• Published 19th Jun 2018
  • 8,192 Views, 253 Comments

Lesson Learned - Diamond Sword



After turning their backs on Sunset, the Rainbooms get set straight by six spirits.

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High horse

Author's Note:

    Happy New Years, everyone! I hope everyone’s had a good journey through 2019! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and sorry for the very long wait! My laptop is dealing with some problems, since Windows 7 is shutting down in 2020! (Yet for some reason it’s still acting weird.) But I luckily have Google Docs and Google Drive on my phone, so the new chapters will come, albeit slower.
I hope you like this chapter as much as the last two, though!

“Rainbow! Come on, Sugarcube! Wake up!”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, feeling AppleJack shake her awake.

“A-AJ?” She sat up slowly, putting a hand to her aching head. That’s when it hit her. She stood up, looking around. “W-where are we?! What is this place?!”

They were both standing in some black void. Nothing for as far as their eyes could see.

“I ain’t too sure myself…” AppleJack’s eyebrows furrowed as she felt the ground. There was no visible floor, but there was the cold feeling of one. A stern look grew on her face as she looked back at her friend. “I reckon we got in another ‘magic’ situation. I don’t know if we can get ourselves outta this with our powers without the other girls, but-“

“Then how do we get out of here?!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “We didn’t even do anything wrong and we’re getting punished for Sunset’s shit!” That’s when she noticed a smaller and younger looking kid standing far behind her friend. “Oh thank god! Hey, kid! Do you know where we are?” She began to walk towards them, but AppleJack had a bad feeling. Where did this person come from?

The child didn’t answer though. They just stood there with their back facing Dash, muttering something under their breath. Frustrated, Rainbow Dash and attempted to tap their shoulder. “Excuse, me! I asked you a question!” But the athlete’s finger went through the child’s body as it turned into black liquid. Strange tentacle-Like appendages wrapped around Rainbow Dash’s throat as the ‘child’ tackled her to the ground and screeched.

“TRAITOR! TRAITOR!” It’s pupiless eyes stared into Dash’s soul as she struggled. The ‘child’ threw her against the wall. As it began to close in on her, Rainbow Dash threw a punch, but it went through it’s head, giving them no damage whatsoever.

“Dash! Hold on!” AppleJack ran forward, feeling the magic within her surge through her body, but to her horror“W-wha..?”

Liiiiiar…..” The cowgirl turned around to see the shadow-like appearance of a woman walking towards her. She looked the same as the ‘child’ that Rainbow Dash was still busy struggling against. The ‘woman’s’ eyes had pupils, but they were so small and thin that AppleJack didn’t see them at first.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes tightly, trying use her magic, but the same thing happened to her. She tried to keep dodging, punching, and kicking as the ‘child’ kept trying to attack her with it’s tentacles, screeching over and over again in a crazed manner.

The ‘woman’, who had started out calmer and spoke out in a hissing manner, grabbed AppleJack, pinning her harshly against the wall. Liiiiiiaaaarrrr!” She opened her mouth wide, giving AppleJack the wonderful opportunity to see rows and rows of pearly white sharp teeth as she got closer to the farm girl’s face.



All of a sudden, a golden glowing arrow struck the ‘woman’s’ head, causing her to hiss in pain and dissolve into nothingness. Rainbow Dash witnessed a sharp disk cut into the ‘child’s arm, causing them the same fate.

The girls looked around to see who their saviors were, finally spotting two glowing men who stepped out of the darkness.

One of the men was armed with a golden bow and arrow, and had a slight stoic expression on his face. A light brown cloak covered his shoulders, an orange apple kept it together as the button and the cloak’s hood laid against his back. He wore a tangerine colored dress shirt with a dark green tunic, and a belt with another orange apple as the belt buckle. His pants were an apple red and his laced up boots were pure white. His hair was a canary yellow and kept in place as a ponytail, while his skin and pony ears were a soft cream color. His piercing orange eyes were behind the crystal clear lenses of his glasses. An orange aura highlighted his body.

The other male who accompanied him looked to be the same age as him. He wore a sky blue dress shirt that had its’ sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Over it was a magenta colored button-up vest. The six buttons on the vest were red lightning bolts. Another red lightning bolt took place as a clip, holding a rainbow colored scarf together loosely around his neck. Finally, his pants were pitch black and were accompanied by dark red boots, along with a pair of goggles with magenta colored lenses that sat upon messy moderate azure hair. His skin, pony ears, and wings were a light bluish gray, and his mauve eyes sparkled like stars. A similar aura in a deep red hue highlighted his body as well.

Applejack’s silence, once caused by the pure fear she felt, was now caused by the pure shock by the appearances of these two men. Dash’s jaw dropped, her shock causing her not to move. The man with her likeness walked over to her, holding out his hand to help her off the floor.

“You okay there, lady?”

His voice implied that he was most likely a young adult. Rainbow Dash was too stunned for words. He held out his hand, and the teenager hesitantly grabbed it. Once she was standing on her own two feet again, she silently nodded.

The other male who resembled Applejack helped her up as well. Applejack’s eyebrows furrowed. “Who are y’all?” She asked him.

He gripped her shoulders firmly, his eyebrows furrowing. “We’ll tell you soon. We need to get you two out of here first.”

Almost immediately, a large door formed in the area that the two men appeared in. The man who helped Rainbow Dash picked up the athletic girl and placed her on his shoulder, causing her to react out of surprise.The man who accompanied Applejack gently guided her to the door. The door opened by itself, almost like magic. The girls shielded their eyes as they were brought inside, a bright light nearly blinding them.


“Alright, coast’s clear, girls.” Both men say. Both tomboys were carefully put down on the floor. As they uncovered their eyes, they were amazed by the new area they were in. A large hallway, with walls glittering from the colorful crystal themed chandeliers above. Upon looking down, the girls noticed the rather expensive looking carpet that stretched out through said hallway.

After silence of awe, Applejack finally mustered the words to speak up. “Some digs y’all got here…” She muttered, lifting her cowboy hat to get a better view.

“Why thank you…” A voice called out. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both turned to the direction the voice was coming from, which came from the top of a large flight of stairs. The voice belonged to Persephone, who was accompanied by Rarity, the fashonista muttering to herself in awe about the materials that that the spirit used.

Rarity gasped as she noticed her two friends. “Applejack! Rainbow Dash! You’re alright!” She ran towards them, enveloping them both in a bone crushing hug that could nearly rival Pinkie Pie’s.

Speaking of….

As soon as Rarity released them, and AJ got air into her lungs, she looked into her friend’s sapphire blue eyes.

“Where’s Pinkie and Shy?” She asked.

A clear look of concern formed on Rarity’s face. “I thought that they were with you? I was by myself, nearly eaten by those horrifying beasts before she rescued me!” She explained, taking a moment to gesture towards Persephone, who had slowly and carefully walked down the stairs.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged horrified looks. “You don’t think they-”

“We assure you Ms.Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are safe with Artemis and Smile Time.” Persephone spoke up as she stood beside her fellow spirits.

Rarity frowned. “My apologies, miss….”

“Persephone.”

“Yes. Ms.Persephone. But, who are ‘Artemis’ and ‘Smile Time’?” She asked.

“Us, of course!”

A large puff of smoke and sparkles suddenly appeared in the middle of the group, causing Rarity to squeal and jump into Applejack’s arms.

Once the smoke cleared, they saw Artemis and another spirit standing before them. This spirit appeared to be male, but also looked to be the Crusaders’ age. He had pure white skin and matching black eyes and hair, looking akin to an old cartoon. His clothes were a different story, however. His tuxedo jacket and pants were a bright blue, his dress shirt a pastel yellow, and his bow tie and vest a fuschia color. His tap shoes were a pale pink, with an opera mask in the same color that covered half his face. A tiny pale yellow top hat sat on his curly black hair in between two white pony ears, a blue balloon shaped gem keeping its ribbons in place.

The two spirits stepped aside to reveal Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, safe and sound. The two of them ran over to their friends, the party planner giving them a bone crushing hug. “Thank goodness you’re okay!” They cried.

“We thought we were done for! Our powers wouldn’t work!” Fluttershy lamented.

AppleJack frowned as she took a moment to catch her breath as Pinkie released her. “So it wasn’t just us….”

Rainbow Dash turned to the spirits, a suspicious look forming on her face. “Yeah! What’s the deal with this place? Who are you guys?”

Persephone looked up at Rainbow Dash through her glasses. “Well, what do you think we are?”

Each one of them had different answers.

“More ponies from Equestria?” Fluttershy asked.

GHOSTS?!” Pinkie cries, latching onto Applejack.

“Our replacements?” Rainbow Dash answered.

The spirit with Rainbow Dash’s likeness snickered. Replacements, huh? What makes ya say that?” He asked.

Rainbow Dash gestured to them. “Well, come on! You guys almost look exactly like us! You’ve even got wings and ears to boot!” She cried.

Applejack nodded. “And we couldn’t use our powers, but y’all can!”

Artemis held up a hand. “Well, we assure you. We’re not here to replace you. You have heard of the Elements of Harmony, yes?” She asked.

The Rainbooms nodded, before Pinkie herself chimed in. “Why?”

The younger spirit proudly bowed. “We represent your elements! I am Smile Time!”

The spirit akin to Applejack shifted his glasses. “True Shot.”

“Name’s Atlas Staros!” The multicolored spirit said.

“You may refer to me as Persephone.” Persephone informed them.

“Artemis Dolittle. But just ‘Artemis’ is fine.” Artemis said.

Rarity stepped forward. “While it is nice to meet you all, I’d just like to know, why did you bring us here? Where are we?”

Smile Time crosses his arms. “We brought you here for the sake of justice, of course! We need to help determine whether or not you’re still worthy of being the elements of harmony in this world!”

Rarity gasped, offended just like her friends. “Excuse me? What for? I can eagerly tell you that we have done nothing wrong to warrant this!” She cried.

Atlas held up his hands, waiting for the girls to quiet down. “Alright, Alright. Let us explain.” He gestured the Rainbooms to follow him and the other spirits as they walked down a hallway. ”We felt a...How can I make this sound simpler for you? A spiritual imbalance.”

“You mean Anon-a-miss?”Pinkie pied up.

“Yes indeed!” Smile Time responded. “We knew someone was causing it, but we couldn’t pin down why, yet. However, after a little chat with ‘Anon-a-miss’, we finally found out.”

“So you know it’s Sunset, right?!” Rainbow questioned. Unfortunately, they’d be getting an answer that none of them would be happy with.

“Oh, heavens no. Sunset Shimmer isn’t the cause of this.” Artemis answered.

All five members of the Rainbooms collectively let their jaws go slack.

No one except Rainbow Dash has anything to say.

“You’ve gotta be shitting us!” The athlete cried, ignoring Rarity crying out her name from her language. “How can you guys fall for her ‘good girl’ shtick?!”

“That girl’s been playin’ us like fools from the start!” Applejack chimed in. “She hasn’t changed a bit!”

True Shot raised a brow as he peered at Applejack through his glasses. “Well it seems that you girls haven’t changed all that much either.”

“Us?! What did we do?!” Pinkie cried.

“Oh, You’ve done many things.” Persephone simply answered. “But we can tell that you’re not aware of the things you’ve done…”

“W-we haven’t done anything bad, though…” Fluttershy quietly protested, but before anyone else could agree with her, they finally entered a large room made of sparkling crystal. Six large chairs stood before them, sitting on a higher floor behind a table. The teenagers watched as the Spirits of Harmony sat in five out of six of the chairs, the sixth and middle chair noticeably larger than the rest.

It looked like some kind of courtroom….

Artemis spoke first. “We brought you girls here so that you can learn to be responsible for your actions.” She said sternly. “If you could please cooperate, this would go much easier than it needs to be!” The taller spirit said.

Rainbow Dash has hit her breaking point.“WE’RE TELLING YOU GUYS, WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” She shouted. “WHY ARE YOU STILL TAKING SHIMMER’S SIDE?!”

Rarity stepped forward. “She’s been causing nothing but trouble!”

“She’s nothin’ but a snake!” Applejack chimed in.

“A big, fat, mean, secret stealer!” Pinkie cried out.

“A bully!” Fluttershy yelled loud enough to be heard.

The Rainbooms’ voice overlapped with each other’s, continuing their insults about the ex equestrian. That is until a final voice made its’ presence known.

“THAT’S ENOUGH FROM ALL OF YOU!”

Magenta colored magic flooded in from every nook and cranny of the room, floating into the large middle chair that sat between the spirits. It formed into a large ball, swelling outwards until it seemed to pop like a bubble, the force of the pop making a wind that caused only the Rainbooms to fall over from the force of it.

Once the wind cleared and the magic faded, each one of the five girls looked up to see who they were now dealing with.

A tall woman, two heads taller than Artemis, stood in front of the tall chair. While the other spirits appeared to be in their adolescence or early adulthood, this spirit appeared to be elder, perhaps her late fifties or early sixties. Her hair was a short light blue bob, with white streaks visible in certain places. Her skin was a sky blue, while her eyes, which had formed into a withering glare directed at the Rainbooms, were multicolored. Magenta, red, blue, pink, orange, and purple had equal amounts of space in them, forming into a color wheel. Her outfit was rather strange to say the least. She wore a navy blue cape over her shoulders held together by a magenta gem that was the shape of a six pointed star, slightly torn at the bottom, with a glowing light on the inside of it, and flowing by an unseen wind. She wore black gloves, with two bracelets carved out of gems, with a sun engraved on one bracelet, while a moon was engraved on the other. She wore eggplant high waisted pants, pastel purple turtleneck sweater, and black thigh high boots. One of her hands rested on top of a long staff. It’s long handle was built with pastel blue gems, while the top of it held another magenta gem that formed into a six pointed star.

For a while, none of the Rainbooms said anything, some of them out of fear, while the others out of shock. But eventually, AppleJack finally got the courage to speak.

“Wh-who in tarnation are you?” She hesitantly asked.

The spirit’s glare never gave way. “I am the spirit representing the element of Magic. However, you shall refer to me as Luminous Spark.” She said, her voice chillingly quiet.

The girls finally stood up, all of them, excluding Rainbow and AJ, looking fearfully up at Luminous Spark.

“Wait…” Rainbow Dash paused, after hearing Luminous Spark’s voice and finding it strangely familiar. “Are….you the one who brought us here?” She asked.

Luminous Spark nodded. “A rather smart observation from you, Rainbow Dash.” She still stood in front of her chair, glaring down at the five girls. “I did bring you and Sunset Shimmer here.”

“Where’s Sunset? What’d you do with her?” Pinkie finally asked, still fearful.

“Why do you care, Pinkie Pie? I could’ve sworn that you were claiming that she was up to no good again. And your friend Rainbow Dash might attempt to harm her again….” Luminous Spark bitterly pointed out. “I figured you’d be glad that she was gone.” She rose a brow ever so slightly.

Pinkie has no idea how to respond. But Rainbow did.

“Well, Yeah! She spread our secrets and made us into laughingstocks!” She cried. Pinkie and Fluttershy simultaneously squealed from Rainbow’s brash response.

“Rainbow Dash, please!” Rarity harshly whispered. “Think before you say anything!”

However, Luminous Spark’s cold anger remained the same. “So you claim…..” She said. “You keep standing by your word that Sunset Shimmer is the true villain of your little story, yet you never bothered to dig deeper.”

Applejack frowned. “What’re y’all tryin’ to say?” She asked.

Luminous Spark’s cold glare eventually melted into a stern gaze. “Your lack of proof is rather embarrassing. And your efforts have only succeeded in playing into Anon-a-miss’ hands. We brought you here to open your eyes that you’ve willingly closed when you believed that your ‘case was closed’.”

The Rainbooms suddenly felt chairs of their own place themselves underneath them. The chairs were smaller, akin to normal chairs, but still made of gem.

“Sunset Shimmer is safe and sound, I can assure you that.” Luminous Spark said. “Artemis Dolittle. Persephone. Would you kindly retrieve her for the trial?” She asked. Her fellow female spirits stood, teleporting to wherever Sunset was in bright flashes of light.

Luminous Spark sat down in her chair, her eyes gleaming white for a second as she looked down at the girls.

“Let us begin.”