“Finally,” Rainbow muttered, approaching a cottage she knew at least one of the colts lived at. Inside she could hear their parents arguing, no doubt wondering where the two were.
“Hey,” the pegasus said, opening the door. “Found your colts. Try and keep ‘em on a leash from now on, okay?”
“Snips!” an obese unicorn mare Rainbow guessed was the colt’s mother shouted eagerly, running up to her son. “Where have you been? We were worried sick!”
“Same goes for you, Snails! What were you doing out at this hour?!” a ridiculously tall unicorn stallion, presumably Snails’ father, demanded.
“We went with Trixie to see the giant rock thing!” Snails insisted with a grin as Trixie backed away, waving her hooves and shaking her head frantically.
“What business did you have taking our children out this time of night?” Snips’ father yelled.
“Yeah, you could have gotten them hurt!” Snails’ mother accused as the parents began to close in on the showmare.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie begs your pardon, for it was neither her wish nor intention to take those two reckless troublemakers anywhe—“ Trixie began, and suddenly she frantically pointed at the wall behind them “Oh my, what’s that thing?!” she shouted dramatically, causing everypony to turn. The moment they did, she set off a burst of smoke and bolted off out of sight, earning an eyeroll from Rainbow Dash as she glanced over at the tiny bug thing that had saved their lives as it stood on her back and offered only a light shrug.
“Well, I see nothing…” Snails’ mother said, noticing the vacant wall, then the instant she faced Rainbow Dash her eyes widened. “OH MY! THERE IT IS! Hold still, Rainbow Dash!” Snips’ mother shouted, magically floating a rolled-up newspaper off the table.
“What are you… NO! WAIT—!“ before Rainbow could say any more, the newspaper slammed down on her back, smacking the tiny creature. “Oh no! Oh no!” Rainbow brought her hoof up, taking the now squashed bug-thing off her back and cradling her in her hooves as she flew outside, leaving the dumbfounded parents and colts behind.
~
“Hang on tight! I’m gonna get ya to Fluttershy’s! Don’t you die on me!” Rainbow said frantically, looking around for the path that lead to her friend’s place.
“I’m… sorry… Rainbow Dash…” the bug creature said, its colors slowly fading. “My… time is almost up.”
“No, no, no! Your time’s not going anywhere!” Rainbow said. “I’m gonna get you to my friend, she’ll be able to help, she’s got to!”
The bug thing coughed, sparks coming from its tiny body. “Rainbow… Dash… you are a… most loyal… and caring pony…”
“Yeah, and awesome too, thanks for the update! What’s that gotta do with anything?!” the pegasus asked. “Come on, enough with the delusional ramblings, you’re not gonna die!”
“I’m… afraid… so… I am… all that remained of Celestia in that time period… you were willing… to defend the others… even in the face of… a foe you could not have handled… the truth is… I intended to have your friends brought together so they may know… it rests upon you and them… to stop Sombra…” the bug creature said, her body twitching.
“What?! You mean I gotta go find ‘em now?!” Rainbow asked.
“That won’t be… enough, though… there are… eight… places in the lands, where the world’s power is channeled through ancient landmarks that… date back before the time of the Princesses. You must draw… upon the magic of the world itself to give you strength to stop Sombra for good… find these places, they will become sanctuaries. One is actually… within the Everfree Forest… the Centaur’s Step, go there first!”
“Okay, no problem, but you’re coming with me!” Rainbow insisted, not wanting to lose the tiny creature.
“No… Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry, but… it’s… over for me… here… let me give you this…” the bug creature’s chest slid open like a pair of tiny doors, and light emerged from it, forming into a small stone. “It’s called the Harmony Stone. It will record the songs of the... magic… those places emit, when all eight have been… acquired… then… when true… friendship… is found… you…” The tiny thing sputtered again, struggling with every word.
“Sombra… must fall… I… have faith in you… all of you… don’t ever… give… up… good luck... little pony...” the bug’s body fell limp in Rainbow’s hooves, and all its color faded completely. Within seconds, its body dissolved away into shimmering dust, blowing away in the gentle breeze.
Rainbow slumped her head down, looking at the stone that now sat at her hooves and picked it up in her teeth. She had to get the others. Fluttershy first… would she be able to handle this? She didn’t want her getting hurt. Maybe she should handle this, and return when she’d gotten these ‘sanctuary’ things. She should at least know about it as her friend was probably worried about her now.
Before she could go any further, however, the sun began to rise signifying the coming of a brand new day. Was I really up that long?! she wondered. Deciding to continue onward, the pegasus spread her wings, flying towards Fluttershy’s cottage. As she reached the entrance, a confidant smile on her face, Rainbow heard a magnificent fanfare begin to play.
Fanfare?
Rainbow looked around for the source of that music when suddenly a figure high above in the sky came spinning down towards her; the odd sight causing her to stare agape, resulting in the stone falling from her mouth and landing at her hooves. What in Equestria is that…?
As it drew closer, it became evident who it was, as she didn’t know anypony else with that many different animal parts making up their body.
“Well good morning to you too, Rainbow Dash! Lovely day isn’t it?” Discord asked with an annoyingly cheerful tone.
“What do you want?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh, right! You didn’t know! With me under watch and this whole interesting development going on, I figured I’d try a new hobby, and what better choice then one that will allow me to immortalize this developing chaos; namely photography?” he asked, a large camera suddenly appearing in his paw, strap secure around his long neck.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could, I dunno, HELP ME STOP THE END OF THE WORLD?!" the pegasus asked angrily. Discord simply made a handwaving gesture.
“Oh pish-tosh, Rainbow Dash. You know I can’t get involved, that’d make things resolve way too quickly and make it a lot less fun!” the draconequus answered with a smug grin.
“Less fun for who exactly?” Rainbow asked flatly.
“Me, of course! Now say fuzzy pickles!” Discord said, raising the camera up.
“Fuzzy-what?!” Rainbow asked, only to be answered by the camera’s click.
In seconds the photo popped out from the slot under the camera, and Discord held it up proudly.
“Ah, lovely pose, I particularly enjoy the fine blend of annoyance and confusion in your face! This will bring back the fondest of memories, won’t it, Rainbow Dash?” Discord asked with a chuckle. “Well, I’ll let you and Fluttershy chat. See you around!” With that, he spun back upwards into the sky; Rainbow could swear he was shouting ‘weeeee’ all the way up before he vanished in a flash of light hundreds of feet up.
Shaking her head and deciding not to dwell on the weirdness of what had just transpired, Rainbow picked the stone back up with her teeth and knocked on the door, which opened seconds later.
“Rainbow Dash? Oh, Rainbow Dash you’re alright!” Fluttershy said, hugging her friend.
“Yeah, long story, Fluttershy.” Rainbow replied, picking up the Harmony Stone again.
“Well, you must’ve been up all night! Why don’t you go take a nice nap and tell me about it when you wake up, okay?”
“Uh, but—“ Rainbow began, attempting to protest even while holding a stone in her teeth.
“No buts, missy!” Fluttershy said sternly, pushing Rainbow upstairs. “Uh, sorry… I just, I want to make sure you’re okay. I remember how grumpy you were about being woken so early,” she said, returning to her usual soft tone and looking downcast.
Ugh, why’s she gotta give me that look… Rainbow thought, feeling a little guilty and deciding to head up to Fluttershy’s bed.
“You can rest right here, come right down when you get up and I’ll make you something to eat, and you tell me everything then, okay?” Fluttershy asked with a smile as she tugged open the covers. “Oh my… what’s that?” she asked, looking at the Harmony Stone as Rainbow placed it on the bedside table.
“I’ll tell you about it when I get up,” Rainbow said as she reluctantly crawled into bed, watching Fluttershy drape the sheets over her and begin to fly downstairs.
“Sweet dreams, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said with a smile, and proceeded downstairs to do her morning routine of feeding her animals.
Rainbow had a lot on her mind, but her friend’s soothing words had an odd way of calming her a little. She looked back over at the stone for a moment, deciding soon as she was up, she’d get started on finding the girls, and getting these ‘sanctuary’ things taken care of. No way was the impossibly awesome Rainbow Dash gonna let the world down!
~
Three hours later, Rainbow Dash was back downstairs having lunch with Fluttershy, the Harmony Stone sitting on the table. The yellow pegasus was quite surprised and a little worried by the story Rainbow told her.
“So… that’s everything, then?” Fluttershy asked. “That would explain why some of the animals were rather grumpy this morning… Angel had to knock two of them out with a baseball bat… though I’m not sure it was completely necessary…”
“Well, it’s the truth, Fluttershy. We gotta get these sanctuary things, find the others, and put Sombra down for good!” Rainbow replied. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna drag ya into this. I’d rather you be safe here till I come back.”
“Thank you, Rainbow Dash. It’s probably for the best, I want to make sure the animals are okay, too,” Fluttershy said, clearly feeling a little bad for not being of much help, but then she perked up. “Wait! I think I have something that can help!” Getting up, she flew over to her closet and pulled out a large saddlebag. “I’ll pack you some daffodil sandwiches in case you get hungry, and maybe this’ll help too. It’s a magic candle Twilight gave me for my last birthday. You blow on it and it lights up, then put a letter or something else on it and it’ll instantly send it to whoever it’s addressed to like Spike does!”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow at this revelation. “How long have you had that Fluttershy?” she asked.
“Oh, awhile, actually… I hope that’s alright… I guess I didn’t really need it since I usually just have Mr. and Mrs. Pigeon deliver my mail!” she said with a sheepish laugh. “But I’m sure you’ll need it more so just take it, alright?”
“Alright, sure,” Rainbow said with a slight shrug as Fluttershy began packing everything including the stone and closed up the saddlebag for her. “Thanks, Flutters, you’re the best!” she said, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof as she took to the air.
“Just… write every now and then, okay? Just so I know you and the girls are okay, and if you need me to send anything else,” Fluttershy said.
“Yeah, no problem! Catch ya later, Fluttershy!” Rainbow said, feeling refreshed and ready to tackle whatever Sombra’s forces had ready for her.