LOYALTY

by Crowne Prince

16 - Soarin's last lesson

Twilight added some notes to a scroll so lengthy it snaked around the balcony of her bedroom and back. Even so, most of the paper wrapped tight around a scroll rod, creating a cylinder about two hoofs in diameter. Rainbow Dash thought it was another checklist, but she flapped around to sneak a peek over Twilight’s shoulder and saw a bunch of ridiculous equations. It was probably the same scroll Twilight had started making months ago for the Summer Solstice celebration.

Is this supposed to be a spell scroll or a book?

Twilight stopped writing long enough to continue scolding Rainbow Dash. “Of course we saw it! We’re right on the edge of the Everfree Forest. How could we not see something so huge?” The unicorn dropped her quill into the inkwell. The scroll made a zipping noise while it rolled back up with impressive speed, whipping around the balcony and snapping around the scroll rod. It landed on the table with a thunk. “I’m only saying you two may start getting unexpected visitors if you keep training in the same spot. Every pony in town knows you go out there now. Fluttershy and Zecora are going to have their hooves full if they have to keep rescuing ponies from the forest.”

“Why? Did somepony get lost out there?”

Twilight looked incredibly irritated. “You might say that. At least she had the decency to thank Fluttershy for pointing her in the right direction before galloping straight back into the woods.” The bitterness left her face. “Also, Zecora found Scootaloo tangled in a bush after getting lost while trying to follow you.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Guess I should have a chat with the squirt.”

“Honestly, every time any pony sets foot in the Everfree Forest it’s trouble. After listening to so many old mare’s tales about it I had to get to the bottom of what’s going on out there. A few weeks ago I was doing late night research at the Canterlot archives when I came across Princess Luna.” Twilight went on with her story about studying the forest, unaware that Rainbow Dash wasn’t paying full attention. Instead the pegasus was looking with renewed interest at the restricted top shelf behind Twilight. She’d just thought of a great game to play. Twilight finished, “Now normal wildlife have adapted to the environment and it wouldn’t be right to take their home away. Between Fluttershy and the Apple family, they’ve done a pretty good job of keeping the border secure.”

Twilight sighed and paused, lost in thought. After a moment her smile returned and she pulled a book from a stack near the stairs. “Anyway, the weather is so nice today I thought I would get a hay smoothie and read outside for a bit. Care to join me?”

“Eh, thanks, but I said I’d go help Fluttershy with some ducks. At least, I think she said ducks.”

During the usual friendship adventures, Dash wound up in Canterlot after escorting a bunch of desserts via train to the National Dessert Competition. Since she was in Canterlot anyway, she may or may not have swung by the Wonderbolt base.

Soarin’ raised an eyebrow. “Wave Chill, are you even listening to me?” Most of the team was standing on the practice field under the rays of the hot summer sun. Wave Chill’s eyes drifted from Soarin’ and followed some clouds in the sky behind Soarin's head. The corners of Wave Chill's mouth turned up. After the incident a few days ago, Soarin’ was reluctant to find out why.

When Soarin’ showed up late to practice the morning after training Rainbow Dash, nopony took him seriously. They kept laughing at him, and he only dug himself deeper when he tried to explain that he hadn’t stayed at her house. Spitfire had elbowed Surprise, whose muzzle was all twisted up in an effort to contain her laughter. “Sure. Sure you didn’t.” Only after practice did Soarin’ see his reflection in the sky marble tile and notice the sprinkled doughnut rings drawn around his eyes, connected with lines to make a pair of geeky glasses.

That was the thing about falling for a prankster. There was probably a tripwire involved.

Blaze joined Wave Chill. They both looked like they were reading something behind his head. In fact, the rest of the team had their eyes turned skyward now, too. “Aw, how sweet bro,” Blaze said, “It’s a love letter for you.”

A sky letter from a fan all the way out here? Soarin’ turned around to see the cloud writing, giving his friends a great angle on the body part being advertised.

SOARIN IS A BIG PLOT

Rainbow Dash. Soarin’ didn’t care if she was supposed to be over in Ponyville; there was no mistaking it was her doing. He opened his wings. “Looks like Dash needs a writing lesson. I think I see a typo in there.”

Soarin’ struck out some of the cloud letters and pushed PLOT down to make room for the corrections. With speed and agility he put up what Rainbow Dash meant to say, then landed back on the field. “There.”

SOARIN HAS A GREAT PLOT

“Come on ponies, nothing to see here. Let’s get back to training.”

The night before Soarin’ went to see Rainbow Dash, he made a decision. They only had three sessions left together before the Wonder Trial. He didn’t know what she would have to face.

I’m going to tell her.

“My point is, what I’ve been trying to say in the pages of this text since the chapters when we very first met… Oh, how might I say it! Is there not some other way I can display it?” Soarin’ said. “But there’s nothing I can do to compare to the majesty of your wings, now, is there?”

Rainbow Dash turned her gaze away. “Your eyes are sparkling sapphire pools of stars in dark night. I cannot look lest I get lost and never return. But to think of you makes my magic glow brighter as I write this, shadowed in Celestia’s moon.”

Soarin' flipped through one of the books spread out on the library floor around him. He quoted, "Your mane blows in the wind like golden fields of wheat." He was trying not to laugh. "I feel the fireworks of my soul explode when our eyes meet."

"I got one I got one." Across the room, Rainbow Dash snickered and held down the page of a book. "Rain Drop pressed her wingtip to Cobalt's mouth, but it wasn’t enough to contain the heady waves of emotion rippling through her body. Her wing moved aside on its own; their lips met. Hot waves of passion rocked the room. Cobalt drew closer, closer, wrapping his wings around Rain Drop's supple body."

"So you're going to fight dirty, huh?" Soarin' kicked open a book to his left. He slid his gaze to the text with a smirk on his face. "Flanks heaving, Flaming Shield panted into Wind Spear's ear. Sweat rolled off their bodies and onto the hard stone of the guard tower. Wind Spear bit into one of her armored forehooves, trying to muffle her moans of ecstasy."

"Pshh, that's nothing," Rainbow Dash scoffed. She flew up to the top shelf of the library and pulled out more books. She decided on one with a bright red cover and dropped the others to the floor. After shuffling through a few pages, she read aloud: "She ran her tongue down his thick, hot–"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouted upon seeing all the books scattered and open on the floor. The unicorn stood in the doorway, a brown takeout bag suspended in the air next to her.

The culprit whipped the red novel behind her back and grinned. "-baguette," she finished.

Twilight eyed the room suspiciously. "What are you two doing? You know what? Never mind, I don't want to know. And Rainbow Dash, I thought I banned you from the romance section." Twilight put her lunch on the table in the middle of the room. Books started flying from the floor and organizing themselves in stacks. A broom floated next to the serious-faced librarian. "Cheerilee's class is going to be here in five minutes." Twilight brandished the broom handle at the two disruptive guests. "I will use this," she threatened. "Now both of you, out!"

The broom chased Rainbow Dash around the library twice before sweeping both her and Soarin' out the front door. They landed on the doormat just in time to be noticed by an approaching herd of disorganized students.

A spry orange filly Soarin' recognized popped out of the herd. "Hey, look! It's Rainbow Dash!"

One of the colts in the group pointed Soarin' out with a lanky brown foreleg and announced slowly, "And do nut guy."

Soarin' whispered out of the side of his mouth without looking away from the foals, "Someday I'm gonna get you back for that, Dash."

"Ha! You can try."

The closer the two pegasi got to their training spot, the more withdrawn Soarin’ seemed. Rainbow Dash wondered if she’d upset him with her dirty romance novel game. They landed on one of the clouds in the Everfree Forest and her anticipation to learn a new flying trick got the best of her. “Okay Soarin’, what cool moves are you gonna show me today?”

Soarin’ didn’t respond. He stood apart, silent.

Rainbow Dash went over to the strangely somber Wonderbolt and prodded him in the side. “You okay?”

“I don’t have anything left to show you.”

That statement woke her up. If there wasn’t anything else, then there wouldn’t be any more weekly meetups. It was over. The next time they’d see each other would be the Wonder Trials.

Rainbow Dash put her foot down. “I don’t believe you.”

Something flickered in Soarin’s eyes. There was more. There was always more, wasn’t there?

The stallion rubbed one of his forelegs, suddenly self-conscious. He wouldn’t meet her gaze, instead looking just past her head at a pinkish cloud nearby. “There is one more thing. It’s not something I know how to show you, but I can try.” He smiled and pointed out a small cotton candy puff just big enough to fit them both and a little wing space. “Let’s go over there.”

They landed so they were facing each other. After all this time, it was hard to remember these clouds weren’t normal clouds and this forest wasn’t a normal forest. What irked Rainbow Dash now wasn’t the Everfree Forest, but rather the feeling something significant was about to happen. The suspense made her want to flip out and yell ‘What is it already?!’ but she found a scrap of patience she didn’t know she had.

Soarin’ broke the tension by explaining, “Like the forest, the clouds here have magic qualities,” he said, pulling a hoof up and letting the gum stretch with it. “Weird ones, but you get it.” The cloud snapped off his foot and sprang back into position. “This is going to sound pretty dumb, but that magic is sensitive to feelings.”

Dark red veins spread from Soarin’s feet and swirled into the cloud, deepening its color. “Especially anger and hate. Any strong emotion will do, but it’s the negative ones that really get these things going.” He relaxed and the cloud brightened. “Obviously it’s not good enough to simply be upset, or else there’d be a storm here every other day. You have to channel the feeling into your weather talent. The more you lose control and get absorbed by that singular feeling, the more powerful the effect and the greater the risk you’ll hurt somepony or yourself with the backlash.”

A rare flash of insight struck Rainbow Dash. Soarin’ had pretty detailed knowledge of the Everfree Forest clouds. She seriously doubted it was something every Wonderbolt knew. “This is related to your cutie mark, isn’t it?”

Soarin’ grinned, returning to his usual self for a moment. “What, anger and hate?”

“No, egghead, this,” she said, sticking her hoof into the winged lightning bolt on his flank, the spitting image of the Wonderbolt emblem.

“Yes.” Soarin’ sat down. “Look, Dash, I’m going to tell you that story and then you can decide if you want to finish training with me. Maybe I should have told you how I got my cutie mark before, but I couldn’t do it.” Soarin’s eyes seemed to be searching for a way to phrase what he said next. “This might be hard to hear, but did you know there are some things in Equestria that are… bad?”

She was careful not to laugh. She’d fought hoof-to-hoof with some of those things. Soarin’ didn’t know that, and she wasn’t about to let the Element of Loyalty status influence her Wonderbolt acceptance. All she said was “Yeah.”

“How much can you handle, Dash?”

“Bring it on.”

He still didn’t have his cutie mark.

His fillyfriend sighed. “It’s like we’re going in two completely different directions. I mean, you don’t even know what you’re doing with your life.”

That stung. “I’m going to be a Wonderbolt.” It was the one thing he really wanted to do. She knew that. Everypony knew that.

She didn’t believe him, though; or rather, she didn’t believe in him. Soarin’, the colt with no cutie mark, part of Equestria’s premiere flight team? Not a chance.

Tears welled in her eyes. The fact they’d grown apart didn’t make ending a once passionate relationship any easier. The filly turned away. “It’s over. I’ve gotta go. Just… don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to see you hurt.” The caring words made him feel terrible. Why couldn’t she be mean about it?

That was the first time his heart had been broken. It was far, far worse than your crush snubbing you at flight camp, or a relationship you thought was going to work that petered out in the first few days. No, this was… he thought he’d…

Soarin’ was so miserable he didn’t have the will to live. Mechanically he moved through the next few days. He’d never be okay again.

“Aw, come on, Dash, don’t look at me like that. I was a teenager, cut me some slack.”

But he didn’t give up on his dream. For a long time he’d listened to ponies talk about his blank flank, wondering if maybe he was half mule and his parents had adopted him and so on. He’d had trouble getting a job because others worried it would keep him from discovering his talent. To get away from the pity-filled onlookers he went farther and farther from Los Pegasus to practice flight routines.

After his heart was crushed into a thousand irreparable pieces, he traveled a greater distance than ever before. He wanted to be alone where nopony would ever find him. He didn’t care if it was the Everfree Forest, or how dangerous it was, because his wings were only going through the motions. There was nothing to feel.

His wings brought him over the green border and into night skies obscured by odd clouds. They stuck to his hooves and he tripped, sucked into a sticky surface. The more he struggled the more the gum got everywhere, trapping him. Somehow one of his back legs got pasted to a foreleg, his tail was stuck in his mane, and he was curled up on his side with one wing sticking out. If he’d been in a better mood he would've laughed.

While he lay stupidly in this sticky predicament, the forest buzzed with night life. It was far more active than in the tales he’d heard; he could practically feel the static of magic in the atmosphere. He saw no ponies, but unusual plants grew with wild abandon. His cloud passed over a clearing of purple blue flowers shrouded in mist. Vines snaked up trees. A small dark shape with glowing red eyes leaped through the woods. One of the tree vines snapped around the shape and the eyes disappeared. Screeching pierced the darkness. Soarin’ wondered if the cloud was consuming him in a similar fashion.

After a while he tried to get free again without falling through the cloud completely. He failed. The moment he concentrated and broke the flow of pegasus magic, the cloud whisked past him and he toppled in a tangled mess into the trees. He smacked into the ground and a shower of twigs and branches rained over him.

Soarin's head pounded from the impact. It was hard to understand what was going on. He felt dirt rub the wrong way against his coat, pebbles digging uncomfortable trails into his belly. One of his back legs wouldn't move. It was caught in something, which turned out to be a vine dragging him along the forest floor.

The vine pulled him off the ground so he was suspended upside down. With a whip crack another green tendril lashed around one of his forelegs. It pulled taught. The forest was trying to rip him in half. He beat his wings to no avail.

If he could reach that one vine on his front leg he could get free. His teeth snapped shut over nothing. Even resting his neck over his leg and stretching as hard as he could, it wasn't far enough. The vines were too smart for him. He stopped wasting energy and held still.

Today sucked.

A sultry, feminine laugh echoed in the darkness around him. Great.

“My my my, what have we here?” He couldn’t see who or what was talking. “A little foal wandering out where he shouldn’t be. With no cutie mark, nonetheless. You must be quite brave to come here under such circumstances. Quite brave, or quite foalish. Well, never mind that. Let me help you.”

The vines lowered him to the ground and unraveled. For the first time since he’d arrived he stood up.

“If that is all you needed you are free to go.” The voice was everywhere. Soarin’ turned, trying to pinpoint its location. “But I can offer you much, much more. Your mark, for example.”

Rainbow Dash interrupted him. “Okay, so this creature is clearly evil Soarin’. Tell me you didn’t say yes.”

“I said yes.”

The rainbow mare smacked her hoof into her forehead.

“Nonono,” Soarin’ tried to save face by explaining, “I knew she was up to no good, but I thought I could trick her. It’s not like she made me agree to anything.”

At its request, Soarin’ told the obviously evil entity what he wanted most. He wanted to be a Wonderbolt, one of the best flyers in Equestria.

“Then the deal is simple.” The creature made no sounds in its effortless, impossible movement around the space. At one moment its voice came from the left, the next it was on the right. “I’ll teach you the art of flying which ponykind hasn’t seen in centuries, and you will accept no training from anyone other than me. Then, and only then, will you receive a cutie mark. Agreed?”

“Alright.”

Rainbow Dash looked blandly at Soarin’ through half-lidded eyes.

“What? I forgot about that part, okay!”

With renewed determination, Soarin’ went to training as often as he could. It was a long trip, and the creature would only ever speak to him at night and only ever in the same spot. The possibility he was being trained by a ghost or the tree with the vines did not escape him.

It didn’t matter, because he was learning things Wonderbolts could only dream of. He was going to show everypony who’d ever doubted him a thing or two. Oh yes, he would show them.

Soarin’ was beginning to understand how messed up Equestria was. The ponies who’d turned him away because of his blank flank, they didn’t do it out of compassion and desire for him to find his talent. They did it because they thought he was worthless. Creatures without a mark were scorned as lesser beings. As a result, it was rare to see the prideful griffin race even bother to set foot inside Equestria anymore. Most ponies were selfish and self-centered: one only needed to look at Canterlot to know that. He recalled a bitter fight between two would-be lovers he’d heard the other day. No, this world was only dressed up as peaceful and kind.

But wait, were those his thoughts, or the thoughts of his mentor? His mind turned cloudy every time he tried to figure it out.

“Yes, that’s right,” the voice instructed. Soarin’ was standing on a layer of mist. Vines from the tree rustled through the dead leaves below like snakes, waiting to snap him up if he failed. “Focus all of your anger. You shouldn’t even be listening to me, foal. You are the element of fury. Who dares set foot in your path, disturb your peace with their words?”

The fog at Soarin’s feet thickened into black storm clouds. He collected every ounce of suffering he’d ever witnessed, ever suffered himself, ever heard in a story, and internalized it. The pegasus pony bared its teeth. Thunder rolled from its hooves and its eyes glowed with rage in the darkness.

“Now fly. Fly!” the voice commanded over the thunder and howling wind.

The dark colt spread its wings and shot into the sky against a backdrop of a single, enormous lightning bolt. The bolt cracked the vine tree clean in half and the wood burst into flames. Rain poured from the broiling thunderstorm, sizzling against the dying flames. The pegasus was forced to dodge the chain lightning that tore through the clouds in the sky above the forest. Black sears where the heat came too close burned the pony’s pale blue coat, marring everything but two new cutie marks. Singed feathers tore off and whipped into the gale, lost forever.

Even the storm couldn’t drown out the maniacal, evil laughter emanating from the forest.

It was too much. A lightning bolt charred the side of Soarin’s face and he came to his senses, realized where he was, who he was. He fled the forest, but the hateful creature chased him. “You’ll have your dream, all thanks to me! You will never be free of me! Never! You’ve helped me in more ways than you can imagine! haha ahaaha aHaHAhAhaHAHA!” Those words echoed in his head as the beast’s cackling receded into the distance.

“I didn’t go back after that night. For the first time in months I could think clearly. That monster was wrong about the world, and it lied to me and tricked me about my place in it. Imagine the few friends I had left when they saw the state I was in. And to see a cutie mark that was an exact replica of the Wonderbolt crest... nopony knew what to make of it. It took a long, long time for me to realize that it wasn’t given to me. I earned it.” Soarin’ smiled weakly. “Yeah, it’s definitely mine. It still reminds me every once in a while not to let heart’s desire get the better of me.”

Situations like this made Rainbow Dash nervous. How was she supposed to react? Was she supposed to comfort him? It would be awkward and forced. Should she tell him she was an Element of Harmony, and she’d been tricked before too? But then again, Soarin’ had been influenced by something pretty hoofing evil… was she supposed to report to Twilight on this? She didn’t know what to do. Feelings were not her specialty. I could really use Fluttershy’s kindness right about now.

But there was no Fluttershy, only Rainbow Dash. And Rainbow Dash said, “Damn, Soarin’, that’s a horrible cutie mark story.”

“I can tell you the happy version if you want.” Soarin’s smile didn’t meet his eyes, which looked worried on account of the rings etched under them. Rainbow Dash knew then that he wanted some kind of sign she was okay, that she didn’t hate him because he’d done something featherbrained.

“Save the happiness for the fans. The only two ponies here are you and me, and as far as I know, you’ve done nothing but eat doughnuts and pie and be a Wonderbolt when I’m not around. That’s the Soarin’ I know. If you ask me, this,” she brushed a feather down the mark on his flank, “is the symbol of triumph in the face of adversity. That’s what you did. You got your special move, got your cutie mark, and got the hay out of there. Bet you’d never faced something as sinister as that before. How else are you supposed to get that kind of mark? But, y’know, that’s just coming from a pony who’s wanted to be a Wonderbolt since flight school.”

Soarin’ was at a loss for words at this point, so she threw in a little signature Rainbow Dash spice. “Now you know the truth – your cutie mark means your talent is training yours truly to be a Wonderbolt.” She polished a hoof on her chest. Soarin’ snorted at her play-arrogance.

Now that the mood was lighter, she had some questions. "So why did you start coming back here?” Rainbow Dash looked over the edge of their cloud. No doubt Soarin’s disembodied voice was down there waiting for sundown.

“Rapidfire wanted me to prove it when I told him about my lightning techniques. I refused to come out here after dark, obviously. The forest is a nasty place any time of day, but at night…” Soarin’ shuddered and didn’t elucidate. “The Everfree Forest has proven to be a useful training location. Some of the others were already coming here to test new moves out.”

“Did that thing ever bother you again? Seems like a pretty shady deal. I don’t get it.” Rainbow Dash thought of Nightmare Moon and Discord. She’d nearly been tricked by one and had fallen prey to the second. The villains always had a goal in mind. “What was it that it got in return?”

“That’s what worries me. I don’t know.”

This is one mystery we might never know the answer to. Unless we confront the night out here ourselves.

I’ve got better things to do!

“Hey Soarin’, you gonna teach me that awesome move now?”

“After what I told you you’re still interested in that?” He was surprised. “Well, okay.” The stallion took a deep breath and let it out, getting to his hooves. He’d taken a big risk by telling that story. It was natural to want to take a break. Rainbow Dash waited for him to collect his thoughts.

“Uh, so yeah, the clouds are affected by feelings. The truth is this trick works anyplace in Equestria, but it’s easiest with these clouds. I’ll try to teach you here to get started, but no guarantees. Every pegasus is capable of different moves.”

The space on their cloud was small. Soarin’ came even closer. “You’ve probably already figured some of this out. How do you make the moon rainbow?”

“I close my eyes and stop thinking about anything.”

“That’s the first step. After that, you need to focus a specific feeling. Can you prepare like you’re going to make a moon rainbow?”

With you standing so close to me? “Alright, I’ll give it a shot.”

She closed her eyes and let everything fall away. She could feel the heat of the pony in front of her and sense the way the wind moved around him. Warmth from the sun seeped through her skin. Rainbow Dash felt the air shift around her wings and flow through the feathers as she opened them.

“Now focus,” a calm voice that seemed distant but also very close said. “You need to feel it right… here.” A hoof pressed softly where her heart was. It stayed there. Some feeling she’d put behind her a while ago welled beneath it in a rush. The emotion was so strong it hurt. She became fascinated with Soarin’s hoof and couldn’t focus on anything.

“Soarin’, I can’t… with you…”

“Oh.” The pressure on her chest went away.

It was much easier to concentrate after that. Rainbow Dash dipped back into the realm of nothingness. A male voice echoed through her memories. Haha, yeah right. Rainbow Crash ain’t never gonna make it to the Wonderbolts. A honeyed, sarcastic mare announced, The only thing they'll call you is loser. Discord’s self-confident laughter reverberated in the depths of her mind. She clutched onto it and let it annoy her. Discord, who’d made her turn her back on her friends. Fashioned her into a puppet of chaos. Tamed her.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flew open and a small jagged rainbow bolt split the sky in a flash so bright it blinded her. Soarin’ yelped and jumped out of the way an instant before the bolt struck the cloud at her feet, transforming the spot into a molten rainbow pool. The light kept shining. Everything was so white it was hard to see.

“Level up,” she said in awe. Already she was thinking of ways she could use this.

“D-dash? You’re – Can you see this?” Soarin’ was flapping nearby.

“See what?” She blinked. The colors returned to normal. Soarin’ was looking at her. She didn’t feel any different. She checked her wings. Nope, still there.

“I don’t know what happened. There was that flash of light, and everything changed. You turned dark, and all the colors in your mane switched around. Then it was gone. I swear I saw it. Why did I see it and you didn’t?”

“Should I try again?”

“Aren’t you tired? I can’t believe you pulled that off.”

She realized how worn out she was. There were too many unanswered questions bouncing around in her head. Too many revelations. It was emotionally exhausting. She fell on her rump. “You know what? I am. I think I could use a good nap right now.” She yawned.

“Wait, don’t fall asleep here. Let’s go back.”

The pegasus duo left the Everfree Forest. Rainbow Crash, huh? They’d called her that before. Now she was going to own it.

“Why howdy there Rainbow Daaaaahahaha.” Applejack put a hoof over her mouth. A basket with some carrots in it sat next to some fresh holes in the ground. Nearby, Fluttershy was occupied with nosing rabbits through rows of fresh vegetables. The animal lover turned around at the sound of Applejack’s laughter.

“Oh my. Rainbow Dash, you have, um, you have a little something on your face.”

Applejack kept laughing. “More like a lot of somethin’. I never took you fer one of those sophisticated types RD. You goin out with Rarity tonight?”

“W-what?” Rainbow Dash stuttered, confused. “Great. Somepony get me a mirror.”

“We got one back at the farmhouse you can borrow. Ya might want this too.” Applejack held out a kerchief. Rainbow Dash snatched it and went over to the Apple family home.

Old Granny Smith and her granddaughter were washing vegetables off in a big tub in front of the house when they saw the blue pegasus. “See Applebloom? Ah told yehs. Ah saw this great big pony out in the fields and he had doughnuts on his face, make no mistake. Lookie here, here comes another one. Ah swear, ponies these days. Don’t know their left hoof from their right un. Eh, lemme see, which one wuz that again?”

Rainbow Dash went inside and peered into the bathroom mirror at monocled, mustached Rainbow Dash. That explained why Spike kept laughing and wouldn’t tell her where Twilight was. She’d left him burping up a scroll on the library floor.

The proud pegasus went back outside after a great deal of scrubbing. “Anyway,” she said to Applejack, “Either of you two seen Twilight around?”

“Ain’t she out getting stuff for the picnic she’s got scheduled? You know, the one she planned for all of us?” Applejack’s tone of voice made it clear she didn’t expect Rainbow Dash remembered.

Right, the schedule. Rainbow Dash hadn’t looked at her calendar. She didn’t want to pay attention to the date triple circled on it.

Twilight placed some apples in her satchels. “It’s called an afterimage.”

Thank Celestia for Twilight (literally). Rainbow Dash never thought there was so much she should know that she didn’t. “Yeah okay, so what’s that?” The pegasus hovered around the market, following her distracted friend.

“It’s an optical illusion. Here, watch this and don’t let it get away.” Pinkie Pie floated in front of Rainbow Dash, suspended inside a purple magical aura. The peppy pony waved happily.

When did Twilight get so strong?

Twilight sorted some bits out to pay for the apples, flour, and some other things. “Pinkie hold still. Rainbow Dash, watch her. Don’t look away or she might disappear. I’m serious.”

Rainbow Dash stared at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie stared back, hanging in the air like the balloons on her flank.

Without warning there was a bright flash of light. Pinkie wasn’t so pink anymore – she was emerald green. Rainbow Dash blinked and moved her eyes and the color went back to normal.

“That’s an afterimage,” Twilight said, glad to finally one-up Rainbow Dash. The light on the tip of her horn went out and she lowered Pinkie onto the ground. “You have to be staring at a certain point for a few seconds for it to happen. In terms of what you described there’s probably illusion magic at work too. I didn’t know pegasus ponies could tap into that kind of magic.”

Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. “Well, you know me. Making the impossible possible and all. So, for my next question, can you repeat all that stuff you said about the Everfree Forest earlier?”

“Ugh,” Twilight sighed. “I thought you were listening back then. I don’t want to repeat myself every time you get a little curious Dash. But that’s okay. Can we talk about it later? I’ve only got a few more minutes at the market before I have to go to Sugarcube Corner and remind Pinkie Pie to make the cake for the picnic on Wednesday.”

“Yep!” Pinkie Pie saluted. “I’m due to forget in about five minutes, right after I take the cupcakes out of – oh, the cupcakes! I gotta go. See ya later!” Pinkie’s frizzy tail bobbed up and down as she bounced off.

On Wednesday the wedding invitation came. Check that, the Wedding invitation. All six Elements of Harmony arranged for ponies to take care of things while they were away. Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to pack anything. She could fly back and get things when she needed them, right?

Her temporary team leader Cloud Chaser, a purple pegasus pony with spiky hair and a star in Dash’s book for being nice to Fluttershy after tornado day, thought otherwise. “Dash, maybe that’s not such a good idea. You might not be able to leave Canterlot once you’re there.”

“What’s up? Why not?”

“There’s a force field around it. You can see it from here, look.”

Rainbow Dash poked her head out of the window in her home, where she’d been prepping Cloud Chaser to take over. “Don’t know how I missed that before. What’re the reports saying?”

“We don’t know. No pony’s been allowed in – or out.”

“Well in that case wish me luck!” Rainbow Dash threw some things into her bags. “See ya when I get back.”