//------------------------------//
// The Element of Loyalty 
// Story: Rainbow Dash's Hidden Power 
// by Mudkipman98 
//------------------------------//

	After arriving on scene, Rainbow Dash and Twilight began investigating the area while ever mindful of Rainbow's floating element.  They searched the entire area near the rock slide for anything out of the ordinary.  Nothing.  Everything else seemed pretty much normal.  
Giving up the search for anything suspicious, Twilight and Rainbow finally decided to aproach the floating element of loyalty.  It still had its blinding white glow and it still hovered next the the sigil on the back of the rock.  Though something had changed.  Something that no one but an extremely talented and attentive unicorn would pick up on.  And Twilight found it.  The element seemed to be reasonating a signal throughout the gorge, as if it was some how connected to it.  Twilight of course noticed this immediately and informed Rainbow accordingly.  "This place must have something to do with the legend!  I've never felt any sort of magical energy like this before.  Before you brought your element here, there was virtually no magical reasonance going on in the gorge.  Now, it's hard not to notice it.  Try putting your element back on.  If I can interfere with the elements reasonance enough, then it might let us move it from its positon."
"Gotcha."  Twilight charged the element with extra magic, and slowly, it started to float toward Rainbow.  She put it on, and as soon as it touched her neck, the gorge lit up with strange markings, all colored cyan and blue.  Twilight couldn't beleive what she was seeing.  No pony magic she had ever experienced before had this kind of effect.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash became aware of an energy inside of her.  Something that she had never noticed before began to surface.  Without thinking, she stuck her hoof out and an orange burst of energy started forming in her palm. Before she knew it, she was shooting energy bursts out of her hooves without control. "Make it stop!" she screamed.
"I'm thinking, but I don't know any spells that can drain energy fast enough to stop the reaction!"
"Then make one up! You already did it once!"
"It's not something you can just do on a whim!  If I had more time, I could find a way t-" Just then, Rainbow's energy just disappeared. Poof. Gone.  Right out the universe.  She fell to the ground without any to spare.  The last thing she heard was Twilight shouting her name in an attempt to wake her up.




When Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, she was in a white expanse, with no pony else there.  She was all alone.  So completely alone.  And Dash could feel it.  She could feel the lack of souls in this white waste land of nothingness.  But then, there was something.  Another presence came into being somewhere nearby.  Without hesistation, she flew toward the soul at full speed, eager to see who else was doomed to this fate.  When she arrived, she met Princess Celestia.  The princess was the other soul that had shown up.  "Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?  This is my private room, where I can meditate in peace."
"I don't know," replied the cyan pegasis. "Twilight and I were trying to get my element of harmony to work right, then I woke up here."
"Well, you're welcome to stay here if you like Rainbow.  You're always welcome."
"Gee, uh, thanks princess, but I really should get back to Twilight."
"No, I think you'll be quite alright here. You'll never have to worry about those ponies again. Isn't that great?"
Something clicked in Rainbow's head just then.  The princess sounded familiar.  A little too familiar.
Rainbow Dash began charging an energy burst, just like the one before.  She knew Celestia's voice was familiar.  It was familiar because it was the same voice that tried to drown her in the mud! The same voice that tried to make her give up! The same voice that tried to stop her from saving Rarity and split her from her friends!  That last reason was the most powerful of them all, and it fueled the most energy that she put into her attack.  As she released the barage of energy at "The Princess", who was now scowling with hatred at Dash, she thought of the pain and isolation of this empty room, and of her friends.  With this new reason to fight, she vaporized the Princess imposter with one blow. 
Feeling quite proud of herself and ready to find a way back, she began to feel tired.  So tired that she couldn't keep her balance.  So tired that she...