The First Pony to Time Travel Without a Spell

by Razor Blade the Unicron

Rainbow and Loyalty's Battle

"You weren't supposed to win!" cried out an indistinguishable voice angrily, "Destiny had written out what would happen! You weren't even supposed to be here!"

Rainbow looked around in the complete darkness she was standing in, but saw nothing. She only noticed that she was still wearing her crown when it glowed a faint red, giving her light. Rainbow wasn't sure where she was, but knew that it had something to do with Shadow, as Shadow had tried to attack Luna, which Rainbow blocked.

"Shadow!" yelled out Rainbow into the darkness, "I know you're hiding somewhere! Come out and show yourself!"

"Show myself?" snapped back Shadow angrily, "You weren't supposed to show yourself! I was supposed to come back with Luna as Nightmare Moon, send Celestia to the moon, and then take over with eternal night! But you messed it all up!"

"Well, yeah! We got the Elements of Harmony to stop you!"

"You weren't supposed to get the Elements!"

"Aw, what's the matter? Sad that your plan didn't work?"

"My plan wasn't what failed, it was destiny that failed, you fool!"

"Destiny?" Rainbow remembered some voice saying that she had changed everyone's destiny.

"Yes, destiny! Or do you not know what it means?"

"I know what destiny is! What do you mean that destiny failed?"

"I mean that destiny said that I was supposed to win with no one to stop me!"

"Are you talking about your stupid 'eternal night' plan or destiny?"

"DESTINY!" All of the darkness formed into the shape of an alicorn in front of Rainbow, leaving everything else illuminated by Rainbow's Element.

"Explain, then!"

"Oh, but sweet little Rainbow," Shadow had changed from angry to mocking, "I don't need to tell you anything!"

"Then what are you going to do, huh?"

"Simple, really," Shadow stomped their front hoof, causing darkness to start forming in another area, "It's just a little test I made up for you."

Rainbow let out a gasp as the darkness formed into Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Luna. Everypony expect for Luna was in a cage on the right side of Shadow, and Luna was in a cage on the left side.

"Let them go!" she yelled, flying towards Shadow.

"Why, of course!" Shadow held out their hoof, holding Rainbow in place, "I'll even let you pick!"

"What do you mean?" yelled Rainbow, trying to break free from whatever magic Shadow was using.

"You can either save your friends, or Luna. It's your choice."

"I choose both!"

"Tsk, tsk. That's not an option, now is it?" Shadow lowered their hoof, slamming Rainbow on to the ground, "Now pick."

Rainbow flew into the air, and tried to fly in between the two cages, but Shadow pulled her back, thrusting her on to the ground again.

"Pick one." said Shadow in the cruelest voice possible.

"I pick BOTH!"

Rainbow tried again and again to fly in between both cages, or to push over with the other, or even just free the ponies inside, but Shadow continued to pull her back.

"Rainbow Dash, I'm getting rather impatient, so hurry up and pick one to save."

"I... pick... both..." said Rainbow, getting off the ground again.

"No."

"I... will... be... loyal... to... all... of... my... friends..."

"NO."

Yes!

Shadow fell silent, and Rainbow did, too. That voice was familiar to her. As if she had heard it recently...

"Who's there?" yelled Shadow, furious.

Right in front of you!

Rainbow's Element lit up brightly, a light coming out of it directly in front of her. The light slowly formed into a shape, before letting out a large flash. Rainbow blinked, and then saw that the light had formed into a pony. A very familiar-looking pegasus, to be precise.

Does this answer you question?

Standing in front of Rainbow was a pegasus that looked exactly like her, expect that she was completely red. The only part of her that wasn't red was her cutie mark, which matched Rainbow's perfectly.

"Whoa..." said Rainbow, awe-struck.

"Who are you?" asked Shadow, their voice filled with hatred.

I'm not a pony, if that's what you're wondering, the pegasus flew into the air, landing next to Rainbow with a grin; Rainbow noticed that her mouth did't move when she spoke, I'm just an entity, like you, Shadow!

"Liar! You're just one of those pesky ponies!"

Ooh, looks like someone is denying what they see! I am Loyalty!

"Loyalty?" asked Rainbow, "As in the Element of Harmony?"

You could say that. But I'm not really here to answer little questions, now am I?

Rainbow and Loyalty nodded to each other, before each flying past Shadow and standing in front of the cages.

"Get away from those!" yelled Shadow, raising their hoof towards Loyalty, who was in front of Luna.

Gotta catch me first!

The cages holding Rainbow's friends all vanished in an instant as Shadow began chasing after Loyalty. Shadow's horn was ablaze with magic that dimmed the light around it, while Loyalty was engulfed in a red glow.

Hey, Rainbow! called Loyalty to a very confused Rainbow, Isn't Destiny fun to mess with?

Loyalty flew towards Rainbow, and turned into bright red magic that entered Rainbow's Element. Just as Shadow turned towards Rainbow, her Element glowed brightly, illuminating everything in a red glow.

"STOP!" yelled Shadow, who was standing away from the glow with a look of fear, "YOU CANNOT DO THIS!"

"Too late!" said Rainbow as five sparks of magic appeared beside her.

The sparks of magic quickly turned into Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie, who each had their Elements glowing in their respective colors.

"This probably won't beat you..." said Rainbow softly, somehow knowing that Shadow could hear her, "But it should put you down for a while. So don't you ever come near Luna or my other friends again. Maybe one day you'll be good, though..."

For the second time that day, a rainbow spiraled out from the Element's of Harmony. But this time, they hit Shadow dead center, and she vanished without a single word.

"Until we meet again..." whispered Rainbow as everything went white.

---

"Rainbow Dash!" said Fluttershy nervously, "Are you okay?"

"I'm good," said Rainbow, slowly getting to her hooves, "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," said Twilight, "We were worried about you! You just jumped in the way of that shadow so suddenly!"

"Wait, where did it go?" asked Rainbow, looking around.

"It vanished," said Luna, "All except for a small speck."

"So it will be back..." whispered Rainbow to herself.

The eight ponies were all silent for a moment before Princess Celestia spoke.

"I am glad that you are all alright," she said, "And I am especially glad that I have my sister back. I thank you all greatly."

"But, Princess Celestia," said Twilight, "You told me that the legend was silly!"

"My dearest student, would you have been able to make friends while worrying about Nightmare Moon returning?"

"Probably not..."

"Will you forgive me for misleading you?"

"Of course! You had good reason to!"

"Now, I believe that a town of ponies are panicking."

The group exited the castle at trot, with Twilight talking animatedly to Princess Celestia about what had happened. Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were also talking about what had happened to each other, but Rainbow wasn't exactly listening.

"Is something wrong?" asked Luna, who was walking next to Rainbow.

"Yeah..." said Rainbow, "It's Shadow."

"Shadow?"

"The name of the shadows who had corrupted you. (I didn't make up the name.) I know that they'll be back."

"Do not worry. You and your friends will surely be able to take on Shadow once more."

"Thanks," Rainbow was silent for a moment before speaking again, "But there's something else bothering me."

"What?"

"When I was battling Shadow, a pony came out of my Element. Well, not exactly. She said that she was an entity, and called herself Loyalty."

"So soon?"

"Huh?"

"It appears that you have met the Element of Loyalty that resides within yourself. I did not meet her or any of the others for quite some time. My sister took even longer to meet her Elements."

"You used to be the Element of Loyalty?"

"Indeed."

"And you... met her?"

"Yes. I assume that she resembled yourself."

"Yeah. Expect that she was red, like the gem."

"She was also red for me. Although, it never looked that good on her."

"Heh. So what do you mean that she resides within me?"

"You are the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, and to use it you must show true Loyalty towards your friends who bear the other Elements. So, naturally, you already have this magic deep within you."

"Wow, that actually makes a lot of sense! Just one more thing: why is my Element a crown unlike the others?"

"Destiny is a strange thing, Rainbow Dash."

"No kidding."

Comments

[PiMan]

7565053
And we have even more plot holes. Do you plan on covering the big ones; why reality is so different from canon, and what's going on with the time travel stuff (especially the conflicting memories of Dash and Fluttershy)?

[Shadow_Quill]

7625273 Have you read this? It would help

[PiMan]

7625367
That's where half the plot holes come from.

[Razor Blade the Unicron]

7625438 Everything will be explained in one way or another. I promise.

[Detsella Morningdew]

7625438 It isn't a "plot hole" because it's different. That's just good storytelling. Either it's an alternate universe with good ideas, or it's just a mystery - something that good authors implement.

[punzil504]

"You weren't supposed to win!" cried out an indistinguishable voice angrily, "Destiny had written out what would happen! You weren't even supposed to be here!"

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