"SONIC...RAINBOOM...BLAST!!!" screamed Rainbow as her hoof, and eventually, her whole body went through Knightling's body. The rainbow that was trailing behind started to fade once Dash had landed from such a powerful maneuver. Knightling had awe and shock on his face during his final moments in the human world.
"I...I...I-I'm sorry, you're highness..." said the Changeling who's body slowly started to melt into the black substance he was made from. He then thought to himself one more time, Inconceivable... The pegasi that beat my ruler and the other members of my kind, has returned... How is the highness going to react when she see this? When he finished completely melting into a puddle, it started evaporating and all of a sudden, it vanished. Rainbow looked down at the ground where the Changeling disappeared from, and then she started to smile, and then laughed with joy.
"That was... AWESOME!!!" yelled Dashie with glee as she flew up in the air for a brief moment. She then turned to Twilight and Fluttershy who still had an awe look on their face. "Did you guys see that?! Tell me, DID... YOU... SEE... THAT?!" said Dash with excitement.
Fluttershy then nervously asked, "D-Dash? Is that really you?"
Dash chuckled for a moment and replied, "Of course it's me, well, I think it's me. Just in a different body, I guess. But, seriously! Wasn't that the most awesome thing you've ever seen?!"
"Uh...sure?" Fluttershy said in her nervous and shy tone.
"Rainbow, that was amazing! I never knew the Element of Loyalty had that much power!" said Twilight who was amazed.
Rainbow then replied in her brash way, "Pfft, I'm pretty sure power had nothing to do with it. It's just that I'm SO AWESOME! Oops! I forgot to ask, Fluttershy, are you alright? You looked pretty hurt when me and Twilight first saw you."
Fluttershy replied, "Yeah. But I don't get how your skin wasn't burnt just like mine."
"Yeah, and the burn on your hand looked pretty bad. I guess my hands were just too awesome to get burned!" said Dash in her cocky ways.
"Actually... that's not the reason. It's actually a pretty long story." Twilight interuppted.
Rainbow then said, "Okay, but can you hurry up? I have to go to my dad's garage soon for work..." But she then immediately panicked. "WAIT A MINUTE!!! I CAN'T GO TO WORK LIKE THIS! MY DAD'S GONNA GO CRAZY WHEN HE SEES THAT HIS DAUGHTER WAS TURNED INTO A PEGASI!!! IN FACT, I'M NOT SO SURE THAT ANY OF MY TEAMMATES WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A PEGASI ON THEIR TEAM! I mean, it would be kind of awesome because we'd be winning games by the weeks, BUT THAT JUST TAKES THE FUN OUT OF IT! MY LIFE IS RUINED!!!" Dash cried out hysterically as she curled up into a little ball and started rapidly rocking back and forth.
Fluttershy then came back and comforted Dash saying, "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. You actually look adorable this way.
"GAAAAHAHAHAHA!" cried Dash who was balling tears. "I'M NOT ADORABLE!!!" She would then tightly hug Fluttershy with her hooves, who then got a disappointed and annoyed face and facepalmed herself with her hand that just got healed.
"There, there..." said Fluttershy in an annoyed tone as she pat Rainbow on the back, being crushed by Rainbow's intense hugging.
"Calm down, Rainbow! It's alright! All you have to do is say 'Henshin' again, just like when you first transformed." said Twilight who had an embarrassed smile on her face.
Rainbow immediately stopped crying and said casually, "Oh. Okay then." Fluttershy then sighed with relief as Dash let go of her. Dash then took a deep breath and quickly got up from her front hooves and was standing like a human. She then put her hooves in the sky and said, "Henshin!" The Element of Loyalty around her then glowed a blue aura which then surrounded Dash. She was then immediately transformed back into her human self with her hair back to normal, her white skin back to the ceruleanish gray color, and her clothes and shoes reappeared as well. She then took a look at herself to make sure she was all human. "Hehe. Well what do you know back to normal!" said Dash with a grin on her face. But Twilight and Fluttershy started giggling at Rainbow for some reason. "Huh, what's so funny?"
"You still have your tail..." said Fluttershy in her cute and timid way. Rainbow turned around, only to see that her tail was still there. She then started freaking out again.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT STILL DOING THERE?!" yelled Rainbow intensely as she tried to stuff the tail in her shorts, only for it to disappear. She then sighed with relief and say, "Now, back to normal! Now can you please tell me what's going on here, please!"
Twilight replied politely and said, "Very well." Only for her to notice that Dash's outer shirt and skirt were still by the school wall. "By the way, your stuff is over there." Dash then got a comically enraged feeling inside of her, only for her to calm down and go over there and grab it.
So after Dash claimed her clothes and put them back on her, she annoyingly said, "There! I got my clothes on! Now tell me, who are you really? Where are you from? What the hell is a Changeling? And why did I transform?"
"Patience, Rainbow." said Twilight. She then took a deep breath and started explaining to her friends. "Okay. First question, who am I really? You ask? I'm actually an alicorn princess from the land of Equestria."
"Ali-what?" asked Rainbow.
"Alicorn, it's a pony that has the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn." said Fluttershy. Twilight's jaw dropped.
"How did you know that?" asked Twilight.
Fluttershy smiled and said, "I read tons of fantasy novels." Twilight nodded.
"Yeah, what Fluttershy said. Now you're probably wondering what Equestria is, right?" asked Twilight. Rainbow nodded. "Equestria is a world where earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi live together in harmony. All under the rule of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."
Rainbow interrupted and said, "Wait. You're saying that Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna are also Princesses of another world?! Whoa, I need to really know them more!"
"Well, sort of. Equestria is actually a different dimension. Meaning, that it's just like your world, but different. Like, instead of humans in your world that inhabit it, ponies of my world inhabit Equestria. And Celestia and Luna are actually alicorns, just like me. Except, really more powerful. Hehe." continued Twilight.
"Then, why isn't Celestia president then! She'd make a better prez than Donald Trump!" said Dash amazed.
"Don't be rude about politics, Dash." Fluttershy interrupted in her motherly ways.
Twilight then continued, "Yeah... but anyways, going onto Dash's third question, what are the Changelings. Well, Changelings are one of the most deadly and sneakiest creatures in all of Equestria. Led by their ruler, Queen Chrysalis."
Rainbow then said sarcastically, "Scary." Fluttershy then shushed at Dash before Twilight got back to her story.
"The reason why I call them the sneakiest is because of their ability to transform into anyone. In fact, there was one time when Chrysalis posed as my brother Shining Armor's, wife Cadence at their wedding because she wanted to rule all of Equestria. But eventually, Shining Armor and Cadence were able to banish Chrysalis and the rest of the Changelings back to the Badlands." said Twilight.
"Okay. I see where you coming from... but what does this," said Dash as she held the Element of Harmony in her hand. "Have to do with this entire mess?"
Twilight smiled and replied, "I'm glad you said that. I was just about to get to that part. In my world, we have these things called the Elements of Harmony. Where me and my friends represent a specific element. For example, I represent the Element of Magic. While the Rainbow Dash of my world represents the Element of Loyalty."
"Oh! So there are pretty much different versions of us." Dash said.
"Are you saying there's a Fluttershy of your world too?" Fluttershy asked eagerly.
"In fact, the Fluttershy of my world is a pegasus like Rainbow Dash, and represents the Element of Kindness." said Twilight.
Fluttershy then giggled and said, "Well, that is sort of accurate. Like Rainbow is really loyal for someone who's really egotistical."
"I am not an egotist! I just really like to compliment myself!" whined Dash.
"May I please get back to my story?!" asked Twilight. "Anyways, me and my friends represent the Elements of Harmony and we often use them to protect Equestria from various threats. But long before we were even born, Chrysalis was trying to steal the Elements and use them to defeat Celestia and take over Equestria. But, when she tried to steal the Element of Loyalty, an almighty pegasus being known as The Princess of the Sky emerged from the Element and was able to help Celestia defeat Chrysalis. Dash... what you transformed into today, that was the Princess of the Sky."
Dash's mind then exploded. She then said, "What?! You're crazy!"
"No I'm not, my dear Rainbow. When Celestia heard the rumors of Chrysalis returning, she demanded that I try and reawaken her by enfusing the Element of Loyalty with magic and give it to the Rainbow Dash of my world," Twilight said. "Because, like I said, she represented the Element of Loyalty. But my castle was then intruded by Changelings. And even though I was able to defend myself against them, their magic, however, prevented me from escaping. With their magic being more powerful than my magic, me and my dragon assistant Spike escaped through this magic mirror to this world, because if we can't give the Element of Loyalty to the Rainbow Dash of my world, we should at least give it to a Rainbow Dash of another world. And here we are."
"Wait! You have a dragon companion?!" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight acted nervous and said, "Wellll, he's not really a dragon, but he is one. Trust me."
Fluttershy got all eager and said, "Ooh! I'd really like to meet him!"
"But I'm curious. Why was I immune to the Changeling's skin, if Fluttershy got burned by it?" asked Rainbow.
Twilight explained, "It was unknown to me. But I guess that since the Princess of the Sky was immune to Changeling skin, the one who bears the Element of Harmony also has skin that's immune."
"So you're saying, that I have to use the Element of Loyalty to become this Princess of the Sky, and fight this Chrysalis being and these Changelings and stuff like that?" asked Rainbow. Twilight nodded.
Twilight then replied, "But it's not gonna be that easy though. When I escaped, I forgot the other Elements of Harmony back at my castle and Chrysalis probably got them. Meaning that she must be more powerful than before." Rainbow's eyes widened.
"What?! You've gotta be kidding me!" replied Dash with shock.
"But, there's a lot more than what meets the eye." said Twilight. "Celestia told me that there's a lot more secrets within the Princess of the Sky, and with help from me, we might unlock them. So, until Chrysalis is defeated, you'll have to fulfill your destiny as the Princess of the Sky. But, nobody else should know about this and the secret should be kept between all three of us. Because as long as the Element of Loyalty is in this world and with Chrysalis around, anyone can be a Changeling, waiting for that right moment to strike."
Rainbow then worriedly replied, "You're saying that I can't even tell my dad about it?"
"Nope." said Twilight in a serious tone. Silence then rang for a couple moments through that area of CHS. Rainbow then took off the Element of Loyalty and gave it back to Twilight. Twilight, shocked, said, "What are you doing, Rainbow?"
Rainbow then said in the same serious tone, "Well, if I can't tell anyone about it, then I don't want to accept my destiny." Fluttershy gasped.
"What do you mean Dash?" asked Fluttershy in a surprised tone.
"Accepting this destiny, or whatever the hell it is, is a dangerous path. And sometimes, I don't like taking down those roads because it might hurt my friends, inside and out." said Dash.
Twilight then said to Dash, "Rainbow, we all go through this. It's how life works. Eventually, you'll have to come to grips and accept the fact that you'll have to accept your destiny, no matter what."
"I don't care!" yelled Dash as she started to grow angry. "Even if I did keep this a secret, I still get that feeling like Fluttershy, or my dad, or anyone that I care about can get hurt!"
Fluttershy interrupted, "Uh, Rainbow? When I first met up with that Changeling, it was taking the form of Dumb-Bell, so I guess he was probably taken in. I'm so sorry." Dash's rage grew.
"You see! That's the reason why I can't do this! Because people like that could get taken in and these Change-thingies, can take their identity as long as I have the Element of Loyalty! In fact Twilight, why didn't you just give it to your Rainbow Dash?!" screamed Rainbow with rage.
"I couldn't even get out of my castle! I'm sorry Rainbow, but you have to do this! Because if you don't, Chrysalis will be unstoppable and finally take over Equestria!" yelled Twilight as she started to grow with rage too.
Rainbow replied, "That has nothing to do with my world, so why bother?!"
"Because...because..." Twilight said as she grew silent. She then yelled back at Rainbow, "JUST ACCEPT YOUR DESTINY!!!"
"NO!" yelled Rainbow. Fluttershy grew scared, because she didn't like to see her friends fight.
"I'M BEGGING YOU RAINBOW, PLEASE!!!" Twilight said with tears in her eyes.
Rainbow then said one last time, "I SAID NO!!!" She would then push Twilight to the ground.
"RAINBOW DASH!!!" yelled Fluttershy with fear. Rainbow looked back at Fluttershy who started crying quietly.
Rainbow got teary then and said, "I-I'm sorry Fluttershy... I didn't mean to scare you..." She then turned to Twilight and said, "Look, Twilight. I'm sorry if I did this to you, really I am. But I just can't accept this. And if you're just gonna keep annoying me about it, I guess we can't be friends anymore..." Twilight then got shocked then.
She then cried silently to Rainbow, "It's okay." Rainbow then left Fluttershy and Twilight, in which Fluttershy comforted Twilight.
Rainbow then thought to herself as she walked away, I guess I was right before. Maybe every new student is weird. She looked back at her friends one last time before heading to her locker to grab her things and head down to her dad's garage.
Twilight then thought to herself too as she stared at the Element of Loyalty with Fluttershy comforting her, I'm sorry Celestia... I did what you said... but I failed...
END CHAPTER 7