CRISIS: Equestria

by GanonFLCL

CRISIS: Equestria - Chapter Twenty-Three

CRISIS: Equestria

Chapter Twenty-Three: Isolation

As she flew over the southern coastline, Rainbow slowed to a glide, using the opportunity to take in the sights. The coast was wider than any beach she’d ever been to before, stretching a half-mile inland from the shore before meeting with the tall cliffs leading up into the Gargantuan breeding grounds. The ocean further south stretched to the horizon, its churning waters an ominous shade of dark, bluish-purple. Rainbow wondered if the entire ocean was called the “Sea of Endless Sorrow”, or if there was perhaps just a particular portion of it; either way, it seemed appropriate.

What Rainbow noticed most, though, was the sand. The color was bleached white, far different from any sand Rainbow had ever seen before. It certainly gave credence to the name “Bonesands”, of that much she was certain. She dove a little closer to get a better look, and noticed that the entire expanse of sand was damp, as though the tide was washing over it. A glance seaward told her that no, the tide did no such thing. She circled around a large, empty expanse of white sand, broken up only by a scattering of seaweed. Despite how bleak everything was, it was just as perfectly calm, drab, and dreary as the Wastelands. Only the sound of breaking waves disturbed the otherwise perfect silence; she was so far from the Gargantuan breeding grounds that she couldn’t even hear those vicious beasts anymore.

The entire place was strange, but there was one thing Rainbow knew for sure: Tick Tock’s warnings were a load of garbage

“Hmph, dangerous, my flank! Yeah, the coast sure looks dangerous, Tick Tock!” she shouted, wishing Tick Tock could somehow hear her. She swooped up and hovered in place a moment, crossing her hooves over her chest. “Bunch of scaredy-ponies, all of ‘em. We can handle whatever this world has to throw at us now.”

She snorted and resumed flying east. “Whatever. Who needs ‘em? If they’re gonna treat me like some sort of jerk for trying to help... hmph, let ‘em stew for a bit, see who the real jerks are.” She grit her teeth in anger, and beat her wings faster. “They’ll beg me to come back! They’ll thank me for everything I’ve done!”

Rainbow continued flying until she caught sight of something on the eastern horizon, something that didn’t look like part of the natural terrain. She took off towards the tiny, glowing point off in the distance. Hope’s Point’s name seemed appropriate now; just catching sight of the safe haven, even from this far away, filled her with hope and relief. Even at this speed, she’d arrive within the hour.

As she got closer, the city proper came into view; Rainbow was floored at the sight. A city, built onto a cliff miles high. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of buildings sat atop an expanse of perfectly flat ground, sprinkled with tiny lights. Large metal structures covered the cliff beneath the city, and they were embedded in such a way that they appeared to be built deep into the rock. A large dome of beautiful golden magic covered the entire city, cliff and all. A thin landing strip stretched from a small building just on the edge of the magical shield to an elevator leading down to the beach; only half the building was inside the shield.

Rainbow touched down on the landing strip. As soon as her hooves were on the ground, she could feel strange vibrations coming from beneath her. It reminded her of a similar feeling from around the checkpoint at Goldridge, and she remembered it being mentioned that the vibrations kept Gargantuans away. The vibrations here were stronger than at the checkpoint, which made sense, since Hope’s Point was keeping away bigger Gargantuans.

She approached the doorway of the building outside the shield, wondering how exactly she was supposed to get in. The door had no knobs or handles; was she just supposed to knock? With no other option, that was exactly what she did, four times in quick succession. Almost as soon as she did so, a small, rectangular panel opened up on a patch of the door just above her head. A screen appeared in the panel and flickered to life with a soft beeping sound.

The image of another pony appeared on the screen. His coat was a dull, brownish-orange, just a few shades paler than Applejack’s, and he wore a patched-together red and green vest. His pale green mane spread outwards in an awkward bowl cut, parted through the middle by his horn. Rainbow couldn’t shake the feeling he looked strangely familiar.

“Whoa, neat,” Rainbow said. “This is just like those teevees back in the city. Hmm... how do you change the channel?” She tapped a hoof on the screen in an attempt to elicit a reaction.

“Who goes there?” the lanky stallion asked.

Rainbow jumped. “Whoa!” After taking a second to compose herself, she cracked a small grin. “Heh, cool.”

“Answer the question, eh?” the stallion asked again.

Rainbow, confused, pointed at herself. “Are... are you talking to me?”

“Yes, you. Who did you think I was talking to?” He might have been intimidating if his voice didn’t make him sound a little dim-witted. Rainbow couldn’t shake the feeling that he even sounded familiar.

Rainbow realized she’d been standing quiet too long, and coughed. “Name’s Rainbow Dash.”

The stallion nodded. “Head on through to the second gate, just needed to check that you were an actual pony coming up. Those stupid robots are getting more advanced all the the time, eh?”

He pushed a button on the panel in front of him, and the screen shut off and retreated into the door. Rainbow stepped back in awe as the gateway opened up, shielding her ears from the grating screech of metal sliding against rock. She rushed in as soon as the opening was wide enough to accommodate her, and the door slid closed behind her with a snap.

Rainbow looked around the chamber she’d entered. The only other ponies here slept on chairs lined up against the walls. They all looked to be in bad shape, easily as bad or worse than she and her friends were. One, a pegasus stallion, nursed a leg covered in blood-stained bandages. A unicorn mare had dozens of scars strewn about her face and body, and was missing most of her mane and tail. Two earth ponies, one stallion and one mare, huddled together in the corner; the stallion covered in burns, but the mare, who was clearly in her first months of pregnancy, appeared healthy.

These ponies must’ve gone through all sorts of messed up junk to get here, so why are they just sitting out in the hall like this?

She walked across the chamber to the other side, through a small arch and into a small room that felt purposefully placed out of earshot of anypony in the hall. Another door here led further into the structure, and likely into the city itself; Rainbow could just see the faint glow of magic under the doorframe. A screen sat to the side of the door, though right now there was no image upon it. Beneath it was a large red button labeled Push to Talk. She pushed it. The screen flickered to life, and the unicorn from earlier appeared, this time holding a small metal pad with his magic.

“Okay, could you repeat your name for me again?” he asked.

Rainbow tilted her head. She hadn’t expected anything to stop her from getting into the city. “Rainbow Dash.”

The stallion scanned the metal pad for a good moment, flicking his hoof along it every few seconds. He shook his head. “Nope, not seeing it anywhere. Are you on the waiting list?”

“Uh... waiting list?”

The stallion raised an eyebrow. “When you left the city, you visited the airship port, didn’t you? We have a contact there that should have taken your citizenship fee and put your name on this here waiting list. It speeds up the entry process, eh?”

Rainbow’s frown was colossal. “No... I guess we didn’t do that.” She snorted and stomped a hoof on the floor. “Which one of them knew about that and didn’t say anything? I bet it was Lockwood. Figures,” she muttered to herself.

“Well, since you’re not on the waiting list, we’ll just go through the secondary steps, eh? Do you have a Voucher?”

“A... what?”

“A Voucher,” the stallion repeated. “Somepony on this side to vouch for you.”

Rainbow sighed. “No...” She wondered if Lockwood did, and that was why they didn’t bother with the waiting list. Not that she cared to ask him.

The stallion shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am, then I can’t let you in just yet, eh? You’ll have to wait in line with the others while we do a complete background check. Take a seat in the lobby there for a little while, and we’ll get back to you, eh? You might want to go ahead and get some sleep. I’m sure you’ve had a rough journey.”

“What the hay do you need a background check for?” Rainbow spat, swooping up and grabbing the sides of the monitor. “Ponies come here practically dying, and you make them wait to get in?”

“Because you might be somepony we don’t want to let in,” the stallion said, not at all intimidated by Rainbow’s aggression. “Arguing about it isn’t going to make this go any faster, eh? Just get in the line, and be patient. It’s really your own fault that you didn’t register ahead of time, so don’t take it out on me. Or my monitoring station, thank you.”

“Ugh... fine,” Rainbow groaned, defeated. “How long will this take?”

“Well the first pony in line back there,” the stallion said, pointing off into the room behind Rainbow, “still has another two days left.”

“Two days?!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Why does it take so long to do a background check?!”

“I’d rather not say. Precautions are precautions for a reason, eh?”

Rainbow put a hoof to her face. “Look,” she said, “I need to get help for the rest of my friends. We’ve got injured, and we’re starving.”

The stallion raised an eyebrow. “You’re here with others? I don’t see anypony else with you.”

“I came here to get help,” Rainbow said. “They’re taking a longer route around because some of them are injured, so I flew ahead to see if I could get something for them.”

The stallion hummed and tapped his chin. “I’ll have to ask my supervisor. We don’t usually do this kind of thing, eh? Hang on a moment.” He turned in his chair and shouted off to the side, “Hey Cutlass! I’ve got a question for you!”

A few seconds later, Rainbow heard some grumbling from off-screen, then another unicorn stallion showed up. He was short and stout compared to the other stallion. His coat was grayish-green, and his orange mane was kept in a rather rugged style. His outfit was the same as the other stallion’s, so Rainbow figured it was a uniform. She was bothered by the fact that they both looked so familiar, especially in such close proximity.

“What seems to be the problem?” the short unicorn asked.

Rainbow stifled a laugh; the unicorn’s voice was much too nasally to be coming from a pony with that stature.

The lanky unicorn smiled. “Hey Cutlass, we’ve got a mare here, eh, and she’s telling me she’s got friends on their way here too. She came ahead to try and get help.”

“What kind of help?” Cutlass asked, giving Rainbow a once-over.

“Well, could we get them a ride?” Rainbow asked. “Some of them are injured, so carrying them wouldn’t be safe. You’ve got like, airships or whatever, right?”

Cutlass shook his head. “Not something we do. All our airships have to get clearance from the queen to take off, and there’s no way she’d clear a ship just to pick up some travelers. Not without some serious convincing, anyway.”

Rainbow groaned. “Look, guys, I’m in a bind here, and I really need to get help for my friends, so what do I have to do? Do I have to pay bits or—"

“Bits?!” Cutlass brightened and pushed his partner aside to get closer to the screen. “Well now, why didn’t you say so?”

“But she didn’t pay the entry fees back in Pandemonium,” the other stallion said. “Her Majesty would be mad at us if we broke protocol like that, eh?”

Cutlass narrowed his eyes in clear disappointment, and shifted his gaze back to his partner. “Barnacle, please, allow me to handle the business transactions. I’m your supervisor, remember? We can do a rush job if we need to.” He turned back to Rainbow. “Okay, so normal entrance fee is fifty bits per pony, but seeing as you’re making me jump through a few hoops... three hundred.”

“What?!” Rainbow blurted.

She knew she didn’t have any bits in the first place—it hadn’t even been a real suggestion—but that price sounded outrageous even if she did. She barely made that much in a single paycheck back home.

Cutlass frowned. “Too steep?”

Barnacle rolled his eyes. “Told you you can’t start that high. Try something lower.”

“Lower, huh?” Cutlass tapped his chin. “One hundred and fifty.”

Rainbow stared at the screen in disbelief. “Dude, c’mon, you can’t be serious right now. Are you nuts?”

Cutlass frowned, then shrugged. “Well, every bit counts, I guess. Fine, fine, one hundred and twenty-five. That’s as low as I’ll go!”

“We’ll go,” Barnacle corrected.

Rainbow sighed. “Sorry guys... I don’t have that much.”

Both stallions scowled. “Fine, how much do you have on you?” Cutlass asked.

“Uh... zero,” Rainbow admitted, scuffing a hoof along the floor in embarrassment.

Cutlass sneered and smacked his hoof on the screen in frustration. “Then why are you wasting our time?!”

“Look guys, I’ve got a bunch of friends out here that need help, and you’re my only chance,” Rainbow pleaded. “Please? One of them is dying, another is extremely sick, and we’re all exhausted and starving—"

“Save the sob story!” Cutlass snapped.

“What the hay is wrong with you?!” Rainbow snapped back. “For a place called ‘Hope’s Point’ they sure let some real jerks run the gate in!”

Barnacle grunted. “Look, we’re not trying to give you a hard time here, eh? If we just start letting ponies in without background checks, we may as well not even have a check-in station. We have to be sure we can trust you.”

“Yeah, for all we know, you work for the NPAF and are trying to get into the city so you can blow us all up,” Cutlass added. “Her Majesty would have my horn if I let something like that happen! If you don’t have the bits to pay for a rush job, then you’ll have to get in line like everypony else.”

Barnacle reached for a button to the side of his console.

“H-hey!” Rainbow interrupted.

“What now?” Cutlass groaned.

“Can I...” Rainbow gulped. “Can I at least get some food? Please? It’s been like a week since I ate anything.”

Cutlass sniffed, then nodded. “That we can do.”

Barnacle pushed a button in front of him. A metal box popped up beneath the monitor. It gave a quiet whir, then dropped a small plastic tube on the floor at Rainbow’s hooves. The tube was colored the nastiest shade of brown she’d ever seen.

“The hay is that?” Rainbow asked, picking the tube up in a hoof.

“Dolor Brown,” Barnacle said. “It’s all we’re allowed to give out for free, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Now, if we’re all done here, you can go on and get in line like the rest of these ponies,” Cutlass added, reaching for a button beside Barnacle’s hoof.

The monitor abruptly shut off.

Well, so much for that.

Rainbow sighed, and eyed the little tube in her hoof. More of Dolor product didn’t exactly excite her, but it was all she’d be able to get until she got into the city proper. She bit into the top of the tube and tore it off, then sniffed the brown goop inside. It didn’t smell poisonous, but it didn’t smell edible either, rather like soggy mushrooms and moldy bread. But, it was food, and that was what mattered. She lifted the tube to her mouth and slurped the unsavory jelly down in one go, then licked the leftover juices off her lips. It tasted absolutely terrible, exactly like Lockwood had described it: dirt smothered in dirt gravy. But, it was food, nutrition, sustenance. Not a lot, but enough to remind her what it was like to have something in her stomach again.

Her belly no longer empty, but her spirit dampened, Rainbow gave another long, hard look at the door that stood as the only thing between her and helping her friends. She grit her teeth and spat on the hard metal floor. “This wouldn’t be happening if one of them had volunteered to come with me.”

***

Time Turner ran a hoof through his mane to clear it of sweat, then wiped it on a nearby kerchief. He let out a drawn out sigh before grabbing another sheet of paper from the nearby pile on his desk and placing it next to a large book in front of him.

“Let’s see...” he murmured to himself, chewing on his pen and flipping through pages. “Maybe if... no, no, that’s not it.” His face fell, then brightened again. “Unless I... no, that’s too complicated, relies too much on too many coinciding parts.” He sighed. “Blast it all, another bloody idea down the drain. I’m running out of options here.”

He crumbled his paper and callously tossed it aside into the steadily growing pile that had long since buried a waste bin in the corner of his tiny study. The sun crept in through the window, shining light on the rest of the room which was littered in books upon books, most of them fairly new. A scant few of the texts were open, but the majority were closed and stacked in a pile in the opposite corner from the mountain of bad ideas. Beside his desk rested another, much smaller pile of books, though these were older.

He closed his current book and swept it aside towards the tower of its fellows, then grabbed the next one in the pile beside him. It was a dull brown book, ratty and torn, and the text on the cover was barely legible and written in an archaic style. He first blew the dust from it, coughing as the cloud flooded his nostrils, then wiped it with his kerchief to clean off as much as he could.

When he was satisfied that the text was visible enough, he read aloud, “The Elements of Harmony: A Theoretical Treatise, by Starswirl XVIII.” He smiled and patted the book’s cover. “Ah, always good to find a book by the Starswirl line. Starswirl XVIII, hmm? That would be... eight-hundred years ago or so, I believe. Good mare, sensible. Goodness, it’s amazing that this tome is still in decent condition.” He opened the book to the very first page. “Let’s see, table of contents... ah. Section One: What Makes Harmony? Good place to start, old boy.”

He turned to the appropriate page and read, pouring through pages with great speed. He did not skim in the slightest, but drank in every word as though it was sweet, sweet nourishment. This reminded him to take a drink of water from a nearby glass that was now nearly empty. He scribbled his pen across the sheet of paper before him, taking notes on his reading, and humming contentedly whenever he found something particularly interesting.

He continued to read until the sun had completely risen in the air, early morning long gone and mid morning now on the rise. His first sheet of paper was nearly full, and he’d flipped it over to continue writing. Then, he saw something on the next page that made him excited enough to drop his pen. He stared at the page for a long moment, his smile barely contained. Then, he quickly scribbled down another set of notes.

“Yes, finally, this is it!” he cheered. “I knew I’d find a solution eventually. Now then, I must—"

A knock at the door drew him from his focus.

“Oh bugger. Who could it be at this time of day, and on this day in particular?” he muttered as he got himself out of his chair. “Don’t they know I’m closed on Sundays?”

He slowly made his way downstairs to the sound of increasingly frantic knocking.

“Oy! Keep your socks on, I’m coming!” he shouted as he reached the door. He opened it and shoved his head out into the open air. “What do you... want? Oh no...”

A familiar gray pegasus with bright gold eyes stared back at him, a package tucked under her wing. She waved. “Hey Mister Turner! Good morning!”

Time Turner took a moment to register everything. This was the first time he’d gotten a good look at her, so it was his first time noticing she was wall-eyed. He shook his head, remembering he was supposed to be being cross with her.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” he said. “It’s not ‘Mister’ Turner. It’s never ‘Mister’ Turner. I did not spend all those years studying Chronomancy and earning a degree to be called ‘Mister’ Turner. It’s ‘Doctor’ Turner, alright? Doctor Turner! And at that, I’d prefer just ‘Doctor’; only close friends call me by my proper name.”

The pegasus grinned and nodded. “Well, okay then, Doc. Sorry about the mix-up.”

Time Turner sighed. “Now then, what, of any ideas that you might have, is the biggest one that has you trying to break down my door, hmm? Come on, out with it.”

The gray pegasus blinked her eyes, one at a time, before looking at the package, then back to him. “Oh, right, I have a package for you. It doesn’t say ‘Doctor’ on the package though. Are you sure you’re a doctor?”

“Oh for—" Time Turner stopped himself and took a deep breath. “Look here, my good mare, you’ve been sodding about here for—and of this I am certain—every sodding day this week trying to give me this rubbish. It is Sunday, and I happen to know for a fact that the Ponyville Post Office does not make Sunday deliveries.”

“I go above and beyond the call of duty, sir!” the pegasus said, proudly saluting. “No package goes undelivered as long as I’m around.”

Time Turner sighed. “I am getting tired of the bother, to be frank with you. I don’t want to confirm again that this month, nor any other month for that matter, is not one that I wish to be celebrating the common breakfast muffin!”

The postmare gave him the package. “Yup! It’s your latest package from the Muffin of the Month Club! Good guess!” she said, her tone cheerier than ever. “I’ve been trying to give it to you all week, but you have to sign for it, see?” she added, tapping a hoof on a clipboard she’d just pulled from her saddlebag.

“I am not. A member. Of the bloody Muffin of the Month Club!”

The pegasus looked at the package, then back to him. “But it’s got your address on it.”

“I don’t care! It’s not mine! Why do you—" Time Turner took a deep breath.
“Blast it all, here, let me see that,” he said, reaching out to take the package. “I can’t take this anymore.”

He took the package and looked at it, then let out a groan and passed it back. “I told you it wasn’t mine, and now I have proof. That isn’t my address at all.”

“Huh?” she muttered, taking the package back from him. She glanced at it and shook her head. “Yeah it is. Sixty-one sixteen Horseshoe Drive, right?” She tilted her head to the side to look at his mailbox, which did, in fact, read 6116 Horseshoe Drive.

“That is my address, yes, but if you look at the packaging label, my good mare, you’ll see that’s not what it says,” Time Turner said, tapping the label. “It reads, ‘9119 Horseshoe Drive’. Sort of an ambigram, at least as far as the numbers are concerned.”

The mare glanced at the package. “Hmm...” She shook her head just slightly, causing her eyes to shift directions. “Ohh, I see it now! Heh, oh wow, that’s not good at all. This is my first mistake in years.”

“I somehow doubt that,” Time Turner muttered.

“Well if it’s not yours, the who does this package belong to?” The mailmare scratched her head. “It’s just not fair,” she continued, her tone becoming sad. “I just joined the Muffin of the Month Club myself, but still haven’t gotten my package. And now, there’s this one here without anypony to claim it.” She hugged the package tight. “This poor muffin... it’s probably all stale and stuff now...”

“Look, you’ve wasted enough of my time, and as much fun as I have had repeating myself around you, I really must get back to work. I have some important information I need to deliver—" He paused for a second, then brightened immensely as an idea struck. In an instant, all prior aggravation this mailmare had caused was forgiven. “Say, you’re a mailpony, aren’t you? You wouldn’t be able to deliver a message for me, would you?”

“That’s my job!” the pegasus said, saluting proudly again.

“I need transport to Canterlot, and it’s imperative I get there as soon as possible, preferably before sundown. Unfortunately, I still have a great deal of preparation to do, so I won’t have time to get word to the train station so that I can book a seat. Could you get word to All Aboard and ask him to hold my usual seat?”

“Sure I could!” the pegasus exclaimed. “But, uh, if you’re looking to get to Canterlot by sundown, I think you might be in a bit of trouble.”

“All the better for you to hurry along then,” he interjected. “If I can catch the next train, I should be just fine. There should be plenty of seats this time of day.”

“Uh, I don’t think getting a seat is going to be your problem” the pegasus said. “I delivered a package this morning with all sorts of tools and stuff, because they’ve been having all kinds of problems with the trains!”

Time Turner raised an eyebrow, not at all liking where this was going. “What... sort of problems?”

“Well, they said the biggest problems were train cars switching positions in line, and the track making loop-the-loops and barrel rolls, like a rollercoaster! Weird, huh?”

Time Turner sighed. “I regrettably understand,” he said. “It’s part of the urgency of my work. This has me in a bit of a spot, doesn’t it? Oh dear...”

“I... uh... I could always, y’know, give you a... ride,” she suggested, scuffing her feet through the dirt in front of his door.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked, confused about the pink in her cheeks.

“W-well I mean, I’m done with deliveries for today,” she said nervously. “There hasn’t been a lot of mail lately, see, and I have some free time, so... I could take you. I’d get you there by early afternoon if I try my hardest! I promise!”

Time Turner considered this a moment. “This certainly does seem a perfectly practical solution, doesn’t it?” He hummed, then nodded. “Very well, I accept your offer Miss... oh, I don’t believe I got your name. Terribly sorry, that’s awfully rude of me. You are?”

“Oh! R-right,” she chuckled, her face red. “M-my name is Derpy Hooves.”

Her odd behavior still perplexed him, but he shook off the confusion; there was work to be done, after all. “At any rate,” he said, “it is time to bust a move on, as the teenagers are saying these days. I don’t remember if they do or not. I must get a few things prepared before I leave, but I may be some time. You needn’t stick around here.”

“Oh, well, okay!” Derpy said with a smile. “I’ll just head home and grab a quick bite to eat. Should I bring you a muffin too?”

“That sounds... lovely,” he replied, noting the hunger in his stomach after hours upon hours of sleepless work. “You don’t live far, do you?”

“Nope!” She pointed down the street to the south. “I live just down the way, ninety-one nineteen Horseshoe Drive!”

“Ninety-one nineteen?” Time Turner paused and raised an eyebrow. He glanced at the troublemaking package, then back to her. “Hold on a tick,” he said, tapping the package. “My dear, this package is yours.”

She looked at the package and tilted her head, then let out a tiny giggle. “Well now, isn’t that weird? Somepony at the post office made a boo-boo. I’m not supposed to be delivering my own mail! They must’ve accidentally put it in the mail bin instead of giving it to me. That’s why I didn’t think it was... mine.” She paused. “Oh... oh nooo!” she wailed. “My muffin!”

***

Rainbow looked out a nearby window towards the sea, and sighed. She was so close to getting into the city, yet it felt so far. All she had to do was wait. Would she get in before her friends arrived? It would certainly make her look bad if she didn’t, and she knew that unless she got in soon, her help wouldn’t be much help at all. After everything that had been said, she couldn’t afford to look bad. She said she would help, and by Celestia, she was going to help her way. And her way was fast.

As she looked out upon the endless expanse of ocean, an idea struck her. She remembered a little of Tick Tock’s map, and from what she could recall, the ocean wasn’t really all that wide. At the average speed of an average pegasus, it would take three days to fly across, likely why they needed ships in the first place. But Rainbow was no average pegasus, and to her, there was no such thing as average speed. At supersonic speed, she’d be across in maybe half a day if the wind was at her back which, of course, it would be. If she couldn’t get speedy help from the ponies here, then perhaps ponies in a port across the sea would be able to provide it? The only problem was, where was the closest port?

Rainbow walked across the waiting room and into the secluded room with the monitor station. She pushed the big red button, and the monitor came to life once more.

Barnacle appeared on the screen. “Yes?” he asked, pleasant at first. Then, his expression fell. “Oh. It’s you again. What is it now? Just be patient, eh? We’re moving as fast as we can. This is a first-come, first-served establishment. You’ve got to wait your turn just like everypony else, unless you’re able to pay.”

“I’m not here to bother you about that,” Rainbow replied calmly. “I just need to ask a simple question, then I’m out of your mane, okay?”

“A question? Sure... I guess. Okay, go ahead. But make it quick, eh? We’re wasting time talking when I could be getting these background checks done.”

Rainbow took a deep breath. “When airships leave here, where do they dock when they reach the other side of the ocean?”

“Why is that important?” Barnacle asked, eyebrow raised. “You’ll get there all the same, eh?”

“I’m just curious is all,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “If you don’t know, that’s fine. I’ll figure it out myself somehow.”

Barnacle tapped his chin. “Well, all of our ships dock at Newhaven.”

“Okay, good. So where is Newhaven exactly?”

“Huh?”

“If you were to go directly there from here, which way would you go?”

Barnacle scratched his head. “Uh... I’m not really sure, eh? I don’t usually leave the city. Hang on.” He turned and shouted off to the side, “Hey Cutlass! Which way would you go to get to Newhaven?!”

“Southwest!” Cutlass shouted from offscreen.

“Anything more detailed than that? Like a bearing I should take?” Rainbow asked.

“Anything more detailed than that, like a bearing?!” Barnacle shouted

Cutlass trotted into the frame. “Um... I’m not really sure. I think fifteen degrees south-by-southwest give or take, assuming you left from the hangar bay.” He shook his head in confusion. “Why are you asking me these weird—"

Barnacle pointed towards Rainbow on the other end of the screen.

Cutlass grunted. “Oh. What do you want? We’re busy here, and you’re eating into our time.”

“Well since I can’t get help here, I figure I’ll try and get help there,” Rainbow said. “It’s a shame too, since my friends are loaded.”

“Nice try, kiddo, but I’m not stupid,” Cutlass said.

“Yeah, if your friends had money, they’d have already been on the waiting list,” Barnacle added.

“So you want to know where Newhaven is, huh? Why? Planned on flying there yourself did you?”

“Well, duh,” Rainbow snorted.

“Wait... really?” Barnacle said, awed. He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re crazy, lady. You can’t—"

“No no, don’t try to stop her,” Cutlass interrupted, holding up a hoof. “She thinks she can get across the sea all by herself? Let her try. She’ll hit the equator and come crawling back in no time.”

“Pfh, that’s what you think, bucko,” Rainbow said.

“We can’t just let her go across like this, Cutlass,” Barnacle said. “The Tranquility Belt isn’t exactly safe, eh?”

“Oh no, it’s downright dangerous. But, if she’s that impatient, then maybe she should’ve brought some bits with her.” Cutlass smirked, and leered at Rainbow. “Of course, maybe she’ll consider an... alternate form of payment to get through? Money isn’t everything, you know?”

Rainbow’s eyebrow twitched. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve always wanted to try a pegasus,” Cutlass said, rubbing his hooves together and licking his lips, “but the pilots around here usually stick with their own. I’m not part of that little clique. Now, if you’d be willing to... entertain my interests, I might consider rushing your background check up a bit.”

Rainbow sneered, then stormed away from the monitor, ignoring catcalls from Cutlass until she couldn’t hear him anymore. The gateway open at her approach. She exited the building in a rage, lightning crackling through her feathers and sparking up under her hooves with every step.

“Why are so many stallions such perverted jerks?!” she shouted into the open air. “Only thing on that little twerp’s tiny brain is getting some action! I can’t believe I even let it come to that! All because he thinks I’m just a quitter! That I can’t make it across this stupid ocean!”

She took a deep breath, then flared her wings. Lightning burst from her wingtips and tore into the surrounding earth and concrete. “I’ll show them! I’m not gonna let whatever this ‘Tranquility Belt’ is stop me! I’m Rainbow Dash, best flier in all of Equestria!”

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and approached the end of the landing strip, taking a quick glance down the edge of the cliff.

“Let’s see, fifteen degrees south-by-southwest...”

She looked skyward and frowned, knowing there was no way she could possibly use the skyline to navigate by. She’d play it by ear, then, and fly as close to straight south as she could. With the distance she was traveling, just a slight variation in flight path would be enough to get her in the proper direction. She’d reach Newhaven and have help sent along by tomorrow morning. Her friends would still be in that stupid canyon, and when the cavalry arrived and took them all to safety and comfort, they’d see how much they should’ve listened to her.

Rainbow kicked off the edge of the cliff and barreled towards the sandy beach below. She pulled up just inches away and swept along the surface of the ocean, purple sea water thrashing about in her wake. She took a deep breath and kicked her hooves together, sending an explosion of lightning through her energy trail. With just a little push, she went supersonic, parting the sea with her Sonic Rainboom and blasting off southward.

***

Time Turner hated flying. He didn’t know why he had recollections of being a pegasus at some point in one of his past iterations, but if that had truly happened, he certainly never wanted to relive that experience. He fought the urge to kiss the cold cobblestone street as he and his “transportation” touched down in Canterlot, no more than a block from the road leading to the palace of Princesses Celestia and Luna.

“Here we are!” Derpy declared with an air of pride. “See? We made it in plenty of time! All that blubbering you were doing back there was completely unnecessary. Nopony gets a delivery done faster than Derpy Hooves, I’d bet my life on it!”

“You certainly are most efficient, my dear,” Time Turner breathed. He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie in an attempt to maintain some appearance of professionalism and dignity. “Next time though, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t loop and twirl so much? You might just increase the odds of winning that little life bet.”

She gasped. “N-next time? Is this a date you’re setting up, Doc?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him, one at a time. “I’m free on Wednesdays.”

“I... what?” he sputtered. “No, I was just—"

Her face went so quickly from ecstatic to heartbroken that, for the first time in what had been many, many years, he actually felt as though he’d done something terribly, terribly wrong.

“Wednesdays, you say?” he said, his tone as apologetic as he could manage. “How does... next Wednesday sound? I take my tea at noon; perhaps you’d like to join me?”

Derpy’s smile reappeared. Dodged a bullet there, old chap.

“That sounds nice,” she said, her face flushed. “Next Wednesday at noon... it’s a date, Doc!”

“A date... yes, right.” He cleared his throat again. “Well, that aside, thank you for the ride, Miss Hooves. I am most grateful for it.”

“No trouble at all!” she boasted as she took back to the air. “I’ve got to get back to Ponyville though, so I can’t give you a ride back. Are you gonna be okay?”

“I’ll be fine, thanks,” he replied. “Oh, and I do apologize for my behavior these last few times we’ve met. I’ve been under a great deal of pressure and stress, you understand, and it’s made be all sorts of ornery.”

“It’s okay, Doc!” she said. “You’re cute, so you’re forgiven. Bye!”

She waved farewell and flew off, nearly crashing into a signpost and forcing several other flying pegasi to dodge out of her flightpath.

“I’m... cute?” He shook his head, absolutely perplexed as to what he’d just gotten himself into. “Oy... what silly young filly she is. Ah... nevermind, I have business to attend to! Allons-y!”

Time Turner cantered up the road towards the royal palace, glad that his new acquaintance had managed to bring him so close. He was at the palace gates within moments, and was surprised to find them wide open. He entered the palace grounds as he’d done many times in the past; while normally he would use this time to enjoy the sights, he did not have the time to do so today. The gleaming spires of gold, white, and purple, gorgeous gardens, and decorative fountains and sculptures, would just serve as a distraction from his mission.

Once he got further into the palace grounds, Time Turner saw a bothersome sight. The grounds were not quite as peaceful as he remembered them. Not since the Royal Wedding had they ever been so crowded and loud. Ponies from all walks of life, from hardened agricultural workers to well-to-do nobleponies, scientists to entrepreneurs, and everything in between, occupied the grounds. The crowd stretched in a queue from just near the entrance to the palace grounds, all the way up to the main entrance, and surely further beyond as well. It rather reminded him of a queue at an amusement park.

Time Turner strode alongside the crowd up to the palace entrance, the doors of which were wide open. As predicted, the queue continued inside the building through the main hall, then up the stairs towards the throne room. There must have been a thousand ponies here at least, and the vast size of the crowd called for additional Royal Guard presence. The stone-faced guards patrolled the halls in greater numbers than Time Turner had ever seen, likely making sure nopony cut into the queue or got ornery with one another.

He continued to trot alongside the queue, hoping nopony would call him out for cutting, until he reached the central hall leading to the throne room. A desk had been set up just outside the throne room doors. A blue unicorn mare sat there. Her orange mane was styled in a short bun, and she wore a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and a little green tie. She pored over paperwork, scribbling notes with her incredibly large, gaudy peacock feather quill. Ponies in another queue, one that seemed to be just for the desk, spoke with her; she jotted things down and sent them away without ever looking up from her desk. Time Turner entered this queue, as was proper courtesy, and watched with dismay as the ponies ahead of him walked away one after another, muttering to themselves and shaking their heads, disgruntled looks upon their faces.

Finally, it was his turn, so he stepped forth and made to speak.

She spoke first. “Name?”

He gave her his most professional smile and a quick bow. “Doctor Time Turner.”

The mare scanned the ledger next to her hoof, then shook her head. “Do you have an appointment, Doctor Turner?”

“Just ‘Doctor’ will do,” Time Turner said.

“Just ‘Doctor’?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “What, like you’re the only one?”

Time Turner had heard the line so many times that his response was practically memorized. “It’s the name I prefer to be addressed by, and as a mare of some profession I expect you to address me as such.”

The mare snorted. “Do you have an appointment or not, Doctor?”

“Well, no I suppose I don’t,” he admitted, taking a good look at the queue again. “I was unaware there was going to be all this much of a crowd so early in the day, to be honest. Her Highness doesn’t usually begin court duties until mid-afternoon, if I recall. It’s imperative that I see her,” he added.

The mare gave an aggravated sigh. “If you do not have an appointment, then please return to the back of the line.”

Time Turner was not about to be deterred, especially not by a clerk. However, he knew that even he was subject to rules and regulations; it would do no good to cause a scene and be ejected from the palace. Best to play it calm and curious-like, he thought. His curiosity would, of course, not be entirely genuine, but he would fake it well enough. Perhaps she’d drop some sort of clue as to how to bypass the crowd.

“What is all this?” he asked, gesturing to the queue. “I’ve no problem with a queue—frankly I’m used to them—but this is a little much. What’s going on?”

“A lot has been happening lately, all over the kingdom in fact,” the mare said, removing her glasses. “These ponies are from all over Equestria, asking for aid in dealing with all sorts of bizarre things that defy the basic understandings of logic and sense—" She leaned in, checking to make sure nopony could hear her but Time Turner. “If you catch my meaning? Strange happenings.”

Time Turner pursed his lips. “What sorts of things?”

The mare glanced at her stack of paperwork and rifled through a few pages. “A few specific instances were brought up while making appointments. As a matter of privacy, I can’t reveal any of them, except this one,” she said, grabbing one paper in particular. “It’s a government agency, so its record is made public. A representative from Cloudsdale’s Weather Factory was here last night, and he claimed that some of their clouds had started turning pink, and that they taste and smell sugary sweet. He went so far as to say the clouds were turning into cotton candy.”

“Cotton candy? Oh dear...” Time Turner shook his head and sighed. “If the magic has spread to Cloudsdale this soon... blast it all, this is happening quicker than I calculated.”

“Happening?” the mare asked. “What’s happening?”

Time Turner placed his hooves on the desk. “My dear mare,” he said, his tone stern but calm, “it is imperative that I speak with Princess Celestia immediately. It is a matter of grave importance.”

The mare chortled. “Oh, like I haven’t heard that one before. Look, you’re wasting your time here talking with me. Are you going to get to the back of the line or not?”

He shook his head. “If this were any other occasion, I would,” he insisted, “but this is a critical matter that requires Princess Celestia’s attention immediately. She knows me personally, so I’m sure—"

“If you’re not on my appointment ledger, than I’m afraid you’re just going to have to get in line then anyway,” the mare huffed. “Besides, Princess Celestia isn’t seeing anypony at the moment, as she is indisposed. You’re in line to see Princess Cadence.”

Time Turner balked. “Princess Cadence? She’s not in the Crystal Empire?”

“As these recent happenings have not yet affected the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor offered their assistance to Equestria as a whole.”

“Well that’s all well and good, but I am afraid my business must be brought to Princess Celestia immediately. Where is she, if she’s not attending to these matters?”

The mare snorted. “That’s really none of your business, but if you must know, Princess Celestia is dreadfully busy at the moment. She has left her daily bureaucratic duties to Princess Cadence and the royal court, who are all working day and night to get this line moving as quickly as possible. Speaking of the line,” she added with a sneer, “since you don’t have an appointment, get to the back of it.”

Time Turner hummed in thought. He knew Princess Celestia had to be aware of the recent happenings and their cause, and was likely doing everything in her power to put a stop to it. Princess Luna was likely assisting her, else she’d be the one dealing with the citizens’ troubles, not Princess Cadence. That was a good start; now, the matter was finding Princess Celestia and informing her of his new idea.

He returned his attention to the clerk. “Hold on, my good mare,” he said, keeping his tone cordial. “I’m not here to complain about my pears or what-have-you turning into butter, or anything ridiculous like that. I hate pears anyway; I’d think of it as an improvement,” he added with a chuckle. “I’m here to speak with Princess Celestia, and only Princess Celestia, regarding a matter that is precisely the same as that which is keeping her from handling her subjects’ troubles directly.”

The clerk scoffed. “Oh? And what exactly would that be?”

He leaned in and whispered, “I have information regarding Discord.”

The mare drew back in surprise, then cleared her throat and leaned back in. “Well why didn’t you say so?” she asked in a conspiratorial whisper. “Wait here. I’ll get somepony that can take you to the Princess immediately.”

“Thank you,” he said with a smile.

The clerk left the desk at a pace that could best be described as purposefully casual; she moved quickly because it was obviously important, but not such that she would attract attention from the crowd and cause a ruckus.

Time Turner was left alone with nothing but his thoughts and the opportunity to watch the queue procedure in action. The trio of guards stationed at the doors to the throne room opened them to let a pony out. The pony was a mint green unicorn mare with a two-color white and sea green mane. Time Turner recognized her from Ponyville—Lyra Heartstrings, if he was not mistaken—and gave her a little wave as she passed by. She seemed to be in too much of a hurry to notice.

The guards let the next pony in the queue—a gold earth pony stallion—through the doors, but before they closed the door behind him, Time Turner caught a glimpse of Princess Cadence. She was seated upon the throne with a collection of ponies surrounding her, obviously the royal court advisors. He wanted to wave at the young princess, but knew it was a useless gesture from this far away. Still, it was good to see her again, if only for a few seconds and from a great distance. She’d grown up so fast; he remembered a time when she was nothing more than an energetic teenager that foalsat for the mare that would grow up to be the Element of Magic, and just so happened to be one of Equestria’s few alicorns.

As the doors closed, he turned his attention back to the crowd. He was disturbed by not only the extent of which Discord’s magic had spread, but how it had managed to do so in the first place. Discord was still sealed, and yet his trademark chaotic magic was springing up everywhere and creating havoc. Some of the ponies in the queue had examples with them of the effects of Discord’s magic that had affected their lives in bizarre ways: meowing dogs and rabbits with iron tails; apples shaped like pineapples and blue oranges. Ominous signs indeed.

Time Turner’s curiosity was piqued when the crowd began to whisper excitedly and point off just behind him. He turned, and stifled a gasp of surprise; he certainly hadn’t expected the clerk to return with none other than Prince Shining Armor himself. The Prince was clad in a gleaming suit of golden armor trimmed with rubies and decorated with medals. Time Turner bowed, as was appropriate.

“There’s no need for any of that, Doctor,” Shining Armor said. “I’m not really fond of all this ‘royal treatment’.”

Time Turner rose from the bow. “Of course, Prince—"

“And no need for any of that either,” Shining Armor interrupted. “We’ve known each long enough that I think you can call me by name.”

“Of course, Shining Armor,” Time Turner said, smiling.

The two stallions stepped forward and shook hooves.

Time Turner chuckled and gave the Prince a quick once over. “I like the new look, old chap. Very... shining, dare I say?”

“Haven’t heard that before,” Shining Armor said with a laugh. “Cadence insists that I wear it. As Prince of the Crystal Empire, I am Equestria’s shield, so I need to look my best.” He leaned in and whispered, “Though to be honest, I think she just thinks I look better in uniform. I’m not objecting much, if you catch my drift.”

“Yes, well, royal affairs are royal affairs.” Time Turner shrugged. “How are you, lad? It’s been ages since we’ve had a good talk, you and I.”

“I’ve been better, what with all the work lately,” Shining Armor replied with a sigh. “Speaking of which, shall we move on to business then?”

Time Turner nodded in agreement.

Shining Armor gestured for Time Turner to follow him down a side corridor, away from the crowd, and Time Turner followed. Once they were a fair way down the corridor, Shining Armor briefly stopped Time Turner in his tracks and lit up his horn, checking around for anypony eavesdropping. Satisfied, he turned to Time Turner, his face now bearing a serious, dutiful expression, and continued leading him down the hall.

“Princess Celestia asked me to see to it that anypony with information regarding Discord was to be brought to her immediately. I understand you might just fulfil that criteria. Is this true?”

“As true as can be,” Time Turner replied. “Have others come offering information?”

“Yes, but regrettably, most of the information we get is from historians or theologists with nothing new or enlightening to report. We also get the occasional doomsday prophet, but the Princess just shoos them away. But you, my friend, are the reliable sort. I certainly hope you have some information that will be of use to us.”

Time Turner suppressed a chuckle, amused by the irony. “I assure you, I do,” he said. “Tell me what you know so far.”

Shining Armor walked in silence for a moment, then nodded. “The Princess says that Discord’s seal is breaking, and that it likely has something to do with the... disappearance... of the wielders the Elements of Harmony,” he said worriedly. He then sighed. “We were made aware of their disappearance several hours after Her Highness sent my sister a letter regarding some strange anomaly in the Everfree Forest.”

Time Turner clicked his tongue. “Blast it all. So that’s how it happened.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Beg pardon?”

“It is imperative that I speak with Her Highness immediately,” Time Turner said. “Your theory is absolutely correct; the disappearance of those who wield the Elements of Harmony is linked to Discord’s imminent release. I am here to offer a solution.”

“A solution? So you were aware of the cause?”

“Not just aware, my boy, but the first to notice it.”

“The first to notice it?” Shining Armor continued walking for a moment, taking in Time Turner’s words, before stopping and wheeling around on the other stallion. “Wait, do you... do you know where they are?”

Time Turner frowned and nodded. “I do.”

Shining Armor stomped his hoof in anger. “Why haven’t you come forward sooner?! Do you have any idea how worried we’ve all been?!”

Time Turner held up a hoof to calm the other stallion. “If I had come forward sooner, without a solution, it may have created more chaos for you. Please, Shining Armor, remain calm; I do have a solution that will be of great help. Now, if we can just—"

“Where is my sister?” Shining Armor demanded, towering over Time Turner with his broad frame. “Where is Twiley? Tell me!”

“I will tell you, Shining Armor, but it will save us time if I do so in the presence of Princess Celestia,” Time Turner said, keeping his composure. He was well aware that Shining Armor was strong enough to easily break him in half, but he’d known the colt so long that he was not afraid of that happening, no matter the circumstances.

Shining Armor sighed. “Right... right, forgive me,” he said, calming down almost instantly. “I’m just worried about her, that’s all. Her last known whereabouts were the Everfree Forest...”

Shining Armor continued onward down the corridor, leading Time Turner to a blank section of wall opposite a pedestal with a vase holding a single blue rose. He lit his horn, coating a section of the wall in his magic. Seconds later, the wall opened, revealing another corridor behind it.

Time Turner was impressed. “There’s a hidden chamber on this wall, too?” he said, tapping a hoof to his chin. “Fascinating. I never knew of this particular secret in this particular royal edifice.”

“Well, that’s the point, isn’t it?” Shining Armor chuckled. “Princess Celestia had Discord’s statue moved here after he was sealed away by my sister and her friends. The last time his seal weakened, it broke when exposed directly to even just a tiny bit of chaos. She decided to take preventive measures. Good thing too, given all that’s happening.” He shook his head. “Though, I doubt even the Princess could have anticipated all this.”

“The Princess was always one to take necessary precautions,” Time Turner said.

The opening disappeared behind them once they were a few paces in. They walked down the long, featureless hallway that stretched ahead of them. At the end of the corridor, they met another wall which Shining Armor opened in the same way as the first.

The chamber on the other side was small and round, and like the hall, was featureless, with one exception. Discord’s statue stood in the center of the room, looking every bit as solid as Time Turner remembered, minus a small abrasion around the draconequis’s heart which glowed a faint purple.

Princess Celestia was here as well, though she did not divert her attention away from what she was doing as Shining Armor and Time Turner entered the room. A burning white aura enshrouded her horn, and a matching aura covered Discord’s statue; together the auras were bright enough to light up the room like a sunny afternoon. Time Turner noticed her features were pale and weak, but she was otherwise focused on her task and seemed none the worse for wear.

Shining Armor bowed; Time Turner followed suit. “Your Highness, I’ve brought somepony with new information on Discord and the situation at hoof.”

“Hmm?” Celestia dimmed her horn, bringing the light down to a more bearable level. “Who is it?” she asked, her voice as weary as she looked.

“An old friend,” Time Turner replied.

Celestia turned and gave Time Turner a warm smile. “Doctor Turner! This is a surprise, and a most pleasant one at that. How are you?”

“At present, exhausted, though I can’t say I can hold a candle to you, Your Highness. You look proper knackered.”

“Spending all of my waking hours ensuring Discord’s seal does not falter does have that effect,” Celestia said. “But we are not here to share pleasantries and discuss who is most tired. Shining Armor says you have information for me?”

“I have something more than just information, Your Highness,” Time Turner said, adjusting his tie. “I am, however, afraid that a lot of what I have to say will not be pleasant in the least. You will likely have questions, but please, hold them till the end.” He glanced sideways at the stallion beside him. “And I assume Shining Armor will also be participating?”

“My sister is involved, so yes, I insist,” Shining Armor replied.

“Go on, Doctor,” Celestia said, seating herself upon the floor to listen.

Time Turner cleared his throat and pulled his Timekeeper from his coat. “You two, and everypony else for that matter, knows me simply as Doctor Time Turner, or just ‘Doctor’, as I make quite plain is my preferred appellation. I am afraid that that is only half true, for there is more to me than meets the eye.” He popped his stopwatch open and twisted a dial. “Tell me, what do either of you know about Chronomancy?”

***

Rainbow had been flying for several hours before she finally grew weary and had to slow down. She ceased flapping her wings, unfurling them and letting the wind carry her forward instead; it was easy enough to keep a strong tailwind going so that she still moved at a decent pace. The sea stretched on for miles ahead, but she knew she’d covered an impressive distance in the short amount of time she’d been flying, as she couldn’t see land behind her anymore. Less than an hour to go before she’d cross the equator and be halfway to Newhaven. From there, it’s be smooth flying.

Of course, even had she not been tired, she’d have slowed down. A strange sight loomed ahead. It could only be described as a massive storm cloud that covered the entire horizon, but there was more to it than that. The odd veil of dark black fog covered the entire sky in front of her, all the way up to the Beacon’s veil above her, and all the way down into the ocean itself. The fog wasn’t that thick; in fact, she could see clearly inside it. Lightning flashed about through the air in all directions, fire seethed along the ocean surface, and she could feel a fierce wind. It looked more like a wall than a cloud.

Whatever it was, it was in Rainbow’s way.

“No storm’s gonna scare me away, no matter how big it is,” she said. She straightened her goggles over her eyes and zipped up her jacket. “Let’s do this!”

She took a deep breath, then rocketed into the storm.

For the first few minutes, things were going well as far as Dash was concerned; there was nothing to worry about. She was the master of weather, so this was nothing for her. Lightning snaked towards her, but every bolt that got close was absorbed into her trail, harmless and weak. The winds that raged around her formed a tailwind at her command, bolstering her speed. Only the fires below, which lashed upwards in attempts to catch her, proved any sort of obstacle.

Rainbow let out a long, forced yawn. “Man, this is bogus. I thought this place was supposed to be dangerous and stuff. I’ll be through here in no time at this rate.”

Her boredom did not last much longer. Within seconds, things progressed from simple to challenging. Lightning came too close for comfort, and she was forced to roll to avoid the bolts that her trail did not catch. The winds grew more intense, and she could no longer control them to aid her flight. The flames lashed out more fiercely and rapidly. Rainbow’s confidence remained high despite the increase in difficulty. In fact, she relished it. This wasn’t boring anymore; it was fun.

She proceeded into the storm, and darkness overtook her. She could not see even an inch in front of her face. The only light came from the fires below and the cracks of lightning around her; even her trail’s light died out in her wake. The storm intensified. The lightning no longer seemed natural; Rainbow swore the lightning was trying to hit her now, not just snapping about at random. The winds were against her, shifting directions at random. Rainbow was terrified by the thought that the wind was working with the lightning to force her into the latter’s path, despite her attempts to avoid it. Then, there were the flames. Those were definitely going after her; she knew that fire did not slither and strike like a snake on its own.

Rainbow spun, looped, twisted, zigged, zagged, and darted every possible way she could to avoid being struck by the combined efforts of this bizarre storm. Slowly, but surely, she was moving forward. Forward, straight into the eye of the storm.

As the storm’s intensity flared up to levels she thought impossible, exactly the opposite of what she expected the eye of a storm to do, Rainbow went into a panic. Lightning followed her more closely now, pursuing her like a wolf chasing a deer. The winds almost completely stopped, then started again in random intervals with varying speeds, forcing Rainbow to rapidly adjust her movement to avoid being blown into something. Waves of fire attempted to bar her path, steering her towards bursts of lightning.

In the darkness, she didn’t know if she was even headed in the right direction anymore. She’d become disoriented by the constant wind changes, and could not tell which way was up or down. She needed something, anything, to guide her to where she needed to be. A sweeping burst of flame forced her to dive beneath it, and that’s when she saw something out of place: a glimmer of light in the distance.

Rainbow rushed towards the glimmer, just as a bolt of lightning streaked past her face. The bolt swerved around behind her and chased after her, a predator out on the hunt, with her as its prey. She kicked her hooves together, sending a streak of lightning of her own towards the pursuing bolt to absorb it.

The lightning dodged.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as that fact sank in: the bolt of lightning dodged. She panicked when the wind suddenly changed directions again, sending her flying right back at the hostile bolt. There was no time to react.

Her lightning trail operated on a subconscious level, so it absorbed a majority of the shock, but not all of it. She’d been struck by lightning before, sure; that was the danger of working as a weather pony. This was different. This lightning felt more real. The pain was unbearable, and every part of her body felt like it was shutting down at once. Her wings went numb, and she fell. She could barely breathe, and her other senses were blind, save for the ability to feel. The pain made sure of that. The last thing she felt was her body crashing into the ocean, then everything went numb.

***

“So, that is the plan, in a nutshell so to say,” Time Turner said, completing his spiel. “I know it’s not very encouraging, but it’s our best bet at stymying the release of Discord until I can get Twilight Sparkle and her friends home. It’ll only be a temporary solution, but that’s the best we can do. Unless, of course, you have a better plan in mind.” He took a deep breath. “Now then, are there any questions?”

Princess Celestia had not shifted from her seat once during Time Turner’s story, and her face had remained stoic the entire time. Even now, with his story concluded, she did not speak, move, nor show much of any reaction at all.

Shining Armor, in contrast, bore a look of terrible worry. “I don’t know whether to dismiss this whole thing as just the ramblings of a madpony, or if I should begin to scramble the Royal Guard. I just find it all very hard to believe.” He shook his head. “This Equestria isn’t the only Equestria, and my little sister has been magically transported to one of these other ones out there. Is that what you’re telling me?”

“That’s the rub, yes,” Time Turner replied.

“I don’t know which would be worse: that you’re right, and that that’s where she is; or, that you’re wrong, and we haven’t seen any sign of her in over a week.” Shining Armor clicked his tongue, and turned to Celetia. “Please, Your Majesty, tell me you can make some sense of all this.”

Celestia sighed, then nodded. “Chronomancers are a reality, but outside of myths and legends, nopony really knows much about them save for a very select few. Those that do know of them know of their duties as protectors of our world from forces beyond our understanding.” She turned to Time Turner and looked at the Chronomancer as though examining him. “I have known Doctor Turner here for a very long time indeed, but I was never aware of the full extent of his duties, nor that he had... coworkers. I assume that must be a closely-guarded secret.”

Time Turner adjusted his tie nervously. “Let me put it this way,” he said. “I am breaking protocol in about five different areas by informing you and Shining Armor of the situation. However, as we are in, to be blunt, a dire situation here, I am allowed to partake in a few rule violations here and there. My contact on the other side will have done the same for Twilight Sparkle and her friends when she made contact with them...” He sighed. “If she made contact.”

“I do wish I’d known a little more of the particulars of your line of work. Had I known that there was somepony whose job it was to seal that portal, I never would have sent my dear pupil that letter.”

Shining Armor snorted. “In a matter of speaking, Doctor, my sister and her friends are stuck in another world because you weren’t doing your job.”

Time Turner frowned. “I... suppose much of the blame could be placed at my hooves. I do not deny that my own lack of punctuality that fine morning caused more problems than I thought possible.”

Celestia put her hoof on Shining Armor’s shoulder. “Please, Shining Armor, do not be so quick to cast blame. I am the one who sent Twilight the letter. It is my fault she became involved.”

“I... I didn’t want to sound as if I were accusing anypony.” Shining Armor nodded at Time Turner. “I’m sorry, Doctor Turner. I know you’re trying your best to bring Twiley and her friends back, and to solve our... other problem,” he added, with a glance at Discord’s statue.

“I worry for my dearest pupil and her friends,” Celestia said, rising to her hooves at last, “but I have faith that they will overcome any dangers they may face. They are strong.” She turned to face Discord’s statue fully. “But you’re right, we must consider alternatives if we are to prevent a catastrophe.”

“I’m not really a catastrophe sort of guy.”

Time Turner and Shining Armor looked about the room in an attempt to find where the voice had come from; it sounded like it had come from everywhere at once.

The voice laughed at their search. “Ooh, where am I, little ponies? Am I over here?” it asked, its voice coming now from one side of the room. “Or am I over here?” it then asked from the other.

Celestia, however, had not once taken her eyes off of Discord’s statue. She flared her horn back to its brightest. “Enough, Discord,” she said, her voice tinged with distaste.

The voice—Discord’s—laughed again, but now was solely emanating from the statue; TIme Turner noticed the abrasion flickering with purple light in time with the laughter.

“You’re such a spoilsport, Celestia,” Discord said, disappointed. “I don’t know why you even bother to put a stop to my fun, anyway. Your little sealing spell won’t last forever. I will break free. You can’t stop me, and you know it. Tsk tsk.”

“Your magic may be leaking and causing chaos throughout my kingdom, but so long as you are in this room, that chaos will not speed you to freedom,” Celestia said. “I will do whatever it takes to, at the very least, slow your release.”

“Oooh, and now you have a plan to stop me. I am sooo scaaared. You keep giving me your passionate speeches about how you’ll stop me, but all I hear is ‘blah, blah, blah’.” Discord sighed. “It’s a shame that Twilight Sparkle and her friends aren’t going to be here when I get out. I really enjoyed having fun with those mares.”

“We have all the faith in the world that my sister and her friends will make it home in time to stop you!” Shining Armor shouted. “You will lose, Discord, just as you did before.”

“Faith, huh? That’s rich. See, if that were the case, you wouldn’t even be bothering with alternate solutions now, would you?” Discord taunted. “Some showing of loyalty. I guess we know which Element of Harmony you aren’t!

“Though I suppose you might still qualify if we consider focus on a single pony to be exemplary of loyalty. Ah, so loyal to your love that you were even loyal to somepony impersonating her. Enough to even cast out your loving sister. I may be a bad guy, Shining Armor, but that’s low, even for me.”

Shining Armor sneered. “I was under a—"

“Mind control spell, yes yes, everypony heard that excuse. I wonder how many of your actions were dictated by the spell, or dictated by your love for Princess Cadence,” Discord said, his tone cocky. He laughed. “Oh, that reminds me, I’m going to have to look this ‘Queen Chrysalis’ up when I break free. Even the all-powerful God of Chaos needs a little something on the side. That mare is hot... but I don’t need to tell you that, do I?”

Celestia put her hoof on Shining Armor’s shoulder to keep the fuming stallion from speaking again. “Ignore him, Shining Armor. Discord is attempting to goad you, nothing more. You have already apologized to your sister for what happened.”

“You’re one to talk, Celestia,” Discord chuckled. “You, too, turned on your faithful student the moment she attempted to expose Chrysalis for who she was, did you not? Funny... I don’t recall you being under a mind control spell. It must fill your heart with relief that Twilight Sparkle is so forgiving. That sort of wound cuts deep, Celestia... but you’re all about mending old wounds nowadays, aren’t you?

“As for your new friend,” Discord continued, turning his attention to Time Turner. He paused, then laughed again. “Well, I’m afraid I don’t know much more about him than you two do, now do I? All this other information is awfully interesting, though. Maybe when I’m bored with this world, I’ll move on to another.”

“You’ll have to escape first, Discord,” Time Turner replied, not dropping his professional, calm demeanor in the slightest. “My plan will put a stop to that.”

“Well, you’d better get started soon, old chum, because you’re running out of... time.” Discord cackled; the abrasion along his chest cracked open a little wider. “Ha! I know it’s cliché, but I couldn’t resist.”

“Frankly, I’m used to it.”

“Ohh, you’re no fun. All work and no play, Mister Turner. So, ten days is all you have left, hmm? Well, since you’re so confident in being able to meet that deadline... what say we make things interesting.”

Some of the stone tiles nearest to the statue bubbled and popped like eggs in a frying pan. Celestia funneled more magic into her spell; her horn’s light nearly blinded Time Turner and Shining Armor. Time Turner couldn’t help but notice that not all of the stones were turning back to normal.

Discord’s statue quivered with laughter. “Ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

***

Rainbow groaned and opened her eyes. Her ears were ringing, she couldn’t see, and her head was pounding. She had no idea how long she’d been out. Whatever she was laying on was soft and grainy. Sand? She put a hoof to her head and ran it through her mane; she couldn’t feel any bleeding, but her mane was slightly damp. So was her coat, she noticed. She remembered hitting the water, but didn’t remember anything after that.

She struggled to her hooves with a pained groan, and looked around. She couldn’t see anything, just darkness. Her other senses slowly started working again; she could hear flowing water and smell the saltwater of the ocean around her. Where was she? An island? Of all the lucky things to happen, had she really hit the water and been carried by the current to an island in the middle of this storm? Why couldn’t she feel the wind around her then, or see the flashes of lightning and torrents of fire?

Despite the pain in her head, Rainbow took a wobbly step forward, towards the sound of rushing water. She still couldn’t see anything, so she held one hoof in front of her as she walked. She only took a few steps before her hoof touched water; she jerked it back in surprise. She was shocked to find water directly in front of her like a wall. A waterfall, perhaps? She reached her hoof out again to feel her way through the water, and felt something else off about it: it was flowing upwards.

Her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She could see now, and confirmed what her hoof had already told her: there was a wall of water in front of her, flowing upwards. Not just in front of her, either, but all around her, creating a circle of sand. There was even a ceiling of water directly over her head. It was like being in one of Twilight’s protective shields, only the shield was made of the ocean.

Where in the hay am I?

Rainbow shifted her wings to check for injuries. Both were still functional; nothing was broken. She’d be able to take off and get out of here soon, as soon as she could find out where she was. She sighed and sat down, and put a hoof to her temple. Her head throbbed again as she tried to piece together what was going on.

“Great. Look at the mess I’m in now,” she muttered. “If they’d just listened to me, I wouldn’t have had to come out here to do all the work myself. Hmph... this is exactly what I figured would happen. I just knew I’d have to fix everything myself.”

Her eyes adjusted more, and soon she was able to see so well it was like being in a well-lit room. She didn’t question it, as she was too focused on her state of being. She looked into the wall of water, using it like a mirror, and groaned. Her jacket was torn and soaked, her goggles were still on her face but one of the lenses was cracked. There was some bruising here and there, likely from the impact, but there was no bleeding. She’d had worse crashes.

“Great. How am I supposed to help the others from here?” she asked nopony in particular.

“Maybe you should’ve stayed with the others in the first place,” replied her reflection.

Rainbow leapt back in surprise. “W-what the hay?!”

Her reflection did not do the same, but simply looked at her, her eyes half-lidded, her face baring a bored look. Her coat and mane colored had been saturated with gray; her clothes were unaffected.

After a second of thinking about it, Rainbow brushed off what she’d seen as nerves, because that was the only thing she could possibly think to explain what she was seeing. Her theory didn’t hold up very well when she waved a hoof in front of the wall of water and her reflection didn’t mirror it. How hard had she hit her head?

“Something the matter?” her reflection asked.

“Yes,” Rainbow said without thinking. She shook her head. “I mean, no. I mean... what’s going on?”

“You asked a question, I gave an answer. Are you gonna retort, or what?”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth. “Is that a challenge or something? I’m warning you, nopony beats me in a challenge.”

“Well, I’m you, aren’t I? I’m your reflection after all.”

“I... guess? No, hang on, if you were me, you’d think like me, and if you’re arguing with me you ain’t thinking like me. So, you ain’t me,” Rainbow said. She then tilted her head. “Uh... right?”

“Sure, whatever. Now are you gonna retort or what? I said you should’ve stuck with your friends.”

“What, and waste time taking a stupid detour?” Rainbow took a seat in the sand and crossed her hooves over her chest. “That’s what they’re doing. I hate wasting time.”

Her reflection shrugged. “Yeah, you’re right. Where are you, anyway? Do you know? You’re not lost, are you? That’d be a major waste of time, wouldn’t it?”

“Does it matter where I am? I know where I’m going and how to get there.”

“What was it Tick Tock said about your plan again?”

Rainbow huffed. Her reflection was much quicker with responses than she would’ve liked. “Hey, it’s not my fault I didn’t know I needed to wait in a line and stuff. Nopony told me anything about that. Tick Tock’s the smart one, she should’ve told me! They were too busy thinking about their stupid plan to give me any of the info I needed. All Tick Tock ever mentioned was bits, and—"

“What were you planning to do anyway when they asked you for money?”

“Don’t rush me!” Rainbow snapped. Her reflection was already getting on her nerves; Rainbow had no time to think of a retort. “I figured a big city like that has gotta have some use for somepony good with manual labor,” she said, pounding her chest. “I’m no Applejack, but I can do perfectly fine physical work, and I’m the fastest flier in any Equestria ever. They’d find a use for me, I’m sure of it.”

“Fair enough. But what if that wasn’t good enough? What if they refused? What if they’d prefer that ‘alternate payment’? I’m sure that stallion—Cutlass, was it?—would ‘find a use’ for you.”

“Not an option,” Rainbow spat, rising back to her hooves.

“Even with your friends all starving to death? Couldn’t you swallow your pride and take one for the team, just for once? For them?”

“No! My friends would never ask me to do something like that!”

“And why wouldn’t they? It’s practical, you’ve got to admit.”

For just an instant, Rainbow considered what exactly had been presented to her. She stared into her reflection, which had taken on a new appearance. She had bags under her eyes. Her feathers were ruffled and dirty, her coat and mane caked with sweat. She was naked. She could feel something roving up her sides. Hooves. She glanced back at herself and saw nothing, but in the reflection she could. A chill went up her spine.

“What did you say to your friends when you left?” came her reflection’s voice, though its mouth did not move. “What did you say about helping them, no matter what?”

Rainbow whispered, “That’s what friends do.”

As her reflection’s image submitted itself to an unseen partner, she fought the urge to vomit. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying desperately to get the image out of her mind.

“No! Not an option!” she shouted.

Her reflection’s original image replaced the disturbing one. “Because they wouldn’t see you as triumphant, is that it? So, this is an ego issue.”

Rainbow shivered, still aghast as to what she’d just seen a reflection of herself do. “I can’t prove them wrong if I... if I just give in. None of them would consider the option either, so why should I? I’ve got to show them my way works.”

“Regardless of any of that, would they even take you back after what you said to them?”

“I said what needed to be said! They’ve been acting stupid lately, and somepony needed to point out the elephant in the room!” Rainbow shouted, taking deep breaths between words. “Maybe now, they’ll realize their mistakes and try to fix them!”

Her reflection shrugged. “Fair enough. You told them what was wrong with them, in hopes of making them face their problems head on?”

“Exactly,” Rainbow said. “When they’re ready to admit they have a problem, then they can work to fix that problem and improve their situation. Simple logic.”

“See a problem, fix a problem. Simple indeed. Your friends were a problem, so you ran away. Problem solved.”

“Excuse me?” Rainbow sputtered. She got right up next to her reflection, so close she could feel water splashing her face. “I did not run away! I am helping them!”

“Why not stay with them, then? Why not see to it that the help you wanted them to have was received?”

“They don’t want me around,” Rainbow said. “You heard them. You saw how they acted. I’m just a mean, arrogant jerk, and they have no faith in me whatsoever. I’m going to solve this problem myself, whether they think I can or not.”

“Good for you,” her reflection said, nodding in approval. “You’re going to prove your friends wrong so that they will give you their loyalty. Right?”

“Well it’s what happened, isn’t it? They pushed me away just because I said some things that made them think for a second. It’s not my fault they have all these problems, or that they don’t want to fix them.” Rainbow snorted and sat back down. “You know what my only problem is? That they have problems.”

Her reflection shrugged. “Fair enough. I think we can fix that.” Then, her reflection tapped her chin. “I wonder though... when did you even start to notice these problems in the first place?”

“When did I notice?” Rainbow tilted her head in confusion. “Well... right from the get go, I guess. They started acting weird when we first got here, and I didn’t like it one bit.”

“The only thing you complained about when you first got here was how you didn’t trust certain ponies. Just a little paranoia. An understandable worry when you find yourself in a scary new place. No reason to act the way you have been, though.”

“Fine. I also pointed out that everypony was listening to Tick Tock over me,” Rainbow said. “I’m supposed to be their friend. Why would they value her words more than mine?”

“That’s a good point. When did you start to notice that though? You didn’t seem too upset about it at first.”

Rainbow hummed in thought. “Around the time we got to the checkpoint, I suppose. After we ran into Starlight’s gang. I mean, I’d noticed my friends were acting funny before, but after I talked to Grayscale about it, it really started to bother me. Grayscale was the only pony that really understood.”

“Gray is pretty cool, isn’t she?”

Rainbow smirked. “Pretty much one of the coolest ponies I know, and that’s saying a lot coming from the coolest pony I know: yours truly.”

Her reflection tilted her head. “Why do you think she’s cool, though?”

“Well, for one, she’s totally metal. She’s rockin’ those headbanger locks, y’know? And those boots of hers just scream ‘tough’. Plus, she’s confident! She’s not afraid of anything this stupid world has to throw at her!”

Rainbow snorted and shook her head. “Everything about this world is dangerous, and my friends are so scared of everything that they’ve turned into wimps. They aren’t the same girls I remember, the girls that faced every challenge head-on. Grayscale isn’t fazed by anything.”

“So you feel you can relate to her. She’s just like you, with some differences, of course. She doesn’t seem as talkative or passionate as you do. Kind of... apathetic, actually.”

“Well, that’s just the way she talks. She knows she’s cool, so she doesn’t need to act cool. She just is cool.” Rainbow grit her teeth. “We could’ve been friends, if Twilight hadn’t gone and ruined everything by trying to split us all up.”

Her reflection nodded in understanding. “Ah, Twilight ruined everything, huh?”

“She made us their enemies. We never had to be.”

“Fair point. Still, you didn’t bring up your problems to your friends before the split, did you? You kept them to yourself.”

“Of course I didn’t bring them up. I didn’t need to,” Rainbow said. “Grayscale was there to listen to me, and she actually listened. Her sisters were doing a great job at getting us home, too, up until Twilight went and screwed things up. Just one of the many things she’s done wrong as our would-be leader.”

“I remember it as Red Velvet starting all the trouble. Why don’t you blame her, I wonder?” Her reflection tapped her chin. “Are you afraid of her?”

“Me? Afraid of her?” Rainbow laughed at the idea, amused by how ridiculous it was. “If Pinkie ain’t afraid of her, then neither am I! I know she played a prank on Fluttershy, but Twilight overreacted, fair and simple. I should have listened to Gray in the first place, and voiced my opinions sooner. Maybe the others would’ve come around and agreed with me when I said Twi was being an idiot.”

“Listening to Grayscale Force? The pony who allies herself with a psychopath, a hot-headed nutcase, an egotistical maniac, and a life-sucking vampire?”

“Hey, now, that’s not fair,” Rainbow said. “They’re not just friends, they’re family to her. You always stick by your family, no matter what.”

“And you and your friends are so close you may as well be family, right? Shouldn’t you be sticking by them now?”

“We’ve been over this before,” Rainbow snorted. “I’m out here trying to help them.”

Her reflection shrugged. “Fair enough. Still, you seem awfully trusting of a pony who actively tried to hurt your friends.”

Rainbow paused. It was true, after all; Grayscale had gone up against Applejack twice. Applejack had said that, if Grayscale weren’t pulling her punches, she probably could’ve been seriously injured, or worse.

“She... she was just following orders,” Rainbow said. “You saw what Starlight was capable of.”

“I thought she wasn’t afraid of anything?”

“There’s a difference between fearless and stupid,” Rainbow scoffed.

“So she’s fearless and smart, huh? You really are a lot alike.” Her reflection shook her head and sighed. “It’s no wonder you trust her, even after all that’s happened.”

Rainbow nodded, confident the argument was over. “So now you see why I listened to her, right? And she was right, wasn’t she? My friends stopped listening to my ideas—"

“What ideas have you brought to the table?”

Rainbow blinked. “What?”

“You say your friends don’t listen to you. What ideas haven’t they listened to?”

Rainbow clicked her tongue, and looked back through her memories for anything relevant.

“I don’t get why your friends don’t listen to you,” came a familiar voice in her head. Grayscale’s voice. “You’re smart. I mean, who goes through an active volcano, right?”

Rainbow remembered the discussion she and Grayscale had while at the checkpoint that night. Everypony else was asleep, and Grayscale had gone to use the restroom at the same time as Rainbow. They’d talked for a long time afterwards, mostly about Rainbow’s problems, and about Grayscale’s past.

“Well for starters, not going through the volcano,” Rainbow said to her reflection, coming out of her reverie. “That was a disaster just waiting to happen.”

“Funny, I only remember Applejack agreeing with Tick Tock completely.”

“Yeah, and she was wrong! She didn’t listen to me, or anypony else!”

“Yes, it seems that she was in the end. I don’t remember her not listening to you, though, or saying your idea was stupid. I remember her convincing everypony that there wasn’t another option. You certainly didn’t bring one to the table for her to disagree with.” Rainbow’s reflection absently twisted a hoof in her ear, bored. “Try again.”

Rainbow snorted. “Well, what about sticking around with Grayscale’s group? That was my idea! Up until Twilight started an argument, none of us had any beef with one another. If we were still traveling with them—"

“You would’ve eventually had to face them in battle anyway. Twilight’s decision did nothing more than give you early warning about their true intentions.”

Rainbow crossed her hooves over her chest. “Yeah, exactly. And you see the load of trouble that put us in?”

“Then again, if you hadn’t gone through the ruins of the gryphon city, you would’ve never been given the power to face them fairly. Seems to me that decision worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

Rainbow grunted. “I still say we could’ve done just fine if we were at the top of our game out in the open. Twilight’s decision cost us time, got some of us injured, and forced us to travel for days without food. It was a boneheaded decision, no matter how you slice it.”

“Is it now? Hmm... how did you reprimand her for her decision again? Did you tell her you thought she’d made a bad choice?”

“Well, yeah, of course I did,” Rainbow chuckled. “We all sort of agreed to let it go, and Twilight said she’d be make better decisions in the future.”

“Yes, you voiced your disapproval and came to an agreement to improve the situation.” Her reflection shook her head. “But that wasn’t what you did first. What happened before that?”

Rainbow quirked an eyebrow. “Before that? I don’t remember anything before that.”

“Oh? Allow me to refresh your memory.”

Rainbow jerked her head to the side as a sharp pain impacted her jaw. It was as if she’d just been punched in the face. She brought her hoof to her lip, and drew away blood. She glanced up at her reflection, but it was was no longer there. Twilight’s reflection was in her place, an expression of shock upon her face. Her jaw was bruised, and there was blood on her lip.

“I... hit her...” Rainbow muttered, remembering exactly how the argument had started.

“That’s one way to put it I guess.” Twilight’s reflection disappeared and was replaced by Rainbow’s again; there was no bruising or blood upon her face. “I’d call it more of a suckerpunch to the face. It certainly got your point across in a hurry.”

“I didn’t attack her!” Rainbow snarled.

“I wonder what might have happened had Applejack not stopped you. Who gave you the idea that hitting your friends like that was okay?”

Rainbow paused and drew a step back. Grayscale’s voice rang through her head again, and she remembered a conversation from Goldridge Pass. Grayscale had been showing her around the mountains, teaching her the lay of the land so that she could try and be more informed.

“Sometimes, Dash, push comes to shove. Nopony’s gonna listen if you don’t back up your opinions. Maybe a show of force would do the trick.”

“I was just... looking out for my friends,” Rainbow said, though she found it hard to believe her own words. “Twilight made a choice that put them in danger, and I had to show her she was wrong.”

“Oh, is that what you were doing? Striking your friend when she was vulnerable. You lured her aside in a false showing of trust and you assaulted her.”

“I... I...”

Rainbow could find no argument. She had brought Twilight aside just to talk, but she’d been so angry that she let her hoof do the talking instead. That wasn’t how friends treated friends.

“I... made a bad decision. Twilight didn’t deserve that at all,” Rainbow admitted. She slumped back on her rear. “I was a jerk, and I overreacted because I thought she wasn’t listening to me. But she was. They all were. I was just too focused on myself that I didn’t see it...”

“They say that the first step to fixing a problem is noticing that you have one.”

Rainbow frowned, then shook her head. “I apologized for what I did. Twilight forgave me.”

“Sounds to me like she’s a bigger mare than you are,” her reflection said, a cocky grin on her face. “She forgives her friends for their problems and mistakes.”

Rainbow snorted. “What does it matter anyway? I’m still out here trying to help them, while they’re back there lollygagging in a canyon. Any one of them could have offered to come with me, but no, they didn’t want anything to do with me! They abandoned me, not the other way around!”

“How did they abandon you? Did they tell you to leave?”

“No. Not out loud. But I could see it in the way they were acting. They didn’t want me around. They didn’t want to deal with their problems.”

Rainbow recalled another conversation with Grayscale, this time shortly before they entered the caverns. She’d asked Grayscale what she would do if she were in her horseshoes.

“Sometimes, Dash, you’re met with a hard choice, between sticking by friends that couldn’t care less, or doing things your own way. You know what they say: ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’?”

“So you flew away because they wouldn’t let you stay and be mean,” Rainbow’s reflection said. “You made the hard choice to abandon your friends when they needed you the most.”

“They abandoned me!” Rainbow sneered. “None of them cared that I was leaving! Did any of them try to stop me?”

“Really? None of them tried to stop you?”

Rainbow paused. “W-well... Pinkie did...” She shook her head. “N-no, she turned on me! She called me a meanie, when all I was doing was trying to help! She’s just like the rest of them!”

“Is that how you remember it?”

Rainbow paused again, and this time shook her head. “She... she wanted me to stay. She was worried about me, not about what I said. And I... I left anyway...” She sighed. “I didn’t mean to get angry at everypony. I... I was just... I was so mad that nothing was going right. I said a lot of things that didn’t need to be said. Hurtful things...”

Her reflection shrugged. “You just picked up and left because you thought you were right, and they were wrong. Some Element of Loyalty you turned out to be.”

Rainbow’s heart sunk like a great weight in her chest. She remembered her words to Applejack, about her not living up to the expectations of the Element of Honesty.

“Oh Celestia... what have I done?” Rainbow said, putting her hooves to her head. Tears formed in her eyes; she didn’t bother to stop them. “I abandoned them...”

The sand and water surrounding her darkened, until she was once again in total darkness. The only thing that did not fade was her own reflection, which remained as clear as ever. She looked upon herself sitting there alone in the darkness, and she wept.

“I left them out there all alone...”

Now, even her reflection faded slowly into the darkness. Rainbow felt the cold darkness grip her like ice. She watched in horror as her reflection faded away completely, and reached out a hoof to stop it. Her hoof met nothing but air; the water was no longer there. A wave of remorse and regret, washed over her, sweeping through her veins like poison. What had she become?

“They’re starving to death...” she murmured, sinking to the ground. “Those nutjobs are still after them, too... and I’m not there to help...

Her reflection spoke again, though she could not see it. “When did you start to think these things about your friends? Why did you think this was the right thing to do?”

Rainbow looked up at where her reflection should have been, but it wasn’t there. Instead, the reflection of another pony stood before her.

“Grayscale Force...”

Rainbow remembered the last time she’d spoken with Grayscale one-on-one. They were deep in the caverns of Goldridge, and it had been a private discussion despite the others being nearby. She’d found it odd that Grayscale had said it to her out of the blue.

Grayscale’s voice spoke directly from her reflection. “The thing about loyalty, Dash, it’s a two-way street. Why should you be loyal to anypony that isn’t loyal in return?”

Now, Rainbow saw what Grayscale’s intention had been right from the start.

“I listened to her over my friends,” Rainbow admitted with a shake of her head. “I got suckered in by her coolness. She was so much like me, that I thought she got me, but all she was doing was using me!”

Grayscale’s image melted away and was replaced by Rainbow’s own again. The light returned, and Rainbow could see the sand and water around herself again.

Rainbow began to speak rapidly as the epiphany came to her. “It all makes sense now. Grayscale Force is a total square!” She paused, then sighed. “And I... I was being pretty uncool too. No, not just uncool. I was worse than uncool. It would be nice if I could just blame it all on her, but I can’t. I messed up. I made my own mistakes. I have my own problems. And,” she added, stomping a hoof in the sand, “when somepony has a problem, it’s their job to fix it!”

She stood tall and proud, and her reflection did the same. A sparkling aura of red magic appeared around her reflection’s neck, and in its wake it left a familiar necklace. The Element of Loyalty now stared her in the face; Rainbow put a hoof to her own neck, but the necklace wasn’t there.

Her reflection spoke, clearer than ever. “Do you see it now? Loyalty doesn’t always mean that your friends listen to you unquestioningly.”

“It means that they can disagree with you, and you can disagree with them,” Rainbow added, “but you always stick together through it. It means standing by your friends through thick and thin, whether you agree with them or not. It means being by their side through the worst of storms!” She frowned, and sighed. “It means not abandoning them to go off on your own, just because you think you’re better than them.”

Her reflection smiled and nodded. “Do you know what else Loyalty means? It means forgiveness. It means love. Your friends still love you, they always will, so long as you return their love. They will forgive you, but you must give them that chance.”

Rainbow stood proud, and her body glowed with the same light as her reflection. While she was not actually wearing the Element, she knew she didn’t need it to prove who she was or what she represented. She felt in her heart an energy that inspired her to new heights to do anything for her friends, even if it meant swallowing her pride and asking for their forgiveness.

“You’re right!” she shouted. “It’s never too late to fix things between friends!” She spread her wings to their fullest. “And, it’s never too late to stop being crazy and talking to myself!”

“Well spoken,” her reflection chuckled.

Rainbow rolled her shoulders and stretched her legs. She felt as good as new. “My friends need me! I need to get to them, and I need to get to them now. There’s only way to do that.” She adjusted her goggles back over her eyes. “Gotta dash!”

Rainbow took to the air. The bubble of water around her exploded, creating a great column of open air for her to fly in. She soared up, up, up through the darkness, until she could see lightning above her. She felt the faintest traces of wind in her mane. She knew it was dangerous up there in the storm, and she knew the lightning would pursue her again.

But it would have to catch her first.

Rainbow took a deep breath, and kicked her hooves together. A lightning trail formed behind her and scattered about with an intensity greater than ever. She kicked again, and the lightning wrapped around her like a shield. She kicked once more, thinking only of getting back to her friends and making sure they were okay. The lightning shell exploded outwards, and Rainbow rocketed up with a burst of furious speed; her body felt like it was on fire. She couldn’t see anything but a blur of white and blue. She fired out of the clearing in the water, out into the storm with all the speed of a bullet.

The lightning reacted to her presence, and streaked through the air towards her. She did not divert her course, or increase her speed, or even bother to look. She knew it was coming for her. She smiled, knowing she would come out victorious.

It struck her. She exploded in a flash of blue and purple, then streaked through the sky, unharmed and unhindered. She wasn’t like lightning now, no.

She was lightning.

***

Far, far below, deep within the ocean, Rainbow’s reflection remained where it had been. It watched Rainbow’s trail fade off into the distance, and smiled at the sight. Then, it vanished in a flash of white light.

Comments

[-Pinkamena_Pie-]

Ooh, has Harmonia decided to intervene..?

[Pseudonym1]

The mare glanced at her stack of paperwork and rifled through a few pages. “A few specific instances were brought up while making appointments. As a matter of privacy, I can’t reveal any of them, except this one,” she said, grabbing one paper in particular. “It’s a government agency, so its record is made public. A representative from Cloudsdale’s Weather Factory was here last night, and he claimed that some of their clouds had started turning pink, and that they taste and smell sugary sweet. He went so far as to say the clouds were turning into cotton candy.”

Is it really chaos if it does the same thing every single time?

[Zauber Junge]

"Gotta Dash." A pun i don't recall them using in the show and I'm surprised they didn't.

[My name is R]

She was bothered by the fact that they both looked so familiar, especially in such close proximity.

Aha! It's snips and Snails! I'd been tryin' to place him since she first said he sounded familiar, but I kept drawin' a blank. Kept tryin' ta match him to the orange bully from flight school, Rumble?

“This wouldn’t be happening if one of them had volunteered to come with me.”

Come again? I don't think Pinkie would make them send a rescue party through sheer force of presence.

“It’s just not fair,” she continued, her tone becoming sad. “I just joined the Muffin of the Month Club myself, but still haven’t gotten my package. And now, there’s this one here without anypony to claim it.”

Oh, that is hilarious.
I don't get it.

“At any rate,” he said, “it is time to bust a move on, as the teenagers are saying these days.

No. Nobody says that, or ever has. Even I knew that. Get a move on isn't even that slangy dude.

Ohhh. Now I get it.
That's nice.

Umm... Rainbow has a reflection. Yes. At first I thought it was trying to further corrupt her, then I thought maybe it was her conchious, then maybe this universes Spirit of Loyalty, or something of that ilk. By the end the only things I know are it wasn’t all in her head, and they meant well.

9742669
Perhaps without actual input from Discord the chaos is sort of running on autopilot, redoing things it's already done since they’re 'floating about in the system, as it were? The same chaos as last time is still more chaotic than the usual clouds made of naught but water.