Prologue
"What makes a pony a pony?"
The wind blew Rainbow’s colorful mane about her head.
"What do you mean?"
"You know, what makes a pony who she is?"
Pinkie Pie scrunched up her forehead. "What kind of question is that? You feeling ok Dashie?"
"Yeah, heh. Pretty stupid question, huh? Yeah I'm ok, never mind."
"Okey dokey lokey!" and off Pinkie Pie bounced.
Rainbow sat, tail wrapped around her legs. She cocked her head, watching Pinkie bound off. What is it, there has to be something. Color? Mane? Tail? Voice? Personality? What happens if a pony loses something that makes her...her?
Again the wind blew. It ruffled Rainbow’s coat, she shivered, even in the hot midday heat. It felt like rain.
She bit her lip. Looking down, she dug at her tail with a careful hoof. The soft hairs parted. Her watery eyes gazed down at grey fibers. "What's happening to me?" she whispered to herself.
A quiet knock echoed through the house. Silence. Again a quiet knock. "Tom, is that you?" dreary with sleep Rarity rolled over in bed. Again the knocking echoed, louder this time. Rarity opened her eyes. "Oh my goodness, who could that be?"
Clad in her bathrobe she trotted to the door and peeked out her window. A dark hooded pony sat at the doorstep. Rarity cautiously opened the door just a crack.
"Can I help you?" she inquired.
"Rarity, it’s me, Rainbow Dash. I have a...uh...fashion emergency."
Rarity, still groggy, was taken aback. "This is rather suspicious" she thought to herself.
"Oh Rainbow can't it wait until morning?"
Rainbow flipped her hood back. In the dark Rarity could hardly make out her expression. "No. It can't."
"Alright come on in and tell me what's troubling you."
Rainbow trotted through the door. Once inside she turned and locked it. She looked carefully out the window, as though watching for anyone who may have been following her. After several seconds she stepped away from the door and sat.
"OK. Turn the lights on."
Rarity flipped the light switch. She turned to Rainbow. "Oh my stars...Rainbow what happened?"
Rainbow Dash hung her head. Her mane fell beside her face. With glassy eyes she examined it. The red stripe in her mane had turned a pale grey. The colors around it were light and fading.
"I don't know what's going on. I don't do anything with my mane. It’s just always been colored the way it is. Just a few days ago I noticed a few grey hairs, and now..." she swept her tail out from under her cloak around her hooves. It was completely grey; the shades of color had faded almost entirely.
"Rarity, what's happening to me!?"
Rarity was still in shock. Her mouth hung open. She shook her head. "Come now. Let's make some tea and we'll talk about this."
A few moments later Rainbow was laying on her belly sipping from a cup of tea while Rarity combed through her mane. Rainbow squirmed. She wasn't used to anypony messing with her mane.
"I'm sorry Rainbow but I just don't have any answers for you. Your mane is perfectly healthy. It's almost as though you've just lost your pigment. Usually it happens slowly, to older ponies."
"Ugh. So how do I get it back?"
"Well. We can dye it. It would be quite the challenge but I do believe I could do it. It wouldn't be..." Rainbow cut her off.
"Whoa whoa. No way. I'm Rainbow Dash. I don't need hair dye to look awesome. There has to be some way to get my color back."
"Oh Rainbow Dash, its nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes ponies just lose their color. It happens. No one needs to know. We can be discrete."
"No. You don't understand. My name is Rainbow Dash. Not Grey Dash. How am I supposed to make sonic rainbooms like this? Ponies look up to me. They put faith in me. I can't change!"
"Good heavens Rainbow, you're still you."
"No!" Rarity jumped. Rainbow was furious. "I'm Rainbow Dash. I can't change, and I won't!" With that she started putting her cloak back on.
"Rainbow where are you going?" Rarity was getting flustered as she changed out of her bathrobe.
"To find answers, and maybe something more."
"Well I'm going with you!" Rarity had hardly finished her sentence when the door slammed behind Rainbow.
The cold morning air filled Rainbow's nostrils. The dew collected on her hooves. The sky was a faint grey. The sun was somewhere just over the horizon. It smelled like rain.
Pegasus ponies must be brewing up a storm for today Rainbow thought as she trotted through the dim light. She looked down at her mane again.
I hope Twilight has some answers. I don't know what I'm going to do. She took a deep breath, stifled her fears, and headed for the library.
A single light was on at the library. She must already be up Rainbow thought. After a couple knocks Twilight was at the door. She opened it a crack and peeked out. Rainbow pulled back her hood. "Is that you Rainbow? What are you doing up so early?"
"Twilight, I need your help."
Twilight pushed her door open and stepped aside. She smiled. "Of course, come on in!" A clippity-clop drew closer as Rainbow stepped inside. They turned to see Rarity running after them. She was nearly out of breath when she reached the library. Twilight was starting to get a little concerned. Rarity stepped through the door. Twilight shut it and turned.
She tried to hide her surprise. "Rainbow...what happened?"
Rainbow had dropped her cloak. Her mane and tail were completely grey now, and her cool blue coat had started to spot. The look of determination she had leaving Rarity's had melted into something more pathetic.
"I don't know what's happening to me. I've just started losing all my color, out of nowhere. Rarity says its normal, but I don't think so. There has to be a way to fix it. Have you ever read about this before?"
"No I haven't, there aren't many books on you pegasi. What about dying..." Rarity cleared her throat, cutting Twilight off. She shook her head.
Rainbow was getting frantic. "Don't you have a spell or something, come on Twilight, you're my best shot."
"I know a few coloration spells, but I've never used them on a pony before. Here, sit still and I'll try one."
Rainbow shut her eyes, sat back on her haunches, and waited. Her thoughts were going in all directions. After years of dangerous stunts, dragons, and disasters, she was feeling something for the first time in her pony life. Fear. She shook her head. Not going to think anymore about it, got to focus.
"Stay still Rainbow, I don't want to mess this up." Twilight lowered her head, her horn began to glow. She examined Rainbow closely, picking out each and every hair in her mane, carefully planning where to put what. After several minutes she was ready. She shut her eyes, envisioning what she had planned. A beam of light shot forth from her horn. She stumbled a bit, but kept her focus on Rainbow. Slowly the light split into each color of the rainbow.
Rainbow breathed deep, the light was warm. A glimmer of hope.
Twilight gritted her teeth. She released the spell. With a loud bang it broke upon Rainbow. The lights of the library flickered. Rainbow was engulfed in a cloud of dust. Twilight, flat on her back, lifted her head. Their eyes searched the cloud. The dust began to settle.
Rainbow looked down at her hooves. Every color of the rainbow was laid out on the floor before her. She placed a grey hoof on the red streak.
"I'm sorry Rainbow, I guess it didn't work after all. Somehow you resisted the spell." Twilight was as confused as she was upset at her failure.
Rarity sat back and looked glassy eyed at Rainbow. "I'm so sorry darling, I don't know what to say."
Rainbow was quiet for a moment. No one spoke. Spike rustled in his bed upstairs. The wind kicked up, whistling around the tall tree. Rarity's eyes were drooping.
"Why don't you go home Rarity, you look exhausted, I'll look after RD."
"Oh no, I'm not going anywhere" she said.
In a defeated tone, without looking away from the colors strewn out on the floor, Rainbow said "No Rarity, go ahead home. Please."
Rarity paused for a moment, watching her grey and blue friend. She got up and walked past, nuzzling Rainbow for moment. "If you need anything, I'm here for you." With that she was gone and Rainbow and Twilight were alone in the quiet library. A dull light was coming in through the windows. It was nearly sunrise.
Twilight was at a loss. She rolled over and started looking through her shelves. Rainbow was a statue in the middle of the room. Twilight knew that talking wasn’t going to do any good, so she decided to do the one thing she was good at. She pulled a book from the shelf and laid down. Clearing her throat she began to read.
"Daring Do and the Temple of Darkness. Chapter one." She turned the page. "Wind cut through Daring Do's hair as she soared through the sky. The high desert sun beat down on ponies and cacti alike. Still, it wasn't strong enough to sap Daring Do's determination to find the Temple of Darkness. She had read about it so many times, and yet..." Twilight stopped suddenly in surprise.
She felt something warm on her back. She turned to see her grey friend getting comfortable. Her eyes were shut, her front legs stretched out over Twilight's back. Rainbow laid her head down on Twilight's soft coat, and became still. Twilight smiled meekly to herself. She turned back to her book and kept reading.
The sun started to come up as shafts of light cut through the library and began to climb the walls. Thunder rolled in the distance. Wind blew hard against the tree house. Ponies were starting to wake and bustle about their days. Rarity drooled in bed, trying to make up for lost beauty sleep.
Twilight finished another chapter. She turned to see Rainbow snoozing comfortably on her back. Poor girl must be exhausted, up all night dealing with this. Not wanting to disturb her, Twilight shut Daring Do and the Temple of Darkness and laid down for a nap herself. She began to doze off, hoping above all else, that when they woke up, their problems would be gone.