Rainbow Dash was called a lot of things. She was the embodiment of Loyalty, she was a hero to ponykind, and one of the dearest friends in the world.
Rainbow Dash thought she was a lot of things. She was a coward, she let ponies die in the initial invasion and continued to let them die, and she had abandoned some of her friends, knowing that in doing so, they would likely die.
But if there was one thing Rainbow Dash knew for sure, it was that she could at the very least protect Twilight Sparkle so that she would be able to fix things. She was always able to fix things, right? So maybe saving Equestria from its demise was another?
These were never meant to be questions. But as Rainbow Dash flew back to the remnant of the sheriff’s building in Appleloosa, she could only think of them as questions.
“I need to bring Celestia back.” Twilight immersed herself in an old spellbook that Spike had almost died for. “She’s the only one that can stop this.”
As Rainbow Dash prepared to walk through the doors, she was prepared to drag Twilight Sparkle out, to keep her safe, and not let her do whatever stupid thing that she was about to do. The last time she tried to get Celestia involved, Princess Celestia died.
Rainbow Dash bursted through the doors, but even when the wooden doors slammed into the walls, its noise causing a shockwave through the remains of the building, the one and only Twilight Sparkle was still in the center of the room, as if untouched by the sudden disturbance. All the chairs and broken furniture had been moved away, for Twilight was finishing drawing a circle with a five-pointed star in the center using the chalk dust that had been lying around the school building that Twilight and Rainbow had raided for supplies earlier that week.
“I’m almost done.” Twilight responded to Rainbow before she could even get a word out. Rainbow Dash angrily stopped towards Twilight, who placed the spellbook on top of a makeshift table of rubble to make it easier to read the pages. “This spell can bring her back, Rainbow. She can fix this…”
Rainbow Dash almost wanted to look away, listening to her the desperation in her friend’s voice. While Rainbow wasn’t much better off, Twilight’s ragged look only added to the scene. “Chrysalis is coming. We don’t have much time left. I’m getting you out. Now.”
Rainbow could hear Twilight click her tongue in annoyance. Turning around, Twilight Sparkle held the book in front of Dash’s face. “Read it! It can bring her back!”
Rainbow Dash only read the title of the spell, ‘the Blood of the Sunstrikers Summon and Resurrection’, before she knocked it the ground. “Celestia is dead, Twilight. You can’t bring her back. But we can still run! Survive!”
Twilight was unshaken by Rainbow’s loud yelling, and she proceeded to pick up the book while recited, “By performing this spell, one can summon and resurrect those that have the blood that can harness the energy of the sun. While this is a dark art that requires an immense amount of magic, this is a spell meant to bring those that can use the light in order to fight back against the darkness.”
Twilight Sparkle stared Rainbow Dash down, “Celestia’s magic was the only thing that seemed to actually do anything to them. Magic of the Sun, Dash. Who else is this spellbook supposed to be talking about?! It was in their library, dammit!”
Rainbow Dash didn’t back away from Twilight’s stare. She needed to get Twilight out. “And it said you needed a whole bunch of magic right?! And how are you gonna do that in your state!”
“I have to.”
“Twilight, you don’t even have your horn anymore.” Rainbow Dash looked sorrowfully at Twilight Sparkle. “You can’t create any magic, let alone a lot of it.”
Twilight Sparkle held the book closely to her torso, unable to levitate it with her stump of a horn. Slowly backing away and treading very carefully and lightly around the arcane circle, Twilight only responded, “I still have some magic in me.”
Rainbow Dash flew into a rage after that statement, not noticing that Twilight had a small smile when Dash started showing her sign of anger. “That’ll kill you, Twilight. Using any more of any magic still in you, pegasus, Earth pony, unicorn, alicorn, it’s going to kill you. Like hell if I’m going to let that happen!”
Rainbow Dash started stomping towards Twilight Sparkle in anger. “I’m getting you out of here before Chrysalis can catch up to us. I’m not letting another friend die.”
It was only after she finished the word ‘die’ that Dash noticed that the floor was heavily creaking under her. Suddenly, the weight of next stomp left her two left hooves into the floor. And before she could react to what was going on, Twilight Sparkle ran over to her, trapping Dash using a wooden arch that used to hang above the door.
All of a sudden, Twilight Sparkle went into overdrive. She grabbed the spellbook, while explaining, “Recently, I noticed that you always stomp when you’re mad. Probably for intimidation or something.” Twilight grabbed pieces of cloth that she set aside and through it inside the star center of the arcane circle. “I knew that you would try and stop me from doing this, so I destroyed part of the floor that you were walking on in advance, and repaired it really badly.” Twilight met Rainbow Dash’s worried eyes. “I’m sorry for doing this.”
“Twilight, wait! Don’t do this!” Rainbow struggled against the surprisingly sturdy prison that Twilight had made, guess she always was smart with just about everything. Hearing Twilight place down the book at a point that was almost right in front of her, Rainbow Dash stopped moving for only a moment. To beg. “Please…stop…”
Twilight looked over to Rainbow Dash, tears in her eyes, almost masking her fear of dying from doing so. “Goodbye.” Twilight look back towards the book and started reciting the words, while Rainbow broke her left forehoof to get it free from the hole in the floor.
“Heed my words, Guardians to the Eyes of Heaven. I call upon your blessing to bring forth those with the destined blood to our world.”
Rainbow Dash stiffens herself against the arch, pushing against it with all of her desperate might, cutting her wings in the process, to make more room for her to get out.
“Those Phantoms that can conduct the Sunlight within their own Blood, who can use their Tendency to Battle against the forces of darkness and bring prosperity, who Stand Proud in the Platinum Stardust.”
Rainbow Dash forces her broken hoof alongside the more stable floor and begins to scrape her way towards Twilight Sparkle, who was now glowing with purple magic throughout her body, creating sparks from the horn stump that was alighting the magic circle in fire. Rainbow could feel the energy that Twilight was using, her life energy.
“I require that you bring forth the immortal bloodline that will save us, to bring light to the darkness! Heed me!”
Just as Rainbow Dash finally got free, she stumbled towards Twilight. But at that point it was already too late, Dash realized as her vision had tinted everything in the room a shade of purple. The same shade as Twilight’s magic.
And just like that, Rainbow Dash’s vision returned, as if nothing happened. At least, until Twilight Sparkle collapsed right in front of her. And she didn’t notice the look of devastation that was on Twilight’s face.
“Twilight! No. No. No. No. No. No.” Rainbow Dash rushed over to Twilight’s side, immediately checking for a pulse. Dash could feel one initially but it had faded so quickly that what was happening was obvious.
Twilight Sparkle was dying. And another friend was about to die and she didn’t do anything to stop it. Again.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t speak, and felt as if she were drowning in her own tears, as she realized that now she was going to be all alone.
“Is your friend dying?”
Rainbow Dash immediately turned, ready to attack the intruder. But instead she found two of them, standing where the magic circle once was. And they were human, the same that Twilight Sparkle had showed her pictures of, in times past. One was wearing a fancy white dress shirt, with a tied red ribbon attached at the neck, and black dress pants. While the other had his back towards her, and was wearing a large jet black jacket, jet black pants, and slightly less jet black shoes, with the only distinguishing article of clothing would be his hat, which seemed to convert completely naturally into his hair.
The fancily dressed one was pointing to Twilight, so Rainbow Dash could tell he had been the one to speak. While she was confronted with the fact that these humans, possibly hostile ones, were summoned instead of Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash only thought that Twilight might’ve died for nothing. With almost a willingness to die herself, Rainbow Dash nodded.
The fancily-dressed human’s fists had tightened, to the point where it had been audible. “I may not know how I am not currently dead, and I do not know what exactly is going on.” The human started walking towards the two ponies. “But what I do know is that I’ll be damned before I let anyone die right in front of my eyes!”
Rainbow Dash, although skeptical, looked up to the giant. “Can you really save her?”
“I can at least try.” The human kneeled before Twilight’s dying body and breathed. “Koooooh.”
As the human breathed, an aura appeared around his body, in a form similar to electricity through his limbs, and it almost felt as if he was on fire and yet there was nothing to indicate this being so. And for the first time, the capped human actually took interest in the people in his immediate surroundings.
“So you’re just going to save the horse then? No questions?” The other human spoke without even turning to face the people in the room.
“If I were to leave her to die, I could no longer call myself a gentleman. And that-” The fancily dressed human stopped talking as soon as he put his massive hand onto Twilight’s side and adopted a face of shock. “I can’t feel her heartbeat! What I planned to do requires her blood to be flowing! Dammit!”
Before the human could begin trying to resuscitate Twilight, the sound of the coat swinging signifying the other human turning around caught their attention. As he stood towering over the fancily-dressed human, he asked, “Can you save it if its heart was still working?”
“I could help her, at least I believe so, so if-“ The fancily-dressed human was interrupted as the other human shoved him aside.
Before either Rainbow Dash or the human could protest, the capped human found himself kneeling before Twilight’s body.
“Star Platinum.”
Suddenly, from nowhere, every individual in the room saw a large purple-skinned human appear beside the capped human, and he was floating in mid-air. And in the next moment, ‘Star Platinum’ thrust his arm into Twilight’s body. But instead of punching a hole through her, the arm phased seamlessly into Twilight.
“Yare yare daze.” The phasing arm moved quickly around, as if looking for something. Even the ex-self-proclaimed fastest mare in Equestria could barely keep up with its movements. And then it stopped. “Horse anatomy is damn difficult.”
While no one in the room could see what was happening, Star Platinum’s arm was over Twilight’s heart, and was jolting it so that it would restart. As soon as the capped human got confirmation, he quickly looked over the still knocked over and confused human and yelled, “I got its heart working again, so hurry up and do what you were going to do.”
The fancily-dressed human snapped out of his stupor and replaced the capped human’s place beside her body. “Hamon can travel throughout living things, and those that can conduct it can experience miraculous recovery.” The human stared at his pinky, and prayed, “Please help me, Mister Zeppeli.”
In the next instant, the human jabbed his pinky straight into Twilight and breathed. “Kooooooh.” As the energy enveloped the two, the air in the room seemed to become pleasant, as if welcoming the return of life to the world. The energy surrounding the fancily-dressed human seemed to be transferring to Twilight in a manner similar to electrical current.
And Twilight’s eyes darted open. As Twilight started coughing to regain her own breath, the fancily-dressed human stepped back and motioned to Rainbow Dash that she was okay. And he smiled as Rainbow Dash, for the first time in his eyes, seemed happy. Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to rush to hug Twilight Sparkle, who was starting to get herself standing again.
“You’re okay…” Rainbow spoke through her tears. Twilight, despite being in a crushing hug, was too busy looking at her hooves in confusion before looking up to the human, a species she recognized.
“You supplemented magic into me…” Twilight stated, feeling the energy course throughout her body, an energy that felt all too similar to Celestia’s own. “Who are you?” Twilight questioned the fancily-dressed giant.
The human, in turned, smiled while he spoke, “First, it wasn’t magic, it was Hamon. A mere breathing technique. And I believe that you should probably rest before asking any more questions. But as for my name, it is Jonathan Joestar. Son of George Joestar.”
Before Twilight could go against his advice of no more questions, the other human exclaimed, “What?!”
Jonathan turned to the other human, asking, “Oh, have you of me or my family before? And what is your name as well?”
“Hmph.” The other human clutched at the tip of his cap. “I guess I would be familiar with your family the most.”
In one swift motion, the human turned towards the doors of the building and started walking. “As for my name, just call me Kujo.”
And with that, Jotaro Kujo stepped into Equestrian soil.