loyalty. And one of your friends."
"You are no friend of mine!" The pegasus gasped as she heard what Twilight just said, her heart stopping as she registered it.
"Wh.....what? Twilight, you don't mean that."
"Yes. I do. Now get out, We don't wanna see you again. Just go." Rainbow stared open mouthed at her before looking towards everyone else hopefully, small tears coming out of her eyes.
"Guys...why are you being so mean to me? What did I do?"
"Just....get out, Rainbow Crash," Applejack said, using the same name the bullies used on her while she was in flight camp. The athlete gasped before shedding even more tears, her heart completely shattered into pieces before turning around and running out the door, taking off into the air. Twilight slammed the door once she was out, leaving the group inside to groan in frustration and Rainbow soaring through the clouds with tears streaming down her face. The only person who hadn't turned against her was Twilight. Who she thought was her friend. It was all just a big lie. It was flight school all over again. But this time, she didn't even have Fluttershy to help her through it. Why was she to blame anyway, it was Twilight's stupid spell! It sounded like dark magic too. Get extra magic, but it comes with a cost if not done correctly. Did Princess Celestia really give her permission to practice that?!
Rainbow landed in front of her home in the sky before running inside. Once the door was closed, she jumped on her couch and cried out her pain. Hurt. Heartache. Sadness. She was broken. If she didn't have her friends, she didn't have anyone. The only person she really had to hold onto was Fluttershy. And she left her.
After a few more minutes of tears pouring into the cloud cushions of her couch, she lifted her head up and looked at her hooves, gasping a little but not really surprised. They were gray. Gray as the rainclouds outside on this dreary day. She looked at the rest of her body, seeing the same thing. Even her rainbow colored mane was now in different shades of gray, same with her cutie mark. It just looked like an outline now. Like someone just took a quill and drew a very good lightning bolt coming out of a cloud on her flanks. Looks like she was going to take over again. She never really gave the other side of her a name. But she had a feeling she should. Rainbow sighed, coming to the conclusion that this was a sign. A sign to start anew. To make new friends and a new journey and leave everything else behind. This happened before when she was a filly. She never thought she'd have to do it again.
The pegasus got up from the couch and made her way down the hall to do some work that she found very important. Would be important. Is important.
A few hours later, after grabbing her saddlebags and a few more things, she walked out the home she had built so long ago...when she had friends. Just thinking about it made her sad. And upset. She was the Element of Loyalty. She was supposed to be thinking good thoughts about those ponies. Not friends. Just ponies. But ever since they told her what they really thought about her, about what they felt....she could not be loyal any longer.
She walked over to the edge of the property, glaring down at the town below, the atmosphere above it since the storm stopped. They didn't deserve her. She was way too awesome for them. Far more superior and they knew it. After looking around, she turned to the right and jumped off the cloud to do one more thing. Just to make sure.
The ponies down in the quaint town went about their daily business, the rain finally stopping to give them a chance to get their work done. Or to clean up a library.
Twilight unfortunately had to do everything with her hooves since her magic was out for the week. Seven days. Seven full days without magic! "UGGGHH!" She groaned, throwing the broom to the floor and walking out the door. She had to get some air before she exploded. Just thinking about it was driving her insane.
Looking outside, she smiled, realizing that everyone was able to get whatever they wanted done. Instead of being cooped in a house all day. In the marketplace, she was able to spot Applejack, who was passing out her family's treasure for generations.
"Get your Apples!" She yelled, holding up a shiny big one. "Get your Apples from my family's own Sweet Apple Acres! You can bake 'em, cook 'em, and dip 'em in caramel! Get 'em here!"
Twilight chuckled in happiness. At least some of her friends weren't entirely dysfunctional without their magic. Actually, it was just herself, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Pinkie and Applejack had it going great.
Suddenly, her attention, as well as everyone else's, was caught as they looked to the sky. A shrill whistle was reaching their ears that was gradually getting louder in pitch. "Uggghhh, great," the librarian moaned. "Another-"
*BOOM*
Everypony covered their ears at the very, and abnormally loud boom that sounded off before turning to the sky, expecting to see a very large Rainboom. Instead, it was......a gray color. It was like the Rainboom, just....different shades of gray.
Twilight raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion. "Twilight? What....is that?" She looked over towards Rarity pointing at the sky where the blast had happened, confusion written all over her face just like Applejack who was walking towards them.
"I don't know," she responded, shaking her head slowly. "I've never seen it before. But it can't be Rainbow. Hers isn't that loud or even has that color in it. Who cares anyway, it's just a shockwave." She turned around and walked back inside her library, leaving Rarity and Applejack to glance at each other before turning back to the sky to see the wave disappear......unknowingly along with the pony who created it.